David McCormack: The Candyman.

David McCormack plays Ric’s Café on September 13 and 14. Candy is in stores now

Former Custard and The Titanics frontman David McCormack needs little introduction. The one time Brisbane lad has an uncanny knack for throwing together a massive hook, or making the most of a few understated notes. With both his former acts now joining Australian rock’s retirement home, McCormack has put together a new solo opus, Candy, with backing band The Polaroids.

Candy was put recorded in two nights in early June, with vocals put down and mixing completed over another couple of days a week later, hardly an extensive gestation period by any standards.

“I’ve got three people playing who we affectionately called The Polaroids, Cameron Bruce on keyboards, Shane Melder on drums and my brother Dylan on bass. They’re all such good musicians that I just showed them the songs once or twice and we just went in and recorded the first version that came to mind. We really didn’t need any longer. We recorded 16 songs, and I let my brother cut out the five he didn’t like.”

That’s quite generous letting him loose like that considering the album’s coming out in your name…

“Yeah, but it was one less thing for me to worry about. I’m inherently lazy.”

Abi Tucker came in a made a guest vocal appearance on the album, and Karma County’s Brendan Gallagher also made the starting line up. How did that come about?

“I’d never met her, and we were having a break, and (producer) Magoo said he knew Abi Tucker, and asked if I’d like her to sing on the record. She came in and sang on three tracks and I loved it. Now I know who she is…”

Not a Secret Life Of Us fan then?

“To be honest, I didn’t know the show existed. But now I’m trying to make myself more familiar with it because she was on the record. I’ve been led to believe she’s some sort of celebrity. Sooner or later you’re a celebrity if you’re on that show…”

“Brendan I’ve known for years, and he actually introduced me to Cameron. He’s just an old friend who said if I was ever recording to give him a call, and he came on down.”

It’s a dirtier sounding record that what you were doing with The Titanics…

“Well it starts dirty, and then it gets clean, and the it’s dirty again.”

There’s a big difference between the flat out rock of the albums opening track and something like Short Leash with is kind of dreamy and romantic…

“I’m glad you asked about that, because that’s one of my favourite tracks. That’s the one I bore people at parties with. I always put that one on. I was just really happy to have real strings on that. Get in a string quartet and all that kind of pretentious solo album stuff. The idea sounds bad, but it came out sounding beautiful.”

Is that something you’d wanted to do back with The Titanics or with Custard?

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do with The Titanics or Custard,” he muses. “It’s only finally now I know what I want to do and I’m enjoying it. I think it’s because it’s not a band. It’s Dave McCormack & The Polaroids. It’s easy to avoid falling into band politics. The three people who played on the record were so good I didn’t have to be a little Hitler. They’re beautiful instrumentalists, those boys.”