Grinspoon: new school.

Grinspoon

New Detention is in stores now. Grinspoon play Splendour In The Grass at the Belongil Fields, Byron Bay on July 20, the Nambour RSL July 25, Aussies, Beenleigh on July 26 and the Troccadero, Surfers Paradise on July 27.

If my parents are reading this, the following paragraph is totally fictional… I have a confession to make. I used to ditch a bit of school every now and then. Quite a bit, actually. Playing the wag, as it were. Nominating my own student free days, randomly selecting free periods. Grinspoon’s third long player New Detention would have been the perfect soundtrack, perhaps made more poignant when I question guitarist Pat about what he was most likely to be detained for during those heady high school years.

“Wagging,” he jokes. “I didn’t spend a lot of time at school really.”

Still, he seems to be doing alright for himself.

“I’m not doing too badly.”

On the record, Grinspoon aren’t doing too badly either, with New Detention arguably being the high point of their recording career. The band are back with the energetic and enthusiastic sound that dominated their Guide To Better Living debut, charged with the added maturity that a few years on the road honing their craft has brought about.

“I think we approached things differently all around. With the last record, Easy we were working to a deadline, and it was a really strict deadline, so every single song ended up on the record rather than being able to choose.”

“This time we worked with Phil McKellar again, who we worked with on our first record, and it was really comfortable. This is one of those records that were really happy with, but all the experiences we’ve had here will go into the next record. It almost felt like tarting again for us, funnily enough. Lots of different factors, a new outlook.”

Okay… New Detention is yet to be released, and already act four is under way?

“Not at all. I think we’ve just had the opportunity now to have made record that we’re really happy with. It’s like our second hill. We had a hill with Guide To Better Living, then a valley with Easy, and there are plenty of bands that just keep walking down the mountain. We kind of feel we’ve stepped back up again. It’s brought a new sense of energy in the band. It’s not like we’re focusing on our next record, it’s more that we feel we’ve been given another go, because we didn’t know if we would or not.”

It seems there were some difficulties within the act after the whole Easy experience was finished.

“We weren’t really happy. There were a lot of things within the organization and the band that were a bit of a downer. We had some problems with out management, and spent a lot of time overseas, that not a lot of things came out of. It fucked us all up, and that’s why there was so much time between Easy and this record.”

Not only were matters within the band conspiring to push back the release of New Detention, there was the small matter of the studio the band had been working in disappearing from under their feet during the first attempt to get through the recording…

“Half the tracks have been done since November last year. We had a bit of a problem because we were in Festival Studios when they closed it down. We were half way through doing the record, kind of six songs into it, and the shut it down. I think their mixing desk is going to end up in an SAE somewhere.”

“We’d already done Chemical Heart, which was all ready to go, and that’s why it came out as a single so long ago. The rest of the album was only wrapped up a couple of months ago.”

Did you have to hunt around to try and find another studio with similar gear to keep the sound the same?

“We did. We ended up at Mangrove (also used by locals Speedstar* for their Bruises You Can Touch debut) which had similar if not better equipment. It’s great. Lots of classic old gear. You can kind of tell on the record what was done at which place.”

“The guy that owns it, Gary Beers (INXS bassist) has the most incredible collection of guitars. I ended up using all his 1950s and 60s Les Pauls, all these 50 grand guitars. I was total fantasy land. It still is.”

Getting in and using an old instrument like that with a bit of history and a bit of resonance, does it inspire you when you’re working?

“Absolutely. It’s inspiring for sure.”

From a couple of listens to the album, it sounds like the band is more invigorated and raring to go that ever before.

“It’s definitely true. We’re in a happier place, and really looking forward to touring on this record, and doing some more writing, we’re into it. It’s a step up. We can see a progression in what we’re doing. We’re getting better at it. You get on a roll, and you just feel like rolling through.”

Roll on…