Quality Control

"We've been working off and on for the past couple years,” says Mad Caddies' guitarist Sascha Lazor of what they've been up to of late. “We've scrapped a couple of sessions because we weren't really happy with what we came out of them with, and we started over again a couple of months ago and this time things haven't been so rough… It's going really well and hopefully we'll have a lot of it done in the next six weeks. I'm really looking forward to it.”

It might not be the most 'rock'n'roll' response, but that's what's held up the Mad Caddies' new record. And while it's not tales of debauchery, rehab or conflict, it's surely a comfort to fans who have been hanging out for more of the Caddies' idiosyncratic amalgam of punk rock, ska and reggae, ever since the band released Keep It Going back in 2007.

For all the fun in the Caddies' bouncy tunes, it's clear talking to Lazor that the band take what they do very seriously. Case in point, the new record that the band kept putting themselves back to square one on because they weren't 100% satisfied with the material they worked on in the wake of Keep It Going. The band had to hit it out of the park, especially since it had been so long since their last album dropped.

“If we released a record every two years like a lot of bands do, I wouldn't think that we wouldn't try hard, but when you make records like we do you really need to make sure everything's top shelf because it's been such a long time since the last one came out,” says Lazor. “And we couldn't make fans wait five or six years from our last record and then be happy putting out something that's just mediocre.”

The band's perseverance with their as-yet-untitled sixth record has Lazor sounding inspired about the new material. “It's really exciting, we had to scrap most of what we'd done before because it didn't make us feel like we do now; this stuff sounds like the Caddies but is new and fresh. It's all still there, the reggae and ska and punk rock, but it's just exploring those styles of music in a way that we haven't done before. I think we've come across a good formula for that, and we're all happy with where it's taking us.”

While it's something of a shame that Aussie fans won't be able to get their hands on the band's new record before they visit, Lazor promises that the Caddies are talking about debuting some of the new material while in town. “We'll definitely be performing some new material by the time we come out to Australia,” he says. “This will be the first tour where we break out some of the new stuff.”

The diligence and dedication to their new album is mirrored in their approach to their upcoming run of Australian shows. These guys are no spring chickens, and as Lazor sees it, they've now got to put in the work beforehand to make sure the Mad Caddies' live show is shipshape.

“About now, people are starting to eat better and go on hikes to get into shape. We're all getting a bit older so we've got to prepare for the tour a bit ahead of time… But I guess that's also a thing where like before we tour Australia I might take a bit of time off drinking and partying, because when we get down there that seems like all that we do.”

Mad Caddies will be playing the following dates:

Saturday 23 March - UNSW Roundhouse, Sydney NSW
Sunday 24 March - The Hi-Fi, Brisbane QLD
Wednesday 27 March - ANU Bar, Canberra ACT
Friday 29 March - Palace Theatre, Melbourne VIC
Saturday 30 March - Northcote Social Club, Melbourne VIC
Monday 1 April - Metropolis, Fremantle WA