Copping A Face Full Of Energy: What To Expect At A Mother's Cake Show

They say if you remember the '60s, you weren't really there. The same could be said of a tour with a rock'n'roll band. Austria's genre-bending prog-funkers Mother's Cake did their first-ever tour of Australia two years ago, and drummer Jan Haubels remembers the trip very well. Speaking from his home in Innsbruck in the south west of the tiny central European country, Haubels explains why his memories of Australia are so vivid.

"You are talking to the boring part of the band!" he laughs, "so I remember a lot. I remember the rest of the band being pretty fucked-up all the time. They had a good time, they partied a lot, they got busy. But everyone had a beautiful time."

"Australia literally tries to kill you, that's what I'd heard."

The most standout memories for him are some of the things that our great nation is most known for: great weather, great beaches and native fauna that can kill you in the blink of an eye. "Probably what I remember best was the one day we went to Byron Bay. It was out of season, so the whole beach was empty. Then a couple of days later we had to drive next to the coastline, so we took a detour onto the beach again, and yet again we looked to the horizon and couldn't see anyone at all.

"But there was this one sign that literally said you can be killed 20 different ways here, in the water and out. I was standing there saying, 'Yeah, this sounds good!'" He laughs again, "Australia literally tries to kill you, that's what I'd heard."

The band are about to make a whole bunch of new Aussie memories for themselves, as they are here for a six-date tour of the nation in early-to-mid February. For those who have not seen the band play before, Haubels promises a very 'in your face' show. "They (the punters) get a big pile of energy smashing into their faces, hopefully," he describes, "and we'll play something from every record."

In fact, the band's third album No Rhyme No Reason comes out just a couple of weeks before the start of the tour, so Australian punters will be the first in the world to experience the brand new tunes in a live setting. "Australia is the first country that gets to listen to our brand new set with the new songs," he states proudly, "so we need to rehearse some of the new songs before we go there. So it's going to be very new for us, very exciting, and you will see some surprises, even for us!"

From there, the band has an insanely busy first half of 2017: a situation that gives Haubels some mixed feelings. "Yes and no," he says with a touch of dubiousness, when asked if he was looking forward to such a whirlwind start to the year. "Yes, because it's amazing to do what you want to do; no, because it feels like too much at times."