Bunny Boiler

The myth surrounding one-man party band Nobunny has built steadily since his “conception” in the Arizona desert in 2001. Starting out as an animal Elvis impersonator, Nobunny (aka Justin Champlin) started writing his own songs, mangled flotsam of his rock idols infused with a devil-may-care attitude. For most of the first decade of the 2000s he built up his reputation on his own, a grassroots approach as only he knew how – doing DIY solo tours, burning limited run CD-Rs, putting out various cassettes – that helped to develop a core base of fervent followers. The raucous rabbit's live performances also developed into mythical “events” – fights, nudity and general chaos taking over normally nonplussed crowds, with Nobunny at the helm, a cracked Pied Piper of Tucson, all matted hair and bloodshot eyes.

The release of First Blood on Goner Records last year changed the game a little, with Nobunny added to bigger bills, being asked to tour with the likes of Girls, Jacuzzi Boys and TV Ghost, and recording a live set to vinyl at Jack White's Third Man Studios. With the imminent re-release of Love Visions (2008) and Raw Romance (2009), and new material bubbling away, Champlin admits that times are a-changin'…but Nobunny will always remain the same feral party beast.

“It's been great, and putting out the albums again is a luxury that I'm happy to be doing,” Champlin enthuses. “I don't like having things out of print, so if I can re-release things that's great. When things sell out, why not make them available? I don't believe in making manufactured rarities or instant collectibles. It has always been about giving people what they want – (Nobunny) is very personal to me, it's my thing. That said, although I tend to do everything myself, I'm aware that a publicist probably teed up this interview. But normally, whilst I push the band and would love if everyone dug my band, I'm not going to pay someone to do that for me. I'm not going to market myself. I want people to come to it on their own rather than having a preconceived fabricated hype behind it. And if more of my music is out there, the more likely it will speak for itself and people will dig it, the more the merrier.”

Nobunny is Champlin's anthropomorphic baby, an extension of the hybridised rock'n'roll that he loves to create. By doing it on his own terms, he maintains musical integrity and contentment, for better or worse.

“I don't know if (working solo) is the best way to work; I see a lot of bands with a democratic creative process that I sometimes thinks works way better than working alone,” he admits. “I've surround myself in punk rock, which I think helped me grow a lot and stunted my growth also because whilst I believed in the rules of punk rock, I forgot the first rule which is that there are no rules. It's frowned upon to be popular, or God forbid a rock star, but deep down everyone who makes music would like to be popular, to be appreciated for their art. So as far as 'making it', doing things solo isn't the smartest way. But then again, I get to throw myself fully into whatever I do, when I want to do it. I'm lucky enough to work with Goner Records who are content for me to bring forward a record whenever I am ready to make one; I wouldn't work well with a deadline anyway. This summer I will have a new record called Secret Songs, and it's been a labour of love in that I don't focus on it all the time, so it comes about in bits. The label doesn't force anything on me though, so things come naturally. I do everything myself, and it's not that I don't play well with others, but I feel silly asking others to work for me. I take credit for all the good and the bad.”

Although Champlin abhors the idea of a marketed musical entity, Nobunny comes with built-in certainties, none more so than the explosive live performances and the donning of a now bedraggled, multiple-stained rabbit mask. By embodying this larger than life persona, Champlin is able to imbue his own personality into a character, heightening both his creative ability and the performance itself – yet he can't do it all on his own.

“When it comes to performing, I don't have too many moves cut out or any choreography, I don't try to bust something out every night; that said though, I come from a family of artists and performers so I appreciate the performance,” Champlin asserts. “Nothing's more boring than watching a band that doesn't look like they're enjoying themselves; that really isn't my cup of tea, so (Nobunny) becomes an outlet that I don't normally get to do in day-to-day living. And whilst like the X-Ray Spex song I'm a cliché too, it relies just as much on what the audience is prepared to bring. It's a two way street, and if they bring the energy it helps me. I'll admit that sometimes I think audiences come with preconceived notions that they have to interact with Nobunny, pull down his pants or something, and whilst I'm not encouraging that I'm not going to tell people not to let themselves go. It's usually a wild time, and it's always interesting to see how people will react.”

Yet at the end of the day it comes down to the irascible, swirling dervish of Nobunny himself to stir the maniacal pot. Partially hidden behind the mask, Champlin can let go, allowing more base emotions to come to the fore, cutting to the core of what makes rock'n'roll so enjoyable in the first place.

“Masks are still worn in modern theatre, and were instrumental at the beginning of theatre, so getting into character whilst hiding behind a mask is an age old concern,” Champlin muses.

“To whip out another cliché, we all wear masks to some extent anyway. RuPaul the drag queen once said, 'You are you when you are naked, and everything is drag after that', and I totally agree with that. We look at ourselves in all these different ways, and if I went up there in my street clothes I wouldn't be as inclined to perform or act in quite the same way as I do with the mask on. I wouldn't let loose and be as uninhibited.”

Nobunny will be playing the following dates:

Saturday 9 February - Primitive, Brisbane QLD
Sunday 10 February - The Factory Theatre, Marrickville NSW