Regurgitator Are Clinging To Youth Via A Punk Record For Kids

It's hard to believe, but Brisbane's quirkiest favourite sons Regurgitator have been together for virtually a quarter of a century, and while the band (and the band members) are getting on a little bit, they still pride themselves on being the real Peter Pan-type characters of Aussie music. They stay young through their music, and that's just the way multi-instrumentalist and founding member Ben Ely, speaking from his home in Brisbane, likes it.

"It's funny, isn't it?" he agrees, "being in a band gives you that leave to be a bit juvenile forever. But I guess you could do that in any career. I think if you can't have fun in life, and make fun, you just can't be too serious all the time. Comedy and being juvenile makes life light and fun. It doesn't matter if you're 60 and you act like a five-year-old. As long as you don't hurt people. A five-year-old might bite someone; you can't go around biting people. But you can have fun."

"A five-year-old might bite someone; you can't go around biting people. But you can have fun."

Ely also tells us that this feeds into some of the new music that the band and its members are currently working on, some of which should see the light of day this year. "We've written a record, but we haven't organised to record it," he reveals, "and also Quan [Yeomans] and I have collaborated and written this kids' punk record, like a naughty kids' record, about as naughty as you can get so kids can listen to it. It's kinda fun, and I think we actually like it more than our Regurgitator record!" he laughs.

In the meantime, the band have a few live dates to play in their home state of Queensland and in New South Wales, including headlining the massive Gum Ball Music Festival in the Hunter Valley where they will play alongside the likes of Tripod, Mick Thomas, Kim Churchill and many more. "Yeah, that'll be fun," he enthuses, "it's always good to do a festival. It's always good to show up and play outdoors, and the spirit and energy is always good."

They're also heading to North Queensland thereafter for a few dates, areas that have been affected by the recent cyclone and flooding, where they can hopefully bring a little joy and music into the lives of some of the people that have been affected by the disaster. "Yep, that's about all we can do," he says, "and I thought we could donate some of the ticket money to flood relief, I feel like we should do something. We copped the tail-end of the cyclone here, and it was quite amazing, the amount of rain that fell. It was something like two or three months worth of rain in an hour."

So, almost 25 years down the track, what does the future hold for Regurgitator? "We'll keep working on these two records, and I think it's Unit's 20th anniversary, so we're going to do a special limited release vinyl and maybe do a show here and there."