The Triffids’ Robert McComb Recalls 'Born Sandy Devotional' As 'A Golden Moment'

In the latest episode of the Rewind podcast series, members of The Triffids have recalled the creative process behind the making of their classic 1986 album Born Sandy Devotional.

“With Born Sandy there was a kind of just a… like a golden moment when everything was sort of right,” recalls the band’s multi-instrumentalist Rob McComb. 

Rob’s brother David McComb, who founded and fronted The Triffids, passed away in 1999 - not living to see the impact the album would have in the following decades. 

Born Sandy Devotional is ranked at #5 in the 100 Best Australian Albums book and, in 2001, the Wide Open Road single lifted from the album was officially declared one of the Top 30 Australian Songs Of All Time by APRA.

But, McComb told Rewind host Steve Bell, the epic-sounding album was made on a smaller-than-expected budget, “We’d planned to to make that a major record… a major record in the sense of having a record deal with a record company. 

"Hot Records put out our records, but they were sort of an independent company so… we weren't signed to them, on a contract to them, or anything. 

"They tried to get us a major deal in 1985, but we ended up not getting with Island until a year or so later, so end up making Born Sandy completely off our own funds as well. Which is pretty amazing now when I think back on it, because we weren't living well - you know, we had sort of 50 bucks a week to survive on… and everything else would be poured back into travel and accommodation.”

McComb adds that the independence they felt recording played into how the album turned out, “It was just a great situation to be in. We were, you know, calling the shots that there was no, in a way, record company looking over our shoulders.”

The latest season of the successful Rewind With Steve Bell series - which has already taken a look at classic albums from Silverchair, The Avalanches, Regurgitator and Billy Bragg, as well as hitting the #1 spot on both Spotify and Apple's music podcast charts last month - now takes a look at how Perth group The Triffids went on to create an Australian classic album, largely before anyone really knew their name. 

McComb is joined on Rewind by fellow Triffids member Graham Lee, along with the band’s former manager Sally Collins, composer Adam Peters who played on Born Sandy Devotional, long-time band collaborator and album engineer Nick Mainsbridge, musician Mick Thomas (who famously covered Wide Open Road) and 100 Best Australian Albums co-author John O’Donnell.

All episodes of the five show season are live now. Check out part one of Rewind's oral history of Born Sandy Devotional below on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or anywhere you usually get your podcasts.

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Catch up on all previous episodes of Rewind here, and you can also check out all the other Handshake podcasts below:

• The Green Room With Tiana Speter - join host Tiana Speter as she chats with some of the biggest names in music, film and comedy
  
• That Sucks! - fortnightly musings about the worst of your favourite things
• The Take With Willie Mason - join ex-Australian and NSW rugby league Willie Mason talking all things sports