AAA's Lauren got the chance to catch up with Quan from Regurgitator!
Regurgitator have been kicking around as a band for over 15 years now and it’s safe to say you guys really have done everything (band in a bubble being a notable mention). What’s left on the band’s bucket list?
There are still quite a few places we haven’t played. Russia, Mongolia, Spain, The Philippines and Korea all come to mind when I think of the ones I would most like to go to. Band in the Bubble once again in Tokyo city would be a dream but as a friend there has informed me Yakuza control over public space would make it a very expensive undertaking. Then there’s outer space…
With ‘Superhappyfuntimesfriends’ being your seventh studio album was there a different process as to how the album came together?
It was an extremely quick process. No dilly dallying, no outside influences, very hands on. It was the first record we have ever done all by ourselves, no studio, no mix engineers, no producers. Mastering was the only thing sent out for and I remember finishing writing, recording and finishing mixing the last track at 4am the morning before the record went to mastering.
Your past six albums have been recorded/produced/developed in such diverse environments each time. Is that something that aids the creative process?
Deadlines and being out of your comfort zone are the only two things I can think of that push the process along every time. I would say those two things are the most helpful for this band.
You’re back on the summer festival circuit into the new year, where are you most looking forward to this time round?
I just love travelling around Australia, seeing everyone again, sweating, screaming and grinning through the madness of it all.
Regurgitator are a definite crowd favourite at Big Day Out, a festival at which you guys seem to be most practised. Is there anything that still surprises you about that tour and the punters that go?
That’s very kind of you to suggest that we might be a crowd favourite. I guess the thing that surprises me is that most people go to these monster events and manage to sustain the energy to have what seems to be a great time over the duration of the day. I love to see people move, dance and express themselves unabashedly whilst still being respectful of those around them. Seeing that is the loveliest surprise of all.
What’s the funniest/weirdest thing you’ve seen go down at a festival?
Well… I recently got to play at a bizarre woodford-like hippy festival in Nagano, and believe me for ‘weird’ Japan never ceases to amaze. Firstly this was the debut show of a side project of mine called Disaster! , which is essentially an extension of my solo hiphop meanderings and fairly inappropriate for this type of event. When we got there my first introduction to the crowd came in the form of an older Japanese gentleman tripper who, naked except for a loin cloth and a eye mask spun in circles everywhere he went muttering something to himself in Japanese then engaging in casual conversation with passers-by. He did not stop once the whole evening. His somewhat younger female counterpart seemed to be having trouble keeping her vagina in her pants as she danced from one object to the next, crash barrier to picnic table humping and writhing orgasmicaly on each in turn.
I was only surprised by this behaviour because up until then 99 percent of the Japanese people I have ever met have been extremely self controlled and nowhere near as gregarious or unashamed unless they were part of some disciplined art performance. The next surprise came in a rather physical encounter with one of our punters mid set during a song in which my fellow performer and I were engaged in a kind of pretend stage fight. All of a sudden a rather drunk young Japanese man was on stage between us urging us to break it up.
At first his intentions seem to indicate he was party to the theatrics but then he became oddly aggressive and I spent the next two minutes wrestling with him and attempting to sing around him as he continually tried to pry the mic from my hands. Fortunately he was so drunk I only sustained minor bruising and slight abrasions. Perhaps because Japanese society is so disciplined and structured, being a hippy is a little bit more of an extreme drop out from those controls. Either way Disaster! by name…
The video for ‘No Show’ stays true (in my opinion) to the offbeat and inventive vibe that is unmistakable in pretty much all Regurgitator videos. Is the visual element to your music of great importance or purely entertainment value?
Thanks! It’s something I would love to dedicate a bit more time to. Visuals can be very time consuming to work on but some of my favourite artists meld music and video together so brilliantly and I get jealous. Cornelius, Doravideo, Die Antword, Ratatat and Death Grips come to mind instantly.
What can fans new and old look forward to from the band in 2012?
I think the band is going to be even more lasses-faire with how we participate in the creative ‘scene’ so to speak. I would like to do more live film score shows, more visually stimulating things and write pop music that celebrates the outsider nature.
Finally if the band were an animal, what animal would you be?
A monster turtle that specialises in Gymnastics of course!
Cheers!
Lauren Young - AAA Backstage
