Welcome to Episode 107. Gary Slater joins us on this week’s episode. Gary fronted Voodoo Lust, The Viscounts, The Trilobytes, and now Dr Bombay.
What follows is a rollicking conversation that winds its way through the power pop success of Voodoo Lust, to work ethic, staying healthy and fit, guitars and the wasted guitar solo’s and the upcoming album from Dr Bombay and so much more.
Gary is a bundle of energy on stage, and the same can be said when chatting with him. A serious case of buckling up and enjoying the ride.
WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE AND AS ALWAYS WATCH TILL THE END.
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Links to Check Out
Shake, Shake, Hey Yeh! – https://youtu.be/4MddX2TSUqs
Dr Bombay YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@DrBombayRocknRoll
Dr Bombay Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/DrBombayAU
Love and Bitterness EP – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAMO2LZWwwY
She’s So Psychedelic Live – https://youtu.be/unX2Z_Z0mhc
Voodoo Lust EP – https://youtu.be/NkUbl3rEDZg
Final Song
Voodoo Lust – Gossip https://youtu.be/iJ3wPlmxhEw
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Curly:
Hey there everyone and welcome to episode 107 of the Unfiltered and Undiscovered podcast. A really special evening tonight. I’ve got, I’m being a bit of a fan boy. I’ve got one of my most favorite, the lead singer of one of my most favorite bands joining us tonight, which is absolutely awesome. First up, let’s welcome our co-host. We’ve got Braggy down there in Adelaide and we got Rossie in Sydney. How are you boys?
Rossy:
Fantastic, just looking forward to the end of the cricket hopefully.
Braggy:
Yeah, and there’s a big game tomorrow night as well Rossi.
Rossy:
It’s there. I don’t know what you’re talking
Curly:
Oh, that’s
Rossy:
about.
Curly:
right.
Braggy:
I’m
Curly:
That’s a
Braggy:
sorry.
Curly:
little game called State of Origin, isn’t it?
Rossy:
Wasn’t that game invented so Queenslanders could win occasionally?
Curly:
Hahaha!
Braggy:
I think we are favourites this time Rossy.
Rossy:
You are.
Curly:
which is always a bit of a concern when Queensland’s a favourite. So let’s…
Rossy:
Just quite like Gary Bragg, he loses in Adelaide, but he’s really a Queenslander.
Gary Slater:
Yes, I used to have it.
Curly:
Mm.
Braggy:
Yeah, well,
Curly:
So
Braggy:
I’m only
Curly:
very.
Braggy:
in Queensland for three games a year.
Curly:
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Braggy:
I go for a South Australian or every other sport, except for obviously we don’t, they don’t play NRL
Curly:
Uhhh…
Braggy:
here. So.
Gary Slater:
Oh well, pretty cocky up here at the moment, but we’ll see how we go.
Rossy:
There
Curly:
Yeah, we’ll see how we
Rossy:
we go.
Curly:
go. Hey Rossy, I saw something interesting on I-94 about an interview with Richard Lawson, the ex-lime spider.
Rossy:
Yeah.
Curly:
And the release that a new long lost five track release by the Sydney band The Most was
Rossy:
The
Curly:
now
Rossy:
most,
Curly:
available
Rossy:
yeah.
Curly:
on streaming platforms.
Rossy:
Well, the most were in this final in the Southern Cross Band Comp, which was the Southern Cross slash Strawberry Hills. The Strawberry Hills changed its name from the Southern Cross Hotel and got sold to this big chain. And the most were in the band comp against the Lime Spiders in the final, right?
Curly:
Alright,
Rossy:
And
Curly:
this
Rossy:
the,
Curly:
is the legendary band, Battle of the
Rossy:
yeah,
Curly:
Bands.
Rossy:
yeah. And the most played, and the Spiders came on, it was Mick Blad, Richard Jackamycin. And they just looked at each other and said, we’re fucked. They’re too good. And they were right.
Curly:
Yeah.
Rossy:
But then, then the Chee, Tony Bamback, Richard Lawson, and Jed Corbin all ended up in the Lime Spiders anyway.
Curly:
Yeah, it’s a good story, isn’t it? A five-track
Rossy:
It is.
Curly:
release. It’s never been available as CD or on vinyl, and they’ve put it out on a streaming platform. And I had a bit
Rossy:
British.
Curly:
of a listen to it today. And I love listening to new music from the early 80s.
Braggy:
1986,
Rossy:
Oh, we’ve
Braggy:
Kelly?
Rossy:
got plenty of that. It
Curly:
No, it was 80. It was earlier than that, Braggie.
Rossy:
was about
Curly:
I think
Rossy:
82,
Curly:
it was
Rossy:
83, I
Curly:
82,
Rossy:
think.
Curly:
- Yeah, absolutely.
Braggy:
Peace.
Rossy:
Richard Lawson on his night was a stellar drummer, man. Richard
Curly:
Yeah.
Rossy:
was the man. Oh boy. The Lime Spiders swung with Richard in the band.
Curly:
Absolutely. So let’s introduce.
Gary Slater:
I’ve had a stage for those guys a few times and just poof.
Rossy:
Oh yeah, they were…
Curly:
Let’s introduce our
Gary Slater:
at
Curly:
special
Gary Slater:
their best.
Curly:
guest,
Gary Slater:
Well.
Curly:
shall we? We’ve got Gary Slater joining us. Now Gary’s…
Gary Slater:
Sorry, I’m gonna shut up there. Sorry.
Rossy:
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
Braggy:
It’s alright.
Curly:
No, that’s all right. Gary comes to us from a litany of bands, the Viscounts, Bootylust, Trialabytes, and now he plays in Dr. Bombay celebrating their 10th anniversary. Welcome to the show, Gary.
Gary Slater:
Thank you very much, thanks for having me. Yeah, I did a little bit, I had to make a few notes of how many bands I’ve been in, because I couldn’t quite remember, so I better write them down, but nine bands actually, they’ve
Curly:
Ha ha ha!
Gary Slater:
actually got to the point of playing, so God,
Curly:
Wow.
Gary Slater:
wow, scary, yeah.
Rossy:
Now, just
Braggy:
Rossi
Rossy:
for his-
Braggy:
did say Gary, Rossi did say that you were one of the hardest working men in rock. So.
Gary Slater:
This is
Rossy:
Yeah, we know it to be true,
Gary Slater:
Yeah,
Rossy:
don’t we, Gaz?
Gary Slater:
well, you know, it was a pleasure, though, wasn’t it? You know, pleasure to work.
Rossy:
Oh, we spent many a night in either the back of a truck, a dressing
Gary Slater:
Yeah,
Rossy:
room,
Curly:
I’m going to go ahead and turn it off.
Rossy:
or a
Gary Slater:
yeah,
Rossy:
hotel
Gary Slater:
yeah.
Rossy:
for many, many years, having too much fun doing that. What I will know, what I do know about Gaz is that how old were you when you first
Gary Slater:
I was about 12 or 13, you know, one of the, you know, maybe 13, 12. And then I was with my two cousins who bit older than me. And fortunately I was just a little kid and I just always wanted to be a singer in a band, you know. So my cousin’s a bit older and they could play a bit. So, and luckily for me, they liked like Chuck Berry and Status Quo and all that sort of stuff, which I just loved as a little kid growing up. And so I started singing with them really. And then, yeah. and just went from there and then
Curly:
Hmm.
Gary Slater:
joined another band called the Dull Trio when I was 14 or
Curly:
Hahaha.
Gary Slater:
- They kind of did more Led Zeppelin-y and Deep Purple and stuff but also that, actually I must say, originals early on too. Even in the first band when I was 12, 13, I still started writing melodies and lyrics and we tried, you know, doing our own songs even then. So yeah, Dull Trio 14, 15. About 16 years old is when I met Hound Dog Harper. He was 14.
Curly:
Yeah.
Rossy:
Ha
Gary Slater:
And
Rossy:
ha!
Gary Slater:
there’s a guy getting around, John, who was actually just, he was funny. He was a bass player. He’s good. And going around lots of different bands and he was trying to just sort of get people that he liked from bands and form his own band. So he hooked up with Tony and I and said, come here my place. And we started a new band with him called This Week Special. And that’s how I met Tony. And that was, I started writing with Tony and
Curly:
Yeah.
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
that was it. And then after This Week Special, 3B2, which was sort of,
Rossy:
Mm-hmm
Gary Slater:
you know, late seven, oh, probably 78, I think. early 80s and that was like, we did well
Braggy:
We did well
Gary Slater:
in 3B2,
Braggy:
in 3-2,
Gary Slater:
we played
Braggy:
we
Gary Slater:
with heaps
Braggy:
played
Gary Slater:
of
Braggy:
with
Gary Slater:
big bands,
Braggy:
the Inter-Defense,
Gary Slater:
lots
Braggy:
lots
Gary Slater:
of joint
Braggy:
of joint
Gary Slater:
efforts
Braggy:
efforts
Gary Slater:
at Triple
Braggy:
with Triple
Gary Slater:
Z,
Braggy:
Z,
Gary Slater:
Sonny
Braggy:
Sonny
Gary Slater:
Boyz,
Braggy:
Boys,
Gary Slater:
Sephors,
Braggy:
forwards.
Gary Slater:
did well with that band as well, that was good. And then the Vi counts after that, so yeah, I don’t know, where do you want
Curly:
Which
Gary Slater:
me to start?
Curly:
is, yeah,
Rossy:
Kicka!
Curly:
so this is where I can pick up because I remember I went, me and my mates, because I’m a punter, I’m not a muse, but I love music and I love live music. And we went to a cockroaches gig. So I’m sure it was a cockroaches gig and I’m sure it was the Calumvale hotel. And
Gary Slater:
It
Curly:
in,
Gary Slater:
was.
Curly:
and at that time in Brisbane, it was out of suburbia and the Viscounts
Gary Slater:
Yeah.
Curly:
were the support. So that was my first. sort of seeing Gary Slater and a band up there on stage. But the confusion, we started to get a little bit confused because maybe two weeks later we were somewhere, I don’t necessarily remember where, and Voodoo Lust came on stage and we all looked at each other and said, wasn’t that guy in the Viscounts? It didn’t tweak to us that you could be in two bands at once.
Gary Slater:
Well, it’s funny because the boy is too much with it, but the story with what happened there was the Viking, after 3B2 with Tony and I, for probably four years, just all our own songs, color covers, but pretty much all our own songs. And then in Brisbane at the time, we were playing like a lot of original bands, quite a lot, but I don’t know, say twice a month, three times a month. But our cover bands obviously were playing like three or four or five nights a week, you know? And that’s what Tony and I wanted to do. We just wanted to play, you know? We
Braggy:
Mm.
Gary Slater:
just couldn’t
Rossy:
Oh yeah.
Gary Slater:
do an original. So… What can we do? So we came up with this concept of playing 60 songs, but basically in our own style. And that’s what the Viscounts were. And it worked a treat because we could play, like we did residencies at Twin Towns and all these big clubs and the Carlton Circus, which was all the suburban barns and stuff. And we could still play like inner city cool venues. So it was kind of, and we just
Braggy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
played like a lot. I’m talking
Curly:
game.
Gary Slater:
like three or four nights a week and we did three or four sets a night. So.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
We went from playing three sets a month to playing 10, 12 sets a week.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
So we just in the Viscounts for a few years that we just got so much experience. It was amazing, but it was also boring because it was covered. So at first
Curly:
Hmm.
Gary Slater:
it was interesting and it’s great, you know, novelty wore off.
Braggy:
But I
Gary Slater:
That
Braggy:
guess,
Gary Slater:
was when video started.
Braggy:
I guess Gary, you really hone your skill there too, your chops don’t
Gary Slater:
That’s
Braggy:
you,
Gary Slater:
what
Braggy:
and you
Gary Slater:
I was
Braggy:
get
Gary Slater:
getting
Braggy:
tight.
Gary Slater:
at. You know, it was like, you know, Tony and I had already been in this
Rossy:
We’ve
Gary Slater:
week’s
Rossy:
been in
Gary Slater:
special
Rossy:
District Special
Gary Slater:
and
Rossy:
and
Gary Slater:
3B2
Rossy:
3P2
Gary Slater:
together for
Rossy:
together
Gary Slater:
five
Rossy:
for
Gary Slater:
or six
Rossy:
5
Gary Slater:
years. So
Rossy:
or 6
Gary Slater:
we’d already
Rossy:
years, so
Gary Slater:
played
Rossy:
we’ve already
Gary Slater:
at
Rossy:
played
Gary Slater:
least 100
Rossy:
at least
Gary Slater:
gigs
Rossy:
100
Gary Slater:
together
Rossy:
gigs
Gary Slater:
before
Rossy:
together before.
Gary Slater:
the Viscounts.
Rossy:
The
Gary Slater:
But
Rossy:
Viscounts
Gary Slater:
then
Rossy:
have been in the
Gary Slater:
in the Viscounts
Rossy:
Viscounts
Gary Slater:
within two
Rossy:
for
Gary Slater:
years
Rossy:
2
Gary Slater:
or so,
Rossy:
years
Gary Slater:
wow,
Rossy:
or
Gary Slater:
you
Rossy:
so.
Gary Slater:
know,
Rossy:
Wow,
Gary Slater:
we
Rossy:
we’ve
Gary Slater:
played
Rossy:
played
Gary Slater:
hundreds
Rossy:
100
Gary Slater:
of sets.
Rossy:
gigs.
Curly:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
So that was great experience. And so quickly what happened then, but Tony left the Viscounts to form Vigri Lust with Brad Ferguson and Dean Muller, not with me at all. And I was
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
still playing in the Viscounts. And funny enough, I actually played a gig with the Viscounts and Voodoo Lust together. And
Rossy:
Hahaha!
Gary Slater:
it was,
Curly:
Ha ha
Braggy:
Oh! Ha
Gary Slater:
yeah.
Curly:
ha!
Braggy:
ha ha!
Gary Slater:
But I wasn’t in Voodoo Lust though. I was in the Viscounts still. So, and I actually mixed, mixed Voodoo Lust. It was, it was the Viscounts PA, because we had our own
Braggy:
Uh…
Gary Slater:
truck and crew and everything. So, and
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
I mixed Voodoo Lust after the
Curly:
Wow.
Gary Slater:
Viscounts was played. And I’d seen them at a party once. And I just remember thinking, my God, these guys are so good. That night,
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
they asked me if I wanted to join, and after the gig, if I wanted to join, because I needed a front man sort of thing. And so obviously I said yes, and then I went home and it was terrible really, but I woke my wife up. I had a one year old and a four year old, and I was just a sheet metal worker with a mortgage. I
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
just woke up
Rossy:
Hehehe
Gary Slater:
at two o’clock in the morning and said, going to Sydney in a band. And we were just there.
Curly:
And away you went.
Gary Slater:
So
Rossy:
Meh.
Gary Slater:
yeah.
Curly:
And that first single that you put out, Shake, Hey, yeah, went on to become number one on the Indie charts.
Gary Slater:
Did, yeah. I was
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
thinking about
Curly:
And
Gary Slater:
that
Curly:
I’ve,
Gary Slater:
today too.
Curly:
and
Gary Slater:
It was…
Curly:
I’ve just got to show that while you’re there. Yeah.
Braggy:
Oh, look at that, the vinyl.
Curly:
You got the, uh,
Rossy:
Ah,
Curly:
the
Gary Slater:
Yeah.
Rossy:
Brad’s
Curly:
boys
Rossy:
very
Curly:
on
Rossy:
attractive,
Curly:
the back
Rossy:
wasn’t
Curly:
there.
Rossy:
he? Brad was very attractive, wasn’t he?
Curly:
How young does Gary look in that?
Rossy:
Yeah
Gary Slater:
Oh, I have to say that too, because we thought we were so old, you know, because we’ve been in 3v2 and this week’s special with the other bands for years. By the time we got started, we’d already been gone for like 10 years in a head.
Rossy:
Yeah, yeah,
Gary Slater:
So, you know,
Rossy:
yeah.
Gary Slater:
it was like when we went to Sydney and I was 25 and Tony was 23, you know, and we remember having these conversations all the time. Don’t tell everyone how old we are. Just don’t tell everyone, you know, because we just… We just thought, well, you know, we’re veterans already. Yeah.
Rossy:
So you guys, when you’re doing that Queensland stuff, there was a little bit of that Hutchison thing up there in those days, wasn’t it?
Gary Slater:
That’s
Rossy:
The
Gary Slater:
what
Rossy:
Hutchos,
Gary Slater:
the vaccines
Braggy:
The
Rossy:
yeah,
Braggy:
circuit,
Rossy:
the Hutchos
Braggy:
yeah.
Rossy:
circuit,
Gary Slater:
did. Yeah.
Rossy:
where
Braggy:
Yep.
Rossy:
you just get, you get out there, like you do three sets a night, and
Gary Slater:
So
Rossy:
sometimes
Gary Slater:
it’s…
Rossy:
a headliner comes in and you play the support of the headliner too.
Gary Slater:
That’s right. And that’s what again we could just do all of that and we could still play all these little inner city cool indie gigs as well Because
Curly:
Mm-hmm.
Gary Slater:
literally
Rossy:
Eh.
Gary Slater:
play like who covers or whatever, you know,
Braggy:
Yeah.
Curly:
No.
Gary Slater:
that’s
Rossy:
Well,
Gary Slater:
quite interesting
Braggy:
And you
Rossy:
hasn’t
Braggy:
go all
Rossy:
Young
Braggy:
the way up
Rossy:
done well
Braggy:
all the
Rossy:
for
Braggy:
way up
Rossy:
himself?
Braggy:
the coast up to Cairns, wouldn’t you? And back again.
Rossy:
Yep.
Braggy:
Oh,
Gary Slater:
Not quite the Cairns, but close. Yeah,
Braggy:
yeah.
Gary Slater:
and
Rossy:
It
Braggy:
Okay.
Gary Slater:
that
Rossy:
hands
Gary Slater:
was it.
Rossy:
full.
Gary Slater:
It’s all out there, you know. Yeah, just
Rossy:
But
Gary Slater:
relentless here, two or two players.
Rossy:
your old mate Dean’s doing alright these days.
Gary Slater:
Yeah, Cosmix, yeah, I know, it’s funny, I was thinking about…
Rossy:
He’s playing in the Cosmic Psychos.
Gary Slater:
Yeah, I know
Curly:
Ah!
Gary Slater:
how he is, yeah. I’ve seen him a couple of times.
Rossy:
I watched the clip for Fuck Wit City and I’m like, really? No way!
Gary Slater:
They’re actually so good, aren’t they? It’s
Rossy:
They
Gary Slater:
funny,
Rossy:
really
Gary Slater:
I was like,
Rossy:
are.
Gary Slater:
I’m being today, because when we first went to Sydney, that’s funny thing, I joined the band in May or June, I reckon we did a first gig with me a week after I joined or something, two weeks maybe. Then we went to the recording studio six weeks, I reckon, after I joined and recorded Shake, Shake and No, No in six
Rossy:
Meh.
Gary Slater:
hours, and that’s including. setting
Rossy:
Big
Gary Slater:
up,
Rossy:
sing.
Gary Slater:
recording, mixing, mastered, finished. That was it, six hours. And none of us had ever seen a studio before.
Rossy:
Hehehe
Gary Slater:
And that was it, done. And then that sold bucket loads. You know,
Curly:
Yeah,
Gary Slater:
crazy
Rossy:
But
Curly:
yeah.
Gary Slater:
man.
Rossy:
even at that early stage, the songs were there.
Curly:
Oh, absolutely.
Rossy:
Like, I’ve mixed the band a fair few times, and the songs were always what made me happy about listening to Voodoo last. And the harmony, the pop songs, the ear, the style, you
Braggy:
Well,
Rossy:
know?
Braggy:
I guess that comes down to playing a lot again, Gary, I guess. And you,
Rossy:
does.
Braggy:
the
Gary Slater:
playing
Braggy:
song,
Gary Slater:
a lot
Braggy:
the song evolves
Gary Slater:
and
Braggy:
and you, and you know what works and what doesn’t work and you go to the studio, bang, you
Gary Slater:
you
Braggy:
do it.
Gary Slater:
know Tony and I have very similar tastes in that you know we like tunes you know really
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
it’s funny you know Voodoo is obviously known for their energy and all that and get associated with the sort of punk era and that but we don’t look at ourselves as a punk band
Rossy:
No.
Gary Slater:
at all
Curly:
Mm.
Gary Slater:
in any way like we’re a pop band
Braggy:
Pop melodies,
Curly:
Yeah.
Braggy:
yeah.
Rossy:
Be you, be you like, you-
Gary Slater:
and that’s you know same as Dr Bombay or pretty much every band I’ve ever been in it’s like pop songs it’s got energy but it’s pop songs.
Rossy:
You’re a bit of a lover of Elvis Costello, for example.
Gary Slater:
How long does this interview go?
Curly:
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
Rossy:
HAHAHAHA! Yeah!
Gary Slater:
Elvis just changed my life forever and a day.
Rossy:
Yeah
Gary Slater:
Prior to that, I was singing originals, but also I guess the main influence of status quo and Deep Purple and stuff like that.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
And I remember obviously the Sex Pistols came out and there was a little talk about Ramos and all this stuff. But then a good friend of mine, Philip, who was in a band with the Dull Trio, the second band I was ever in, great guitar player, Philip, anyway, he said, you gotta come and listen to this new album. And it was, my aim is true, Elvis’s first
Rossy:
Uh.
Gary Slater:
album. And like, we just sat there and just went one song after another. And it was like, there was no guitar solos. The songs
Braggy:
that.
Rossy:
No-
Gary Slater:
were like two minutes long, but great. And then they just finished. And there was another song where we just both on each other go, wow, wow. And the next one, I just, oh my God. And I’ve seen Elvis Costello every time he’s come to Australia, I’ve never missed him ever since 1978. First time he came, I’ve never missed a tour
Rossy:
Mm-hmm.
Gary Slater:
ever. And I’ve been to often Sydney and Brisbane shows, each tour as well. So
Braggy:
And
Gary Slater:
I’m not, you know, I’m not sure.
Braggy:
he still makes good records Elvis too, he’s still going.
Gary Slater:
My name
Rossy:
great
Gary Slater:
is, his
Rossy:
songs.
Gary Slater:
last album is just absolutely fantastic.
Braggy:
Hmm.
Gary Slater:
And I’d say
Rossy:
quality.
Gary Slater:
the album, last few before that probably weren’t his best, but
Braggy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
he’s probably done 27 great albums. You know.
Braggy:
Oh man, punch the clock. I played that thing over, punch the clock over and over and over again. I could talk about Elvis
Curly:
Yeah.
Braggy:
Costello for ages
Gary Slater:
I
Braggy:
too.
Gary Slater:
might have just come up.
Rossy:
I live with a 19 year old who reckons Welcome to the Working Week may be the best pop song ever written.
Braggy:
Oh,
Gary Slater:
This
Curly:
I don’t
Braggy:
that’s
Gary Slater:
year’s
Curly:
know.
Braggy:
a great
Gary Slater:
model,
Braggy:
album,
Gary Slater:
the
Braggy:
man.
Gary Slater:
second album, same thing. I must add
Rossy:
Eh.
Gary Slater:
in though, right at that same time, almost as much as Elvis Costello was the first two Joe Jackson albums.
Braggy:
Yeah.
Rossy:
Yeah,
Curly:
Yeah.
Rossy:
I was gonna say that.
Braggy:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Gary Slater:
Like those two albums and the first two Elvis Costello albums, I’ve
Rossy:
Looks
Gary Slater:
listened
Rossy:
sharp,
Gary Slater:
to
Rossy:
man. Looks
Gary Slater:
this.
Rossy:
sharp.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
Those four albums I’ve probably listened to more than any other albums in my collection, I’d say.
Curly:
Yeah.
Braggy:
Very similar with the keyboards on both those albums, that piano
Gary Slater:
just
Braggy:
on
Gary Slater:
baselines,
Curly:
you
Braggy:
both those
Gary Slater:
just
Braggy:
albums
Gary Slater:
where does
Braggy:
and
Gary Slater:
it
Braggy:
basslines,
Gary Slater:
end?
Braggy:
yeah.
Rossy:
It’s really prevalent in the way you guys write songs though.
Gary Slater:
Yeah,
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
I think so
Rossy:
I
Gary Slater:
too.
Rossy:
can
Curly:
I know.
Rossy:
hear, I can hear it. I can hear it as a tone in your voice. I’ve always heard that.
Gary Slater:
Yeah, yeah, well,
Rossy:
We have had,
Gary Slater:
it’s a compliment, thank you.
Rossy:
we may, we may have had that conversation before on the odd occasion. No.
Gary Slater:
It’s certainly
Curly:
And
Gary Slater:
not a
Curly:
it’s.
Gary Slater:
conscious thing for me, but I
Rossy:
How
Gary Slater:
can’t believe
Rossy:
can.
Gary Slater:
that Elvis Costello has influence. Because I’ve listened to him
Curly:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
so much, you know. I certainly don’t think my songs sound like his, but
Rossy:
done.
Gary Slater:
I can hear that there’s definitely… There’s a new
Rossy:
Nuances.
Braggy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
album, which is pretty Elvis Costello-y, but anyway, we’ll get to that.
Curly:
Absolutely. So I’ve got to put a pause in the conversation because Braggie, have you got your who am I? Your famous…
Braggy:
Well, I’ve got it from last week.
Curly:
Yep. Throw
Braggy:
Was that
Curly:
it on.
Rossy:
Oh
Braggy:
okay?
Rossy:
good.
Curly:
Let’s go.
Braggy:
And
Curly:
Yep.
Braggy:
which
Curly:
So,
Braggy:
you told
Curly:
so
Braggy:
me
Curly:
Gary,
Braggy:
to…
Curly:
what we do is to do a who am I? And we give three,
Gary Slater:
Can I ask a question?
Curly:
three lots of guesses, three lots of hints.
Braggy:
No, normally
Rossy:
It’s the
Braggy:
I…
Rossy:
answer, Tony Hound Dog Harper.
Braggy:
No,
Curly:
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Braggy:
see normally
Gary Slater:
Well,
Braggy:
I
Gary Slater:
I’m
Braggy:
try
Gary Slater:
also expecting
Braggy:
it normally
Gary Slater:
this.
Braggy:
I try and fit it in with the scene where we’re whoever we’re interviewing So
Curly:
Yeah.
Braggy:
I’m a week.
Gary Slater:
Okay.
Braggy:
So you remember last week was old mate from
Curly:
Yeah, from
Rossy:
Demon.
Braggy:
from, yeah, okay, so bear with me with that.
Curly:
British New Wave Heavy Metal. Yeah.
Rossy:
Yeah.
Curly:
Okay. So
Braggy:
It’s a bit of a long one.
Curly:
it’s an English band. So an English person.
Rossy:
Okay. Oh,
Curly:
Ha ha
Rossy:
Gary has an unfair advantage.
Curly:
ha.
Braggy:
I was born on the 7th of August, 1958 in Walkshop, Nottinghamshire. You got it, Gary? No?
Curly:
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Gary Slater:
What year was it again, sir?
Rossy:
1958.
Braggy:
58, 58 in Walkshop, Nottinghamshire.
Gary Slater:
58.
Braggy:
My mother worked part-time in a shoe shop.
Gary Slater:
Let’s go say no to it.
Braggy:
My father was a mechanic in the British Harmony. in the British army. Initially I was brought up by my grandparents. I started school at Manson Primary in Waxop while my parents moved away to Sheffield. Soon afterwards when I was six, so you’re not a guy,
Curly:
Hehehehe
Rossy:
Ugh.
Braggy:
I was also dispatched to Sheffield where I attended a primary school in Manitop. My first musical experience was dancing in my grandparents’ front room to The Twist by Chubby Checker. And the first record I recall owning was She Loves You by the Beatles. I tried to play an acoustic guitar blog, it’s in my father, but it blistered my fingers. At age 11, I was sent to boarding school in Northamptonshire, where I was picked on and routinely bullied by the older boys leading me to become an outsider. I joined the school’s cadet force, which gave me access to live ammunition,
Rossy:
Ha ha ha!
Braggy:
which I used to create explosions and booby traps. I also became
Rossy:
Ha ha.
Braggy:
attracted
Curly:
Uh-huh.
Braggy:
to progressive rock and early heavy metal after hearing Deep Purple’s being played in another student’s room. I soon discovered Black Sabbath Jethro Toll and Emerson Lake and Palmer. That’s part one.
Rossy:
Okay.
Braggy:
Any guesses?
Curly:
I’ve got no idea.
Rossy:
Look, I’m just doing my sums. We’ll keep going on that one. But I reckon,
Braggy:
Okay.
Rossy:
yeah, I reckon I reckon that once I know the answer, I know who it is, but I’ll work back from there.
Braggy:
Okay.
Curly:
All right. So I’m going to move off Elvis Costello for a little bit because I just
Gary Slater:
WONDER!
Curly:
want to share, I just want to share, you know, I read somewhere, Gary, with the Voodoo, with Voodoo last year did something like 1020 shows over six years or something, which just, you know,
Rossy:
I’ll be right.
Curly:
Rossi.
Gary Slater:
I would doubt it other than Hound Dog Harper, like,
Rossy:
has a book. Heheheheheheh.
Gary Slater:
logbooked the whole of
Curly:
So.
Gary Slater:
it. So talking, so I don’t doubt it, yeah. It’s crazy,
Curly:
So,
Gary Slater:
you know, cause we
Curly:
so
Gary Slater:
have… And he
Curly:
I
Gary Slater:
goes…
Curly:
reckon I’ve seen a minor percentage of them, but I used to love seeing Booty Lust and so did my mates Scott and Sack. And so when I made a touch base with them this week, I said, what was your favourite Booty Lust gig? And I just need to share this with you because hopefully you might remember them. The gigs, I don’t know, out of a thousand
Gary Slater:
Oh
Curly:
and twenty
Gary Slater:
yeah!
Curly:
and six years. All
Rossy:
I’m sorry.
Curly:
right. So.
Gary Slater:
Nothing to guess without reviewing.
Curly:
So Scotty shared a gig, apparently there was a pub on St. Paul’s Terrace that was closing down and being demolished and you were the fitting final gig for that particular pub, he remembers that one. And Sack talked about a gig at the Treasury, I think you played the Treasury just about every second week
Gary Slater:
It’s
Curly:
there
Gary Slater:
on.
Curly:
for a stage. And afterwards he shared a chat and a beer with yourself. So they’re two gigs that stand out.
Gary Slater:
Nice.
Curly:
for from Voodoo Lust, yeah.
Gary Slater:
Yeah, that’s brilliant.
Rossy:
My favorite Voodoo last moment, and I mentioned this to Gary, is the Voodoos were supporting the Tribesmen as they did on
Gary Slater:
56 points.
Rossy:
a couple of 56
Gary Slater:
Sorry, if not…
Rossy:
times.
Gary Slater:
..
Rossy:
And every time you supported the Tribesmen, I probably mixed you,
Gary Slater:
you.
Rossy:
just about. And at the Roxy in Brisbane, Voodoos are on, Gary carries a carton of VB from the rider to the front of the stage and says, all right. Who
Braggy:
I’m
Rossy:
wants a beer? And the crowd’s
Braggy:
gonna
Rossy:
just going, RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Braggy:
go to the bathroom.
Curly:
Hahaha!
Gary Slater:
This is my name.
Braggy:
Now that is stage management.
Rossy:
I cried
Curly:
Oh.
Rossy:
with laughter. I cried laughing.
Curly:
Oh, mate.
Rossy:
And you’re still bopping up and down like a big
Gary Slater:
Right.
Rossy:
box on your head. It was
Gary Slater:
Too
Rossy:
great.
Gary Slater:
many musicians take themselves too seriously. Yeah. You
Rossy:
That’s
Curly:
Yeah,
Rossy:
right.
Gary Slater:
know, I really
Curly:
absolutely.
Gary Slater:
believe in it. I mean, the music is serious as obviously.
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
You put everything you’ve got, your heart and soul, everything into practicing and writing, whatever. When you’ve got to perform, you’ve got to perform. It’s not, you know, it’s not motor.
Curly:
How did you
Braggy:
Mmm.
Curly:
find the transition moving from Brisbane to Sydney?
Gary Slater:
full on full
Rossy:
People were nice
Gary Slater:
on full
Rossy:
down here
Gary Slater:
on.
Rossy:
though.
Gary Slater:
I mean for my life I had again as I said earlier one year old and a four-year-old and a wife obviously and a mortgage and a house so just logistically it was like what the hell you know everyone in the band like Dean we had to wait for him to finish grade 12 so he finished grade 12 and we basically boom went to Sydney and yeah I mean we all had partners we’d all split up within six months of getting to Sydney. all of us. Just insane. Sydney then was so different to Brisbane. My God,
Braggy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
we just couldn’t believe. I remember, I think one of our first gives at the Manzell room on a Wednesday night, we were on Thursday, and we were like 3.30 in the morning.
Curly:
Hahaha.
Gary Slater:
In Brisbane, everything finished at 12 o’clock back then. Just that sort of thing.
Braggy:
That
Gary Slater:
And just
Braggy:
sort
Gary Slater:
obviously
Braggy:
of thing. It’s
Gary Slater:
the logistics
Braggy:
obviously the logistics
Gary Slater:
of Sydney,
Braggy:
of Sydney,
Gary Slater:
just getting
Braggy:
getting
Gary Slater:
around.
Braggy:
around and getting
Gary Slater:
Yeah,
Braggy:
focus
Gary Slater:
it freaked
Braggy:
out
Gary Slater:
us out a
Braggy:
of
Gary Slater:
bit,
Braggy:
it.
Gary Slater:
truly. But… we could play a lot.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
And we were really excited about that. I mean, that’s what we went there to do, play
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
a lot, and it was
Rossy:
But
Gary Slater:
great.
Rossy:
from the first time you guys hit the stage in Sydney, the first time I saw you guys, you could just tell you were so polished, the energy was high, and just, you knew what you were doing. Though you had structure that other people didn’t have about their show. Like
Gary Slater:
Again.
Rossy:
even at the start of the show, they’d come out and the drummer had drummed, right? You start with the Peter Gunn theme, right? The drummer had drummed, then the bass player had come in, then Tony had played, then Gary had started. And that was in lieu of a sound check, right? Gave the sound guy time to pull up a drum
Gary Slater:
Yeah.
Rossy:
sound, pull up a… dial the bass in, dial the guitar in, Gary sang, and it was just those little tricks
Gary Slater:
We were
Rossy:
that
Gary Slater:
conscious of everything. Like
Curly:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
the one centimeter
Rossy:
you knew.
Gary Slater:
angle that an amplifier was aimed at. It’s just, everything is so important when you’re on stage to make a difference and make it perfect. And again, the performance
Rossy:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
is the icing on the cake, but you’ve got to be able to do all those other little things, which only comes from earlier, like we said, lucky enough to play literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of sets, really, before we even started Vodiloss. You know, so it’s really.
Curly:
Hmm.
Rossy:
But to be fair to Gary, it’s more than just that. Because what I can tell you about the Voodoo’s and why every headlining band in the world loved to have Voodoo Lust supporting them, is that Voodoo Lust would turn up en masse at load-in and bump in as a band.
Curly:
Yeah.
Rossy:
Every one of them, all four band members, and even the lighting person they had would load. And we’d have a three-man crew and four Voodoo’s. And if you knew the Voodoo’s were your support band, you’d go, happy days. And they had a work ethic. and they understood what they were doing. And
Gary Slater:
Well,
Curly:
NEM
Gary Slater:
you
Rossy:
even when
Gary Slater:
know,
Rossy:
Gary wasn’t doing shows, all
Gary Slater:
I
Rossy:
right?
Gary Slater:
love crews, you know, you know that.
Rossy:
Yeah, yeah,
Gary Slater:
You know,
Rossy:
but Kerry.
Gary Slater:
I feel more like sort of almost more comfortable with roadies than I do with musicians.
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
You know, kind of like, I don’t know, it’s just so I grew up in housing commission or something. I don’t know, but I’m just working,
Curly:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
played
Braggy:
More reliable.
Gary Slater:
lots of team sport,
Curly:
Thanks for watching!
Gary Slater:
just, I don’t know. Like it’s just, it just seems the right thing to do, you know, just help out, be fair, you know.
Rossy:
But the other blokes, their work ethic was incredible. When Gary wasn’t doing shows, he’d make money by going loading for other bands like Lime Spiders
Gary Slater:
is
Rossy:
or
Gary Slater:
go
Rossy:
Painters and Dockers
Gary Slater:
and take
Rossy:
or Joe
Gary Slater:
that,
Rossy:
Camilleri,
Gary Slater:
take that.
Rossy:
big bands, big bands, big PAs and Gary would be doing that.
Gary Slater:
And you
Rossy:
So
Gary Slater:
know what,
Rossy:
like.
Gary Slater:
even when Voodoo’s got to the point where we were getting like good money for supports, you know, obviously when you start, you’re getting under bucks or whatever, you know, we were
Rossy:
Nah.
Gary Slater:
obviously getting some pretty big money to do supports when we got a bit of a profile. And even then I would still do the load in and load out and like the Voodoo’s would, because otherwise we’d have to pay someone anyway. So they would just pay me. So I would basically load in, load out and do the gig and then drive to the next gig. Load in, load out, do the gig, drive next gig. So
Curly:
Hmm
Gary Slater:
yeah, always load it, always.
Rossy:
The omnipresent voodoo van.
Gary Slater:
Well, you know, we had the voodoo
Curly:
Ha ha
Gary Slater:
van
Curly:
ha.
Gary Slater:
today as well.
Braggy:
It’s,
Gary Slater:
Even that,
Braggy:
um,
Gary Slater:
you
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
know,
Braggy:
it’s,
Gary Slater:
at the time we just do it, but
Braggy:
it’s so
Gary Slater:
that
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
was
Braggy:
true,
Gary Slater:
not.
Braggy:
Gary, what you say about, um, you know, the, all that other stuff is, uh, is the hard work and you put the icing on the top. And if people are listening now, they’re not, they’re not musicians. I just want to say like, every room is so different. And so all that experience, you know, oh, this room’s a bigger room. So I’m going to have to have my amp set this way for this one. And that’s little traps you fall down early on. And the more and more
Rossy:
Hmm.
Braggy:
you do it, is there a Rossi? Yeah. The more and more you do it, the
Rossy:
Nah,
Braggy:
more, the more pro you get. And so I’d love getting
Rossy:
it’s
Braggy:
in
Rossy:
not.
Braggy:
and lugging out. You must learn shit as well. You
Gary Slater:
Yeah,
Braggy:
know.
Gary Slater:
do.
Curly:
Hmm.
Rossy:
Oh, fuck yeah.
Gary Slater:
Try
Rossy:
But
Gary Slater:
not
Rossy:
there’s
Gary Slater:
to
Rossy:
nothing
Gary Slater:
get
Rossy:
wrong.
Gary Slater:
too drunk. That’s one of the things.
Rossy:
Yes. But yeah, we would, we would enjoy ourselves on
Curly:
Yeah.
Rossy:
the odd occasion.
Gary Slater:
I don’t remember loading out a few times Rossie.
Braggy:
Ha ha!
Curly:
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
Rossy:
You and me both mate, don’t you worry about that.
Gary Slater:
I couldn’t drop too much. I got to quickly tell you one
Curly:
Ahem.
Gary Slater:
quick story. Just the other day I shared this with someone. We were playing, I think it was a Central Leagues Club in,
Rossy:
Central
Gary Slater:
like
Rossy:
Cash Slates.
Gary Slater:
Central Coast Leagues, and I think it’s famous for a six staircase, concrete stair loading, only way, shit house. And we played there with the angels.
Curly:
Hmm.
Gary Slater:
Couple of bloody big Sammy’s rocker, and we just kind
Rossy:
Yep,
Gary Slater:
of went, anyway,
Rossy:
that’s right.
Gary Slater:
so we loaded in, loaded out. Anyway, when it comes to load out, they had this guy in their crew, he was like, about my size, a little fella, but obviously a real speed head at the time, nuts, you know, crazy. And we’re getting
Rossy:
Was that
Gary Slater:
the W
Rossy:
Saucy?
Gary Slater:
bins, it might have been,
Curly:
Mm-hmm.
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
I reckon, we knew him, you’d know
Rossy:
Yeah,
Gary Slater:
him. But
Rossy:
yeah, yeah.
Gary Slater:
anyway, the W bins, you remember then they were like double Ws, the size of a bloody truck, these
Rossy:
Boats.
Gary Slater:
things.
Braggy:
Four people,
Rossy:
Yeah, yeah,
Braggy:
yeah.
Rossy:
yeah.
Gary Slater:
Anyway, we get to the stairs outside there, end of the night, he says, oh, get on the front, two ears on the back.
Rossy:
Hahaha!
Gary Slater:
And he goes, yeah, it was me and Brad on the back.
Rossy:
Yayay
Gary Slater:
going up halfway down the stairs, it goes. And it’s
Rossy:
Yep.
Gary Slater:
down the stairs, you know, oh my God, this guy’s gonna be dead, you know? And we’re like, where am I? We just fainted, and he was like stuck inside the W bin.
Rossy:
Ha ha!
Braggy:
Ha ha!
Gary Slater:
Skin off him everywhere,
Braggy:
Thanks for watching!
Gary Slater:
just, oh my God, anyway. You get that.
Braggy:
Uh…
Rossy:
Oh
Curly:
We
Rossy:
man,
Curly:
do.
Rossy:
but those guys
Curly:
We do.
Rossy:
work so hard. Those guys, like those angels shows, the semi
Gary Slater:
I’m a
Rossy:
trailer, the amount of gear they had, it was
Braggy:
Well, it must be
Rossy:
like
Braggy:
an amp. The amp
Rossy:
mind
Braggy:
racks
Rossy:
boggling.
Braggy:
must have been.
Rossy:
Yeah.
Braggy:
That was
Rossy:
Oh
Braggy:
that.
Rossy:
yeah.
Braggy:
That was the worst. That were the worst things to the freaking lift in, weren’t they?
Gary Slater:
Sometimes we’d load out after like a gig and then drive to the next city.
Rossy:
Yeah,
Gary Slater:
It’s
Curly:
Damn.
Gary Slater:
just
Rossy:
that’s
Gary Slater:
crazy
Rossy:
right.
Gary Slater:
these days. Think about the Voodoo van. I got a quick look at that today. It was a 1600 CC Mazda van. So not a big van. And we used to get, we used to take crew with us, like, you know, whatever lighting and sound Kenny or Jackie and,
Rossy:
Uh.
Gary Slater:
you know, Adrian Carroll would come with us. The band and Tony would have two marshals, bass rig, drum kit, all our gear. And I only had like two seats in the front, someone would sit on the motor between the seats.
Braggy:
Oh yeah.
Gary Slater:
And then
Rossy:
Hehehe
Braggy:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Gary Slater:
all the gear would be like a two foot corridor where three people would have to sit across the van with this wall of amps next to them. And that was it.
Curly:
hahahaha
Gary Slater:
That’s how we toured everywhere from Townsville to Adelaide, probably 600 gigs, I reckon, driving,
Rossy:
Yeah.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
parking everything into that van. Never flew.
Rossy:
We’re always happy to see it. Always happy to see the Voodoo Van pull up.
Gary Slater:
Yeah, it’s hilarious. And so many
Curly:
Hahaha.
Gary Slater:
breakdowns and so many. We used the bass string once for an accelerator cable through the window.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
We just got this bass
Curly:
Hahaha.
Gary Slater:
string.
Rossy:
Tony wasn’t bad with motors though.
Gary Slater:
Yeah, it wasn’t too bad. I was probably more into that than him then. He’s more into it
Rossy:
Yeah,
Gary Slater:
now.
Rossy:
yeah.
Curly:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
He’s always got like a bunch of cars, Tony, and a bunch of guitars, obviously.
Rossy:
Yeah, Tony’s collect. We did a show with the last play at the factory floor in Sydney. Five years back, guys, maybe five, six years back.
Gary Slater:
Thank
Rossy:
And and
Gary Slater:
you.
Rossy:
Tony, Tony said he’d only do the gig if he could do his gear. So Gary’s driven down from Brisbane with all the stage gear. Yeah. And
Gary Slater:
Just
Rossy:
and
Gary Slater:
time is
Rossy:
one
Gary Slater:
given.
Rossy:
of the
Gary Slater:
It filled
Rossy:
and
Gary Slater:
my
Rossy:
one of
Gary Slater:
head.
Rossy:
the and one of the guitars Tony sent down was a double neck Gibson like Jimmy Page played. Right.
Curly:
All right.
Rossy:
And I was at I was
Curly:
Okay.
Rossy:
at the back tuning guitars. And Tony’s called for that song, that guitar. I poked it through the window. I heard a gasp from people go, oh my God, he’s got a double neck guitar. And
Gary Slater:
He’s got
Rossy:
that
Gary Slater:
everything.
Rossy:
was Tony. He has.
Gary Slater:
He’s probably got about, he’s a bit coy about it, but you know, about 70, I think.
Rossy:
Yeah,
Curly:
Mm.
Gary Slater:
Yeah,
Rossy:
yeah,
Gary Slater:
about
Rossy:
it’s meant
Gary Slater:
the same
Rossy:
right.
Gary Slater:
with the Lambs too. So yeah,
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
ridiculous. He’s a habit collector.
Rossy:
Collect
Gary Slater:
He
Rossy:
is
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
still
Rossy:
a
Gary Slater:
plays
Rossy:
collector.
Gary Slater:
every day. He’s a, yeah, he’s just born to play, you know. When I met him when he was like, you know, 14 years old or whatever, he could already play like exactly the same as he can play now. It doesn’t make, he’s not any better. Like at
Braggy:
I’m
Gary Slater:
14,
Braggy:
gonna
Gary Slater:
he could play.
Braggy:
go play.
Gary Slater:
Hendrix like it was just nothing.
Curly:
Hmm.
Gary Slater:
Just an amazing player.
Curly:
So one of the highlights, Gary, with, you know, Verdi, Lastin, as we were talking before the show, Dr. Bombay, any band that you’re in gets the pleasure, I guess, of Gary Slater upfront and the energy and the frantic and the, and I cannot understand how you’re still doing what you’re doing as a front man for a band as we all get unfortunately older and time does
Gary Slater:
Well,
Curly:
its
Gary Slater:
thank
Curly:
trick
Gary Slater:
you.
Curly:
on
Gary Slater:
A lot
Curly:
us.
Gary Slater:
of exercise. I have
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
to be honest.
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
I exercise all the time. Always played sport. I played sport until I was 40. I always played sport as well. Maybe a few years in the real nitty gritty of voodoo’s where I didn’t play sport, but I pretty much played so many seasons of different sports. I
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
just love running, still run most
Rossy:
Mm.
Gary Slater:
days. Good 5K run most days. I guess I’ve been a tyler for like 30 years. That kind of helps. Do
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
a few hundred leg squats a day and carry tiles upstairs and mix cement by hand, just this stuff, you know? But
Rossy:
Gaz
Gary Slater:
yeah, I mean,
Rossy:
and
Gary Slater:
it’s
Rossy:
I
Gary Slater:
just.
Rossy:
both… We’ve both had the shoulder, Gaz, haven’t we?
Gary Slater:
Yeah, I’m still
Braggy:
I’m still
Gary Slater:
not
Braggy:
not
Gary Slater:
up and
Braggy:
off
Gary Slater:
back.
Braggy:
the back. I’ve
Gary Slater:
I’ve
Braggy:
got
Gary Slater:
got about
Braggy:
about
Gary Slater:
three
Braggy:
three
Gary Slater:
months
Braggy:
months
Gary Slater:
to go
Braggy:
to go
Gary Slater:
till
Braggy:
if
Gary Slater:
I’m
Braggy:
I’m
Gary Slater:
back
Braggy:
back
Gary Slater:
at work
Braggy:
at work
Gary Slater:
officially.
Braggy:
officially.
Gary Slater:
So
Braggy:
So
Gary Slater:
yeah, I’m
Braggy:
yeah,
Gary Slater:
just
Braggy:
I’m just
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
still
Braggy:
still
Gary Slater:
hanging
Braggy:
putting
Gary Slater:
in there,
Braggy:
in there,
Gary Slater:
but it’s
Braggy:
but
Gary Slater:
a
Braggy:
it’s
Gary Slater:
lot
Braggy:
a lot
Gary Slater:
better
Braggy:
better
Gary Slater:
than it was.
Braggy:
than it
Gary Slater:
But
Braggy:
was.
Rossy:
But
Gary Slater:
yeah,
Curly:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
I’m still running a lot though, thank God. I couldn’t play guitar for about six months. That killed me.
Rossy:
big part of you use healthy diet too though.
Gary Slater:
Yeah, healthy diet,
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
yeah. I still
Rossy:
Yeah, no, it really is.
Curly:
Living,
Gary Slater:
want
Curly:
living,
Gary Slater:
to ask
Curly:
living well.
Rossy:
Huh?
Gary Slater:
the vegan
Rossy:
No, it’s
Gary Slater:
question.
Rossy:
a good
Braggy:
I’ve
Gary Slater:
The
Rossy:
thing.
Braggy:
been
Gary Slater:
vegan, yeah,
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
well, you know,
Braggy:
vegan
Gary Slater:
I’ve been
Braggy:
for about
Gary Slater:
vegan for about 15
Braggy:
15
Gary Slater:
years,
Braggy:
years
Gary Slater:
I was
Braggy:
on
Gary Slater:
vegetarian
Braggy:
vegetarian
Rossy:
Mm.
Gary Slater:
for about
Braggy:
bread
Gary Slater:
17
Braggy:
17
Gary Slater:
before
Braggy:
before
Gary Slater:
that,
Braggy:
that,
Gary Slater:
so
Braggy:
so
Gary Slater:
yeah,
Braggy:
yeah,
Gary Slater:
32
Braggy:
32
Curly:
Okay.
Rossy:
It’s right.
Gary Slater:
years,
Braggy:
years.
Gary Slater:
and that’s
Braggy:
That’s
Gary Slater:
no
Braggy:
no
Gary Slater:
eggs
Braggy:
age limit,
Gary Slater:
or anything
Braggy:
it’s only
Gary Slater:
for like
Braggy:
32
Gary Slater:
32
Braggy:
years, so
Gary Slater:
years,
Braggy:
yeah.
Gary Slater:
so
Braggy:
Yeah,
Gary Slater:
yeah.
Curly:
Wow.
Gary Slater:
Yeah, that’s a
Braggy:
it’s
Gary Slater:
very,
Rossy:
It’s a.
Gary Slater:
very
Braggy:
very
Gary Slater:
important
Braggy:
important
Gary Slater:
thing
Braggy:
thing
Gary Slater:
to me,
Braggy:
to me
Gary Slater:
obviously.
Braggy:
obviously,
Gary Slater:
But you know,
Curly:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
I’m
Rossy:
It obviously
Gary Slater:
happy to
Braggy:
but
Gary Slater:
talk
Braggy:
you
Rossy:
works
Gary Slater:
about
Braggy:
know,
Gary Slater:
music
Rossy:
for you.
Braggy:
I’m
Gary Slater:
or
Braggy:
happy
Gary Slater:
whatever,
Braggy:
with my life.
Gary Slater:
but
Braggy:
But
Gary Slater:
veganism
Braggy:
whatever, veganism
Gary Slater:
is obviously
Braggy:
is obviously
Gary Slater:
massive
Braggy:
massive
Gary Slater:
to me,
Braggy:
to me.
Gary Slater:
big
Braggy:
Veganism
Rossy:
It
Gary Slater:
thing.
Rossy:
is,
Braggy:
is
Rossy:
but
Braggy:
the
Rossy:
it works
Braggy:
first
Rossy:
for you guys, doesn’t
Curly:
Yeah.
Rossy:
it?
Braggy:
for
Gary Slater:
Well,
Braggy:
you guys.
Gary Slater:
you know, hey, you know, I’ve never met a vegan that didn’t say they felt better
Braggy:
I
Gary Slater:
when
Braggy:
didn’t
Gary Slater:
they went vegan
Curly:
Hmm.
Braggy:
say that it felt
Gary Slater:
in
Braggy:
better
Gary Slater:
30
Braggy:
when I was in
Gary Slater:
years.
Braggy:
school. Exactly,
Gary Slater:
So what
Braggy:
yeah, good
Gary Slater:
do
Braggy:
point.
Gary Slater:
you say? You
Rossy:
No,
Gary Slater:
know,
Rossy:
that’s
Gary Slater:
that’s
Rossy:
a…
Gary Slater:
good evidence. Yeah, it works. You know, you just got to be a little bit smarter about what you eat, you know, you can’t just eat, you know, because literally could eat potato chips and Coca-Cola and be a vegan, couldn’t you? You know, you
Rossy:
Hahaha!
Gary Slater:
need to, you know, you find most vegans actually
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
seem to be more, much more conscious of food groups because they need to be, I suppose.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
Most vegans get knowledge as you go and you never stop learning, I guess. It’s about food and
Rossy:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
stuff. But yeah, I’m very
Braggy:
Well,
Gary Slater:
passionate about it.
Braggy:
it would be a lot easier nowadays too, Gary, wouldn’t it? Then
Gary Slater:
Well,
Braggy:
when you were 30 years ago, that would have been tough, especially
Gary Slater:
totally.
Braggy:
in Australia.
Gary Slater:
Totally. Well, very hard. Very hard. Like, Carol, my wife and I, we were just starting to hook up around a bit. We already knew each other. She was my girlfriend Jackie. You remember Jackie? You remember Carol from back then. She was like Jackie’s best friend. We were actually playing with the Uncanny X-Men at Newcastle. And the sound guy, John, I think his name was… his partner was outside getting a hot dog and Carol went out and they had a hot dog and they actually served vegetarian hot dogs and she said to Carol, you know, you should try one of them. And she explained a little bit to her. And that was the catalyst for Carol. And around about the same time for me, the catalyst was just being on tour, relentlessly and eating shit takeaway
Braggy:
Mmm.
Rossy:
TIT
Gary Slater:
food, which was essentially mostly meat, isn’t it? Because if you go to a
Curly:
Hmm
Gary Slater:
hot box at a server, you get sausages or pies, you know, and I was just had every gut issue imaginable eating
Curly:
hahahaha
Gary Slater:
this shit, you know. And I just said, right, that’s it. And I stopped eating that. So selfish, it wasn’t for the animals, it was for me.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
But Carol,
Braggy:
Mm.
Gary Slater:
you know, it was for the animals and we hooked up pretty much together around about that same time. So we very quickly evolved into understanding all the other benefits of it. And we both just went down that path together. And veganism was just the minute someone explained the dairy industry to me, we were vegan that night. So, you
Curly:
Wow.
Braggy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
know,
Curly:
That quick.
Rossy:
dude
Gary Slater:
I was ignorant. And there
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
was a moment I wasn’t ignorant, I was vegan. So
Rossy:
That’s
Gary Slater:
that’s
Rossy:
right.
Gary Slater:
it.
Braggy:
Excellent.
Curly:
Hmm.
Gary Slater:
Thank you.
Curly:
When you look at the recorded works out of Voodoo Lust, there was a range of singles, you know, Stop Breaking My Heart went to number one on the indie charts as well, and there were two EPs. Is there any regrets around
Gary Slater:
Yeah.
Curly:
what happened with Voodoo Lust and how the
Gary Slater:
I’m
Curly:
record?
Gary Slater:
so glad you asked me that question, because obviously there is this massive regrets and recording is the biggest one.
Curly:
Yeah.
Rossy:
world.
Gary Slater:
To my opinion, and I didn’t write the songs particularly in video last, I helped finish them off a bit and stuff like that, but Tony wrote most of the songs and Brad initially.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
And to me, we probably had at least three albums at least worth of good material that
Curly:
Wow.
Gary Slater:
we didn’t record. And that
Rossy:
Mm.
Gary Slater:
as a songwriter, I’ve written more songs as I’ve gotten older. That’s sacrilegious to me. You know, those, those best songs that Tony and Brad wrote
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
aren’t recorded. And if you’ve got to regret as a musician, that’s got to be it. It’s like, wow, I didn’t document that, that good song
Curly:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
I wrote. And Brad, you know, wow, you know, Brad was a, Brad was a complicated man, but he was a genius in my opinion. And he
Rossy:
Now beyond belief, you remember that one?
Gary Slater:
There’s some honestly, there’s eight or 10 songs that Brad wrote
Rossy:
Mm.
Gary Slater:
early on in the band that are masterpieces that never ever, once he left the band, we stopped sort of playing them live and obviously we were never gonna record them. Although, you know, we did do, what was a couple of his songs, you know, like she’s a psychedelic,
Rossy:
Yep.
Gary Slater:
Brad, but he just had that thing about him, you know, Tony and I are very similar in we’re kind of like, I don’t know, I guess more classic sort of rock and roll pop writers, whereas
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
Brad. was it you know anything could come out of that man he was more
Curly:
Hmm.
Gary Slater:
artistic Tony and I were tradesmen like
Rossy:
But because you could all sing, it added another layer to it as well,
Curly:
I did.
Rossy:
right?
Curly:
It did.
Gary Slater:
Well,
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
incredible. You know, like before I joined again, they were already so impressive. You
Rossy:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
know, before I joined, I had Brad and Tony and Dean who could all sing well.
Curly:
Hehehehehehe
Braggy:
Mm.
Rossy:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
So I’d watch them think, my God, you know, and then they asked me to join. So of course I was like, wow.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
Yeah, so we could do four-part harmonies. And again, you know,
Rossy:
And we’re
Gary Slater:
so,
Rossy:
all big fans.
Gary Slater:
yeah, you know, I remember, I remember Matt and Matt at times in the two of our after gigs or whatever, and it’s complimentary. People would say, oh, you know, because we do silly things on stage, and that’s what they’d remember. And it was almost a little bit, it was our own fault, I get it, but sometimes you think, I wish someone had come up to us and said, what about when you did that three and four by harmony, you know?
Rossy:
Hehehehe
Gary Slater:
That
Braggy:
Hmm
Gary Slater:
was amazing. And that arrangement where you did that was really good, you know, because so much work goes into all that,
Curly:
Yeah,
Gary Slater:
as you know, it’s not
Curly:
yeah,
Gary Slater:
just
Braggy:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
jumping around being silly.
Curly:
yeah.
Gary Slater:
It’s, anyway, it is what it’s rock and roll,
Braggy:
So
Gary Slater:
you know.
Braggy:
is there any way to bring these songs back from the dead? Is there live recordings of them?
Gary Slater:
No. No, yeah, there is some, they vary
Braggy:
Yeah?
Gary Slater:
in quality. And, oh, you know, there’s actually like, there’s a demo of, I think, six or eight songs that I only came into my hands, like about a year or two ago as well, which I forgot we even did. So,
Curly:
Wow.
Gary Slater:
and
Braggy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
it’s actually pretty good, but nah, look, you know, we’re fussy, and Tony is incredibly fussy
Braggy:
Okay.
Gary Slater:
about everything, and I take
Rossy:
Mm-hmm.
Gary Slater:
my hat off to him. He’s not
Braggy:
He’s
Gary Slater:
gonna
Braggy:
not gonna
Gary Slater:
release
Braggy:
release
Gary Slater:
anything
Braggy:
anything
Gary Slater:
that’s
Braggy:
that’s
Gary Slater:
not
Braggy:
not
Gary Slater:
spot
Braggy:
spot
Gary Slater:
on.
Braggy:
on. Yeah.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
Unfortunately, no. We wish we could, we can’t even make a compilation album because we don’t know where everything is. What we’ve got
Rossy:
Mm-hmm
Gary Slater:
sort of mask, it’s all two inch tape and all this stuff, you know? There’s literally things like Tony says, well, oh, I think that’s in the cupboard at my mum’s.
Curly:
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Gary Slater:
So we just don’t even know where even
Curly:
Uhhhh…
Gary Slater:
all our microtapes are, so we can’t even put it. Because we thought about if we did another gig or two, you know, it’s
Braggy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
not out of the question. You know, but it’d be nice to have something because we
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
could do a compilation album. We go, here we go. We just, it makes
Braggy:
Yeah!
Gary Slater:
it, we can’t.
Curly:
Yeah, it’d be nice to bring your music because it’s, you know, into the streaming world because I was
Rossy:
Yeah.
Curly:
just thinking before, Gary, with the energy on stage and the dynamics between the band, that it’s a shame in a way you were powered by that generation. But today, with the advent of, you know, iPhone phone coverage and videos on stage and all of this, I could just imagine how awesome the Voodoo’s would have been in respect of, you know, all the content that potentially could have been created through social media and driven the band. So it just…
Gary Slater:
Yeah,
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
it’s ironic isn’t it? I mean you can’t take it back but
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
you know absolutely. A lot of people say that similar thing to us you know like what happened, what happened you know.
Curly:
Hmm.
Gary Slater:
We got offered a major record deal as well.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
If not two, one I know of absolutely
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
and another one sniffed and asked and stuff so definitely one absolute offer that we knocked back
Rossy:
Mm.
Curly:
game.
Gary Slater:
because we just felt as though being independent was more important. We were very
Curly:
Hmm.
Gary Slater:
much from that sort of era of like,
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
you know, the old Midnight All thing, right? So, you know, you can’t sign to a major, you know, da da. And at that similar time, Trial of Bites and a few other bands signed two majors. And it was the same
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
time that we were offered and we decided not to. So, in hindsight, do I regret that? Maybe, yeah, you know,
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
sometimes no, I mean, but that, so we, I guess we had ourselves to blame. We had the chance to go to the next level, really. And
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
we said no, so.
Curly:
Well, I’m very grateful you got Taste of Bitterness on recording.
Rossy:
Yeah,
Curly:
So that’s
Rossy:
what
Curly:
one of
Rossy:
a
Curly:
my
Rossy:
song,
Curly:
favorite songs.
Rossy:
what
Gary Slater:
Graced him.
Rossy:
a song.
Gary Slater:
Graced him. Yeah, you
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
know, well, what can I say? You know, my dog’s written a few beauties. That’s for sure. I was lucky enough
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
to get to sing them.
Curly:
Yeah, yeah. So then Voodoo’s, when did Voodoo’s break up?
Gary Slater:
I think about 92,
Curly:
Okay, and then
Gary Slater:
91, 92,
Curly:
what
Gary Slater:
you
Curly:
was
Gary Slater:
know,
Curly:
the next step for you in your
Gary Slater:
trial
Curly:
journey?
Gary Slater:
or bite straight away. I was, I left Voodoo Lust and I was in, well, I didn’t leave Voodoo Lust, Voodoo Lust left me. So
Curly:
I’m going to go
Gary Slater:
that’s
Curly:
to bed.
Gary Slater:
the story. Like I, you know, I mean, it is what it is now, but at the time I was like, what the fuck, you know,
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
I didn’t see
Braggy:
I was
Gary Slater:
it
Braggy:
like,
Gary Slater:
come.
Braggy:
I’m
Gary Slater:
And
Braggy:
sick.
Gary Slater:
I was
Braggy:
I
Gary Slater:
like
Braggy:
was like,
Gary Slater:
flabbergasted.
Braggy:
I’m a lousy person.
Gary Slater:
So,
Braggy:
The
Gary Slater:
you know, hey, the world
Braggy:
world
Gary Slater:
fell
Braggy:
fell
Gary Slater:
out for
Braggy:
out
Gary Slater:
me.
Braggy:
for me.
Gary Slater:
I was
Braggy:
I was
Gary Slater:
like the
Braggy:
off
Gary Slater:
hell.
Braggy:
to hell.
Gary Slater:
And then
Braggy:
And
Gary Slater:
I
Braggy:
then I
Gary Slater:
literally got
Braggy:
looked and
Gary Slater:
asked
Braggy:
got
Gary Slater:
to join
Braggy:
asked
Gary Slater:
the trial
Braggy:
to join
Gary Slater:
or
Braggy:
the
Gary Slater:
bites
Braggy:
trial
Gary Slater:
a week
Braggy:
bikes
Gary Slater:
or
Braggy:
a
Gary Slater:
two
Braggy:
week
Gary Slater:
later.
Braggy:
or two later.
Gary Slater:
So
Braggy:
So
Gary Slater:
Dolly left
Braggy:
Dolly
Gary Slater:
the
Braggy:
left
Gary Slater:
trial
Braggy:
the
Gary Slater:
about
Braggy:
trial
Gary Slater:
pretty
Braggy:
bikes
Gary Slater:
much
Braggy:
and went
Gary Slater:
at the
Braggy:
to
Gary Slater:
same
Braggy:
the same
Gary Slater:
time
Braggy:
time
Gary Slater:
that Tony
Braggy:
that
Gary Slater:
disbanded
Braggy:
Tony disbanded
Gary Slater:
the Voodoo’s.
Braggy:
the Boogoo’s.
Gary Slater:
And in the
Braggy:
And then
Gary Slater:
end,
Braggy:
the
Gary Slater:
Tony,
Braggy:
end of the day, the
Gary Slater:
Brad
Braggy:
rat
Gary Slater:
came back
Braggy:
came back
Gary Slater:
on the
Braggy:
on
Gary Slater:
scene
Braggy:
the scene
Gary Slater:
and Tony
Braggy:
and Tony
Gary Slater:
went to
Braggy:
went
Gary Slater:
England
Braggy:
to England.
Gary Slater:
with Brad
Braggy:
And
Rossy:
The upsets.
Gary Slater:
and Phil. Yeah,
Braggy:
you
Curly:
Mm.
Gary Slater:
and you know,
Braggy:
know,
Gary Slater:
so,
Braggy:
so,
Gary Slater:
you know,
Braggy:
you
Gary Slater:
hey,
Braggy:
know,
Gary Slater:
it’s
Braggy:
I had
Gary Slater:
interesting. You
Braggy:
to
Gary Slater:
know,
Braggy:
get
Gary Slater:
again, at
Braggy:
back.
Gary Slater:
the time it was like, what the hell have you been in? Tony and I gave each other a hug at the airport, still best mates, and off he went. So, you know, that’s what he needed to do, I get it.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
But obviously
Rossy:
Hmm.
Gary Slater:
at the time for me it was like, whoa, you know. I was still heads down, ass up into the Voodoo’s. Even though at the time I was managing the Voodoo’s, booking the Voodoo’s and tour managing the Voodoo’s and singing. So it was hectic, my life was mental. So it’s kind
Rossy:
Hmm
Gary Slater:
of a relief in a way, I guess. But then yeah, when Trialobytes, who I just obviously loved,
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
asked
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
me to join them, it was like, beauty, well, sweet, all right, next step, I’ll join the Trialobytes. And off I did. That was interesting. I mean, I wanted to change the name. That’s another story.
Curly:
of the trailer bites.
Gary Slater:
Yeah, you
Curly:
Okay.
Gary Slater:
know, Glenn Abbott, different drummer at the time as well, because Stano lived as well.
Rossy:
stop where I was going, yeah.
Gary Slater:
Yeah, so Glenn Abbott, who ended up joining Machine Gun Felatio and myself joined and I was straight away sort of was starting to contribute melodies and stuff and lyrics. And obviously Dolly is just an incredible lyricist and nothing like me. Now,
Rossy:
Mm.
Gary Slater:
I write pop
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
songs. Dolly writes poetry. It’s just incredible what he writes. He has a totally different technique.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
to writing and the whole trial about a different technique to video last different, you know, it’s like not as poppy as video last, you know, so I could still sing like in a rock voice. I can do all the trial about songs and hit the notes and all the rest of it. To me, I thought, and I remember early on suggesting, well, I’m starting to write songs for the band. It’s sounding really different. You know, let’s change the name and just start again. You bad.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
No, I understand. Also, you know, the trial about its legacy and you know, it’s hard to let go. You know, like they had all
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
these great songs and albums under their belt, you know. So we did
Braggy:
We did
Gary Slater:
one
Braggy:
one
Gary Slater:
album
Braggy:
album
Gary Slater:
together,
Braggy:
together,
Gary Slater:
and Rob
Braggy:
we
Gary Slater:
Younger
Rossy:
Mm.
Braggy:
did
Gary Slater:
did it with
Braggy:
it with
Gary Slater:
us,
Braggy:
a
Gary Slater:
and a single
Braggy:
single
Gary Slater:
as well.
Braggy:
as well.
Gary Slater:
And I think it was
Braggy:
About
Gary Slater:
about three
Braggy:
three
Gary Slater:
years, it
Braggy:
years
Gary Slater:
was
Braggy:
it
Gary Slater:
great.
Braggy:
was great,
Gary Slater:
Like, you know,
Braggy:
wonderful
Gary Slater:
wonderful
Braggy:
band,
Gary Slater:
band,
Braggy:
fantastic
Gary Slater:
fantastic musicians
Braggy:
musicians,
Gary Slater:
and great guys. Love
Braggy:
I love
Gary Slater:
them all,
Braggy:
them
Gary Slater:
like
Braggy:
all, but
Gary Slater:
great
Braggy:
this
Gary Slater:
times.
Braggy:
is
Gary Slater:
But just,
Braggy:
a dad!
Gary Slater:
it’s just,
Braggy:
I
Gary Slater:
yeah, you can quite have
Braggy:
can’t
Gary Slater:
the magic,
Braggy:
imagine,
Gary Slater:
I think. I
Braggy:
I
Gary Slater:
think we
Braggy:
don’t
Gary Slater:
needed
Braggy:
think
Gary Slater:
to,
Braggy:
we would
Gary Slater:
yeah, I
Braggy:
be
Gary Slater:
think
Braggy:
on
Gary Slater:
we
Braggy:
the
Gary Slater:
should
Braggy:
same
Gary Slater:
have just started
Braggy:
stage
Gary Slater:
again.
Braggy:
again.
Gary Slater:
But you know, hey, that’s
Braggy:
That’s
Gary Slater:
my
Braggy:
my
Gary Slater:
opinion.
Braggy:
feeling.
Gary Slater:
And totally.
Curly:
Yeah.
Rossy:
Marty Martins is a pretty special player too, isn’t
Gary Slater:
Well, you
Braggy:
and
Gary Slater:
really
Rossy:
he?
Braggy:
really
Gary Slater:
are. So straight
Rossy:
He’s
Gary Slater:
up. So
Rossy:
the
Braggy:
it’s
Gary Slater:
straight
Rossy:
secret
Braggy:
the most
Gary Slater:
up.
Rossy:
source. Scale
Braggy:
important
Rossy:
is good, yeah.
Braggy:
source. And
Rossy:
And
Braggy:
of
Rossy:
of course,
Braggy:
course
Rossy:
Scotty.
Braggy:
Scotty’s
Rossy:
Scotty’s
Braggy:
on
Rossy:
hilarious.
Braggy:
air.
Gary Slater:
Scott
Curly:
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Gary Slater:
is
Braggy:
Scotty’s
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
really
Braggy:
really
Gary Slater:
good
Braggy:
good,
Gary Slater:
too.
Braggy:
he’s
Gary Slater:
He’s an
Braggy:
an
Gary Slater:
absolute
Braggy:
absolute
Gary Slater:
Wally
Braggy:
warrior,
Gary Slater:
head, but he’s
Braggy:
but
Gary Slater:
amazing.
Braggy:
he’s
Gary Slater:
I
Braggy:
really
Gary Slater:
love
Braggy:
a lot
Gary Slater:
Scottie
Braggy:
of
Gary Slater:
to death.
Braggy:
fun.
Gary Slater:
I
Braggy:
He’s
Gary Slater:
played cricket
Braggy:
a great
Gary Slater:
with Scottie
Braggy:
together.
Curly:
All right.
Gary Slater:
as
Braggy:
He’s
Rossy:
Ehh
Gary Slater:
well.
Braggy:
um…
Gary Slater:
He’s a great bass player too.
Rossy:
Eh?
Curly:
Hmm.
Gary Slater:
Probably the most energetic bass player I’ve ever been on stage with. He had to be careful
Rossy:
Yeah,
Gary Slater:
on stage
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
with
Rossy:
yeah.
Gary Slater:
him. He was dangerous.
Rossy:
Up and down, up and down like
Gary Slater:
Six
Rossy:
Scotty.
Gary Slater:
foot five, whatever he is, and swinging that bass around, it was scary. I love my time in the Trial of Ice. It was fantastic, but again, I just got to be honest, I just always felt… How many great bands have replaced singers? Two
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
or
Braggy:
to
Gary Slater:
three
Braggy:
a
Gary Slater:
in
Braggy:
three-foot
Gary Slater:
history?
Braggy:
trip,
Gary Slater:
It’s
Braggy:
it’s
Gary Slater:
a
Braggy:
a
Gary Slater:
really
Braggy:
really
Gary Slater:
hard
Braggy:
hard
Gary Slater:
thing
Braggy:
thing
Gary Slater:
to do.
Braggy:
to do.
Gary Slater:
And I’m,
Braggy:
And I’m
Curly:
It
Gary Slater:
you know,
Curly:
is.
Braggy:
not used
Gary Slater:
I’m not,
Braggy:
to it.
Gary Slater:
I’m not unusually,
Braggy:
And unusually,
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
I try
Braggy:
I
Gary Slater:
to
Braggy:
try
Gary Slater:
join
Braggy:
to join
Gary Slater:
the band,
Braggy:
the band. Well,
Gary Slater:
sing
Braggy:
I sang
Gary Slater:
the songs,
Braggy:
the song,
Gary Slater:
but
Braggy:
but
Gary Slater:
Dolly’s
Braggy:
Dolly’s
Gary Slater:
irreplaceable.
Braggy:
irreplaceable.
Gary Slater:
Like
Braggy:
Like, the
Gary Slater:
in
Braggy:
thing
Gary Slater:
hindsight,
Rossy:
Yeah.
Braggy:
I started, it’s
Gary Slater:
it’s just irreplaceable.
Curly:
Hmm.
Braggy:
irreplaceable.
Gary Slater:
Just
Braggy:
It
Gary Slater:
have to
Braggy:
has
Gary Slater:
be
Braggy:
to
Gary Slater:
a different
Braggy:
be a different
Gary Slater:
band,
Braggy:
band.
Gary Slater:
you know?
Braggy:
I
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
You know,
Rossy:
Yeah.
Braggy:
mean,
Gary Slater:
that’s
Braggy:
that’s
Gary Slater:
life.
Braggy:
life.
Gary Slater:
I’m
Braggy:
I’m
Gary Slater:
not complaining,
Braggy:
not complaining
Gary Slater:
great
Braggy:
about
Gary Slater:
friends,
Braggy:
friends,
Gary Slater:
great
Braggy:
but
Gary Slater:
mates.
Braggy:
don’t make
Gary Slater:
And
Braggy:
them
Gary Slater:
to be
Braggy:
to
Gary Slater:
on
Braggy:
be
Gary Slater:
stage
Braggy:
on stage.
Gary Slater:
with
Braggy:
The
Gary Slater:
them
Braggy:
band
Gary Slater:
was
Braggy:
was
Gary Slater:
like,
Braggy:
like,
Gary Slater:
you know,
Braggy:
you know,
Gary Slater:
wow.
Braggy:
wow.
Gary Slater:
I mean, I’m privileged, you know, wow.
Curly:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
Be on stage with these bands like, second to none drummer brilliant you
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
know we are on stage with these musicians like it’s you don’t ever complain about that that’s for sure yeah
Curly:
Okay,
Rossy:
Those
Curly:
braggy.
Rossy:
machine gun flyshare guys did good too.
Gary Slater:
Yeah,
Braggy:
Yes.
Gary Slater:
I
Braggy:
Oh,
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
was so
Braggy:
oh.
Gary Slater:
happy
Rossy:
Eh.
Gary Slater:
for Glenn. I was so happy for Glenn. Glenn’s a lovely guy, you know, and again,
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
wonderful drummer, you know. I was so happy for him when that happened for him, yeah.
Curly:
All right, Braggie,
Braggy:
Yeah,
Curly:
it’s
Braggy:
I forgot
Curly:
time
Braggy:
about
Curly:
for part
Braggy:
it, Curly.
Curly:
two. Yeah.
Gary Slater:
Now,
Rossy:
Ha ha
Gary Slater:
back
Braggy:
I
Gary Slater:
to
Braggy:
was
Gary Slater:
the
Rossy:
ha!
Gary Slater:
video.
Curly:
I was
Braggy:
so
Curly:
enjoying
Braggy:
interested
Curly:
the
Braggy:
in the
Curly:
conversation
Braggy:
conversation.
Curly:
as well. And then I’m going, oh, that’s right. Part two. All right.
Braggy:
Okay,
Curly:
Part two
Braggy:
Pate,
Curly:
of who am I?
Braggy:
when we left, this guy just discovered metal and explosives. Uh,
Rossy:
Ha ha ha!
Curly:
Ha ha.
Braggy:
I try and make it interesting Rossi. Initially I wanted to play the drums, but then I discovered I had a singing voice. And after being expelled from boarding school for participating in a prank in which I allegedly urinated in the headmaster’s dinner, I returned home to Sheffield in 1976 and enrolled at King Edward the seventh high school. where I joined my first band Paradox. We rehearsed in the garage of the drummer’s father and place and made local newspaper headlines when a steel worker was awoken by their performance and tried to smash the band’s drum kit. Soon afterwards,
Rossy:
Ha ha ha!
Braggy:
the band split up. After leaving school with A levels in English, history and economics, I applied for a place at Queen Mary College in London and immediately began playing in bands. I got involved in the entertainment committee. One day you’d be a roadie for the jam. The next you’d be putting up a Stonehenge backdrop for Hawkwind. In 1977, I met Paul, Noddy White, a multi-instrumentalist who owned a PA and drummer Steve Jones to form a band called Speed because of the way we played, not of the drug.
Gary Slater:
Not Jai Stroman,
Braggy:
Sure.
Gary Slater:
so… Not
Braggy:
Go who?
Gary Slater:
Jai Stroman.
Braggy:
No, it’s not Jace drummer. Um, uh, I began writing my own material after white taught me how to play three chords on the guitar. Although speed played several gigs at the green man pub in Plumstead, the band did not last long, but encouraged me to continue to work towards being a musician. I spotted an ad in a melody maker in melody maker singer wanted for a recording project and applied immediately. Huh?
Gary Slater:
Johnny Rock. Johnny Lord.
Braggy:
No, no,
Gary Slater:
I’m giving
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
up. I’m out
Curly:
Hahahaha
Gary Slater:
of here.
Braggy:
you got, you’re getting the
Gary Slater:
Shut
Braggy:
wrong,
Gary Slater:
up, man.
Braggy:
you’re getting in the wrong style of music. Uh, we played it. We played pubs on a regular basis to small audiences. And I began to develop my stage craft as a front man. Whilst at a gig at the Prince of Wales in Gravesend, guitarist Paul Sampson paid a visit and I was impressed by, and he was impressed by my stage act. And he invited me to be the new singer for his band Sampson. That’s where I’m going to leave the second part.
Curly:
Okay,
Rossy:
Okay.
Curly:
Samson.
Braggy:
You remember
Gary Slater:
out of
Braggy:
them?
Gary Slater:
here.
Rossy:
Hmm. Eh.
Braggy:
Nah.
Curly:
Rossy,
Braggy:
See?
Curly:
you close to it?
Rossy:
I got a few ideas.
Curly:
Waaah! Okay. All right. So interesting, trial of bites. The album that you did with them is noticeably, well, in my mind, in my mind, different from some of their, you know, some of their that
Gary Slater:
Are we?
Curly:
you play
Gary Slater:
Yeah.
Curly:
that say a legacy of morons piece and then you put on the album.
Gary Slater:
from them.
Curly:
And, and it is a different band. So yeah, it’s interesting that you were thinking we should have a new name because
Braggy:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
Yeah, well
Curly:
yeah.
Gary Slater:
I suggested it, I didn’t just think it, I suggested it right from the start.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
But you know, hey, I’m into democracy and you know, ban vote and then I’ll give everything I got when it’s decided. So it was, I think Glenn and I, you know, the new boys wanted to change the name and the others didn’t. So it was kind of understandable, totally get it, but that’s the way it was. So we just tried our best, you know, but yeah,
Curly:
Hmm
Gary Slater:
I agree, you
Rossy:
I
Gary Slater:
know, it’s totally different.
Rossy:
believe we call that party unity.
Gary Slater:
Well,
Curly:
Ha
Gary Slater:
that’s
Curly:
ha
Gary Slater:
right. It’s a
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
rarity Rossi. Dying up.
Rossy:
It is.
Gary Slater:
Also,
Curly:
Ha
Gary Slater:
when
Curly:
ha.
Gary Slater:
we did that album Lost Generation, which I actually, it’s funny enough, it’s on YouTube. Like someone just put it up recently.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
So I hadn’t heard it for yokes. It was
Rossy:
Probably
Gary Slater:
not
Rossy:
Shaun
Gary Slater:
too
Rossy:
Thompson.
Gary Slater:
bad. Pretty good songs on there. But it’s like, you know, it was good time and doing it with Rob was fun. But I have to say my darling wife, Carol, sang backing vocals on there, which is another weird thing. Like, you know, that was
Curly:
Ha
Gary Slater:
another
Curly:
ha
Gary Slater:
thing. They said,
Curly:
ha.
Gary Slater:
let’s have some female backing vocals. Look, the Trollabies never had female
Braggy:
What?
Gary Slater:
backing vocals.
Rossy:
Hahaha.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
I’m just going, oh whatever, my wife can sing, or she wasn’t my wife then, but can I sing? Yeah, you know, she can, she’s great. So
Curly:
Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
Gary Slater:
she comes down and she sings on the album and it’s just like, yeah, you know, I always start listening to it now, it’s just like, how is that the trauma? Well, it’s just
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
totally not the trauma. But she didn’t
Curly:
Oh.
Gary Slater:
get credited on the album too.
Rossy:
Look.
Gary Slater:
So,
Braggy:
Ohhhhhhh
Rossy:
Ah, woo, I got a couple, I heard a couple of those stories myself, but.
Gary Slater:
anyway, but you know, yeah, I mean, I, you know, it’s not my proudest piece of work, but. I listen to that album now and think, yeah, that’s pretty bloody good. And the single, you know, that was really good. So,
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
you know, it’s just, yeah. You know, anyway.
Rossy:
They emerged out of my local area when I was a young fella, they’re called the psychotics.
Gary Slater:
Right.
Rossy:
Yeah, and they used to rehearse at the rhythm workshop in Hurstville.
Curly:
Yeah.
Rossy:
And we’d be in the rehearsal room next door and my band was like this rehashed ACDC stuff. We’d see these weedy little punk kids next door. We’d want to bash them, you know?
Gary Slater:
Right. I remember not long after we’d been in Sydney, but we’d played quite a few gigs already, and we’d seen a couple of bands like X and stuff that we’d played with and the hard-ons, and they were, yeah, pretty good, pretty good, yeah, pretty good. And then Tony came home one night and said, guys, man, I saw this band tonight, fuck me, and it was the Trial of Bites.
Curly:
Yeah.
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
Never forget,
Rossy:
Melody.
Gary Slater:
it was the first time ever that Tony was really animated about a band that we’d played with or we’d seen.
Curly:
Hmm.
Rossy:
Marty’s melody, you know, there was harmony, there was all that stuff, you know. I
Gary Slater:
Yeah, it’s wonderful.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
You know,
Rossy:
had it going on.
Gary Slater:
I
Curly:
And
Gary Slater:
love
Rossy:
I really
Curly:
yeah,
Gary Slater:
this.
Rossy:
did.
Curly:
a
Gary Slater:
Yeah,
Curly:
little
Gary Slater:
I love
Curly:
bit of
Gary Slater:
this.
Curly:
social
Gary Slater:
I haven’t sat
Curly:
angst
Gary Slater:
in for
Curly:
in
Gary Slater:
a
Curly:
there
Gary Slater:
while.
Curly:
as well. It was, yeah, Trial of Bites were awesome. American TV,
Gary Slater:
Brilliant.
Curly:
great song. Legacy
Gary Slater:
Absolutely
Curly:
of Morons,
Gary Slater:
brilliant.
Curly:
great
Gary Slater:
Unique.
Curly:
song.
Gary Slater:
Brilliant.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
You know, yeah.
Curly:
Venus in
Rossy:
Maz
Curly:
Leather.
Rossy:
helped Maz mix their early stuff, didn’t he? Maz did their early
Gary Slater:
Yeah,
Rossy:
stuff.
Gary Slater:
yeah, yeah.
Rossy:
Eh.
Curly:
Yeah. Mads, did Mads mix one of yours
Gary Slater:
Oh,
Curly:
for
Gary Slater:
he
Curly:
the 30
Gary Slater:
did!
Rossy:
Not.
Curly:
last?
Gary Slater:
He did! God
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
almighty, a
Braggy:
Yeah,
Gary Slater:
single!
Curly:
Wasn’t
Braggy:
yeah, I
Curly:
it,
Braggy:
read
Curly:
wasn’t
Braggy:
that today.
Curly:
it this
Gary Slater:
Oh,
Curly:
one?
Gary Slater:
I- that-
Braggy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
Jesus
Curly:
This
Gary Slater:
Christ!
Rossy:
Cathy’s on 8! Oh dear! I remember that! Ha ha
Curly:
produced by Chris Mazowak. Now,
Braggy:
I’m sorry.
Curly:
that is the hardest song to find anywhere. I might just throw him because
Gary Slater:
caught us in some of its trouble.
Curly:
it’s been scrubbed.
Braggy:
It’s
Curly:
It
Braggy:
going
Curly:
seems
Braggy:
to be
Curly:
to
Braggy:
hard
Curly:
have been,
Braggy:
to,
Curly:
yeah.
Braggy:
it’s going to be hard
Curly:
Yeah.
Braggy:
to get that one past the census these days.
Gary Slater:
Oh, that’s what the actor here would be able to tell you. Really did, hey?
Rossy:
Really,
Gary Slater:
It
Rossy:
really
Gary Slater:
had a big impact.
Rossy:
good.
Gary Slater:
It’s funny, it’s a laugh now, but radio stations that had always played us before. Nah,
Braggy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
eh, we didn’t play a quarter sexist and all this stuff.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
It was like, oh my God.
Rossy:
There’s nothing wrong with being sexy, Gary.
Curly:
Hahaha!
Gary Slater:
It’s a joke. Yeah, you know, I get it.
Rossy:
AI
Gary Slater:
And obviously,
Rossy:
DT.
Gary Slater:
that’s not gonna pass no guidelines, but you know, Tony
Curly:
Mm. Different,
Gary Slater:
just
Curly:
different.
Gary Slater:
thought it was funny. Like, you know, we
Braggy:
It
Gary Slater:
always
Braggy:
is funny.
Gary Slater:
had our tongues in our cheeks, Voodoo’s, we thought we were hilarious. Not everyone else did every time. So.
Curly:
Yeah.
Rossy:
We all did!
Braggy:
The funniest
Gary Slater:
Oh,
Braggy:
part
Gary Slater:
I’m not…
Braggy:
about the funniest part about the name of that song though, is not the in heat part. It’s just Cathy, just that name is the funniest
Gary Slater:
Yeah.
Braggy:
part because
Rossy:
Ha
Braggy:
it’s such
Rossy:
ha
Curly:
hahahaha
Braggy:
a, you know, you speak maybe scarlet and heat or, you know, someone
Curly:
Well,
Gary Slater:
Yeah
Braggy:
like that, but.
Curly:
the interesting thing around that is that you cannot find that particular song, Cathy’s on Heat, anywhere. It seems to have been scrubbed from YouTube.
Gary Slater:
That’s funny. Well, there you go. God,
Curly:
But
Gary Slater:
I want.
Curly:
how do you sleep at night? The B-side is on YouTube. So yeah.
Gary Slater:
Rob Younger, sorry, Chris Maswick does some backing vocals on How Do You Sleep
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
as well.
Rossy:
Hehehehe
Curly:
Okay.
Gary Slater:
So he produced it and does some backing vocals. Hi Chris.
Rossy:
Heh heh.
Curly:
Hey, tell us about Dr Bombay, you’ve been going there for 10 years.
Gary Slater:
Yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, we’ve had two albums so far and the third one sort of 90% finished. So we’re excited about that. As some people might have seen, our bass player did his last gig with us on the weekends. That’s kind of thrown a little spanner in the works, but he’s finishing the record with us. So that’s great. It’s nice of him. And then, yeah, we replaced him. We already have. We’ve already got a guy that we’re sort of working in at the moment. And then, yeah, released the record and yeah, like… We’ll be back out there. I’m very, very excited about the new album. That’s for sure. Stu DeLacy is a guitar player. He’s been with the band for the whole time, 10
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
years.
Rossy:
Mm-hmm.
Gary Slater:
A few different bass players along the way. We had Greg Baxter first from Presidency 11. I don’t remember who it was, though, who’s
Curly:
Wow.
Gary Slater:
got it. Let me play on the first two albums.
Curly:
Presidents 11
Gary Slater:
Presidency
Curly:
my god
Gary Slater:
11,
Curly:
summer
Gary Slater:
yeah.
Curly:
vacation. What a classic
Gary Slater:
Yeah, well, that was Greg. He’s a wonderful bass player. And, you know,
Curly:
Yeah
Rossy:
Mm.
Gary Slater:
for the last five years, we’ve had… Terry and Chris Dixon brothers who
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
are drum and bass player. And they were in Sentinel back in the
Curly:
Okay.
Gary Slater:
eighties. So
Rossy:
Chris is ex-tribesman as well.
Gary Slater:
he was in the Screaming Tries when that’s right. And
Rossy:
Like everybody else we
Gary Slater:
Charles
Rossy:
know.
Gary Slater:
Foster Kane, yeah that’s right. He was their best drummer though.
Curly:
Yeah.
Rossy:
He’s a good bloke Chris.
Gary Slater:
They were also in Charles Foster Kane did pretty well for himself. So wonderful rhythm section like, wow, you know, fantastic. So very
Rossy:
I remember
Gary Slater:
lucky.
Rossy:
mixing him in a band called Lemongrass.
Gary Slater:
Okay, yeah,
Rossy:
Yeah,
Braggy:
Lemongrass.
Rossy:
yeah.
Gary Slater:
just great players. So just
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
really lucky, you know, obviously, just write the songs and everything and then to have a great band who are happy to offer their time and skills to play them is always an honour, you know. I always feel
Rossy:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
like that. I certainly just think, wow, these great musicians are happy to put up their time and come and play. So ecstatic.
Rossy:
It’s not for the money.
Gary Slater:
Well, you know, the only band I’ve ever made any money out of is the Viscounts. You know,
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
the only cover band I’ve ever been in is the Viscounts. And I was only in the Viscounts for about 18 months, maybe two years at the most. And yeah, made more money in that 18 months than the other 48 years,
Curly:
Wow!
Gary Slater:
you know, put
Braggy:
Wow,
Gary Slater:
together.
Braggy:
there you go.
Gary Slater:
Yeah. And we played covers and just, yeah, we got good money. It was crazy, actually. Yeah, good money.
Curly:
Unbelievable. So what’s next? So you’ve got an album coming out, any other projects in the works Gary?
Gary Slater:
Um, you know, I’m always thinking of other things to do. We were ringing someone ringing. I’m
Braggy:
Not me.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
always got so many sort of songs that I just kind of write bits of, and then I’ll just put them aside because I don’t like to finish them if I haven’t got an outlet, so
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
I’ve got hundreds
Braggy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
literally of ideas and songs, hundreds,
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
every different feel imaginable. So, you know, I love to do like a soul thing, you know, I’d love to do a country
Curly:
No.
Gary Slater:
thing. I don’t know. I’ve just got all, I’m always thinking of. For the last three or four months I’ve been going nuts learning to play piano. So I have to stop myself from writing because I’m not good enough yet. So as soon as I start going, I can think of a song around that. So
Curly:
Hahaha
Gary Slater:
even a piano album, I don’t know. I’ll just keep going until I
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
just don’t feel like doing it. But I feel like I can do a few more songs yet and a few more records yet for sure.
Curly:
Yeah, Bragi, it feels like we’ve got to hold an unfinished song weekend, get all these musicians that have got little snippets of songs, get them all into a room and sort of maybe force them.
Braggy:
I think every songwriter everywhere has got those things stashed away.
Gary Slater:
They do. And with the advent of phones, it’s just made it even crazy.
Braggy:
Yeah.
Rossy:
worse.
Gary Slater:
Like I purposely, I won’t pick up the guitar because like if I pick up the guitar, I’ll think of something. So
Curly:
I
Gary Slater:
then
Curly:
know.
Gary Slater:
if you think of something, you can’t not record it. And then you’ve just got another one to add to the hundreds and
Braggy:
That’s
Gary Slater:
hundreds
Braggy:
right.
Gary Slater:
and hundreds. And at some point you’ve got to filter through, which getting back to earlier about the COVID thing, that was a kind of a blessing because that gave me that moment where I went right, you know. I literally went through hundreds and hundreds of ideas and now I got down to like 18 songs that I totally finished and demoed and completed totally before I gave to the band. You know,
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
so, you know, I think as a writer, that’s what you need. You need a reason and an outlet. You know, so
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
I just need another reason, which for me will be the next album. I’ve already got enough songs for the next album for sure. It’s just a matter of going right. Well, you know, knuckle down and finish off these songs, you know, which with the next album will give me the incentive. You know, but at the moment it’s this album, you know, for sure.
Braggy:
Yeah.
Curly:
Mm, excellent.
Braggy:
And that name Dr Bombay, is that from Bewitched? Is
Gary Slater:
It
Braggy:
that?
Rossy:
Yes
Gary Slater:
is.
Braggy:
Oh,
Rossy:
it is.
Gary Slater:
That’s how we
Braggy:
there
Gary Slater:
got
Braggy:
you
Gary Slater:
it.
Braggy:
go.
Gary Slater:
You know, we were going to call ourselves Calling Dr Bombay. Original drummer
Rossy:
Hahaha
Gary Slater:
Max, actually, he came up with it. And then so hard these days, I don’t know, like the last time we tried to get a band name. I know you’ve just got a bit of fibrosis, but to try to find an original band name now is nearly impossible because,
Braggy:
Oh yeah.
Gary Slater:
you know, because of the web. It’s like back in
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
our day, you only knew bands that were like, you knew. And now
Curly:
Mmm.
Gary Slater:
it’s like,
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
you know, every band in the world’s name is on file somewhere. So it’s like
Braggy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
we went through thousands of names. I can’t get a name, as it is. Dr. Bombay is this parody artist from America. And to try to find us, you have to try and get through his 100 parodies. It’s painful
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
sometimes, but what can you do?
Rossy:
The way we count
Braggy:
I
Rossy:
to
Braggy:
was
Rossy:
be
Braggy:
actually
Rossy:
in
Braggy:
in
Rossy:
a
Braggy:
a
Rossy:
five
Braggy:
cover band
Rossy:
is we’re
Braggy:
called
Rossy:
in a
Braggy:
Dr
Rossy:
room.
Braggy:
Bombay
Rossy:
Ha
Braggy:
in
Rossy:
ha ha!
Braggy:
Townsville.
Gary Slater:
Well, there you go. Well, there’s a cover band also in America called Dr. Bombay.
Rossy:
Barman booked us a gig,
Curly:
Thanks for watching!
Rossy:
me, Vince and Jay, we’d been rehearsing and he booked us a gig and said, look, I’m sick of it, you guys playing a gig. And then we’re, fuck, we better come up with a name. So we’re in the rehearsal room, we threw out 15 minutes, that came up, done, that’s
Gary Slater:
Well,
Rossy:
it,
Gary Slater:
thank
Rossy:
we’re
Curly:
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Rossy:
out.
Gary Slater:
you.
Rossy:
It’s like, what’s cold chisel me? What’s venture might mean? After
Braggy:
That’s
Rossy:
a while
Braggy:
right,
Rossy:
it becomes
Braggy:
yeah.
Rossy:
it, you know?
Curly:
Yeah.
Braggy:
Yeah, that’s right, yeah.
Gary Slater:
That’s true. Music talks tonight, doesn’t matter, does it really?
Braggy:
That’s right.
Curly:
Yeah,
Rossy:
That’s right.
Curly:
absolutely. Hey Braggie, part three of Who Am I? Let’s
Braggy:
Oh.
Curly:
see if Rossi’s gonna be right.
Braggy:
Okay, so he’s just joined Samson. The band had already released their debut album, Survivors, in 1979, two months before I joined. And although the tracks didn’t suit my vocal style, the band soon wrote the majority of the following album in their earliest rehearsal sessions, some of which were immediately incorporated into the live set. The band was fun for a while, but I soon learned that not all performers were great artists. And some, like Samson, were only interested in women, drugs, and alcohol. which I was unable to relate to. During this period,
Rossy:
Hahaha
Braggy:
the band, it was period the band I would eventually front supported us at the music machine in 1980. I was watching them and they were good, really fucking good. And at that moment, I remember thinking, I wanna fucking sing for that band. In fact, I’m going to sing for that
Rossy:
I think
Braggy:
band.
Rossy:
you’ll find their base player is a West Ham supporter.
Braggy:
I know I’m going to sing for that band. I just thought this is really me, not Samson. My last gig with Samson was at the Reading Festival after which I was approached by the manager of the aforementioned band. I can’t say cause you’ll get it and
Curly:
Ha ha
Braggy:
asked to
Rossy:
Mm-hmm.
Braggy:
audition as their new lead vocalist at the rehearsal room in Hackney in September, 81, I immediately discovered that this was a much more professional operation than I was used to with Samson. In the practice rooms, the band was the band played through four of their songs before asking me to sing the same songs again in the recording studio. and I was immediately inducted into the group. After a few gigs, they began writing new material for their third album, Number of the Beast, released in 1982.
Rossy:
Yep.
Braggy:
The album was a major success,
Rossy:
Bruce.
Braggy:
topping the British charts and earning platinum status in the UK. Known primarily for my high range vocals, I have also been described as a true polymath, due to non-musical activities, such as writing, broadcasting, fencing, placing seventh in Great Britain, beer brewing and aviation. I am the lead singer for Iron Maiden and my name is…
Rossy:
Bruce Dickinson.
Braggy:
Yo!
Curly:
Wow. Yeah.
Gary Slater:
2.9
Braggy:
Ha
Rossy:
Bruce
Braggy:
ha ha!
Rossy:
Dickinson. Oh, you wouldn’t know, would you, Gaz?
Gary Slater:
Yeah. Yeah, so…
Curly:
Ah.
Rossy:
Gaz
Braggy:
I
Rossy:
would
Braggy:
had
Rossy:
know
Braggy:
to do
Rossy:
that
Braggy:
a
Rossy:
deep
Braggy:
metal
Rossy:
down
Braggy:
one.
Rossy:
I’ve been a metalhead.
Braggy:
I had to
Rossy:
Yeah,
Braggy:
do a
Rossy:
yeah,
Braggy:
metal
Rossy:
yeah.
Braggy:
one for last week. So.
Gary Slater:
Now again, like Deep Purple, one of my favorite bands ever, and they get associated with metal, but to
Rossy:
They’re
Gary Slater:
me, they’re
Rossy:
not metal.
Gary Slater:
a rock and roll band. Like
Braggy:
Yeah,
Curly:
Yeah,
Gary Slater:
they’re
Braggy:
they’re rock and roll, yeah.
Gary Slater:
a
Curly:
yeah,
Gary Slater:
rock and roll band, you know.
Braggy:
Ian
Gary Slater:
So,
Curly:
yeah.
Braggy:
Pace, man, Ian Pace.
Gary Slater:
they’re a wonderful
Braggy:
If it what?
Gary Slater:
bouncy drum. He’s got the bounce that you die for. And you know,
Braggy:
Ugh.
Gary Slater:
Richie Blackmore, like Tony and I were talking about this the other day, he has the cleanest tone going. You know, metal
Braggy:
Yeah!
Gary Slater:
bands don’t. He’s like, you hear every single note clear as a whistle
Rossy:
Mm.
Gary Slater:
that he’s playing, you know. And
Braggy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
it’s like a
Rossy:
What
Gary Slater:
different technique.
Rossy:
we discussed Richie Blackmore at work and he plays like he plays strats as we know he plays strats and maple necks are for breaking says Richie. Yep.
Braggy:
Right.
Curly:
Hehehehehehe
Gary Slater:
Oh yeah. That’s
Rossy:
And
Braggy:
But,
Gary Slater:
not my
Rossy:
so
Gary Slater:
idea
Rossy:
every
Gary Slater:
of a deep herbal.
Braggy:
I mean.
Rossy:
Every time I get a maple neck I go maple necks are for breaking
Gary Slater:
Wonderful guitar player and one of Tony Harper’s
Braggy:
One
Gary Slater:
absolute
Braggy:
of those
Rossy:
Oh,
Braggy:
tones,
Gary Slater:
cleanest
Rossy:
mine too.
Braggy:
one of those tones
Gary Slater:
app.
Braggy:
that is so instantly recognizable, as soon as you hear that tone, you go, that’s gotta be Tony
Gary Slater:
And again,
Braggy:
O.
Gary Slater:
for Tony
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
Arbor, Rossi would appreciate, like he, early
Rossy:
Eh.
Gary Slater:
on he could play every note Blackmore could play. That was the kind of stuff he grew up just emulating.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
He could play it perfectly.
Rossy:
I saw Blackmore
Gary Slater:
He writes
Rossy:
in
Gary Slater:
solos.
Rossy:
76
Gary Slater:
Yeah, that’s
Rossy:
in
Gary Slater:
right.
Rossy:
Sydney. Blackmore is phenomenal,
Gary Slater:
Listen
Rossy:
phenomenal.
Gary Slater:
to, hold on, hold on off Stormbringer.
Curly:
Hmm.
Rossy:
Nah.
Gary Slater:
You listen to the solo on that. It’s just this, it’s a written piece of music in itself. It’s beautiful. I mean, it’s just, you know,
Braggy:
Mm.
Gary Slater:
so impressive.
Rossy:
Yeah,
Gary Slater:
Like to
Rossy:
he’s
Gary Slater:
me that’s,
Rossy:
not
Gary Slater:
it’s
Rossy:
a metal
Braggy:
Yeah.
Rossy:
player. He’s too
Gary Slater:
hard.
Rossy:
smart to
Gary Slater:
To
Rossy:
be
Gary Slater:
me,
Rossy:
a metal player.
Gary Slater:
I guess I come from, again, after the Elvis Costello thing as well. Like, it’s like if you’re a guitar solo to me, if it’s not a piece of music, I don’t want to hear
Braggy:
Exactly, it’s got to be a composition.
Gary Slater:
it. Not
Braggy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
interested in some guitar playing a little bit of a… fuck off. Not interested.
Curly:
Thank you.
Rossy:
Ha
Gary Slater:
It’s
Rossy:
ha!
Gary Slater:
got to be a written piece of music. Otherwise it’s just a waste
Rossy:
Eh.
Gary Slater:
of space. Don’t play for 30 seconds and write another song and go on to the next song. And I guess gets back to that, I guess punk, but Elvis and Joe Jackson, that early, you know… Power, Pop, Arrow, which is like, don’t waffle on, just do another song, you know? Yeah,
Rossy:
Get to the point.
Gary Slater:
yeah,
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
it’s just, you know.
Curly:
Well, gents,
Gary Slater:
Sorry
Curly:
we’re.
Gary Slater:
for all the guitar people out there. Even Tony’s probably a little bit offended. Sorry, mate.
Rossy:
Taney plays all right though.
Gary Slater:
Like I don’t respect their skill and all that, totally. It’s just, again, I get back. I just like pop songs. You know, you don’t
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
put metal solos in the middle of pop songs.
Braggy:
What was
Curly:
Yeah.
Braggy:
the guy from the cars? Man, he was one of, he’s one of my favorite solo
Rossy:
Rick
Braggy:
solos.
Rossy:
Ocasick. Well.
Braggy:
Oh, no, the guitar player,
Gary Slater:
Well,
Braggy:
the lead
Gary Slater:
on
Braggy:
guitarist.
Gary Slater:
an archon,
Braggy:
Some of
Gary Slater:
you
Braggy:
those
Gary Slater:
can say
Braggy:
solos
Gary Slater:
it.
Braggy:
on the car songs are just spot,
Gary Slater:
Well,
Braggy:
spot
Gary Slater:
that’s what
Braggy:
on.
Gary Slater:
we’re talking about, aren’t we? I mean, they weren’t, you know, a million notes. They were just
Braggy:
No.
Gary Slater:
beautifully written melodies.
Braggy:
You
Curly:
Yeah.
Braggy:
go away
Rossy:
Well
Braggy:
and
Rossy:
that’s
Braggy:
you remember
Rossy:
re-
Braggy:
them.
Gary Slater:
And there’s no alternative melody. That’s the other thing I don’t found out either is when it comes to solo and they just play the melody of the song, it’s like, man, just leave
Curly:
hahahaha
Gary Slater:
it out. Just make the song a bit shorter. It just doesn’t really, doesn’t serve any purpose to me.
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
The solo should be that, should be a written piece. And again, Tony Harper, just…
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
Every guitar solo of his is a written piece and he plays it exactly the same every time. It’s wonderful. Because
Rossy:
That’s correct,
Gary Slater:
he’s
Rossy:
absolutely.
Gary Slater:
a
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
songwriter. I think that’s probably a bit of a difference between guitar players who are songwriters and guitar players who are bedroom guitar players.
Rossy:
There was that time when he did buy the Charville Jackson Model 6 guitar though.
Gary Slater:
It didn’t look the best to show, but
Curly:
Ha
Gary Slater:
I
Curly:
ha
Gary Slater:
did it.
Curly:
ha.
Rossy:
That
Gary Slater:
I mean,
Rossy:
didn’t,
Gary Slater:
I
Rossy:
uh,
Gary Slater:
didn’t fit the verve.
Rossy:
no, no. The no tone zone.
Curly:
Um, yeah.
Braggy:
Too many point- too pointy!
Gary Slater:
You know what? I’m gonna play that.
Braggy:
Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
Rossy:
Yeah, disgraceful!
Curly:
Wow.
Gary Slater:
When we did the last reunion gig, he bought three different guitars to every rehearsal. He bought a flying V that was reversed.
Rossy:
Yeah, I remember that.
Gary Slater:
I was just like, what the
Rossy:
The
Curly:
Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe hehehe hehehe hehehe he he he
Rossy:
fuck
Gary Slater:
f***? He’s
Rossy:
is
Gary Slater:
got a
Rossy:
that?
Gary Slater:
guitar
Braggy:
What?
Gary Slater:
in the world and he’s got a reversed flying V.
Braggy:
Wow.
Rossy:
The V’s are back up there and the net comes out of where the V’s are, right?
Braggy:
That’s crazy!
Rossy:
Carina.
Gary Slater:
It’s just unbelievable.
Rossy:
No, no, no. Very desirable, very collectible.
Gary Slater:
I’m with the fortune, I’m sure.
Rossy:
Yeah, yeah, it is.
Curly:
All right, gents, we’ve been going for two minutes past the hour. So we might start doing the windup. Gary, what we will do if we can when your new album comes out with Dr. Bombay, we’d love to get you back on the show and talk us through that.
Gary Slater:
I would
Curly:
That
Gary Slater:
love
Curly:
would
Gary Slater:
that.
Curly:
be
Gary Slater:
I would really love
Curly:
awesome.
Gary Slater:
that.
Curly:
And I think also potentially there’s a guitar special that we should do so that you guys
Gary Slater:
You can try
Curly:
can
Gary Slater:
and get
Curly:
just
Gary Slater:
Tarnian if you want.
Curly:
go.
Gary Slater:
Let’s
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
take the Tarnian
Curly:
Yeah.
Braggy:
Yeah?
Gary Slater:
together. I just
Curly:
and
Gary Slater:
gotta quickly mention the band Grumpy too, like sorry, but after I moved back up to Brisbane, I had a whole bunch of songs, 30 or 40 songs I’d written and I was rehearsing them with Skater, like Skater and I were gonna do something together. Then he got offered to go to England with his sister to play guitar, who’s really talented and doing well. And I came up to Brisbane and I started a band then called Grumpy with all these songs I’d written. And we played for four or five years as well. So,
Curly:
Wow.
Gary Slater:
just wanted to throw that in there as well. But yeah, that was, yeah. Andrew Holt was a bass player and he was in 3B2 all those years before.
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
But you know, we played around for five years as well in that band. So,
Braggy:
Need to
Gary Slater:
yeah,
Braggy:
write
Gary Slater:
thanks
Braggy:
a book,
Gary Slater:
for that.
Braggy:
need to write a book, Gary.
Curly:
Absolutely.
Braggy:
Like some of our other people we’ve had on here.
Gary Slater:
Yeah, I’m
Curly:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
not
Rossy:
This
Gary Slater:
going to
Rossy:
is
Gary Slater:
do
Rossy:
just
Gary Slater:
it.
Rossy:
an example. This is an example. Yeah, exactly. This is an example of work ethic though, isn’t it?
Braggy:
Yes,
Curly:
It
Rossy:
Really?
Curly:
is, it is,
Braggy:
yes.
Rossy:
It’s
Curly:
it’s…
Rossy:
work ethic.
Braggy:
Yep.
Curly:
yeah.
Gary Slater:
I
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
said, you know, I mean, I just, that’s the only reason I want to get it. I mean, not because it’s like, wow, but you know, that was another band where man, they’re a lot of work went into that. A lot of songs
Rossy:
Yeah.
Gary Slater:
and a lot of gigs and you know, and you know, yeah. Ray and Dave, the guitar playing drummer. I was actually, I was at the big day out and I just moved up here and I had Iggy Pop Raw Power T-shirt on and I was walking along and I had a hat on, Sonny’s and that. And this guy goes, man, that was a great tour, you know? And I lifted up my shirt and I said, yeah, but what a support band. Because ViruLust supported Iggy
Curly:
Hehehe
Gary Slater:
Pop.
Braggy:
Ha ha.
Gary Slater:
I only had one gig, but nonetheless we were supporting hip hop. So,
Rossy:
Do you support a K-Pop?
Gary Slater:
and
Rossy:
Yep.
Gary Slater:
he goes, he goes, what band was that? And I left up my glasses, I said, Foodie Glass. And he goes, oh man, I love foodie glass. He was a guitar player in a band called Love Child.
Curly:
Ah,
Rossy:
Ah, no
Curly:
oh,
Rossy:
them.
Curly:
you love child, yeah?
Gary Slater:
And yeah, so him and his brother Dave were the guitar playing drummer for Love Child. So I got a band going with him. And then we were put in for a bass player. And lo
Braggy:
Uhhh
Gary Slater:
and behold, after this coincidence, his place going, yeah we’ve worked through these songs and we just put an ad for bass player and the first guy that comes along we open up the door and it was Andy who was the bass player all his years beforehand from 3b2. It was just
Curly:
Wow.
Gary Slater:
like what the
Curly:
It was meant to be. So
Gary Slater:
hell.
Curly:
the band,
Gary Slater:
So yeah, hate all those guys.
Curly:
awesome. So Gary, thanks so much for joining us tonight. I’ll make sure
Gary Slater:
experiment.
Curly:
I’ve got a link in the show notes to the Facebook page of Dr. Bombay.
Gary Slater:
Thank you.
Curly:
And if I can navigate the other Dr. Bombay’s out there, I’ll put some links to some of your music as well.
Gary Slater:
Dr Bombay Rock and Roll, Dr Bombay Australia seems to help a little.
Curly:
Okay,
Rossy:
Yeah
Curly:
no worries. If you’ve liked the show, everyone, please like, subscribe, leave a review. That’s always good. We’re on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok. We’ve got a website at UnfilteredUndiscovered.com. Don’t forget every song we talk about, we try to put them into our Spotify playlist. Unfortunately, I can’t put any Voodoo Lust songs into that playlist.
Gary Slater:
to Bombay.
Curly:
They’re not on Spotify, but where we can. Make sure you check it out. I think where it, I’ve given up 235 songs are in that playlist now. So that’ll
Gary Slater:
All
Curly:
keep.
Gary Slater:
of our stuff will be on Spotify. When the new album comes out, it will be. We did have it
Curly:
Awesome.
Gary Slater:
on there for a while and we took it off, but it’s all going to go up.
Curly:
Excellent,
Braggy:
Excellent.
Curly:
excellent. So that’s Dr Bombay.
Rossy:
Looking forward to it.
Gary Slater:
Councilor.
Curly:
And, and as always lyrics from the playlist from that fantastic band from Perth called The Stems. I’ll be your motor in your car. I’ll be the fire in your flaming star. I’ll be your water in your waterfall. Cause when I get this feeling, I feel 10 feet tall. Thanks for tuning in everyone. Thanks once again, Gary. And Go Queensland tomorrow night. Hey Rossy.
Gary Slater:
See you guys. Thank you.
Braggy:
See
Rossy:
Hahaha!
Braggy:
ya.
Rossy:
See ya!
