Men Of The Hour

It's hard to believe, but Grinspoon have just entered their fifteenth year together. If you listen to their albums it certainly doesn't sound that way, with the northern New South Welshmen having sharpened their hard rock shtick even further on brand new album, 'Six To Midnight'.

Bassist Joe Hansen explains that the continued existence of the band's original line-up is simply down to hard-headedness.

“We're just all too stubborn to leave. I think we've all been sacked several times and I think Pat (Davern, guitarist) even sacked himself once, but you get sacked and you just don't go and everyone then has you back, basically,” he laughs.

“We've just stuck it out really, and there've been some ups and downs obviously. For myself, I know that every time I've gotten pissed off with things, you think about what you'd do if you weren't in a band and you know that you'd miss it terribly, so you keep doing it and ultimately enjoy doing it.”

'Six To Midnight' certainly sounds like a band enjoying themselves, and Joe explains they're all rather chuffed with the way it turned out.

“Yeah, we're stoked with it. It's 90 percent hard rock so that's good for me - I like that! But yeah, we're really happy with it and a lot of the songs on there are ones that we've been playing live and throwing onto the set, so it's really good. It's given the live set a new lease on life.

“We just basically decided that 'Alibis & Other Lies’ (Grinspoon's previous LP) tended to get a little bit middle of the road at certain points. So we decided to ditch the middle of the road stuff and concentrate on the rock songs, making it a heavier, more up-tempo record. There are a couple of softer songs on there, but instead of having three or four, there's one or two. Our approach was just to rock out!”

While Grinspoon has a ton of experience in the studio, there was still a 'first' in the form of working with US-based producer, Rick Will. Will made his way to Studios 301 in Byron to hook up with the band and had a big impact on the sessions.

“He brings this creative madness to the whole affair,” Joe chuckles. “And enthusiasm! He just loves his music and he loves getting off on it. As we were listening to mixes and stuff he'd be head-banging away and playing air guitar and all sorts of stuff. He was more enthusiastic than we even were. He was awesome. It was like having a fan who could record you really well and offer great suggestions for your songs. He stoked our ego but also did the business as well.”

But while the new album is clean in the bag, the boys need to put a support tour on the backburner as they prepare themselves for festival season.  First up is the brand new Fresh Fest on the Gold Coast, which is sure to be a rip-roaring good time.

“It's going to be really good. It's always lots of fun with the festival atmosphere and now we've got a new album and a bunch of new songs so it's going to reinvigorate the set. We'll still play all the songs everyone knows and loves from the other albums, but it definitely gives you a fresh energy when you have a bunch of new stuff to throw into the mix. The album will have been out for a few weeks by then and you'll find a lot of people know the new stuff so it's definitely a good thing. We're totally looking forward to it.”

And it will be an event made sweeter by the location, with South East Queensland having always held Grinspoon dear to its heart.

“Brisbane and the Gold Coast were the first big city areas that we ever played in. A while back we broke down where we sell all of our records, and Queensland was always the biggest market in comparison to the population. The crowds up there are just so enthusiastic. We usually get up to some crazy stuff too; Phil hires one of those scooters and takes it out on the highway, that sort of thing. So it's always a good time!”

Grinspoon plays Fresh Fest, on the Gold Coast, Saturday October 17. 'Six To Midnight' is out now through Universal.