When COVID hit Australia, it disrupted Aussie prog-rock faves Cog on what could have been their triumphant return to music after a decade-long hiatus.
The band had released three singles throughout 2018 and 2019, and things were on the up, according to drummer Lucius Borich."It was 2019, we released 'Drawn Together' and we went overseas, we did some shows over there, that was great, and we came back with the intentions to dig in and do some more writing and stuff like that, then it all just went belly up and it was like, 'quick, get the life boats out'," he laughs.
"I guess depending on where you were and what you were doing, you hear some artists and bands, they go, 'Well we just hunkered in the studio and created our COVID album,' because they couldn't tour – but we had businesses and other things we had to do."
For Borich, that meant turning his back on music entirely for two-and-a-half years, working in a factory to make ends meet and support his family.
Now, though, it's back to (music) business: Borich has just finished setting up Keysound Studios in Byron Bay's industrial estate – which he hopes may mean new music for Cog as well. . . or at least finishing the track he says is "about 90 per cent" done.
"I want to open [the studio] up to the rest of the guys and hopefully it's inspiring to them, and it's somewhat seductive and I lure them in to possibly want to do some new music and record stuff," he laughs.
"All of the intentions are there, it's just whether the timing is right, and it's just trying to find those openings that coincide and we can get stuff done."
Lucius says gigs are good, because they bring the band back together – literally – and spark inspiration. "We'll get in the studio and start jamming and all of a sudden we're pressing record on iPhones and recording little parts of jams we're doing, going, 'Oh that would be good'," he says.
"I think good art really wants and deserves focus and attention – you don't just do it to rush it and get it out because you want to get some product out there.
"For us, that's not the way we work; we have to really focus and dedicate, and make sure that what we're going to be putting out there is as good if not better than what we've ever done before."
Borich hopes an opportunity will arise when he reunites with bandmates, brothers Flynn and Luke Gower, to headline Thrashville, Dashville's 'slightly heavier' alternative festival, held in the Hunter Valley this September.
"It's our first gig of the year!" Borich laughs. "It seemed like the right timing for everybody, in terms of when they were putting the festival on, and we had a look at it and liked that it was more of that kind of independent festival as well."
Lucius says the band are keen to head to the site the day before their performance to check out the other bands on the line-up.
"It looks like there's a good variety, it's not just heavy, heavy, heavy – I guess under the umbrella of more 'distorted' music, there's a variety within that, whether it be more rocky stuff or sludgy-rock stuff or metal stuff or prog-y stuff. There's a bit of a mixed bag there, under that umbrella. That's good; that's exciting."
Borich says in the current economy, it's "ballsy" for festival promoters to put events on, but it's such a lifesaver for artists in a post-COVID world.
"Given the inflation rates and the mortgage rates and everything that's going through the roof, and I guess the rollover from COVID and the economic damage there, I think they're really putting their balls on the line, so to speak, and I think that's really amicable and should be supported really strongly," he says.
"For some people the COVID thing didn't touch them at all; they had more work and some of the bigger corporations made more money than they've ever made. But for bands, it was a real hard slog, so I would encourage as many people as possible to come and support the local music and the music that we've got – and obviously the festival itself."
Although he's hopeful the band will be inspired by the festival, Borich assures fans they won't release new music until they have something to say.
"A lot of people get desperate and just put sh.t out because they think they need to put it out, because they need to keep people happy and keep record companies happy and booking agents happy and whatever else, but the art can end up suffering and not be as good," he says.
"So there's a double-edged sword there. It'll come out when it comes out, and when we've got something to say we'll say it."
For now, Cog has re-released their previous two albums, 'The New Normal' and 'Sharing Space' on vinyl – something the trio has been wanting to do for a long time.
"We know the artwork for the albums that we originally did was just so fantastic. . . even when we released it on CD, it looked great and everything but it was like, 'that on an album like what we used to get when we were younger' – like when you'd open up 'Houses Of The Holy' by Led Zeppelin or a Jimi Hendrix album or Black Sabbath album or something, it was like, 'wow'," Borich explains.
"I guess there's a little bit of romanticism of that connection that we had to vinyl and the experience of tangibly having a relationship with the music in your hands, and you can put it on your stereo and then it's in the room, and you have this partnership with putting the needle on and there was a real ritual there, putting your time and energy into vinyl."
Borich hopes Cog fans both old and new have the same feelings when they pick up the vinyl. "Back in the day it was something where those musicians and music meant so much, because I think you had that tangible relationship with it, so we hope people get a similar thing from this," he says.
"The timing was right, too, because we've parted ways with our record company. The term ended, so it was when we get our music back and we can do what we want with it after the contract has ended after the 15-odd-year period, that was the right time to do it."
Cog play Thrashville 2023 at the Dashville festival site in the Hunter Valley 8-9 September.
Thrashville 2023 Line-Up
CogMammal
Civic
Shady Nasty
Crocodylus
Downgirl
Dust
Dane Blacklock And The Preacher’s Daughter
Wildheart
Fifth Dawn
Bloody Hell
Boudicca
Where’s Timmy?
Private Wives
Fungas
Telurian
Doris
Operation IBIS
Deadshowws
Wayward Kings
Miruthan
