What do you call someone who can't stop doing algebra? A math addict.
And via that poorly constructed joke, we find our way to talking about south-coast band Decapitators and their debut single 'Crystal Math'.
With the single doing the rounds and Decapitators ready to make some noise, we give them the chance to sound off about the band, the new single and worshipping their god, Scrolsch.
Give us a quick introduction to Decapitators and what the band is all about?
We're mainly about severing heads, but sometimes we play music as a secondary function. We're some south-coast lads who like to go hard, but also like to cry sometimes too. Loudly and obnoxiously.
Roll call! Who's who, and what do they play?
Ivan. Present! I play guitar and screech into the microphone. I'm the lead screecher. Thorne. Present! I slap the bass and slap my chest. I do some dinosaur screeches too. I'm pretty good at that. Matt. Preeeeseeent! I make sound effects and am primary back-up screecher. I am the hair of the band and I try to make people cry with my guitar. Tom. Not present. He's lead drummer most of the time.
What can you tell us about the debut single 'Crystal Math'?
Well it's our debut. I think we're finding our sound a bit with this track. I think bands are always in flux, and our sound has been really hard to pin down. We've been wrestling with it for a while and I think this is one sort of permutation of the many elements that mix together to make our brand of noise.
What has it taken to get to this point of releasing your debut single?
We're barely holding to together to be perfectly honest. A lot of spitting at each other and careful coordination. I often think the hardest part of being a successful band is just keeping everyone together; playing the actual instruments is kind of just a by-product of remaining a collective unit. But I think you can rest assured that you'll be hearing more from us from hereon in.
How have you gone about cultivating a local following?
We just play pub shows and house parties, and hope that people go for it. Oh yeah and we always make sure to pray to our god-deity, Scrolsch, to bring us fortune, power, and other stuff.
Considering the state of Sydney's night life, has it been challenging trying to establish yourselves as a young band?
I'm not sure if it's due to Sydney's lockouts or just generally because we're so far ahead of our time, but yes. Maybe we just need to worship Scrolsch more vigorously. It's hard to say.
What sort of shenanigans can we expect from a Decapitators live show?
At the Decapitators we're all about shenanigans and shenanigan-related 'nanigans'. If you come to one of our shows looking for shenanigans you will not be disappointed. This one time I said: “We are Decapitators,” and some guy goes: “YEAH, THE COUCH POTATOES!”, and we've just been running with that ever since.
What is your long-term vision for the band?
Inevitable meteoric rise to glory and subsequent tragic self-destructive carnal excesses followed by a flop album and gradual fading into obscurity, and then three comeback tours.
After the release of 'Crystal Math', what's coming next for Decapitators?
We have a couple of tracks we're kicking around that we're recording in the near future, and we have a couple from the last session that are getting mixed slowly as if by nan with a wooden spoon. For the time being, we're just playing it by ear as if it were a cover of 'Wonderwall' with the wrong chords.
