"I thought 2016 was sh.t!" laments Dune Rats' BC Michael Marks. "Then 2020 came along. . . I'm just hoping we don't see something else happen and go: 'F..., 2020 wasn't that bad after all!'"
Bloody oath BC.
Everyone is a bit sour in the world. At home, for BC Michaels going from nationwide bushfires into a global pandemic, his cage has been rattled. "It's f...ing sh.thouse!" he says."I want to go back to the days when it's a sh.t year when Prince died! It sucks that he died, but f.... In the big scheme of things, it wasn't the worst year. Compared to this year, yeah."
For Dune Rats this year, no sooner had they dropped their third studio album 'Hurry Up And Wait' in late January and taken it on the road for a run of national shows, disaster hit – everywhere.
Now the Brisbane rockers are itching to get back on the road, with a headline appearance locked in for This That Festival (Newcastle and Brisbane) in February, and headlining their own show as part of Adelaide's Summer Sounds Festival in late January.
Positive vibes only, here, please – but don't jinx it. "As soon as these vaccines come out, I'm just gonna f...ing inject two of 'em straight into my eyeballs," BC says, evidently keen to get back on the road. "Who know what's going to happen with music here."
One of the last bands to tour the country before everything shut down, Dune Rats played to 9,000 people at 3 shows. They haven't played a show since. "That was March, now we'll play end of January, so close to a year if this Adelaide gig goes ahead," BC says. "I think it will. Close to a year between gigs."
However, pessimism isn't welcome here. "I find myself being optimistic [about performing live again] and then going, 'I dunno'.
"I guess I was truly optimistic at the start of the lockdown, and then, after a certain amount of time, it keeps on going, it becomes harder, but I do my best.
"Being pessimistic doesn't get you anywhere, I guess. I try not to sound too negative!"
BC reckons Dune Rats can inject a little positivity not just to their fans, but into the live scene, when they return to the stage. "We're pretty much just trying everything we can, looking at every loophole," he says, "doing everything we can to play shows. Quarantining in WA for two weeks to play shows there. I'd be keen at this point to play in a phone box somewhere.
"When you see State of Origin at full capacity at Suncorp Stadium, with bands playing there, as soon as you take the footy out of it, bands aren't allowed to play. There's a lot of red tape around bands, but everyone's trying their best to play – it's just proving to be difficult."
BC hopes, and thinks, that with people moving around the country during the Christmas period, if everything goes well with community transmissions (ie. a lack of them), it'll be a pretty good test for whether bands can start touring again.
"With the vaccine coming along, that's promising. [I'm] hoping that all goes well and [we] can get things back to normal as quick as we can, really."
Dune Rats play Summer Sounds Festival (Adelaide) 30 January as well as 2021 This That Festival at Sandstone Point Hotel (Brisbane) 30 October and Wickham Park (Newcastle, sold out) 6 November.
