“We've progressively gotten worse to the point where we can barely play our instruments.”
Frenzal Rhomb has reached a point in their 20-something, year-long career where they have released enough music and played enough shows they can get away with being self-deprecating – but they're not to be taken too seriously.
Frontman Jason Whalley says that although it's a cliché, the band's most recent album 'Smoko At The Pet Food Factory' – released in 2011 – is his favourite. “It probably doesn't have the best lyrics of all the records but it's got the best consistency,” Jason says.
“The rest of our albums you can give to Cash Converters, I think they pay like ten cents a CD so you can try your best.”
Despite Jason's habit of jokingly dismissing the group's talent, Frenzal Rhomb has had a string of success throughout their career, opening for bands like Blink-182 and The Offspring, as well as touring America, the UK and Japan.
The band has, however, faced mishap upon mishap, with drummer Gordy Forman recently breaking his arm demonstrating how to stage dive, and Jason finding a pig-worm parasite in his brain two years ago. “It was pretty stressful because they thought I had a tumour,” Jason recalls.
“Once they told me it was a pig worm, I was like 'fucking sweet, I can deal with that'.”
It's still not something to brush off – Jason's brain was invaded by what he calls an “alien life form” when he ate food prepped by someone who had previously ingested undercooked bacon from an affected pig. The worm remained idle for months until Jason had a seizure and was taken to hospital, putting a hold on any plans the band had in 2013 – which Jason says included finalising an album.
Frenzal Rhomb have an impressive array of unorthodox festival experiences behind them. “We've set-up a hills hoist with a goon bag on it and swung it around, getting children from the crowd to drink wine; we've set up a paddling pool, filled it with jelly and wrestled people in it... Different things tend to happen,” Jason says.
Frenzal Rhomb has built a sturdy fan base throughout their career, but Jason hopes people leave their sets wanting more. “There might be people that come see us and say 'what a trippy band, I'm looking forward to hearing some of their new material',” he says.
“I'm sure we're going to make legions of new fans... Either that or all our old fans will realise we're no good and just walk away from the stage.”
Frenal Rhomb Tour Dates
Wed 6 Jan - Hoey Moey (Coffs Harbour)Thu 7 Jan - Club Forster (Forster)
Fri 8 Jan - Chelsea Heights Hotel
Sat 9 Jan - Village Green Hotel (Melbourne)
Sun 10 Jan - Lorne Hotel
Wed 13 Jan - The Northern (Byron Bay)
Thu 14 Jan - Solbar (Sunshine Coast)
Fri 15 Jan - Spotted Cow (Toowoomba)
Fri 22 Jan - Marlin Hotel (Ulladulla)
Sat 23 Jan - Baroque Room (Katoomba)
Sun 24 Jan - Narrabeen RSL
Mon 25 Jan - Fitzroy Hotel (Windsor)
