When it comes to some of Australia's most memorable bands, it's near-impossible to look past Sydney's Machine Gun Fellatio.
The seven-piece group existed for the better part of a decade before calling it quits in 2005, but left behind them a legacy that far exceeded any expectations they could have ever had. From their equally-chaotic and beautiful songs, the massive amounts of controversy they generated, to their legendarily-hedonistic live shows, it feels difficult to sum up such a band succinctly. For founding keyboardist/ producer/ songwriter/ vocalist Chit Chat Von Loopin Stab, it's even more of a task to imagine the group got this far to begin with.
Machine Gun Fellatio's history can be traced back to Sydney rock outfit Vrag, which featured Chit Chat on vocals, and comprised every future member of Machine Gun Fellatio save for vocalist Pinky Beecroft.
Alongside his role composing soundtracks for adult films, Chit Chat and Machine Gun Fellatio producer and bassist 3k Short soon began to record other musicians prolifically, including another project with Beecroft called Limebunny.
This project in turn resulted in a number of songs that would turn up in Machine Gun Fellatio, including 'Blacklamb' and the triple j favourite 'Isaac Or Fuzz'. The breakthrough, however, was 'Horny Blonde Forty', a track whose lyrics were used for The Whitlams' 'No Aphrodisiac' – one of the most beloved songs to ever emerge from Australia.
"Suddenly we had a number one on triple j's Hottest 100, a platinum album we'd written a single for, and all the record companies came searching for what else we had," remembers Chit Chat. "The record company we signed with loved all the stuff that we'd done in this recording and said, 'We don't want another Whitlams, we want what the f... that is'.
"We suddenly have a deal and then and then out of nowhere this band Pre-Shrunk advertised the DJ support as Machine Gun Fellatio, and we said, 'Oh, f... it, let's just get a band together'. So we did."
Within just four months, Machine Gun Fellatio were touring with American rockers Primus, and it only grew from there. Debut album 'Bring It On!' paired the eclectically-enigmatic 'Mutha Fukka On A Motorcycle' with the brazenly beautiful 'Unsent Letter', while top ten follow-up 'Paging Mr. Strike' spawned hits like 'Rollercoaster' and 'Pussy Town'.
Before long, Machine Gun Fellatio were playing New York, London, and Los Angeles, and playing stadiums with Duran Duran, KISS, and Robbie Williams. Nobody could have foreseen such a reception, let alone the band.
"It genuinely took us all by surprise," Chit Chat says, "but we worked really hard, and everybody in the band – no matter how we're feeling about each other or how bad our day had been – as soon as that curtain went up, everybody – the crew, every member of the band – did every single thing they could to make that the best hour of anyone's life."
Machine Gun Fellatio ultimately folded in 2005 following their final album, 2004's 'On Ice', with its members going on to a myriad other projects.
After almost two decades away however, news arrived this year that the band would be touring as part of TISM's 'Death To Art' tour – a three-date tour featuring a line-up rounded out by Eskimo Joe, Ben Lee, and The Mavis's.
While fan sentiments seemed to be that the chances of a Machine Gun Fellatio reunion were slim at best, the topic had never been far from the minds of the band. "We got so many offers over the years," admits Chit Chat.
"David Walsh, who owns MONA, is a bit of a friend of the band, and he offered really big money for us to reform for one show; but that was about five years ago, and then COVID happened and I thought, 'that's it, it'll never happen'.
"One of the big pulls was that we loved TISM, so the idea of touring big shows with them was really appealing," he adds. "The idea that it was more than one show was appealing, because to have ten rehearsals for one show is disproportionate. You do all that work just to be onstage for an hour, but this way, we get to live it four times."
That fourth time is in reference to the band's secret show in Newcastle just last week (11 October). Their first show in almost two decades, it was a refreshing return for the group, with fan reviews indicating they hadn't missed a step.
From their onstage antics to iconic costumes (including Chit Chat's Winnie The Pooh codpiece), it was as if they'd never left. However, what is it about Machine Gun Fellatio that still resonates so strongly with their fans and even each other?
For Chit Chat, it's their dedication to the craft. "I think we're all try-hards in a wonderful way and I think it's not even an ego thing; it's just that we try and one-up each other," he explains. "We were even hiding our costumes completely from each other because we wanted to go, 'look at me, motherf...er!'.
"Even the crew want to be a part of that, and there's this weird competitiveness that is infectious, but there's also the same level of absurdity that’s always been there."
According to Chit Chat, the audience makeup at their first show back was a surprising split between diehard veterans and new fans who weren't even born when the band were first together.
It does beg the question though, could a group such as Machine Gun Fellatio have started today? Or is their existence emblematic of the eclectic alternative culture of Australia in the '90s? "There's no way we could have done it today," Chit Chat explains.
"We've been having those questions as well though, because I have two teenage daughters and, if you want to ask what's appropriate these days, ask a 13-to-16-year-old girl. My wife is Sri Lankan, so they're girls of colour and one of them's queer, so I test stuff on them, but there's a million reasons we couldn't have happened now.
"One is that our shows are so expensive that we couldn't have done it," he adds. "When we started we could record our records for free at home, we got paid for the records that we sold, we sold lots of them, and people bought music, went to shows, and paid for all that, whereas so much of that has just disappeared.
"I think radio is becoming safer, so I don't think we would have been played, I don't think we could have afforded to do the shows we did, and it's only because of this retrospective thing where they can offer better money and we actually do the show we want to do."
Currently, the upcoming dates with TISM are the only thing that Machine Gun Fellatio have on their schedule, with no word – either external or internal – as to whether this reunion could continue or result in new music.
"We're not saying 'this is just the start of it all' and 'we're going to do this', this is a moment where we all get to do it again and then it will be gone, so enjoy it," Chit Chat says. "Every moment of the rehearsal I was saying to myself, 'if it doesn't go any further, at least you got to do this'.
"After the gig on Friday night, it was the same deal; it was flawless," he adds. "I looked around at everyone beaming – the audience, the band, the crew – and just the joy in the room. I went, 'well, if nothing ever happens past this, I got to remind myself that it wasn't a dream'."
TISM & Machine Gun Fellatio 2024 Tour Dates
Sun 20 Oct - The Riverstage (Brisbane)Sat 9 Nov - Sidney Myer Music Bowl (Melbourne)
Fri 29 Nov - Hordern Pavilion (Sydney)
