In a career spanning 30-plus years, there are still surprises to be had, there's still time for firsts – like the first time Adalita Srsen's cat vomits all over her computer keyboard.
An unexpected, panic-inducing occurrence (don't worry, kitty is fine – keyboard, not so much), but not one that deters the Magic Dirt vocalist from discussing, with a great deal of reminiscing and excitement, the Geelong rock outfit's forthcoming appearance at the Adelaide leg of Spring Loaded festival next month.It's the '90s reunion, packed full of the kind of nostalgia that is needed right now. With a line-up boasting the likes of Grinspoon, Regurgitator, You Am I, Frenzal Rhomb and of course, Adalita's own Magic Dirt, Spring Loaded is just what the doctor ordered.
"Oh yeah! We love it!" Adalita declares. "People are loving the '90s, loving revisiting – it never really left us, I think!"
Funny Adalita should say that. Given the longevity of Magic Dirt, it's a longstanding achievement that songs the band wrote beginning in 1991 should still hold up today – a fact that does not escape Adalita's notice or appreciation. "I just realised it's been 30 years we've been together as a band.
"I'm so proud to have come from the '90s. . . It was a wild time." - Adalita
"It's fun playing the old songs. We're quite a bit older now but we still get such a thrill, such a kick playing live. We all pinch ourselves that we've lasted this long, but yeah, you roll with the punches.
"We've been lucky we've had dedicated fans and been able to play the music we love. I don't know how we got so lucky but for things to turn out the way they have, we're just so grateful."
As a solo artist, Adalita has enjoyed major success as well. Magic Dirt started, stopped, started again, and there's a catalyst that has driven the band for the last three decades – come rain or shine – that comes down to, Adalita says, a push to continue releasing new music.
"We're really great friends, that's a big part of it," she says. "Another big part of it is you just feel pulled towards music.
"It's very compelling to write music to play, and it's in our blood and we can't help it. You might go away for a while, but you always come back. We absolutely love it – we love touring, meeting people in all the different towns, getting up on stage, all our mates in other bands.
"It's just a great time, one big party! We're just lucky to have it as a career – not that we ever set out to have a career in music – to sustain ourselves from it, which is a great bonus."
Interesting. Entering Magic Dirt with no preconceived ideas of achieving fame and fortune, what did Adalita want to do? Vet? Scientist?
Laughing at the notion, Adalita says her aspirations in life were always firmly centred on creative endeavours. "Anything to do with the arts, I've pretty much dabbled in, but I guess music was just something I fell into and it stuck. That was my art form that ended up being the one that took off.
"I do remember having the urge to be a film director. I really enjoy taking photos and filming things, dreaming up little films in my head. That was one thing I had a strong desire to be but it's not like I regret it.
"I'm very happy with being a rock musician, per se. Nothing too far off the path of what I'm doing now – no mad scientist or anything like that."
Though Spring Loaded is largely billed as a massive hit of nostalgia, arguably there's so much resurfacing these days that nod back to the '90s when the genre Magic Dirt runs with, that alt-rock, grunge sound, was at its peak.
Having been in the biz since she was 20 years old, Adalita is more than qualified to speculate as to whether grunge is a mainstream emerging trend or that in fact, the plaid shirts and crushed velvet days of yesteryear have never really disappeared. "Everything to me feels a bit splintered," she says.
"It's not so defined as it used to be. There's so much going on to compete with people's brain spaces.
"I'd say there's definitely amongst the young kids a strong interest in the '90s. A lot of kids in garage-style bands love that decade. There's definitely a contingent of young kids out there who love the grunge era, want to be in a grunge band and ask a lot of questions.
"I don't think it's a massive resurgence but if there was going to be one, I don't think it's happened yet. Everything is so different now, so I don't know that it will.
"The '90s will probably be the last one that would have a resurgence. It's probably the last great movement in a decade – not to discount the noughties, but I mean in terms of really earth-shattering global movements, grunge was, to me, the last one of its kind."
Really getting her cogs to turn, Adalita thinks about an element from that period she still sees as being prevalent in the Australian music scene today.
"I'm starting to see the classic flares coming back! '90s flares, not '70s flares. I remember in the '90s we were wearing lots of flares in the beginning of the grunge movement – they looked cool! All the cool kids were wearing these flared jeans and they're starting to pop up again in fashion.
"Colour hair, that reminds me of the '90s. The flannies, they're coming in good now – chuck on a flannie and you're instantly cool. The classic red and black look great. They're mass marketed now, which is fine by me – I love those flannies!
"I love my '90s kids out there paying homage, and they feel comfortable in that gear. I'm so proud to have come from the '90s, I feel like sort of an elder. I'm walking around like 'I lived that, kids! You want to ask questions, I'm here!' It was a wild time, it was huge, massive."
It's this sentiment and secret confidence that Adalita will share with old friends in other bands on the Spring Loaded line-up. Chuckling darkly, she says: "We shared a lot back then, we're closely bonded through our experience of the '90s. Lots of parties, lots of craziness, lots and lots of shows.
"Back then, we were living on the road. We have those memories, those experiences to pass on and to share, and that's the greatest thing; that we're still around to share it but our memories are pretty hazy, I've got to say!"
Each Spring Loaded event features a slightly different line-up featuring the likes of Magic Dirt, Grinspoon, You Am I, Regurgitator, Jebediah, Frenzal Rhomb and MC Lindsay 'The Doctor' McDougall, plus more.
Spring Loaded 2021 Tour Dates
Sat 8 May - On The Lawn @ Royal Randwick (Sydney)Sat 12 Jun - Cairns Showgrounds
Sat 19 Jun - Sandstone Point Hotel (Brisbane)
Sat 26 Jun - Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Fri 23 Jul - Darwin Amphitheatre
Sat 16 Oct - Gosford Entertainment Grounds (Central Coast)
Sat 23 Oct - Stuart Park (Wollongong)
Sat 30 Oct - Red Hill Auditorium (Perth)
Sat 27 Nov - Victoria (venue tba)
