It has been a quarter of a century since Regurgitator's seminal album 'Unit' was released, following on from their 1996 studio album debut, 'Tu-Plang'.
The band has embarked on a series of tour dates, which will include a show supporting Midnight Oil, festival appearances at Wave Rock, Spring Loaded and Good Things, as well as a number of headline shows across the country.There is also a book, written by the band's former producer Magoo (known better now as Dr Lachlan Goold) and Lauren Istvandity, which discusses what made 'Unit' such a success at the alternative music peak, as well as the impact of Regurgitator's music. Warner will also be reissuing a 25th anniversary edition of Unit on vinyl and deluxe digital with bonus tracks in November.
The band got together in a shed outside Brisbane a few months ago to work on some new material. Vocalist Quan Yeomans says it was the first time the band had jammed like that in around 20 years.
"I don't think I've actually sat down with those guys and played in a room just jamming for decades," he says. "I don't really enjoy it that much, but I got into the swing of things and it was quite fun.
"Ben's much more of a jammer, work it all out in the live sense first, whereas I'm much more meticulous and like doing my songwriting alone before bringing it in and ironing it out."
While the session may have resulted in some future album tracks, the band has an extensive back catalogue to pull all the crowd favourites from.
"Fortunately, being a band that's been around 'of this vintage', if you like, you do tend to play to the nostalgic crowd," Yeomans says, "and it has been really lovely playing again with bands from our era, just on a couple of the Spring Loaded festivals and random shows here and there with Magic Dirt and Tumbleweed and The Meanies and stuff like that – just seeing old faces and playing music again and having the crowds just kind of revel in it. It's been really nice."
Acknowledging the impact their music might have had on fans' psyches during their formative years, Quan says the reaction from crowds lately has been rewarding.
"It's very meaningful, I'm getting that kind of vibe a lot of the times when we play," he explains. "So yeah, it's rewarding. It's certainly one of the upsides of getting older."
Regurgitator recently received an apology for an incident at River Sounds (northern NSW), during which a clip intended to play during 'I Piss Alone' was looped throughout their set. Yeomans was oblivious to the reaction, saying drama falls off him "like water off a duck’s back".
It hasn’t stopped the resurgence of their famed beef with TISM, though, since both bands were announced for Good Things festival later this year. "Oh man it's just been going for so many years, it's never gonna end," Quan says of the ongoing feud.
"It's more like. . . we're like family. Step-family. We have a lot of history, we've been on tour buses together and it wasn't pleasant."
He is looking forward to seeing them at Good Things. "It'll be good to see them live, see if they can actually get up off the ground," Yeomans laughs. "I think they're all in their 80s now, which is impressive."
At least someone else might take up the "granddaddy" role, which Yeomans jokes Regurgitator took on during the 2019 Groovin The Moo tour. "Those were super awkward shows, because we just felt like the granddaddies," he recalls.
"There's all these young, spunky bands with loads of fans just getting screamed at, and then we'd come on and they'd be like, 'Ah, who are these old dudes?'"
They may feel old, but Regurgitator's energy on stage is just as vibrant as the nostalgic crowds remember. "A lot of people come up to me and say it's the most energetic they've ever seen us since the '90s, which is really nice," Yeomans says.
"And I also have a lot of people come up and say, 'you haven't aged a day!' I'm like 'yeah, that's my pact with the Devil – it's still working!'"
Regurgitator 2022 Tour Dates
Thu 22 Sep - The River (Margaret River)Fri 23 Sep - Barnard Park (Busselton)* supporting Midnight Oil
Sat 24 Sep - Wave Rock Festival (WA)
Sat 22 Oct - Spring Loaded (Wollongong)
Fri 11 Nov - Magnums (Airlie Beach)
Sat 12 Nov - Dalrymple Hotel (Townsville)
Sun 13 Nov - Edge Hill Hotel (Cairns)
Fri 25 Nov - Badlands (Perth)
Sat 26 Nov - The Gov (Adelaide)
Sun 27 Nov - The Basement (Canberra)
Fri 2 Dec - Good Things @ Flemington Racecourse (Melbourne)
Sat 3 Dec - Good Things @ Centennial Park (Sydney)
Sun 4 Dec - Good Things @ Brisbane Showgrounds
