Put down your polyester girl, shake off the black bugs and let the kong foo sing because one of Brisbane’s best-loved bands, Regurgitator are returning for a concert tour celebrating their extensive back catalogue.
“We're going to strap on our guitars and see if we can play them still,” laughs vocalist Quan Yeomans, “so that's always fun to watch. It's just like riding a bike for us and when you're in the moment it all just seems to flood back.”
Since playing their last show in Beijing in December 2013, Quan has relocated from Hong Kong to Melbourne so he can focus on raising his family. “The reason we haven't played for a while is because I had a child with my wife about a year ago so it's been pretty hectic at home. My wrist has actually been really bad because of lifting the baby over the last year.
“I developed something call de Quervain syndrome, which is pretty rare in guys apparently. As the doctor was telling me, he was injecting me with the cortisone, he's like 'you're the first guy we've ever had in here' and I was kind of belittled at the same time as being proud.”
In preparation for the upcoming ‘Cheap Imitations Tour-che’, Regurgitator performed at First Coat Street Art & Music Festival earlier in May, which Quan says was the perfect set and setting for the band to regroup. “We did have a one-off in Toowoomba at a graffiti festival which was really cool, it was a nice turnout and people had a good time. So that was really the first show of the new lot that we're doing; that was kind of a warm-up.”
Despite the nearly two-year gap between performances, Quan never really considered Regurgitator as being on hiatus and explains why he doesn’t see this tour as a ‘comeback’ for the band. “We're not really a band that sets stuff up like that, it's never like we go away and then come back. We say we're on a hiatus just so we have that word out there, it means nothing to us. Essentially we just bob along: we feel like playing [or] we need to play because we've run out of money; we’ll go out and work again and it's just amazing that we can still play in an inner-city environment.
“People appreciate us coming out every now and again to play the songs, I would like to think almost as well as we used to or sometimes better. It's still worthwhile for us and worthwhile for our audience, so as long as that occurs I don't think we'll ever go away completely or make 'comebacks' as such, we're not really into that kind of marketing scheme.”
After 22 years, 8 studio albums and countless hours of listening enjoyment, Regurgitator have established themselves as one of Brisbane’s proudest and most treasured musical accomplishments.
Yet, like many musicians, Quan is uncomfortable with the prospect of listening to his own music. “I think a lot of artists would be like this unless you're Kanye West, for example, who loves listening to his own music in his car, but I just can't listen to my own music. I might pull them out just to hear them so I can remember how to play them, or Google the lyrics because I don't have a clue how it went, but I never ever listen to my own music.
“As far as I will say, the least embarrassing record, or the most cohesive record I guess, would be ‘Unit’ for me. Also, of the newer records, I did quite like a lot of the songs on ‘SuperHappyFunTimesFriends’. Apart from those two records there's quite a lot of cringe moments for me, I don't really like listening to them; mix-wise and also production-wise.”
With their unique blend of punk guitar, '80s retro synth and irreverent, often tongue-in-cheek, lyrics, Regurgitator unintentionally carved a very special niche in the Australian music industry. “So we're a very accidental band in lots of ways; our success was accidental, the production of our records, the good ones in particular or at least the ones that aren't so shit, were also very accidental in lots of ways, and in that way we were at the mercy of pure creativity more than a lot of bands are.
“A lot of bands are very well-crafted and I hear a lot of modern music and think 'fuck, it's sounds incredible and these people are incredibly talented', but there isn't a lot of chaos there, it's very meticulously done and the craftsmanship is extremely high but there isn't a lot of this raw, bizarre energy that’s awkward and maybe doesn't sound great or is a little bit weird but you don’t come across that as often these days.”
Regurgitator Tour Dates
Sat 8 August – Beats In The Heat (Karratha)Sat 22 August – Cultural Festival (Townsville)
Wed 27 & Thurs 28 August – The Zoo (Brisbane)
Sat 29 August – Manning Bar (Sydney)
Fri 4 September – The Prince (Melbourne)
Sat 5 September – The Gov (Adelaide)
