With his band's Black Betty 20th anniversary tour mere days away, Spiderbait's Kram is feeling nostalgic.
"I think I'm a quite a sentimental person and very reflective by nature," he says. "Especially if you manage to survive [as a band] and if you're lucky enough to prosper in this mad, mad world."Whenever we have these milestones come up, it certainly makes me feel really stoked that we are still lucky enough to have the success that we've had but, more importantly, we're proud of the work and the connection we have with each other and our fans, which is a beautiful thing."
The ever-popular, hard-rocking trio will play 12 dates across Australia from August to October to celebrate two decades since their single 'Black Betty' was unleashed into the world.
The fact it was a cover version that provided the band their biggest hit to date came as a surprise to everyone involved. "We always loved the Ram Jam version of the song that was released in 1978 or 1979," Kram says.
"We're all big fans of the pop show 'Countdown', which was a really big influence on us as country kids. Every Sunday, we would watch it on the ABC, and you would see what music was on top of the charts, and who the latest bands were.
"I think it was a number one hit in Australia and we just loved the song, and it was actually quite a while after that that I found out that it was written by Lead Belly back in the 1930s and it was an African-American blues song.
"Then, when we started putting it together, I thought it could be a really good thing to record and it was pieced together by us and our producer Sylvia [Massy]. When the thing was finished, we thought it sounded sick and it was really very similar in its energy to the Ram Jam version. We didn't expect it to be the big hit that it was."
The song went to number one on the ARIA charts and brought the band significant exposure in the United States; the place where the song's parent album 'Tonight Alright' was recorded. "It was great to go and make a record in the States," Kram says.
"We'd never made a record in another country before. Janet [English, bassist] had a really bad fear of flying in the early days and when we got offers to tour in America, we were a bit reluctant because it was very difficult for her to be able to travel outside of Australia.
"We loved working with Sylvia; she was the first woman that we'd ever worked with as a producer, and we just loved her energy and the bands that she'd worked with. We were always picking her brains about how she used to be an engineer for Prince.
"She's a very spontaneous sort of creator, and I can really relate to that; it was such a wonderful energy she had. But the best things about the record, I think, are Janet's songs. I think all of Janet's songs are awesome, and one of the best things we ever had about that song is when it became a hit in America, we were contacted through email by Lead Belly's family and descendants – and they told us they really loved the track and that we'd done a really good job. We were really blown away by that."
Even after two decades of Spiderbait's version of 'Black Betty' being rocked out to all over Australia and beyond, the song continues to find new audiences. "We did Groovin The Moo a couple of years ago," Kram says.
"That was a really young crowd and a lot of kids had never seen us before, but the energy of that song just made them go nuts. The same thing happened when we did the track together with Dom Dolla at the Myer Music Bowl last year.
"We did a signing on a tour once and this woman came up to me and said that the song had really saved her so many times because she had had some bad stuff in her life. She had had depression and she would put that song on and get into her Commodore and burn down the highway at 250km an hour. It would be her way of burning through the darkness.
"Maybe in a similar way to how we thought it was a Ram Jam song, people will now think it's our song, but you're going to have to do the research about Lead Belly and the legacy of African-American music. It's really important to tell that story."
The Black Betty 20th anniversary tour kicks off in Brisbane mid-August and includes two nights at the Forum in Melbourne before finishing up in Canberra late October.
"The tour is going to be kind of like a combination of our greatest hits, but I think there'll be a few different things thrown in," Kram says. "It's always weird when we have such a big body of work to choose from.
"When you do a tour there are so many different places that you can go, so we'll just see how it's going to pan out as we as we start working through rehearsals which we're at now; and we'll be culminating in celebrating 'Black Betty'. It's a weird thing when you do someone else's song. You try to make it your own and get into it in your own way, but also pay tribute to the person who wrote it."
So, when the 'Black Betty' celebrations are done and dusted and Kram's nostalgia is set aside, at least until the 25- or 30-year anniversary comes around, should Spiderbait fans be expecting something new?
"I bought a new guitar a couple of years ago," Kram says, "and ever since I bought it, I've just been writing for a new Spiderbait recording. It's been riff-o-rama; basically, that's the constant. I'm fully into the energised, heavy-as-f... kind of space.
"John has got some awesome songs as well, so we're piecing it together, but the plan is that after this celebration [of 'Black Betty'], to release a new record next year and head on into the future."
Spiderbait 2024 Tour Dates
Tue 13 Aug - The Fortitude Music Hall (Brisbane)Fri 16 Aug - Hindley Street Music Hall (Adelaide)
Sat 17 Aug - Odeon Theatre (Hobart)
Fri 30 Aug - Bar On The Hill (Newcastle)
Sat 31 Aug - Waves (Wollongong)
Sat 14 Sep - Astor Theatre (Perth)* sold out
Sun 15 Sep - Astor Theatre (Perth)
Thu 19 Sep - Forum Melbourne
Fri 20 Sep - Forum Melbourne* sold out
Sat 21 Sep - Enmore Theatre (Sydney)
Sun 20 Oct - Miami Marketta (Gold Coast)
Fri 25 Oct - UC Refectory (Canberra)
