Adelaide hard rockers The Red Skull will be celebrating this month's Hottest 100 countdown with a special performance (on the day of the countdown) that covers the first 30 years of triple j's iconic listener poll.
To take place at The Gov after their listening party wraps up, the event kicks off with DJ Pedro and Phil D spinning all the best dance and hip hop tracks from previous years polls.
Before The Red Skull bring home the party in style with an epic two-hour show. Pace yourselves – it's gonna be a big day. We chat with the group's vocalist Jason 'JSC' Sym Choon about what punters can expect.
Tell us about the show?
We've found that you get a lot more interest (and bums on seats) if you're able to package a show with a theme, rather than just a random collection of songs.
We went around the country last year with a best of the Big Day Out show – that went really well, so a show based around the Hottest 100 seemed like a natural progression.
We've decided to make it an all-dayer with the countdown broadcast in the beer garden until around 8.30pm, after which DJ Pedro and live percussionist Phil D will kick off the live proceedings. The Red Skull will then take everyone on a trip through the best of the past Hottest 100s.
That is a lot of music to choose from; what was the process for selecting the tracks you’ll perform?
The methods ranged from totally objective (one of us made a spreadsheet showing how many times a particular song had featured over the years, complete with formulas), down to certain individuals having a sook at the pub until their own personal favourites got included. I won't mention who fell into which particular camp.
How heated was the debate within the band as to what tracks you wanted to play?
Well, until we brought Matty Hemmerling on as our permanent second guitarist, Jason 'George' Higgs had the most input.
As the only guitar player, he had to do most of the heavy lifting and so we were guided by him as to how accurately we could reproduce the sound of the original recordings. There was a bit of name calling/ arm wrestling at the pub, but not a lot.
Matty adds so much colour to the band as second guitarist. He can also sing a bit too, which is great.
And how much band practice is needed between now and the show to get all the songs as tight as possible?
Surprisingly, not that much. We agreed on the set list early on, so everyone goes away and learns the songs and then we only get together to work on the segues, tunings and technical stuff like that.
We've all been in bands for years now, so you like to think you're at the point where you kind of know what you're doing.
The day will also feature DJ Pedro and Phil D spinning some of the biggest dance anthems of the Hottest 100 – seems like you have all bases covered for your standard music junkie!
There's nothing better than seeing a proper DJ going to work on the 1200s.
A lot of people that call themselves DJs nowadays are just mucking around on their iPads – Pedro and Phil are old-school like us, and are very much live performers. They're the perfect fit for this sort of show, and are able to bring together all the iconic Hottest 100 tunes that a live band can't reproduce.
Your press release hints at a game of backyard cricket as well as the iconic slip n slide being set-up… can you confirm these rumours?
Well, it wouldn't be a Hottest 100 party without a bit of both, right? I'll guess we'll need to speak to The Gov's work health and safety people before we lock anything in though.
What’s the best technique for the ultimate slip n side ride?
Lots of really cheap washing-up liquid, a boogie board and about ten pints of pale.
And when it comes to backyard cricket, do you prefer to have a bat or bowl? Or field with a beer in one hand?
None of the above. Nowadays, the band sits around talking sh.t and watching the kids do the hard work.
What is The Red Skull’s own Top 10 list for the 2019 Hottest 100?
I dunno about a top ten, but my son assures me that it's impossible to sit still when 'Dance Monkey' comes on, so I suspect that one will figure prominently.
Other than that, it's gotta be something from fellow Adelaidians Bad//Dreems. If not one of the tracks from 'Doomsday Ballet', then their Like A Version cover of Warumpi Band's 'Black Fella, White Fella'. So good.
The rest of 2020 for The Red Skull; what is the plan?
Write some original music, and get a film clip, comic book, merch and multimedia content out there. We're so excited.
We've been talking about going down the originals route for a couple of years now, so we can't wait to show everyone what we have planned. But also, play as many live shows as we can. That's what it's all about for us – getting 500 or so people in a room, drinking Coopers and singing their lungs out.
None of the above. Nowadays, the band sits around talking sh.t and watching the kids do the hard work.
What is The Red Skull’s own Top 10 list for the 2019 Hottest 100?
I dunno about a top ten, but my son assures me that it's impossible to sit still when 'Dance Monkey' comes on, so I suspect that one will figure prominently.
Other than that, it's gotta be something from fellow Adelaidians Bad//Dreems. If not one of the tracks from 'Doomsday Ballet', then their Like A Version cover of Warumpi Band's 'Black Fella, White Fella'. So good.
The rest of 2020 for The Red Skull; what is the plan?
Write some original music, and get a film clip, comic book, merch and multimedia content out there. We're so excited.
We've been talking about going down the originals route for a couple of years now, so we can't wait to show everyone what we have planned. But also, play as many live shows as we can. That's what it's all about for us – getting 500 or so people in a room, drinking Coopers and singing their lungs out.
