January 25, 2021 – words by Bec Harbour, photo by Lyndal Irons
Custard are that band that no one knew if they were serious or not (spoiler: they’re not) and whether to take them seriously. With songs like Girls Like That, Music is Crap and the new one, Funky Again they ran the fine line of becoming a parody band and came out the other side as a well loved indie band. They are about to do 2 nights at the Tivoli in Brisbane (both nights are close to selling out) and released their latest album Respect All Life Forms early in 2020.
Drummer Glenn Thompson is in Melbourne, in the backyard of a relatives house with birds chattering in the background when I answered the phone for our interview. After exchanging greetings we hop straight into the questions.
How was it to release an album and not be able to tour for it?
Oh yeah, there was an upside to it, they seemed to be able to get more press, there seemed to be a wider bandwidth for it. The downside was that it seemed to disappear very quickly.
The latest single Funky Again is very much a song aiming squarely at their age bracket (and likely the majority of their fans). Did Custard ever worry about becoming a parody band?
Yes! We did think at one point ahhhh, no one is ever going to take us seriously. But we can’t change, we don’t take ourselves seriously, we just can’t, it is what it is.
I find that Brisbane bands don’t take themselves particularly seriously. What is your take on why? There is almost a Monty Python-esque silliness but with that undercurrent of social commentary.
It is! It is like that. It is definitely a cultural thing. I personally think it’s a fear of being seen to be taking yourself too seriously. A fear of being too earnest. But also a pleasure in the humorous side of music.
When I listen to some [music] and think there’s something missing, and it’s often that little bit of tongue in cheek and I miss it. I like it when people have one part of the thought process looking at what they’re doing at the same time as doing it, just standing apart from it and looking at it.
With songs like Girls Like That (the uncool guys don’t get to go out with them) and Funky Again (something that was once cool is cool again – like older people thinking they are ‘funky again’), Custard has made a career out of these social observations and the self-awareness around the social stratas.
Ha ha, maybe it’s a lack of self-confidence…ha ha!
You wrote and sang one of my favourite Custard songs – Music is Crap. This came out when there was a lot of crap music getting airplay. Was this prophetic or a coincidence?
Ah ha! No look, I was kinda riffing on the idea of being very introspective, saying the vehicle that you are making your art, your art form is rubbish but at the same time you’re loving it. Ha ha, I just thought how punk is that?
Let’s talk about Funky Again. Custards lyrics often pose a question about social situations. Does Custard always write for the outcast/society fringes?
It might be getting back to that lack of confidence. Theres always been that inbuilt obsolescence in rock and roll, but the funny thing is, it’s false. At the beginning rock and roll was seen as a fad, you know like yo-yo’s or something, but it’s still here, people and bands going forever, like all art forms people just keep going with it.
There’s an inbuilt age-ism in rock and roll that’s completely untrue, but it touches us all. We all think at some point oh god what are doing up here still.
Then you remember Mick Jagger is still doing his thing…
Yeah, yeah… We’re here because we love it and you just do what you do.
And there’s this thing about being a mature band that has reformed, you’re like what do we write about now? We are not writing about being young and revolutionary. You write about what’s in your life now and you think is this grandpa rock?
Lacking in my own knowledge from the 90’s I had no idea that you took over drumming duties from Lindy Morrison in the Go Betweens – those were some big shoes to fill.
They were very big shoes to fill and I made a point of not trying to be Lindy because I could never be Lindy. She’s very idiosyncratic and a very special person. And I decided I was just going to do it as I would do it. It wasn’t as hard as you might think it would have been. We toured Europe and long term fans would come and see shows and I never once heard I wish it were Lindy. They probably thought it but they were nice enough to not say it ha ha.
I had no idea that you were also in COW.
Yeah, yeah!
I was raised on listening to Dolly, Hank and Willie Nelson with my grandparents, I think I played COW for my grandfather and he told me to get out.
Ha ha, that’s hilarious!
So how did the transition from COW happen?
When I was about 24 and Dave was about 21, and I was also in a band called the Tumbling Tumbleweeds with Robert [Moore] and one of the guys left and I said let’s get Dave in.
You’ve also created a considerable body of work outside of the aforementioned bands, writing, drumming, what is the thing that you have done over the years that has satisfied you most artistically?
That’s a tough one! I always get the most satisfaction out of playing songs that I have written, but you know, all of it.
I remember when I was busking in the Queen Street Mall with the Tumbling Tumbleweeds in ’86 or whenever, I loved it. I thought if I died now I’d be happy. And I have felt that along the way with all of it. Getting back to that whole thing that music is a fad, it’s obviously not, it’s been enduring, it’s been the best outcomes, it’s inside you.
I’m starting to sound too earnest now ha ha! I love it all, it’s all fun.
With the upcoming shows what has changed from touring in the 90’s (jumping in the Tarago, wrapped around a drum case) – how different is touring for Custard these days?
We like comfort ha ha! Touring is very different these days, we have established separate independent lives outside of music, and that’s great because it gives you power to do the music because you want to.
You do it because you want to. We used to try to please everybody, our manager, our record label… yeah we’ll do that. We’ll do this, we’ll do everything, just keeping everyone happy.
Now we don’t, we say we’ll do that one, but not that one. We arrive completely independently and just turn up to a gig. Sometimes we hire a van and drive around together but it’s still very independent, you know, at our own speed.
Custard are playing at the Tivoli Brisbane on February 4 and 5 – tickets are selling quickly so get in fast.
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