By now, of course, you’ll be aware that BMA, in its boundless beneficence, is hosting another night of Riffage at the ANU on Friday June 19. And of course, what would Riffage be without Sydney’s own sultans of sleaze, the HELL CITY GLAMOURS? The natural order of things dictates that an appearance in the nation’s capital by Oscar McBlack and the boys warrants in-depth discussions about something or other, so I immediately contacted Robbie Potts via the gift of electronic mail and posed the questions that need answering. Let’s go…
The last year has seen the band make real progress. How does it feel to actually get some recognition from all over the world? “It’s been really great. I’d still want to play drums if tomatoes were flying through the chicken wire every Saturday night, so to be able to tour overseas, play to some awesome crowds, receive some great reviews and get involved in the general mayhem that is being a rock ‘n’ roll band in a foreign country is just awesome.”
Ah yes. Foreign countries. You’ve just been to the US haven’t you? Tell me a little about the South By South West festival. How does playing something like that help a band? “They’ve got an ‘Artists Lounge’ that has beer… for free. Plus corn chips. That’s how it helps a band like HCG. In addition to that, there’s all the industry people you can poke a fedora at; a seemingly unlimited array of venues and other bands to see, countless varieties of Mexican food, good times and free beer.”
Time to change tack. The album’s been out a little while now – how is writing for album number two coming along? ”There’s quite a few songs in the pipeline and now we’ve finished touring I think it’s a good time to concentrate on working on them. We, like most bands, have a sort of revolving life cycle that has three parts: 1. Write songs. 2. Record songs. 3. Tour, playing said songs. The point of the band to us has always been touring. But obviously it’s not much fun driving all over the countryside playing half-baked songs to ambivalent audiences. So the harder we work in writing, the more fun we have touring. Not to mention that working out new songs gives us back that exciting spark you only get in a rehearsal room when you’re jamming out a new song. We haven’t been in ‘songwriting phase’ for a while so I’m quite excited about it.”
We all are, Robbie, we all are. Anyways, looking forward to the Canberra show? “Absolutely. Everyone in HCG loves coming to Canberra because they’re always great gigs... the people down there just seem a little more bonkers.” If the cap fits, as they say, prepare for a night of bonkers behaviour on the 19th, people – don’t let the boys down.
Make sure to catch Hell City Glamours, Hancock Basement and Escape Syndrome live at the ANU Bar on Friday June 19. Tickets are $10 on the door.
