REGULAR JOHN is anything but a regular rock band. Putting synths to their old school rock ‘n’ roll use, busting out social critique lyrics via questioning the mechanisms of society, emerging with a punk rock/indie synergy that appeals to a vast range of musical niches; Regular John are definitely a unique quartet. Self-described in sweet cold treat terms, Regular John guitarist Ryan Adamson states “If we could be an ice cream flavour, we’d be a rock-flavoured rainbow; rocking with a nod to a psychedelic vibe.”
The foursome, consisting of Brock Tengstrom (guitar/vocals), Ryan “Macca” McDonald (drums), Caleb Goman (bass/vocals) and Ryan Adamson (guitar/vocals), originated in Griffith. They fused together effortlessly; forming relationships over their musical whims and fancies. “We had some music taste in common. We all really bonded over loving KIA, Fugazi, At the Drive-In, Trail of the Dead,” explains Ryan. “We’re all pretty nerdy musically. We all have different vibes, we’re all in our own world. I don’t really know much of anything else going on, it’s out of sight and out of mind.” The band eventually decided to travel to Sydney in search of fame and fortune.
Since the move, Regular John have produced an EP called Marrickville 2204 in 2007 and released the single The Devil’s Melody/Easy Rider which followed their EP in late 2007. More recently their much anticipated debut album, The Peaceful Atom Is A Bomb, produced by the drummer from The Church, Tim Powels, has been dubbed “the perfect distillation of everything good that’s happened since rock found a heavy, fuzzy imagination in the late Sixties” by Rolling Stone magazine.
“When someone says something like that,” Ryan muses about the rather impressive dub, “you feel like you don’t want to disappoint. We’re hoping lots of people dig this new album.” In that same vein, Regular John won’t compromise their musical standards, avoiding to get stuck in too much of a good thing. “There’s a fine line between expressing yourself and having an appreciation for something. Most artists need to be expressive. I don’t know anyone who is in the same mood every day, so why write the same songs, the same material?”
“Writing music is all about staying at the top of your game,” Ryan says, furthering this point, “but also it’s about taking a leap of faith. I know so many musicians who when they’ve ‘done something right’ with their music stay on that same path, because they know that it’s a safe bet. We can do that too, but we feel it’d be letting ourselves down in a way.”
Antithetically opposing the re-emergence of many art-rock bands in the Sydney and Melbourne scene, Regular John’s sound is a unique mix of a nostalgically rock ‘n’ roll tradition. Organically woven in the studio, the music is far from contrived. “It seems like some bands get together and decide ‘this is what we’re going to do.’ We on the other hand just get together and jam. Sometimes someone might bring a completed song in and we alter it. If something is originally transcribed in piano, we transcribe it into guitar and take it even further in that direction.”
Having shared the stage with bands like The Bronx, The Hard-Ons, The Scare, Birds Of Tokyo, Helmet, Dinosaur Jr., Louis XIV, You Am I, and The Datsuns, Regular John are no strangers to professional touring. The band is excited to promote their new album, along the southeast coast of Australia, with prospects of widening their geographical performing horizons. “We’re looking forward to do lots of touring, and eventually go overseas to tour.”
Regular John will be supporting Kisschasy at the ANU Bar on Sunday October 4.
