The Volcanics - Eruptions A Go Go!

By Jens

Australia is buzzing with fresh new talents at the moment, and Perth-based rockers The Volcanics are the cream of the crop. Basic balls-out punkrock'n'roll from the place that spawned The Victims, The Scientists, Bon Scott and now this outstanding combo. I got instantly hooked on their excellent EP, "Nothin' For Your", and recently received their sublime contributions to the Perth "Light The Fuse" comp (both on Out Of The Loop Records), so I had a chat with singer John Phantouros. Other members include Mick Whitby (guitar), Jason Clearby (bass) and drummer Warren Hall.

LC: The history of The Volcanics, you were in Helana before? Sounds like the name of a nasty hurricane, haha?

John: Yeah, I guess Helana does sound like a hurricane's name, well Mick and I were in Helana along with the original Volcanic's drummer JT, with my school mate Ronny on bass, I also played guitar in the band, which was lots of fun. We were a no fuss, no frills, loud garage band, and only around for 18 months, recorded 5 songs that were never released, The Volcanics came together shortly after Helana ended, which was around November 2002

LC: You got a new drummer, Warren Hall?

John: Yeah, but he ain't that new anymore, Waz has been kickin' it with us, for over a year now, he's an animal and just loves to play.

LC: The Perth scene of today?

John: The Perth scene today is probably the healthiest it's ever been, great rock'n'roll bands like The Fuzz, The M-16's, The Crossbones and Rockin' Hendy all playing regularly around town, with the venues happy enough to have these bands play.

LC: Both Victims and Scientists were from Perth, Bon Scott grew up there?

John: Perth has a proud history of producing bands and musicians, and you'll find that a large percentage of Australian bands have some sort of connection to the city. Bon Scott was born in Scotland, but grew up here, played in bands here before moving away to join AC / DC, he's buried in Fremantle cemetery. Approx 15km's south west of Perth, and many a touring band will stop off to have a beer on his grave. My good friend James Baker from The Victims and The Scientists lives back in Perth now and he's still kickin' out the jams like he always has, now with Rockin' Hendy he's a great human being and a big influence on all of us in Perth

LC: The "Light The Fuse" comp with other Perth bands each doing 3 originals and one cover of a classic Perth groups?

John: The CD gave current Perth bands, us, The M-16's and Fourstroke an opportunity to acknowledge great Perth bands from the past, we did "Snuff" by The Bamboos, the M-16's did "Television Addict" by The Victims and Fourstroke chose "No Dying In The Dark" by The Bakery. The whole concept was Out Of The Loop Record's, with all 3 bands jumping at the chance when asked, we were all flattered and honoured when asked, and the project turned out really well, it's been great for the bands involved as well.

LC: Your "Nothin For You" EP has a cover of The Rockets called "Light The Fuse", did the title of the comp originate from that?

John: You're actually the first person to pick that up, and it was a very deliberate decision made by Out Of The Loop, you see when the chance came up to do the Light The Fuse project we jumped the gun and went into the studio and recorded the tracks straight away, however the other bands for many reasons were unable to do this, so we had a finished recording ready for the CD but the other bands hadn't even booked studio time, so after a couple of months with our recording sitting there doing nothing we approached Out Of The Loop to say that would like to have the recording back and to release it as an ep ourselves, then record again for the Light The Fuse CD, Out Of The Loop went a step a further and offered to put the ep out for us, this went on to be Nothin' For You our debut release, and since The Rockets track was our first choice to cover but since it didn't make the CD, Out Of The Loop thought it would be quite fitting for it to be the title.

LC: Inspirations? I can hear traces both US punk like The Dead Boys as well as early Saints?

John: Yeah, we've definitely heard those comparisons before, as far as inspirations go for me I can't go passed (Radio) Birdman and The (Small) Faces however I really don't know where to stop as my list would be endless. I think I draw inspiration not only from a musical level but rather if bands are REAL or not I think that honesty and integrity are inspiring traits in themselves especially in rock'n'roll where things can be so over the top, I mean anyone can ACT like a rock'n'roll star

LC: What's your approach to recording? You seem to get a lotta raw live power in the tunes?

John: Our approach is very, very simple get in and out of the studio as quickly as possible, unfortunately this is due to budget constraints, but the benefits are, the rawness shines through, that and the fact we record live to tape in an analogue studio.

LC: Any full length album coming out soon?

John: It's interesting that you ask, as we're going to Melbourne to record our debut album, with Lindsay Gravina at Birdland Studios, and all going well it will see the light of day some time in the new year, we're spending a lot more time on this and want to get it right, hopefully it gets a wider release but we'll have to wait and see

LC: Describe a Volcanics live experience?

John: I guess in a word unique, no 2 gigs are ever the same, but definitely always fun, we get up and play rock'n'roll and hopefully the punters enjoy it enough to come back for more.

LC: Whats the most unusual record in your collection?

John: Probably, Presenting Dionne Warwick, great songs, great voice. "Make It Easy On Yourself" is a timeless classic.

LC: Hobbies besides playing rocknroll?

John: All hobbies stopped when I started playing rock'n'roll, I am consumed by it, but when I'm not playing rock'n'roll, I'm watching someone else play it, either The Fuzz or The M-16's.

LC: Anything to add? Are you touring Europe in the future?

John: Is that an invitation? Seriously though there is nothing more the band would rather do, than get on a plane and tour Europe, that's ahead of the US and Asia, and if an opportunity came up we'd be there in a heartbeat, but realistically we realize that we would need a release in Europe for this to happen, so we can only hope that our full length album might get licensed over there. The only remaining thing is Thanks to Jens and Lowcut for the support.

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