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LAZY SUSAN |
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 On this page:
*Lazy Susan interview (with Paul)
*Lazy Susan Discography (all available on Whammo)
*Lazy Susan Australian Tour dates
LAZY SUSAN- THE WHAMMO INTERVIEW - NOVEMBER 4, 2003
You won't find many rock acts that enjoy being labelled as a 'pop' act but, then again, Lazy Susan’s members are true individuals. The 4 hopeless romantics have never been ashamed of crafting radio-friendly tunes and stations have responded in the best possible way by consistently adding the band's infectious singles to playlists, often rotating hits like Bobby Fischer, Canada and the new single, Sometimes, to the delight of guitar-pop fans around the country. It's because Lazy Susan are that band; the manufacturers of tunes that make us whistle contagious hooks and hum along to beautiful melodies. It seems they have the knack and can't write anything but potential hits. If the brass-powered hook of Sometimes has impressed fans, there's plenty more on the way with a full album in the can, produced by the prolific Paul McKellar. I recently caught up with Paul Andrews (vocals/rhythm guitar) to dig a little deeper into the collective ethos of Lazy Susan...
Whammo: I thought the band had been around longer but I guess that’s because of some strong initial success.
Paul: Absolutely. We’ve been around for – I guess it’s coming to – 5 years and we had quite a bit of success with our only album, especially with singles like Canada and Bobby Fischer, that got a bit of a plug on the J's (Triple J) and that translated to quite a few people buying the album. It’s been a fairly long time between releases. The last thing we released was an EP and that was about 12 months ago. We knuckled down and just finished recording our album with Phil McKellar. Until last Friday we hadn’t even done a gig for the last 6 months so we’ve only just got back on the horse, so to speak. Putting out Sometimes (single) is the first stage of the comeback.
Whammo: The huge comeback!
Paul: Can I just tell you, we played a gig at the Rose of Australia in Erskineville on Friday and the match fitness for gigs is way down. Third song in and I was already clutching at my side because I jump around quite a bit. I was just saying ‘oh my God, I’m so unfit at the moment’. I was thinking that I may need to do some work on the tackle bags.
Whammo: It’s amazing how much fitness you get by playing live.
Paul: ...because when you do it every fortnight it becomes second nature but if you haven’t done it for 6 months…I mean, I was like this after one song (gasps for air) and thinking ‘oh no, I’ve still got 9 songs to go!’ (laughs).
Whammo: As long as you got through your set. Did you have any horns on hand?
Paul: No, hopefully we’ll have them there for the single launch on the 18th at the Hoey (Hopetoun Hotel). Hopefully we’ll have the guys that played on the single and a number of songs on the album that comes out early next year.
Whammo: It sounds really sweet with the horns.
Paul: Thank you. It (Sometimes) was dying for the horns. We could all hear this riff that they play and we were going ‘wow, wouldn’t it be great if we got some horns in it. We did the usual thing of asking around, getting mates of mates of mates to come in and play. The first album didn’t have any horns or strings so we thought we’d extend ourselves for this album. With Sometimes, when we were recording those horns, we were literally running around the studio like kids who’d been given the keys to the candy store. The idea of having real horns on a song that we wrote was so exciting.
Whammo: It definitely adds that richness.
Paul: The horns take it to the next level and make it a little more stirring.
Whammo: I was going to use the word ‘pop’ and that term used to be a derogatory term for guitar bands and now it isn’t.
Paul: Yeah, it’s a weird one.
Whammo: Does it hurt to hear it used?
Paul: No, not at all. We’re a pop band and we’ve never been ashamed of that. It’s just a case of people having different views on pop. It’s such a broad church. I was talking to a friend about the differences between pop and rock but to me pop is popular music and rock comes under that. So many people are talking about rock these days and I suppose people have misconceptions about what rock is. They think about bands like Jet. We’ll never be that kind of a rock band. We’re just not into the big rock moves.
Whammo: Oh, why not?
Paul: If I tried to bust a rock move on stage I think the other guys in the band would probably 'down tools' mid-set and say ‘what’s going on there?’ My rock moves are patented Paul Andrews rock moves and they involve me pogoing around the stage in a…well, let’s put it this way: I don’t have a lot of rhythm (laughs).
Whammo: (laughs) You’re in a band and you don’t have a lot of rhythm?
Paul: And I’m the rhythm guitarist!
Whammo: You’re building on some very shifty foundations.
Paul: Ah, we get there Glenn, we get there.
Whammo: It’s good to hear that the album is under way.
Paul: Yeah, it’s all finished. We just figured, with Christmas approaching, there are so many albums that come out at this time, we’d be better off releasing the single and hopefully get a bit of airplay. Triple J added it (to their play list) yesterday. We thought we’d kind of go ‘hey, remember us?’ and then wait until February next year and put out the album. Hopefully it won’t get lost as it would have at Christmas time.
Whammo: You’ve got the right philosophy because there’s a real glut around Christmas time and also, we’ve lost the ability to work radio like we used to.
Paul: Yeah. You’re giving them a taste because if you go with the album straight away you get played for a week (on radio) and then…that’s it (laughs). Unless you’re out there touring you’re not going to get any airplay. So we’re trying to get two bites of the cherry.
Whammo: For sure. Changing the subject, I always think of good pop bands as being romantics.
Paul: Absolutely. We’re romantics. I’m the guy who takes the tissues to the movies with him. I’m the sentimentalist slob from hell.
Whammo: So, love is the main theme of your lyrics?
Paul: I know it’s highly unoriginal but the fact is that so many of the experiences of life stem from that. It’s not just love of a partner; it’s love of so many different things. You can write about anything to do with love. The options are limitless. You don’t want to limit yourself to simply writing about romantic love, you can write about the different kinds of love that are out there.
Whammo: There’s a real optimism about your music.
Paul: That is true. I can only listen to other artists being 'down in the mouth' for a couple of songs and then I need something that picks me up a little bit. That’s the way the best artists have always been, from The Beatles to Crowded House to Elvis Costello; people that balance ‘down in the mouth’ styles with something that’s bouncy and optimistic. If it’s all dark or all there’s no shade, comparison or context. We try and play on both sides of the street.
Whammo: Were you optimistic about the success of your music and did the interest go beyond that optimism?
Paul: I think optimism is the wrong word. We were hopeful, as most bands are that are starting out. Really, we had no concept. The idea that people like us enough to go into a record store and buy our single? I don’t want to sound like a cliché, but that still blows my socks off. To play a gig and have some stranger coming up and saying ‘dude, I really like that song- can I buy the single or album?’- part of me still wants to say ‘come on, you’re having me on- you really want to buy it?’ It’s so lovely. The response we got for Bobby Fischer and Canada totally outstripped our thoughts of what we’d achieve. Everything since then has been a bonus. I don’t want to sound like Mister Nice Guy bit it is- it’s totally a bonus. We got a publishing deal through Mushroom and through them we got on things like Garage Days and Secret Life Of Us (soundtracks) and that was like ‘what- I can’t believe it!’ You’re watching TV and suddenly one of your songs comes on. It’s outrageously good. We’ve gotten this far, we can work with someone like Phil McKellar (producer), put out a single and it gets added to Triple J. It’s just getting better and better. If it ended tomorrow I’d be disappointed but I’d be able to say that it was bloody excellent while it lasted. There we were at one stage saying ‘do you think our friends will come and see us play?’
Whammo: How is the live following?
Paul: It’s pretty good. For example, we hadn’t played for six months, literally, and this gig on Friday night was packed. It was like ‘guys, thank you so much, I thought you would have forgotten who we were’. Hopefully the launch at the Hoey (Hopetoun) on the 8th will get a good crowd as well. We’re playing with two really good bands: The Camels and I Love Space. Even though we haven’t been around for a bout 12 months, our traffic of fans, friends of the band and the website stuff is still really confident and regular. We can really depend on people that like our music, so that’s really great.
Whammo: It’s good that you mentioned The Camels. I saw Jamie the other day and their music has really come along.
Paul: I haven’t seen them in ages but I’ve heard stuff.
Whammo: It’s good guitar pop billing.
Paul: It’ll be a good night.
Whammo: You’ll pack that out for sure.
Paul: I think we’ll do okay. |
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