Electric Mary
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Electric Mary

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“I didn’t sleep much last night, just out being an idiot,” says bassist Alex Raunjak. “So I’m feeling pretty sorry for myself today. I’ve just cracked the hair of the dog. But it could be worse, man. I was over in Bali once with some friends and had to do an interview, but we’d had mushrooms the night before and I’d forgotten about it. They’re ringing me on Skype and honestly man, I’d been listening to The Doors all night, there were people in the sky, it was amazing. Maybe not great for an interview though.”

Electric Mary have been around for over ten years now, during which time the five-piece have gained the respect of many of their Melbourne contemporaries. From the beginning they’ve been a band that demands your attention, right from 2004’s Sail On single through three albums and five EPs. The guys have also been an international hit, supporting Alice Cooper, Deep Purple and many others, playing to massive crowds and winning legions of fans.

“When we first went over to Europe we went on the Whitesnake tour, and we were playing to like seven to ten thousand people a night. It’s such a big scene over there and they’re so passionate. But something people don’t know is that in Australia we breed fucking tough rock’n’roll bands. Nowhere in the world breeds bands like in Australia, so whenever we come home and we’re playing home rooms, the Corner or whatever, it’s always, ‘Fuck yeah, man. We’re fucking Aussie and we’re unique.’ We terrify bands overseas, it’s fantastic.

“We have that pub culture about us that is unlike anywhere else in the world. It gives us something that a lot of other countries don’t have. We’re seen as pretty fierce, and it’s from playing pubs. It’s from playing the Espy front bar when you’re scared you’re not going to be good enough. We’ve got Rose Tattoo, we’ve got the Angels, these bands that are just pioneers. I’m so proud.”

After six years of intense touring in the US and UK the band has recently taken some time off. They didn’t disappear completely over the last year, but Raunjak acknowledges it was good to have a bit of space to just kick back and get their bearings again (though they’re now set for another European tour in September). When it comes to how Raunjak sees their place in the world, he’s just happy that the community remains strong.

“We all like Deep Purple, so we’ve got a bit of that ’70s sound to us. I don’t know, rock is rock. You hear classic, you think old. Rusty [vocals] was around a little bit before me, and he saw a real era of rock in Australia. Rock was everywhere. You had these rooms where everyone would sing together, it was all about unity. Rock will always be there, but sometimes it can go underground and it changes. Mind you, a couple of years ago I was listening to triple j and heard this band called the Awesome Hand Clap Band or something, and at that point I went, rock’s fucking dead, man. It just hurt my heart. But when it goes underground, it gets scary and fierce again and people start trying to push boundaries, and that’s great.”

The lineup for Wallapalooza sees Electric Mary co-headlining alongside Dallas Frasca (“We got really excited about it, we thought it was a good match, ’cause Dallas is so fucking ballsy and they’re such a great band,”) – so unless the apocalypse kicks in, we’re guaranteed a good show. When it comes to the prospect of their next album though, Raunjak is more reflective.

“A couple of years ago we got an offer from this big American record company, and I just thought the deal was so heartbreakingly bad. We thought, we could sign and see what happens, or we could stay ourselves and keep doing what we’re doing and loving what we’re doing, and do it until we’re 80 and playing in spandex. Honestly, as soon as money is involved, it’s all about money. And we always said it was about playing in a band we wanted to be in when we were 13 and looking at the posters on our walls. That’s Electric Mary, and fuck what anybody thinks, we love it. That’s been our motto, and it’s served us well and we’ve always had a great time. I mean, we struggle at times man, we all make sacrifices. But in the end, I’d rather make a record that I love and I’m proud of than something that some radio station might want to play.”

BY ADAM NORRIS