Regurgitator - Super Happy Fun Times

Regurgitator formed in 1994 in Brisbane, earning a trusted following of fans with the release of their debut album Tu-Plang, though it wasn't until 1997 with the release of Unit that the band found mainstream success, winning the ARIA Award for Best Album of 1998. The album was a move away from the rock-oriented works of their past into a far more electronic and pop-based sound, something that the band would continue to play with on and off throughout their career. It's that album and side of Regurgitator that Pulse are most intrigued by. The band released their latest album SuperHappyFunTimesFriends late last year and are currently on tour with the Big Day Out Festival. Ahead of their performance at the Sydney leg of the event, we caught up with Quan Yeomans for a nice little Q&A.

Pulse: Unit was recently voted #10 in the Triple J Hottest 100 Australian Albums of All Time. Quan, you said in an interview last year that you can understand why it was such a popular album. What is it you love about the album when you listen back on it? Quan: Just how odd it is. Goofy, cheap sounding. Awkward, not of it’s time.

It definitely showed off your guys penchant for hip-hop and dance music, even more so than any of your other albums. Do you remember the kinds of bands or producers who were inspiring you during that period? We were listening to a lot of Devo, Prince, The Prodigy’s ‘Jilted’ record, Boredoms, Money Mark, Busta Rhymes.

Speaking of dance music, do you guys still keep up with current electronic music? “Keeping up” is barely an option these days. I check the pirated download charts from time to time and enjoy random cutting edge pop-cultural information via word of Social network.

How was it performing Unit in full at Falls Festival? A nice little bit of nostalgia? The crowd must have loved it. It was fun-ish, a little bit constrictive due to the fixed nature of the project but quite interesting to travel back to songs we hadn’t played for ages and a couple we had never played.

There weren’t too many bands around in the late 90s who sounded like Regurgitator; you were rather unique. Though nowadays, nearly every Australian band seems to have a sound heavily influenced by the electronics of the 80s! Do you feel any sense of influence there, like an older sibling passing down their musical tastes? Not really. If there was any influence rendered I like to think it had more to do with our loose, outsiderish nature and maybe our amateur approach to something that was perhaps deemed a little too ugly to be done at the time. The 80s, like every passing era was always going to be revisited. The Unit record was a minor aneurism. I think the way newer bands have approached the 80s sound has been far more precise and studied.

How do you feel about the current state of the music industry in regards to the internet and online music blogs, declining music sales and the recently placed importance on performing live and touring to make money? I can’t complain. I still get to do what I love to do after 18 years of doing it. As far as I’m concerned everything is as it should be. Technology is doing what it always has and creative people will continue to ride and be ridden by it.

You were only releasing singles for a while there. Why the decision to record another album? Too slack. Too distracted. We realised the album was a really great focus provider. For us, and I’m sure with a lot of other people trying to get shit done, deadlines, not promises, are what produces finished work.

What have you got in store for your Big Day Out set - will it be a mix of old and new, or mainly focus on tracks from the new album, Super Happy Fun Times Friends? There’ll be a good 5 or 6 new songs plus a collection of our favourite oldies that we still enjoy belting out.

Who are you excited to see play live on the tour and who are you glad is on the tour in regards to debauchery, silliness and general tomfoolery? I’m interested to see Kanye because his obsessive compulsiveness seems like it could be good to witness a little of. Sonically I’m interested to see how Royksopp pull it off. My side project Disaster! will be playing a sideshow with Das Racist in Brisbane on the 24th. I like those guys so I’m looking forward to that.

What’s at the end of Satan’s rainbow? A golden pot overflowing with the purest, unadulterated souls perhaps..?

Cheers! Cheers, Q. 

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