Palms
Image courtesy of Palms
Lex spoke with Dion and Al from Palms, on the eve of Palmarama, their double header tour with The Gooch Palms.
Lex: How did the idea of touring with The Gooch Palms come about?
Al: I actually asked Leroy (The Gooch Palms) if he was cool with us calling our new band Palms before we started, cos I didn’t wanna step on Goochies’ toes. He said no, but fuck him! Leroy also played bass in Palms for almost a year. He played bass on Step Brothers too (except for three songs). So there’s a long sordid history between the bands…
Lex: Right, so should we expect some antics from both bands during the tour? Maybe some practical jokes or a bit of one upmanship?
Dion: We haven’t really considered it. They’re actually close friends so it will be a blast to hang with them. But now you mention it, tour pranks aren’t a bad suggestion. The classic “rubber fly in the ice cube” or “pound of weed in the boogie board bag” would go down a treat!
Al: We’re sharing a tour van for a lot of it too so I’m guessing there’ll be loads of mooning going on. Speaking of which, I better book a crack wax in…
Lex: Right! Will there be arguments about what music to play in the tour van? What acts/albums will be vying for airplay on the stereo do you think?
Lex: How did the idea of touring with The Gooch Palms come about?
Al: I actually asked Leroy (The Gooch Palms) if he was cool with us calling our new band Palms before we started, cos I didn’t wanna step on Goochies’ toes. He said no, but fuck him! Leroy also played bass in Palms for almost a year. He played bass on Step Brothers too (except for three songs). So there’s a long sordid history between the bands…
Lex: Right, so should we expect some antics from both bands during the tour? Maybe some practical jokes or a bit of one upmanship?
Dion: We haven’t really considered it. They’re actually close friends so it will be a blast to hang with them. But now you mention it, tour pranks aren’t a bad suggestion. The classic “rubber fly in the ice cube” or “pound of weed in the boogie board bag” would go down a treat!
Al: We’re sharing a tour van for a lot of it too so I’m guessing there’ll be loads of mooning going on. Speaking of which, I better book a crack wax in…
Lex: Right! Will there be arguments about what music to play in the tour van? What acts/albums will be vying for airplay on the stereo do you think?
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Dion: Well, we all love classic rock so I imagine KISS, thin Lizzy and Cheap Trick will get a thrashing. And we very rarely last a two hour drive without at least one Kurt Vile LP and a good podcast. We’re driving to Brisbane and Melbourne so that’s a good 48 hours of time to fill up. Got any suggestions? Lex: I love Kurt Vile! Got plenty of suggestions…The new Harmony and Blank Realm albums; Savages’ album Silence Yourself if you dig post punk; I See Seaweed by The Drones… |
Al & Dion: Man, how great are Harmony? Such an awesome concept for a band. It’s ethereal and violent all at once.
Lex: Yeah, definitely! Also recommend Beaches’ album She Beats for psych rock; the new Beck CD for something mellow and then just put “Delete” by DMA’s on repeat!
Al: Yeah, I like that DMA’s song. I’ve smashed that a bit the last couple of days. And Blank Realm are so dope.
Lex: What else are you guys listening to of late? And what’s the best live act you’ve seen in recent times?
Al: I’m stuck in a massive Neil Young phase at the moment. I reckon the third Palms album will be real mellow. Maybe. Probably not. Mac De Marco blew me away a couple of months back. I wasn’t expecting much, but it was such a fun show. Dude’s got so much charisma. I saw Kurt Vile solo acoustic in a tent at Sydney Festival which was pretty incredible too, but Kurt Vile could spit in my eye and I’d probably think it was awesome.
Lex: Yeah, definitely! Also recommend Beaches’ album She Beats for psych rock; the new Beck CD for something mellow and then just put “Delete” by DMA’s on repeat!
Al: Yeah, I like that DMA’s song. I’ve smashed that a bit the last couple of days. And Blank Realm are so dope.
Lex: What else are you guys listening to of late? And what’s the best live act you’ve seen in recent times?
Al: I’m stuck in a massive Neil Young phase at the moment. I reckon the third Palms album will be real mellow. Maybe. Probably not. Mac De Marco blew me away a couple of months back. I wasn’t expecting much, but it was such a fun show. Dude’s got so much charisma. I saw Kurt Vile solo acoustic in a tent at Sydney Festival which was pretty incredible too, but Kurt Vile could spit in my eye and I’d probably think it was awesome.
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Lex: If only I had Kurt’s number I could line that up for the next time you need cheering up. What’s the funniest heckle you guys have received? Or maybe the best heckle you’ve given another performer?
Al: My favourite heckle when I’m watching a band is to start chanting “one more song” right after they finish the first song. And one time when we were supporting DZ Deathrays, this guy hated us before we even started. He was flipping us off and yelling “Hurry the fuck up, you’re just the support band!” He spent the whole show with his arms crossed, staring me down. Cool guy. It’s almost as if he didn’t enjoy our 3 hour long “best of” set! Dion: Yeah, that’s probably the worst AND the most confusing heckle we’ve had. Lex: What albums do you consider timeless, that you think you’ll never tire of, and will still be listening to in a decade or two? Dion: There’s loads of timeless albums. I feel like the majority of great albums will never grow old. Anything that doesn’t try to sound “now”, stylistically at least, will always be relevant. You just have to look at any record store to see what’s continually in print, and it’s always a range of 60s to now. I think good music just stands the test of time. |
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Lex: So what are some of your faves that are 10+ years old?
Al: For me, Let it Be by The Replacements, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain by Pavement…I reckon The Strokes’ Is This It? is a modern classic. I reckon most of the music we listen to is 10+ years old. Dion’s a classic rock fiend. We have a DJ thing we do: DJ AL-DI and it’s all classic rock and a couple of future classics thrown in too. There are too many awesome albums to list. Music rules! Lex: Will there be any chances for punters to witness DJ AL-DI on this tour? Al: Yeah, if they’re game to poke their heads in the tour van they can hear all the ALDI they desire. Lex: Good luck with the tour guys. One last question - any plans for a new album? Al: Yeah man. It’s gonna be called Crazy Rack and we start recording with Owen Penglis from Straight Arrows again in the first week of April. We’re gonna be playing a bunch of new songs off it for the first time on this tour. Lex: Cool! When can we expect it to be released? Al: We’re aiming for around October, but let’s wait and see how it turns out first. |
