With their latest ‘No Touch Red‘ shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Newcastle on sale now, and Irrelevant just announced to join One Dollar Short and For Amusement Only on the lineup, this week in The Hotseat we catch up with Bodyjar’s singer / guitarist Cam Baines. To co-incide with the tour, the band recently re-mastered and re-issued their ‘No Touch Red‘, ‘Take A Look Inside‘ and ‘Rimshot‘ albums on CD with bonus material and ‘No Touch Red‘ on vinyl which has now sold out. Get your tickets now for the shows, the Melbourne and Adelaide legs both sold out prior, so don’t delay. Expand this post to read the interview and re-cap the dates.
THE BASICS
Name : Cam Baines
Band : Bodyjar / Cola Wars
Job In Band : Singer, guitar, question answering guy.
Website Address : www.bodyjar.com
HOME
Hometown : Melbourne – (dep)preston
Hometown is best known for : Football, good bars and coffee. Oh and awesome live music scene, great bands.
Best venue in your hometown : The Bendigo Hotel and The Corner Hotel. There’s lots though.
Favourite show you’ve seen in your hometown : Descendents @ No Sleep Til Festival and Gorilla Biscuits.
Favourite show you’ve played in your hometown : Last ‘No Touch Red’ show at The Espy. Good crowd and good bands playing. We didn’t screw the pooch playing badly either.
THE BAND
How did the band first come to exist? Just jamming at school at lunch times. Then through the Melbourne all ages scene in the early 90’s which was pretty big at the time, we were just bored suburban kids trying to make some noise, we had unlimited energy.
How long has the band been going? Have been kinda disbanded for the last 3 years but doing these reunion shows has been awesome, all up about 16 years?
Any particular story behind the name? It’s a skate trick, but we had a cartoon of a guy squashed in a jar that we wanted to use as our logo, we found it in some old skate mag.
What’s your most recent release? Tell us a little about it… ‘No Touch Red’. One of our old albums that a friend of ours just put out on vinyl, heaps limited though. Some red vinyl in there too. They spin around on this thing called a record player.
Got a personal stand out achievement of your band to date? We were mentioned on Neighbours once. Made the Who Weekly crossword, also got to travel a lot and play / work with all our fave bands.
OFF THE STAGE
What was your first introduction to music that made you think seriously about playing it? Probably hearing Black Flag and Descendents etc. on skate vids at the time and being interested in these weird punk bands. Thinkin’ we could try this!!
Any particular band / album or song that you personally credit as a major influence? Descendents, ALL, Nirvana and a few of those 90’s band, early Metallica, Epitaph and Fat stuff. Metal like Slayer etc. Heaps of hip hop and stuff too.
Your first band name, and what style did you play? We were called Damnation at first. We were just doin’ covers – The Cult, Ramones, Metallica, TSOL & some Aussie stuff.
Most prized music related item you own? First pressing of Ramones – ‘End of the Century’.
When you’re not doing band related stuff, what are you usually found doing? Managing a skate shop in Melbourne.
The thing you most look forward to just before a tour is… hopefully knowing there will be people there.
The thing you least look forward to before a tour is… having to pack, forgetting stuff.
ON THE STAGE
When on offer, what’s your one must have item on the rider? Bottle of scotch, monkey helper.
Favourite place you’ve toured… and why? Japan – its amazing!! So acutate – eg; you play from 9.03 til 9.52, so polite, you go out after the show because it finishes so early and the crowds are great.
Most memorable show you’ve played? and why? Korean Rock Festival, just a weird experience. Big crowd on the beach in Korea.
Got a favourite song to play live? Probably ‘Not The Same’, ‘You Say’ or ‘Remote Controller’.
Any embarrassing on stage moments come to mind? Being dacked by Dave O’Dwyer from Game Over.
RIGHT NOW
Last song you listened to? Rodney Rude – ‘Ya Mum’s Bum’ (at work)
Last album you acquired? The last album I bought was Clams Casino’s beautiful Rainforest EP, I like relaxation music
Which band or album is currently on high rotation? Face To Face – ‘Laugh Now’.
Tell us an up and coming band or artist you think we should go and listen to right now? The Seconds – from Melbourne.
What’s on the cards for the next few months for the band? We have shows in August with a really cool lineup. One Dollar Short, For Amusement Only, Irrelevant. 24th @ Hi Fi in Brisbane, 25th @ Metro in Sydney and 26th @ Bar On The Hill in Newcastle.
IF ONLY…
You can pick any one album for your band to cover in full, what would it be and why? Descendents – ALL. It’s quirky and weird enough to keep me interested.
You can pick any one band / artist to cover one of your albums in full, what would it be, and why? Descendents – best band in the world.
One band you wish you were able to see live but never had the chance? Dag Nasty
One venue you have yet to play that you would love to? The Budakon in Japan
The chance comes up to fill in for a member of a band for one tour, which band would it be, and why? Face To Face – easy to play and still cool.
A headline tour overseas comes up, tell us two bands you’d take along to support your band. The Seconds, One Dollar Short, Blueline Medic, MYC.
PLUG TIME
Got any final words? Tickets on sale now for these shows.
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BODYJAR
With Guests ONE DOLLAR SHORT, FOR AMUSEMENT ONLY and IRRELEVANT
AUGUST
24th – The Hi-Fi, Brisbane [18+] Tix from Moshtix.
25th – The Metro, Sydney [18+] Tix from Ticketek.
26th – Bar On The Hill, Newcastle [18+] Tix from Oztix.
—> Tickets available now.
—> For more information, visit [Here].
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