STACK #213 July 2022

FEATURE MUSIC

In 2009 DBC Pierre wrote a chapter in the book Vagabond Holes , a collection of writings about David, that was published by the late Niall Lucy (who also appears in the film). His very incisive and personal piece suggested that one reason The Triffids

What are a couple of revelations you had about McComb while researching and creating this film? Have any of your opinions about what type of man he was changed at all? During the final

make more sense in 2022 than they did in 1986, was that the clash of romantic elegance and dark discomfort – expressed quite unconsciously – is the perfect sonic backdrop to the sense of the world falling away from beneath our feet. The feeling grows with the music, basically. We went to the UK in late 2015, and met Pierre in a strange small town in Cambridgeshire in some backwater hotel, and he gave us this really erudite, engaging interview. I was listening to him answer questions on my headphones during the interview and had the lightbulb moment: 'This is the guy to read the poems and letters.' It's not just that he sounds like Russell Crowe on two packs a day (and he does); he just had this empathy for the material. He got it at the gut level required.

cut, it occurred to me that we'd made a film about a man who got quite lost, despite his fierce intelligence and utterly unswerving,

TheTriffids, 1987

driven determination, to find success on his own terms. David was happy enough with critical acclaim and audience appreciation of his work, but there's no doubt he also wanted those big hit singles that eluded him. He wanted commercial success – but only on his own terms. When I consider the key conflicts in the film, they aren't between Dave and various lovers, or Dave and the record industry, or Dave and his parents' expectations of him. They are within Dave himself.

Things – his band, the industry, his health, some of his relationships – got beyond him. He was an innately private person who truly charmed those around him – not in any nefarious way at all – but it's obvious he showed certain sides of himself to certain people. He remains enigmatic to me, even after all this time. I'm hardly alone in this: Graham Lee (fromThe Triffids) said "We never really knew him" during a [post-screening] Q&A with myself and Dave's brother Rob McComb, and that floored me slightly. But when I think about, it shouldn't...

Love in Bright Landscapes: The Story of David McComb of The Triffids (DVD) is out July 6 via Madman.

Amongst the DVD release's sundry

extras is nestled exclusive footage of The Triffids' 1984 gig at Paddington Town Hall, titled Night of The Triffids – an absolute must-see.

Continue reading the full Q&A online at stack.com.au

EXCLUSIVE JB HI-FI COLOURED VINYL

MORE GREAT TITLES AVAILABLE IN STORES & ONLINE, WHILE STOCKS LAST

XX