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MUSIC FEATURE

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Dune Rats L - R: Brett Jansch (in the air), Danny Beus, BC Michaels

Real Rare Whale by Dune Rats is out now, including on neon green vinyl and limited edition lenticular pink vinyl, via BMG.

standpoint. But we just wanted to do what we love to do, which is crack each other up and make tunes. It’s not a gimmicky album, this one. It doesn’t even have a swear word or a direct drug reference on it, but it doesn’t feel like that. Does If This Is the End have a woodblock in it, in the middle eight? It fits the song's feel hand in glove. Have you practised physically incorporating it into the track’s beat? It’s a cowbell, but it probably [sounds wooden because] it’s got a crack in it, or it’s bent. I have been rehearsing playing it, but on the hi-hats. I don’t own a cowbell, so I might have to buy one. It’s not the price, it’s setting it up every night for two years! I don’t know if it’s worth lugging around the whole time. I started off with one cymbal, ‘cos I didn’t want to have to set up multiple cymbals. Now, most shows someone else is setting [my kit] up, which is awesome! So now I have three cymbals. I guess I could get a cowbell, yeah. I’ll text Bunny Man now, ‘Can you get me a cowbell?’ Bunny Man [David Herington; guitar/sound tech, tour/stage manager and photographer to Dune Rats, EccaVandal, Skegss, DZ Deathrays and more] seems to be everyone’s mate. He was ours first! I’ve got a Bunny Man tattoo on my arm. And he gave me that [pointing to a framed list of Dune Rats shows, mounted on the wall behind him], as a house warming present. He did all of those shows, teching. The album’s coming out on ‘pink shell cassette’; are you old enough to have had cassettes when you were little? No, I’m 31 now. But when I was a kid I used to tape Shania Twain, Man! I Feel Like aWoman! onto cassette and record it, and then put it onto one tape, and record it onto the other tape, and then I recorded it on repeat. I would listen to it and practice every word to it, to try and win this ‘Sing and Dance’ [competition] that never ended up going ahead. But now, I still know all the words to Man! I Feel Like a Woman!...

Rocketing out of the surf in a spray of lager comes Dune Rats' fourth album Real RareWhale , a "smorgasbord" of the Brissie trio's garage-punk; rest assured there's no blubber on this slice of energy pie.We spoke to drummer BC about cowbell, ShaniaTwain, the logistical insanity of the clip for single Up , and the man's beloved Coorparoo Bowls Club. Read the full chat online at stack.com.au. Words Zoë Radas INTERVIEW BC MICHAELS DUNE RATS

don’t exercise that much, but I’m trying to do this new health thing [laughs]. When we played in Perisher recently I was like, ‘Oh! I’m not eating sh-t after the first song!’ I lasted until a few more songs in, and then I started eating sh-t. We don’t usually have a lull in sets. We just go, and suffer until it ends. songwriting this time around? We didn’t really try to challenge ourselves at all – we just tried to have fun. The day before everyone went into lockdown, we’d just finished our tour, and we were playing 3,000-cap shows a night. They were the funnest shows we’d ever had, with the most energy in the room. So we decided, ‘Let’s just try and go with that.’ I feel like there’s a lot of pressure when you’re a fun band to go home and write The Time of Your Life by Green Day – find a mature Did you three try to challenge yourselves technically with your

Real RareWhale could be your third consecutive number one album (after 2017’s The KidsWill Know It’s Bullsh-t

and 2020’s Hurry Up and Wait ). Are you doing spells to make it happen? Nah, I try not to be too worried about what’s going on with the charts. It’s cool getting the little trophy, but I’ll be celebrating anyway, ‘cos I’m really proud of the music on this one. I’m just happy to be playing shows, and that I’m still in a band after COVID.

I still know all the words to Man! I Feel Like a Woman!

The album is relentlessly hooky, and the drums are absolutely fanging it from right out of the gate (on opener LTD ). As the group's drummer, do you try to organise live setlists so that you’re not dead within the first ten minutes? I’ve been exercising a bit recently; I usually

Continue reading the full interview online at stack.com.au

AUGUST 2022

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