Some bands make music intended to break your heart, others want to fan the flames of youthful indignation, and some just want to make you dance. Then there are bands unmatched in their dedication to freeing your inner spaz. Golden Axe are that kind of band. With their fourth album Liquid Bacon out soon, we thought it was high time we caught up with the longserving Auckland duo …
Who are Golden Axe?
Golden Axe are a couple of dude bros who live in Auckland. We make party noises. We play keyboards, waveform generators and snax-saxophone (that is, "a sometimes sax"). We play at parties, bars and galleries, the beach, the bush, backs of vans and your brother’s boardroom.
Liquid Bacon? - Explain.
The title for the album came from a drinking-till-dawn session at El Santo in Lyttleton (now super-sadly a pile of bricks). Oscar was feeding us all this top-shelf whiskey whilst we pitched movie ideas and wrote scripts. Anyway, it was remarked upon how damn smoky the whiskey was, and that it tasted like bacon - LIQUID BACON! It’s kind of an aspirational title, coz we would never have had the opportunity to taste such a fine drink had it not been for the kindness of Oscar and the awesome situations being in a band can get you into. It’s about the power of following your dreams, and thinking big.
How did you start making music with Chris? Were you mates first?
Yeah, we were friends in High School. We went to Birkenhead College. It’s a suburb on a peninsula. An ‘insular peninsula’ if you will.
What inspires your music?
Musically, we have HEAPS of inspiration. I could make an 85 page spreadsheet of all the stuff we think is great. DISCO< NOISE< METAL< R&B< KRAUT< blah, blah, blah… Y'know, sorry if I sound like a dick, but it’s really the same stuff everyone likes!
When you play for a crowd, what is the goal?
To entertain and enlighten.
Is there something that you would love to have happen at a show that has not yet happened, and if so, what is it? Your ultimate show fantasy, if you like…
We love to invite new circumstances all the time. We think it’s real important to keep things interesting. The best shows are when something out of the ordinary happens that creates a unique, fun experience. Like Chris played on the Interislander in HEAVY seas once. He had to hold on to the railing and play with one hand. Pretty cool.
Who is dancing in the video 'Free Time' and where did he learn his wicked cool Dad moves?
The sexy man you are referring to is Don Brooker. His incredible ferocity, intensity and uncompromising commitment to party dancing is something you can’t teach. Everybody has it in themselves but you just godda have the guts to reach down in there, extend a hand, and help it out. Oh and sorry, yes he's taken.
What was your favourite album when you were 15?
I was making tapes from the radio of a show called The Solar Furnace Hour that used to be on bFM. It introduced me to so many great artists like Merzbow, Daniel Johnston, Dead C, High Rise, Blue Cheer, Jad Fair, Terry Riley to name just a few. I remember also having Head Like A Hole’s 13 album on tape too. Probably heard that thing 800 times.
Which place/time/vibe combination would form the best Liquid Bacon listening/dancing environment?
Daif: So far I’ve been listening to it heaps on my pooter while people have been Facebook chatting with me. I was thinking about sneakily including the chat alert randomly along the length of the final mix to see if anyone would notice.
Chris: Cleaning the house, watching TV, in the shower, riding your bike, at the beach, in your car on the way to work, on a boat, makin' love, grabbing a cappuccino at Esquires, walking around, 'choose-your-own' - these are all great places/situations that Liquid Bacon has been especially fine-tuned to enhance.
So you release and then tour?
It’s gettin’ released on Friday the 9th of December through the awesome Czech label AMDISCS. It'll be a pay what you want digital download, with a limited number of cassette tapes to be had too. Aaaaaand - AMDISCS are releasing it on vinyl in February. We kinda can’t get more excited here.
We have a pre-release show on Thursday the 8th at Awesome Tavern. Secrets and Quarks are opening. Quarks just about never plays and he is so catchy! If you miss him you are a dick!
The release show on Friday is at the Audio Foundation (behind St Kevin’s Arcade); Tuesday 13th December we are Dj-ing at the Artspace Christmas party - all welcome!
Saturday 10th is Wellington, were we play at Mighty Mighty with Secrets again but we've added an extra party ingredient - Dr DJ Radio a.k.a Disasteradio will be Dj'n awl night! Aw yeah.
Friday 16th is Christchurch at The Darkroom.
So we are feeling kinda spoilt here. All our favourite stuff happening. VERY FUCKING EXCITED.
After you've toured Liquid Bacon what happens?
We're gunna go on tour with Dan Deacon and his ensemble. Oh yeah that’s gunna be sweeeet! Fingers crossed we can get the vinyl done by then. After that we are gunna focus on remixes and pop singles. We also need to address the extensive back catalogue of song ideas we have. It’s like the Library of Alexandria.
Any other musical projects on the horizon for you?
Oh man so many! We are in a 60s garage covers band with members of The Crabbs. Gunna be the perfect summer party band. There is Dorkwind, where I play bass with Ryan Cartoon and Butt Simpson on drumz. There is Tangerine Dream Team, the combined forces of SECRETS, Disasteradio and Golden Axe.
