Tropical Fuck Storm performed during Sled Island on Thursday, 12am at #1 Legion (Main Floor).
Interview conducted in collaboration with Reverie Magazine.
TRANSCRIPT:
Fiona
My name is Fiona and I’m the bass player.
Erica
Hello. I’m Erica, and I play the guitar in Tropical Fuck Storm, one of the guitars.
Gaz
I’m Gaz. I don’t do anything, apparently.
Hammel
I’m Hammel and I play the drums.
Emma (CJSW)
Hello. All right. Well, excellent. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your very busy day to meet with me. First thing I’m wondering about, welcome to Calgary. Is there anything you’re looking forward to doing, anything that you’ve done in Calgary that you’re super stoked about so far?
Hammel
Skiing, but there’s no snow. Shit.
Erica
We’re very excited because we’ve beaten our jet lag, and we had all of our instruments lost for 48 hours, and they just returned an hour ago. So these are huge wins for us in Calgary.
Emma (CJSW)
Heck, yeah. When did you arrive in Calgary?
Erica
I don’t remember. It’s been a blur, a night or two ago, Tuesday night.
Emma (CJSW)
Nice, awesome. And is there anything that you’re looking forward to doing over the weekend?
Erica
We actually have to leave at 4 a.m. tomorrow morning.
Gaz
Yeah.
Erica
Which is shocking, shocking.
Hammel
I’m gonna find a bull to ride in between now and then.
Emma (CJSW)
Ranchman’s on McLeod trail has a mechanical bull and and there’s a person controlling it, and so their aim is to get you off. And so, yeah, well, it’s like a little competition.
Hammel
What a lucky person.
Emma (CJSW)
Yeah, yeah, no. So actually you will find that here. That’s not just a myth.
Gaz
Cool. Something to do now and the airport.
Emma (CJSW)
Because you guys will be so bored.
Erica
We watched the bull fighting. What do you call it? What do you call it, rodeo? So the jet lag is still with us. We watched it last night on TV, and we were sad to know that there’s no more cowboy hats, yeah, but maybe Hammy can still wear one.
Emma (CJSW)
You can find a cowboy hat somewhere as well.
Gaz
You can’t travel in cowboy hats, so you can’t take them on the airplane. That’s the problem. Otherwise, we’d all wear cowboy hats.
Emma (CJSW)
I’m not sure. I don’t know, if that’s—I don’t think that’s true.
Gaz
If you’re lazy. I just carry it. I just don’t want to get dented. Yeah, I want to do that thing when I put it over my eyes, yeah? And then I just put my hand on my gun in case anyone comes and tries to wake me.
Emma (CJSW)
Holster. One on the hat, one on the holster. Yeah, totally.
Erica
For your spittoon.
Gaz
I’m going to use that. What’s that new tobacco that you’ve put in your mouth, and it’s called something.
Emma (CJSW)
Zyn’s. Those are illegal here. We have, I don’t know. I don’t do it. I don’t take part personally. So I’m not, I’m not very well versed. But yeah, so you’re leaving at 4 a.m. on tomorrow, next day. Yeah, and is that because your North American tour is kicking off with Sled Island? Very exciting stuff, very, very, very exciting.
Gaz
In New York, we go, and then I think we have a day off in New York.
Erica
Yeah, but we won’t have to say, but we have riding bulls all night and playing show here, and we’ll arrive quite late, and that’ll be our day off.
Hammel
I want to stay here. I want to stay in Canada.
Gaz
Well, you can, if you want, but we’ll have to find another drummer. We’re firing you. If that’s what you’re going to do.
Hammel
That’s all right. I’ll marry a bull rider.
Gaz
Marry a bull just do that. Go straight to the top.
Hammel
Go to a ranch and then live out my best life.
Emma (CJSW)
Here you have a cute accent. I’m sure they’re very easy here, here, the accent. They’re all over it. They’re all over it.
Hammel
Yeah, sorted.
Gaz
Win, win. Win for Canada and for us.
Emma (CJSW)
Can you tell me how you prepare for such a big tour like this? Did you guys do anything in the weeks days leading up to this or—
Gaz
Panic? We panic, we freak out. Maybe have a couple of Xanax to calm down. And then, yeah.
Hammel
Generally months or weeks before this is happening, we generally talk about all the stuff that we we got to do and we should do, and then we don’t do any of it. And then it gets to, like, the week before, and then we’re like, ‘Oh, fuck, we need to rehearse.’ We’ve got to and then we generally get a couple of days in. Maybe I forgot that we had rehearsal, and I booked in work, and so, yeah, that’s kind of how we prepare. We don’t prepare.
Gaz
Yeah, then we get on the plane, and United Airlines loses all our shit, and then we panic, and then we have few more Xanax.
Erica
The best thing to do really is not prepare, because nothing ever goes as planned. So if you prepare, you’re likely to be disappointed, and if you don’t repair, you just have a good time. Did I say repair?
Emma (CJSW)
We got what you meant. We caught your drift. We caught your drift. You don’t repair.
Gaz
What’s the the Mike Tyson quote, like every fighter has a plan until he gets punched in the face. That’s touring. That’s what it is.
Emma (CJSW)
I guess this next question could kind of actually be directed towards you a little bit. I want to know about your origins. I know the band before was the drones, and then I’m a bit curious about what we were looking to leave behind with The Drones and reinvent with Tropical Fuck Storm.
Fiona
Penis. Leave behind penises. Introduce vaginas. Yes, basically, that’s the, you know, that’s it. Sick of dicks. No, I love, I love their dicks, but, okay, no. Now the jet lags kicking in, yeah. Just like, yeah. Just to freshen up a bit, I think, just to do something different. We’ve been doing it for The Drones for 16 years, so we were bit over it.
Emma (CJSW)
Something new.
Fiona
Yeah, we wanted to do something new.
Emma (CJSW)
And something I read about you guys is that you all have very different musical backgrounds, and you all, you all like different kinds of music and that kind of thing. I’m curious. How are those different musical backgrounds? How do those interplay with one another when you guys are performing together or producing together?
Fiona
Gosh, Gaz I’ll let you take this one.
Gaz
Back to Gaz, um, what? What’s that Wu-Tang thing we form like Voltron. It’s kind of like that. No, that’s what something I think, yeah, Ghostface Killer says, um, but yeah, I don’t know. We just do. I think that everyone’s, I mean, like, she’s a bit metal, bit punk. That’s Ham. I’m, I don’t know jazz and classical and punk. What are you? Rico, they can’t be defined. She is the one that shan’t be defined. And Fi, what do you like? You like Madonna and Neil Young and what else, and Ryan Gosling. Oh, Gosipops, he’s gonna—is he Canadian?
Emma (CJSW)
Name dropping the Canadians here?
Gaz
Yeah, wow. Okay, yeah, Neil Young and Ryan Gosling. Ryan Adams, another Canadian we did. He was near our house, and we tried to get him in the video for “You let my tires down,” but he was too busy.
Emma (CJSW)
But that’s the Canadian. He was polite about it, yeah, yeah.
Gaz
Sorry, I’m ‘aboot’ to go on stage. And we do that, I don’t know. We kind of just, we all trying to do something different to what we usually do. So that’s where we, we we cross over. If it was a Venn diagram, yeah, the middle bit would be shit we don’t usually do, yeah, it would be a raw, a raw start in the middle, but yeah, and then I don’t know it works.
Emma (CJSW)
Well, clearly.
Gaz
When it’s not working, you know, few white wines for the girls, me and Ham, have a couple of beers, and things usually start falling into place.
Emma (CJSW)
I guess, while we’re talking about genres, I guess I’m really curious about the upcoming album Fairyland Codex. A lot of your music has been described already as genre-defying. So can you tell me a little bit about the concept behind the newest album?
Gaz
Yeah.
Erica
Go go Rico. Well, we initially started it with no, it was like we had no. We had quite a long gap between playing. And so we started, kind of keeping ourselves busy and seeing what would happen with doing some recording. And originally it started out like we were thinking, low stakes. We’ll just aim for two, kind of seven inches. And the stuff we were sort of rolling out was quite different. One of them was more like some of the stuff that was on the like that film we made Goody Goody Gumdrops was like round the campfire. We played off, off the record, playing it live, and then the other kind of an acoustic, some of it, but live in the room, and then some of it was based on, like, some large files, a big like draw of mishaps and fucked up old sessions and more like drum sequence spaces. And we were thinking about having two seven inches that were kind of those two worlds. And as we started, they just kept rolling together. And we eventually just like, we’ll just fucking join them together and make an album. So they’re roughly in those two kind of camps, I guess.
Emma (CJSW)
That’s super, that’s super cool to kind of hear how you you made it work. You found both spaces, and you pushed it together.
Erica
They seem to not be too bad, I mean, so they turned out more cohesively than you’d think. And I guess they ended up borrowing a bit from both worlds, but very excited.
Emma (CJSW)
I’m very excited about it. I have a question that I’m not going to be able to do justice unless I read it directly off of the screen. And I’ve been waiting to ask you this. Focus, let me get it to you. Are you ready? With the albums Deep States and Submersive Behavior grappling with modern disinformation and toxicity in the digital age. How do you handle the recognition and accolades that you have received while maintaining these satirical attitudes that you have in your music?
Erica
Well, there’s lots of answers, but one of them is we’re kept very real. If we’re getting accolades, we’re also get a lot of shit from a lot of current, like wild, crazy trolls. And so, you know, in my mind, it’s not like we’re walking forward with everyone being like, ‘High five!’ It’s also some strange dissing and I think the best way is to keep it out of the online space full stop, and we generally just, if we’re having a good time, that’s all that matters, really, anyone else?
Gaz
Yeah, we have the best trolls. They’re hilarious. They don’t like armpit hair, they don’t like anything, really.
Emma (CJSW)
Tell me, tell me a funny story. I want to hear a funny story.
Gaz
I was talking to a friend of ours who plays in another band, and and she cops shit from the same trolls. And I was commenting, saying, ‘Yeah, their spelling is just wretched,’ like, and I’ve been looking at this troll for years. I like it when this troll trolls us. It’s always hilarious.
Emma (CJSW)
All haters are fans, really.
Gaz
Well, yeah, pretty much. Yeah. And this troll spelling is always horrible. So I was talking to our friend, I was like, ‘Yeah, this guy’s spelling is fucked. Excuse my French.’ And our friend said ‘It’s because he’s drunk.’ And I went, ‘Ah.’ So he only trolls us when he’s hammered drunk. And you then can see, like, the times of his comments are late at night.
Emma (CJSW)
It’s like a toxic relationship.
Gaz
It is. It’s like a Jekyll and Hyde kind of thing, yeah, yeah. Oh my god. They’re all over YouTube and stuff, and they’re just great, you know, because everyone on YouTube gets fawned over. You know, even the most average band in the world, the comment section is just, oh my god. This is the best. This new single is amazing, and it’s endless fawning, because no one, no one who would dislike that band knows to go to see that video, you know. So it’s nice. We get a bit of bit of this bit of that.
Hammel
I mean, this troll also knows that things have come out like or he knows more about the band than I do. You know, he’s more, yeah, like something, and he’s, like, commented on a YouTube video, and then I’ll see that later, when we’re talking about the troll, and it’s like, ‘Oh, I didn’t even know that song was out today,’ or, you know, three days ago, or whatever. So yeah, it’s wild that he’s just there going, isn’t he?
Gaz
Yeah, we think we know who it is. He’s a failed filmmaker, and he made this hilarious sort of sci fi movie. That’s what I’ve always thought to do a film clip. We should, yeah, yeah. And the movie is, it’s incredibly bad. It’s like, anyway, yeah, so you and he’s not the only one troll.
Erica
Don’t troll the trolls.
Gaz
Let’s troll the troll.
Emma (CJSW)
What else to do when you troll the trollers?
Gaz
Yeah, he’s under the bridge like Anthony Carter.
Emma (CJSW)
A super cool idea of like, that’s how it balances out. Because you’re not constantly moving forward, like you said. It’s you are still being held back by these people who, to be fair, sound like fans, and it sounds like they hate it to be fans, but it sounds like they’re fans. But yeah, I guess in that regard, I want to know you guys have been at it as a band for a while, but like all, been in music, involved in music, for a long time. I guess this might be an individual question or a question for everyone, but how would you define success?
Gaz
Oh, the grave. Just, I’m exhausted. I’m just waiting for that.
Emma (CJSW)
That sound check really beat you up.
Gaz
The comfy, warm, cozy grave, to yawn open and embrace me. Yeah, nice and warm, yeah. But, um, I don’t know, not having to work that much. I mean, I, you know, some of us work, some of us don’t, and, not having a day job, that’s what it is for me, that’s a dream. But, um—
Erica
I go to an office all week.
Gaz
Well, if you guys, if you guys, what did I say? Yeah, you pull your finger out. Things should go your way. Yeah, it’s only been seven years. You’re still an intern in this band. We haven’t paid them yet. So yeah.
Erica
I would say. Probably six years is again, if we’re having a good time, you know, that’s what I would probably say.
Gaz
Boring. No, it’s true. We’re doing it for the music. It’s all that. That’s all it’s for.
Emma (CJSW)
It’s for the trolls dedicated to you.
Fiona
As long as my mate, well, you know, at the end of the day, as long as we’re happy with the music. That’s a bit serious. Yeah, we have fun. We have, yeah, we make spaghetti, we drink some red wine, we make we make some good music.
Gaz
That’s awesome. Our recording studio is in the kitchen, and it’s a really big kitchen. Like it’s not what you’re picturing in your mind. That sounds dangerous.
Emma (CJSW)
Wow, this whole room?
TFS
(indistinguishable)
Erica
Sizzling garlic on the record.
Emma (CJSW)
Does food and eating go together?
Hammel
*whispers* Chopping.
Gaz
Oh yeah, we’ve got frying pans and stuff in the mix. I mean, you can hear things cooking away. And, yeah, you can *pop* here a cork go off.
Emma (CJSW)
That’s really cool, yeah, yeah.
Gaz
And you can hear animals, because we’re in the bush and yeah, so there’s kangaroos.
Erica
Do your kangaroo noise.
Gaz
They go [kangaroo noises] that’s what they do.
Emma (CJSW)
That’s actually pretty good.
Hammel
That’s pretty good.
Emma (CJSW)
I’ve never, I’ve never met a kangaroo in real life.
Gaz
It’s freaky.
Hammel
[Kangaroo noises]
Gaz
Yeah, it’s like a creepy man’s lurking.
Erica
Australian animals look really cute and they sound like they’re gonna murder you.
Gaz
A koala goes [koala noises]. No, no, no, no, the koala is more like a pig, isn’t it? [More accurate koala noises] and then a possum is satanic. Yeah, it scared the shit.
Hammel
[Satanic possum noises] Possum and then a cat [meow, meow]
Fiona
Cats aren’t Australian though.
Emma (CJSW)
There’s no cats in Australia. I heard one time that the entirety of Australia is just trying to kill you. That’s what somebody told me, yeah, but they were like, being in Australia, it’s just like the you, like the Mother Earth, is trying to get you back.
Gaz
There’s no bears, and there’s no pumas or wildcats.
Emma (CJSW)
Bears are okay if unprompted. Well, certain kinds of bears.
Hammel
That’s like Australia. It’s like, if you know what you need to avoid, it’s pretty easy, just be smart. There’s some great little irukandji jellyfish. They’re, like, the size of, like, a five cent piece, and they’re invisible and if you get stung by them, you know.
Gaz
You’re dead.
Emma (CJSW)
That’s terrifying. You’re dead?!
Gaz
It’s the most poisonous animal in the world. The irukandji.
Hammel
But then, and then there’s like, the the shellfish, which they look like, beautiful shells, but then if you pick it up, or you step near them, a barb comes out, and you’re dead. But you know what to look for, and they’re not everywhere. They’re like, you know, these are, like, Northern animals.
Emma (CJSW)
Is this something you really learn while you’re growing up? Like, do you have to have a talk with your mom and dad, like birds and the bees? Or you just are constantly aware of birds and bees?
Gaz
They tell you at school.
Emma (CJSW)
Oh you actually have to learn about it.
Gaz
Redbacks.
Hammel
Like, we went away on like, a family trip when I was real young, but that was a thing, like, Mom and Dad bought a book, and it was all of the the deadly creatures, and then you had to read it. And it was like a talk, because it’s like, yeah. You know, I was seven or something, it’s like, don’t go and pick this kind of looking shell, cone shell up because you might die. And so it was, it was like the birds and the bees kind of thing.
Gaz
And another thing about the irukandji is if you’re having a good day, you’ll survive the irukandji bite. Or, you know, it’s a jellyfish, so it’s a sting on the off chance you happen to survive it. The worst thing about it is it works with the neurotoxin. And while you’re dying, you think Armageddon is actually happening. So if you do survive, because they can get you hospital in about 10 minutes. If you do survive, you have to have therapy after because you’ve seen the end of the world. Yeah, so it’s really bad. Yeah, it’s amazing stuff.
Emma (CJSW)
This can’t be real.
Gaz
It’s real. The irukandji.
Emma (CJSW)
No, I believe you, but I also there’s a part of me that’s like, that’s not real. There’s no way, you know?
Erica
Platypus’s have a little spare on the back, and I watch this crazy thing with this guy who’s a Vietnam vet. He’d been shot and shit, and then he was out there in the bush, and he was one of the first people to get spurred by a platypus, and it works on a different pain, neurotoxin, whatever, you can’t fix it with morphine or anything. And he was the toughest c***, but he was just like, ‘This is the most pain I’ve ever been.’ And it was the most beautiful little platypus.
Hammel
But they’re at the top. We live down the bottom of Australia, and really all we have is snakes, brown snakes.
Gaz
The brown snake is the second worst snake in the world, and the first worst snake in the world lives in Queensland, and it’s so small, just lives under a rock, and that doesn’t bother anyone. So we have the worst one, and it’s like, in your house. I was literally taking a shit, and one crawled out of the roof. You know what I mean?
Emma (CJSW)
No, and it’s just the knowledge, right?
Hammel
Yeah, it’s like, if you see one, don’t fucking run towards it. Don’t go and try and pick it up. It’s only gonna attack you.
Emma (CJSW)
Leave it alone. Leave it alone. Don’t poke it with a stick.
Gaz
Yeah, you just run next door and grab a 12 gauge.
Emma (CJSW)
You know, I gotta say, meeting you all in person is really eye opening, because after listening to your music, I really thought, like, I don’t know what I thought, but it’s cool to see you guys really just banter. And that’s a lot of what—is that, right? Like you guys are just bantering and having fun, right?
Erica
Most of the subject matter in the songs are like distillations of really stupid conversations.
Emma (CJSW)
Because people online—like music snobs, so to speak—are like, this is so political, and this is whatever. Is it at all, any kind of critique, or is it seriously, just you guys having conversations with one another and having fun with it?
Erica
It’s both. I guess at some point you have to think I’m writing something and putting art into the world. It’s got a meaning to say. But also, we talk a lot and cover a lot of territory, and it all kind of ends up in there.
Gaz
And so it’s necessity too. You know, it’s like, today, guys, we need to write a song. It’s like, ‘Oh Christ. We don’t have a song.’ And it’s like, and then someone says something stupid. We write that down. We’ve got a whiteboard in our studio, and we write stuff down, and then eventually, by the end of the day, we’ll have something resembling a song. Just through sheer, you know, necessity, you know.
Emma (CJSW)
Cool. Well, I don’t want to take all of your time because I know that you’re also chatting with another gentleman, right?
Hammel
Says who?
Gaz
Says management.
Emma (CJSW)
I’m not connected with that. I’m sitting right here with you right now. I’m not sure, but is there anything else you wanted to say while you’re on CJSW.
Erica
Just thanks for having us. It’s really nice to meet you and go community radio.
Emma (CJSW)
Yeah. Thank you so much.