Amyl and The Sniffers To say Aussie trash punks Amyl and The Sniffers haven’t
Yeah good! We’ve always been hit up by, like, German
exactly charted a traditional course towards their current
guys, asking us to come over. This is really when we were
position would be a slight understatement. Having written
just starting out, playing to like 50 guys in Melbourne,
their first ramshackle EP Big Attraction in one 12-hour
which is pretty crazy. We’ve always had a decent following
shift before releasing it as a double EP through Damaged
over here really. We played in Moscow, and we had no
Goods in tandem with their second; Giddy Up, the band’s
idea whether anyone at all would turn up, whether we had
incendiary live shows quickly propelled them beyond their
any fans in Russia- but it went fine. So long as people are
Aussie base to non-stop world touring.
jumping up and down wherever, we’re doing ok. Same with
With a name part derived from vocalist Amy Taylor’s
Copenhagen the other night- we had to put a bit more effort
name, and part homage to inhalation of solvents, musically
into it to get the crowd moving, but we got there in the end.
speaking they are the exact embodiment of their moniker - around 120 seconds of furious enjoyment, followed by a
You mention playing to 50 guys a night in Melbourne -
vague headache and a need to indulge further. Having been
do you find it strange that it’s you guys that are really
described as everything from pub-rock to bogan-punk (and
blowing up on the international stage? Given the amount
of course, the obvious influence of 70’s Australian Rock is
of maybe more accessible music coming out of Aus at the
not to be understated), I feel a more apt depiction would be
moment?
imagining the juvenile crudeness of the Ramones informed by [70’s Australian Subculture] Sharpies, mullets and rural
I don’t think so. A lot of the really good bands in Melbourne
Australia.
are sort of just content playing to bigger crowds in
Still in the early days of a marathon 5-month tour from
Melbourne, and I think for us we put in a lot of hard
Europe to the US and back again (including a UK tour with
work- and even though we’re still a really young band, we
Slaves), Amyl and the Sniffers have both the energy – and
realised early on that if we really pushed it, we could end
in their frontperson – the starpower – to take over the world
up playing overseas. Having said that, sometimes I do have
gig by gig. Now with an album on its way, produced by
to pinch myself that us, as a band that never really intended
Joey Walker and Eric Moore [King Gizzard and the Lizard
to even play a gig, is now playing in places like the US and
Wizard], the world of Amyl and the Sniffers is only going to
Istanbul!
get more exciting. Reading through separate interviews you guys have As we speak, you’re currently in Norway, at the
done, it seems like you share a focus around not trying
beginning of a massive tour. How’s it been so far?
to affect pretension, with emphasis around having a genuine good time. Is there something in this particular
Pretty good actually – we’ve only been going since last
mindset that you think has really clicked with people?
Friday, and it’s been pretty cruisey, with no long drives yet. We’re doing a couple of festivals at the moment, but then
I think it’s more about the way we play the music rather
moving onto the headline stuff later.
than the music we play; do you know what I mean? We really put a lot more focus into the way we perform and
How’s the reception to you guys been, given that you’re
how the live shows go, rather than a recording process.
pretty much on the other side of the world from home?
The more catchy songs we’ve come up with have just been flukes, plucked out of the air.
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Words by Dan Pare, illustration by Anna Rupprecht
