Dumpster: Taken For Grant-ed.

Dumpster play their final gig at the Toupee Compilation launch at the Waterloo Hotel on Friday.

Dumpster justifiably should be recognised as more than just another Brisbane band. Their two long players have garnered well-deserved praise, although their shows have been less and less frequent since the release of their Sky-Fi opus. Much to the loss of the Brisbane pop scene, the time has come for Dumpster to call it day, as frontman Grant explains.

“We lost our drummer, Jeff, around the time Sky-Fi came out, he got transferred out west with work, so we have been looking for a drummer for ages. We have just had too many personnel changes, and have spent too much downtime looking for new members, and not enough time doing what the band should be about, playing, creating. So we sort of decided to finish up and move ahead creatively in other ways.”

You last album Ski-Fi received fantastic reviews across the board. Does it seem a shame to let everything go?

“We found out we were losing Jeff about a month before the record came out, so the timing probably couldn’t have been worse, from a practical point of view. We basically didn’t really have a means to promote the album, not having a live line-up; which has been unbelievably frustrating. I guess from another perspective though, bands have a certain life expectancy, and I got to the stage where I would rather finish up and go ahead and do something new and exciting, rather than hold onto something for too long. Like a good song, better to finish too early than too late.

What have been your favourite Dumpster moments through the last six years? Do you have a favourite Dumpster track and why?

“There were always special moments live, with the different members finding their feet, where I turned around, and saw Jeff playing, or whatever, and realised that we were being a bit authoritative about what we were doing. That we had let go of concerns or fears and were just going for it. I liked the moments where I felt we were all letting go, just enjoying pushing the song where it needed to go, rather than playing within yourself, that sort of thing. My favourite Dumpster track to play live is probably Noise in Me, off our first album, because it has sort of metamorphosed into this soundscapey thing, which I really enjoy.”

Musically what would you like to see more of in Brisbane?

“I think we can always have more of everything: more bands, more live venues, more cool people to come and experience live music. More friends of bands to lift heavy amplifiers…”