Surprise Finale

A slacks and shirt gig? Jay Jones? If you've seen Fuck... I'm Dead in full flight, you'd know how ridiculous this idea is, but Jones enjoys the balance or normality and insanity, saying, “There's nothing like a good scream to get all the anger out of you.” The bald hulk of a frontman is chipper today, with an exciting few months ahead for the grindcore sextet. The band have been quiet for a number of years but they're finally ready to remove themselves from the cave and drop a new record, Another Gory Mess, with the launch happening at various Bastardfest dates around the country.

“We've actually been working on it since 2006 – even earlier than that actually – because we haven't really released anything that was new since 2003,” Jones explains. “It's not that we purposely took that long to do it, but it was just circumstances. There's no real reason, but having such a long time to do it, every song on this is great – there's no filler, it's all killer.

“Most of the production was done by our guitarist Xavier [Irvine], he's a bit of a genius actually. But we've got a live drummer now so they were all tracked at Toyland Studios with Adam Cal – Blood Duster has done a lot of albums there. But Xavier pretty much did the rest at his house. The joys of the computer age allow you to go ahead and do it in your own time.”

The band might be trying new things behind the desk, but in front of the mic it's still business as usual for Jones, with old themes remaining a constant on the record.

“A lot of death, a lot of murder – what else have we got?” he ponders. “We've got a few old favourites – there's a couple of songs about shit. There's a few songs about serial killers and a lot of stuff that happens in Australia I try and pick up on. I try and keep it local because with a lot of bands it's always about America, America, America. But most of it is just from my imagination which is a bit sick,” he chuckles.

A big change on this new record and the touring incarnation of the band has been the addition of drummer Darren Condy. Previously relying on technology to deliver the ferocious blast beats the band are renowned for, Fuck... I'm Dead now have that energy positioned directly behind them. As a drummer himself, Jones is quick to relate and recognise the new dimension Condy has provided the band.

“Just having an actual person playing the drums – it just feels real,” Jones says. “It was great all those years having a drum machine – the sound onstage is huge. You're getting pounded by double kicks and it never fucks up – but you don't have the human feel to it. Darren just nails it. If you watch him closely you can see the pain on his face.”

Throughout the interview, Jones speaks of these progressions with excitable vigour, and it's easy to understand why. It's been a long time between drinks for the Melbourne punishers, but like their music, Fuck... I'm Dead play by their own rules and no one else's.

“We don't have any plan on going away,” he states directly. “Every band have breaks at some point, but we want to get this new album happening and then hopefully do some more stuff, but not wait years and years to do it. The aim is to keep it going full steam ahead, but we don't plan anything really – we just do it when it's good to do it.”

Fuck... I'm Dead will be playing the following shows:

Saturday 8 January - The Tote, Melbourne VIC