GIMMICKRY has always been a part of rock’n’roll’s appeal and it’s certainly the case with These New South Whales.
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This is a band that performs with black gaffer tape stuck over their nipples and who are best known for their hilarious Spinal Tap-style mockumentary series about being “four cocky underdogs from Newcastle” who move to the big smoke and become “Sydney’s premier punk band.”
While pretending to be Sydney’s best punk band is part of TNSW’s joke, it turns out their Novocastrian roots are also part of the shtick. They haven’t even played in Newcastle before.
Vocalist Jamie Timony hails from the Gold Coast and has previously starred in teenage fantasy TV show H2O: Just Add Water and the films, The Hunter and The Eye Of The Storm.
Drummer Luke O’Loughlin is also an actor and a member of Sydney indie band I Know Leopard, along with guitarist Todd Andrews.
“We felt that spiritually as a band that we were from Newcastle,” Timony said. “Newcastle represents the working-class well and we consider ourselves a working-class band. We thought if we’re going to make a fictional place that we’re from it should be Newcastle.”
Since forming 2011 TNSW have been a noisy side project, but slowly the band have developed a strong following with the release of their EP Fetal Instincts in 2015.
On August 25 the band will release their debut album You Work For Us and the proceeding singles Space In Hell and Cholesterol (God Bless Ya) signal TNSW are taking their music more seriously.
“We’ve given the songwriting process a little more respect in that we’re not writing the first stupid joke thing that comes into our head anymore,” Timony said.
“We see that as being passé and we want to actually give a little more attention to the craft of songwriting and the subject matter as well. I just think in 2017 it’s a bit lame to be a joke band really.”
You Work For Us was recorded in a makeshift studio in a former World War II bunker at Camden. Timony said it was the perfect location for the tense and frantic brand of punk TNSW were aiming for.
“It was freezing cold in there with concrete floors and walls, so it kept probably more of the DIY sound as opposed to a neat and tidy studio recording,” he said.
While they’re taking music more seriously, the gaffer tape is firmly stuck in place, much to Timony’s chagrin.
“Unfortunately we haven’t been able to stop doing that as it’s become part of our visual identity and our show,” he said.
“Personally I can’t wait to move on from it. I’ve actually got a rash on my nipples from the last time I wore tape a week ago, as it didn’t come off very nicely.”
These New South Whales play at the Cambridge Hotel on October 13.