The interview was carried out over a lengthy period - Grant 2004

Q: How dificult to break out of Oz....Europe....Usa ...local resistance

These are relatively simple questions to answer, from my perspective.....if I confine them to the past.(maybe not)...entering Europe, USA, local resistance....if I change your question about local resistance to "Was there unexpected resistance from the local scene ?." ....and anyone out there today who is trying to do something as off the wall as the "first wave" of alternative musicians did from the late 70s through to the mid 80s, they can decide if there "is" resistance today....but when musicians have to pay the bar staff in Sydney in the 21st Century, it's pretty grim....but first things first

OK, we've established I grew up with Tracey Pew, logically, I also did time with Nick Cave back then....after Suicide Records a lot of bands broke up, Negatives being one of those....the Boys Next Door were still a kind of pop band, having moved recently from Bryan Ferry into the dark side, and managed to survive where other bands failed to do the same....in short the pop bands survived, Teenage Radio Stars and JAB became the Models, for example...but the Boys Next Door found their true selves and became The Birthday Party, at which point, they had the means to escape the penal colony , aka Australie in 1980/81....they knew, maybe, that Australia could never sustain them long term, and there was a lot more to learn from elsewhere....the rest is their history...and everybody elses...

And as the Cowboys crashed into the scene in '82 playing a with a kind of scortched earth policy at every gig; the "alternative" scene went through a rejuvenation type thing ...in 82 we signed with Mushroom's 80s version of Suicide, the White Label....and released "Nothing Grows In Texas", appearing on Countdown, touring Australia, and constantly gigging in Melbourne and Sydney,...we burned up a lot of studio time trying to record "Nailed To The Cross", and we made an EP with the White Label....these recordings are great, but at the time, we were, the most dangeously uncompromising live act in the country, and although the studio enabled us to put down our songs for posterity, studio recording then superior to live by far, we played them differently every time live, and I generally adlibbed, drawing on whatever was happening in the universe as inspiration, it wasn't possible to be 100% definitive in the studio at that time...

.....we were getting no action with the White Label in '83, so, still under contract, we released an Alex Chilton song called "Bangkok", with modified lyrics, independantly, which hit the top of the "alternative " charts in less than a week....we continued to record at our bass player's (Nick Risschbieth) home studio, putting down tracks such as 'I Am The Walrus', and 'Highway 61'....the initial shock had diminished a little, but gigs and tours continued

....eventually, White bankrolled a film clip for a song from the EP, "Twisted Nerve", in '83 ,and gave us some studio time to record a couple of songs to add to the EP, that is to make it album length, for release in Europe. So, a French label, New Rose (who had the Saints), released our album in Europe with Mushroom as intermediary .... so as we moved into '84, we were recording independantly, and White knew we could break into Europe....so by the end of '84 there were 2 Cowboys albums: the White lable EP, lengthened to an LP, and "We Love You...of Course We Do", which came out on Man Made Records, containing live stuff, and 'home studio' songs, we were ready for Europe....the only thing that stood between us and Europe was the air fare.....and the fact that after 8 years of 'alternative' music, I experienced 'temporary engine failure', which took me out of the scene for a little while...

In '87, the band resumed activity, writing and recording 'Trouble From Providence'. This is where the band became formidable in the studio....we were still overpowering live, but we knew that didn't matter so much....one reviewer said 'Providence' was 'an implosive force'...I agree...if the early band live was a supernova, then 'Providence' was a kind of anti-matter vortex, all consuming,powerful, dark....and released in West Germany by Normal Records... discussions about going to Europe were happening....but we didn't go....an air fare away.....

As for the USA, I know people who thought about it, made moves, throughout the 80's, but let's get serious, it was hard enough for top 40 bands to get a gig there....Europe was the place where people continued to love live, 'alternative' music at that time, and the place that kept the Australia's alternative bands alive....when we did 'Things To Come' in 96, relased on Shock, there was some talk of tapping into college radio, which had served the Seattle bands and others well in the US....but that didn't happen....we did move some CDs in Europe though....but having said that, I recently discovered a US label that had realeased the ‘new rose’ lp in the states back in 85, Texas also did well in Canada, making the indie top 20... and they still sell it...show me the kwan !!!!

So, is/was there unexpected resistance from the local scene... ? I think if you read between the lines, I've already answered the question many times....life would have been a lot easier if I'd grown my hair long and played Aerosmith covers, and sure, sometimes we were our own worst enemies....the Cowboys fans in Australia ended up coming from 3 generations, some people believed in us throughout...but that's not how I see the question of 'local resistance'....Australia was simply not big enough to deal with and support all the creative genius that surrounded the "alternative" scene....so, I never thought I could make it based solely in Australia....doing the kind of thing I do...

So, speaking generally, is it hard to break out of Oz ?.... in the context of Europe, you can do it if you are able to sieze the moment effectively....and you make that your objective from the start....it was my objective, the band was didvided on this, some thinking Oz would be enough... ....and as for bands feeling local resistence, well it's a competative game .... if you play 'serious alternative' music, you've gotta be realistic, and as I said...don't 'call Australia home'.

.....wel Grant, I think that completes question 2....would you agree ?

Cheers

Garry

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