Facing The Truth

As one of the forerunning rock outfits currently doing the rounds in Australia, it's safe to say that Children Collide are also one of the most hard-working. Of course, to merely stuff the trio into a category so broad as 'rock' also seems a tad unfair, as their new Monument album is a fitting testament to their ambitions. Their third long-player brims with colour, specifically psychedelic post-punk/pop that isn't short of a riff or two, and a batch of tracks which nestle comfortably with some of Johnny Mackay's most personal musings yet.

Mackay, the singer-songwriter guitarist and all-round good guy for Children Collide, is in Mexico “just hanging out” following an extended writing trip to New York. Clearly a prolific writer, it seems he's just keeping the songwriter pen busy between projects.

“Oh, it's not for Children Collide necessarily,” he laughs. “There are a lot of bands out there that just do the one thing, but for me, or for us rather, we definitely need some time out to play around, do other things so we can come back, make Children Collide interesting and get a new angle on everything each time. I've been away to write some other stuff that I wanted to finish and make sense of. I was bringing a whole range of different songs to the band, a lot that doesn't fit so I guess this trip has just been about fucking with all of that.”

And of course, that begs the question of whether there'd ever be a solo jaunt on the cards for Mackay.

“In all honesty, I write hundreds and hundreds of songs in all different ways,” he responds carefully. “If a group of those songs come together in some kind of way and become a project then, maybe, I guess that could happen. I don't really know, I just really like finishing things.”

Monument has done nothing to tarnish Children Collide's already flawless catalogue. Its influences seem to come from far and wide and the process simply seemed a little more focussed – the band abandoned the norm of heading overseas to record and instead bunkered down with Paul “Woody” Annison in Melbourne.

“I think for the other guys, it was a lot more focussed,” Mackay explains. “For me, when we've been away in another country and I haven't known anyone there, there was no temptation of distraction – I'd go to the studio through the day, go home to the hotel, chill and repeat process the next day. In Melbourne, all my friends are there, there are parties and shit going on that I know about and the temptation is everywhere to go off the rails or whatever. The other guys were loving the fact that they could get up and drive or ride three minutes from their own bed to the studio. I feel like we got there.

“This time around, as we do records more and more, I get more and more closed off in the vocal booth. This time around, I had to have it pitch black and I had this robe that I bought in Turkey and I'd always wear this singing robe. I also had these bells that my Mum gave me years ago, which I tried to get into one of these vocal takes – it was pissing Woody off so much.”

Prefacing the following with the undeniable fact that Mackay is an entirely open, charming and likeable fellow, talk of bells, robes and reports that influences on Monument included the likes of Boney M will polarise some. Hell, even the line in Prussian Blue – “I've been contemplating su-su-sussido” – would be sacrilege for some, mashing Nick Cave's The Boys Next Door with Phil Collins as it does.

“I am a massive wanker,” he laughs. “I love Boney M! You know what I think it is – people in Australia take themselves way too seriously and it's way too boring. All this just comes from loving music though, and reacting to the stuff you don't like – the weird conglomeration of elements around you. Everyone should just admit they're wankers, we're all wankers – if we're musicians, we're wankers! You're just wanking with a guitar, a piano or with your mouth or whatever – hang on, that didn't sound right. You know what I mean.”

Wanking aside, Mackay is itching to get out on the road and finally play songs from his new record. Armed with a new drummer, Mackay reveals the band has somewhat of a new lease on life as they head into this tour.

“I think this'll be the biggest one we've ever done date-wise,” Mackay reveals. “These are the first sets in a long time we're going to be conscious of changing the tried and true songs and segues and all that. It's evolved over time and we've thrown new songs in, new orders in, opened with different things, ended with different things and over thousands of gigs, you eventually learn what works and what doesn't. Those things will come into play but I guess we'll see if what I say is right when these shows kick off.
“We just really enjoy playing live and it's the thing we've done more than anything else,” he continues thoughtfully. “Spending some time in New York and London, we Australians sure have to work harder. It's a country where you need to be good live and work hard to keep it there. We have a new lease on life at the moment with a new drummer and a new bunch of songs to play, we're excited to turn it on its head a little bit and do something that looks and sounds different. I think I want to start the set in complete darkness or something weird like that.”

Founding drummer Ryan Caesar quit earlier this year, immediately prior to the release of Monument. The band has held strong and seemingly not missed a beat, despite losing a key member in what was undoubtedly terrible timing.

“A band is like being married to a bunch of people you're not attracted to, you know,” he explains with an analogy. “There comes a time when you shouldn't be in a creative relationship and it took a long time for us to recognise that. There are so many other things that come along with that – the relationship with the other people around the band and in the band and everything you've shared. But anyway, it was a long time coming and it's funny because, you know, I have nothing but nice things to say about Ryan, he's a great dude and a fucking amazing drummer. So with the new drummer Mitch [McGregor], it feels like we're starting a new band, but we just happen to have this bunch of songs to play.”