IF you’ve just heard Sticky Fingers are touring Australia this month, prepare to be disappointed as tickets have nearly sold out already.
Those lucky enough to catch the band at Margaret River’s Settlers Tavern on Friday, September 19 will get a face full of their new album Land of Pleasure and see a lot more drive from the boys as they realise there is serious potential in their future. Of course, there’s still a lot of joking going on, as witnessed when the Mail caught up with keyboard/synth player Freddy Crabs on Tuesday. (Note to public: do not travel in a van with Sticky Fingers).
Freddy, what’s on the agenda for Sticky Fingers today?
We're bout to go get bloind with the lads for Seamus' birthday. It's a quarter of a century milestone so we'll be out for a while.
I heard you got a bit of a chance to relax in July/August before wildly touring Australia this month – what did you get up to in your downtime?
It kinda feels like we don't have any downtime these days ‘cause we're always makin’ moves. We came back from two months in Europe after a full Oz tour earlier in the year but didn't really spend it relaxing. We were all hungry to get all the Land of Pleasure tracks into our set so we were jamming, and smashing out some new tracks too.
Soon enough we had to play Splendour in the Grass [festival], which turned out to be one of our biggest and best shows to date and then the album dropped a week later, so it's been a non-stop ride, bredda.
Literally 12 of 23 shows on your Australian tour have sold out already – what do you say to this?
Bloody unreal.
We had some of the best times when we used to play at Settlers Tavern [with] basically no one there. Yet there isn't a day that goes by where I don't appreciate what we have [now] and the hard work it took to get here. You can't fuck around and I feel like we've never really stopped pumping. The result is enjoying a bunch of sold-out shows in some of the most beautiful spots in the world, whilst building long-standing friendships with funny-arse cats.
Favourite song on the new album? Why?
It keeps changing but I'm pretty stoked with Rum Rage. Weirdly it was one of the tracks I had barely anything to do with and it's a real ballad which doesn't tickle my fancy. But this track just really hits you and there's nothing insincere or contrived about it. Each layer is simple and doesn't distract [from] any other.
Really proud of Diz's vocals and Seamus' slide. Dope choon that doesn't get old.
How does Land Of Pleasure compare to Caress Your Soul?
I think Land of Pleasure is basically a more advanced follow up to 'Caress'. We came back from our first Europe trip off the back of some serious touring and I felt we really grew as musicians. The performing is much stronger and the writing more diverse.
Land of Pleasure gives glimpses of styles and sounds we wanna start f**king with more. We're already writing for the next release, which will keep progressing. We're not about sticking to one style, just whatever we're feelin’ at the time.
What’s the most annoying thing about being on tour with your band mates?
They don't stop farting ay.
When ya stuck in a van for a while it can really get to ya but I guess ya just gotta suck it in. Our tour manager Jimmy Young once won a prize in a farting competition. He recorded an audio of his fart which lasted almost half a minute. The execution was immaculate. Apparently it's all about squeezing the cheeks to get that nice sharp tone that everyone loves.
Anything you’d like to add?
All of us look forward to Margs ‘cause it's beautiful, the food is second to none and the people are real modest leg-ends. Don't be afraid to come up to us and say hey. We'll be round and we'll chat to ya. Promise. ;)
