.

.

Interview with
ALEX CAMERON
from
BAD//DREEMS

(22nd December 2021)

Interview by Sabrina Sutton

.

Bad//Dreems // Photo credit: Ian Laidlaw

.

“During COVID, there was a very real possibility that our band might never exist again. We could have already recorded our last album we’ll ever do. We could have never been able to play live again.” – Alex Cameron

Songwriter, guitar player, observer and reflector of both the mundane and the baffling, Alex Cameron, member of South Australian rock band Bad//Dreems, has a lot to say about the world. However, he doesn’t speak with grandeur or of lofty ideals, nor does he entertain the role of the underdog. He simply wants to make us think.

After being forced to pull the pin on their headlining ‘Doomsday Ballet’ UK tour back in 2020, Alex wasn’t sure Bad//Dreems were ever going to be given the opportunity to say anything new again, let alone give Doomsday Ballet the chance to breathe outside the confines of a recording studio. But finally, the boys are able to explode back onto the stage on home soil. Set to perform at Adelaide’s Beer and BBQ festival Homebrewed, the boys are excited to kick off their national tour at a place full of impressive feeds, tasty brews and good Aussie music. That’s why we thought it was time to sit down with Bad//Dreems’ spokesperson and find out more about their journey from here.

.

.

Sabrina: I wanted to ask about Doomsday Ballet. You’ve mentioned before that it was inspired by the image of an incoming apocalypse, hence the name. You drew a lot from the chaotic and sort of absurd state of the world, right? How does it feel now after everything that’s happened with COVID-19? Are you kind of like, “yeah, I was on the money there!” Or, does it just feel more prevalent?
Alex: I feel like we deserve some credit for prophesying what’s happened in the world! Haha. But yeah, I mean, it’s interesting, I guess, that a lot of those things that we were writing about came to fruition of sorts. We were in England, on tour when COVID really took off, and you’re already a bit disconnected from everything when you’re on tour. And so, when we were getting a news report here and a news report there, no one in the world really knew exactly what was going on. And then we had to decide whether we should pull up stumps and come home, and that’s what we did.
I still feel the world is precariously balanced. Things that have been the pillars of our society, rightly or wrongly, are now being broken down and questioned. It means that things are changing, hopefully, for the best. But then, as we’ve seen with COVID, when change occurs so rapidly like it has the past 100 years, it can also bring about bad things.
It’s going to be an interesting time to live in the next 10 or 20 years. I think people of my generation have been brought up in a time when the world’s been pretty stable. But, people realise that now, there’s still a lot of history to be written. So from all angles, a lot of those things are going to be determined in the next decade.

.

.

Sabrina: You seem like you’re very in tune with what’s going on. It’s interesting because when I was reading some of the interviews for Doomsday Ballet, this one reviewer, Bernard Zhu L, said that you would argue against any claim that you are a spokesperson for the “everyday guy”. But he then argues that because that’s your opinion, you’re actually probably very observant and reflective. And, by consequence, your writing and your lyrics end up being something that a lot of people relate to. And, even if they didn’t grow up in Adelaide, they didn’t grow up with all of these nuanced memories that you draw on, we’re still going to get an insight into your world. Do you think that’s true? How do you condense your world and put it into something that a lot of people relate to, even though that’s not even your goal? You don’t want to be a spokesperson for people, but you end up being one anyway…
Alex: That is a great question. I think making songs is art. I think your role is to be an observer. And so I think that songwriting is, a lot of the time, about observation. When you want to write a lot of songs, I think you’ll find your personal subject matter becomes mundane. There are so many interesting things around you. And, of course, you’re filtering those things through the prism of your own observation and your own experiences. So it does put a personal touch on everything I’m writing. However, you have to be conscious. For example, in our band, I write a lot of the lyrics, but Ben is the one singing them. Writing an intensely personal song doesn’t lend itself to that dynamic. Instead, we often spend a lot of time talking about issues. In Doomsday Ballet, we’re talking about the absurdity of the world we found ourselves in.
There have been a lot of great songs that are political and do have a message…I shouldn’t say a lot. I should say there’s only been a few of them because I think that form of songwriting is fraught. And it becomes wrong. Many musicians and songwriters have spent a lot of time becoming those songwriters, and I don’t think they are necessarily always the best people to lecture other people. What we can be, are the best people to provoke thought. Write songs that provoke thought – that’s a goal to pursue.
Having said that, with Doomsday Ballet, I felt very confused about the state of the world. The whole thing of Trump being president didn’t make any sense to me. So, therefore, I couldn’t really write lyrics that necessarily made sense.

Sabrina: What about your music now? What thoughts will your new music be provoking?
Alex: Writing the new record, I feel quite differently for two reasons. One is that, during COVID, there was a very real possibility that our band might never exist again. We could have already recorded our last album we’ll ever do. We could have never been able to play live again. And, so I did feel and write from the perspective of someone who’s spent a year and a half without being able to play, record or release music.
The second reason is due to the various changes in my life. I feel more confident, perhaps, or have a better understanding of my own world. And so, there are some things I want to say more directly. On this next album, we’ve discussed as a band that there will be some songs that are a lot more direct in what they’re saying. In fact, there’s one song with the line:
“What’d you think about that, Jack? 30 years now, I’m talking back.”
That’s essentially us saying, “Well, our generation is now of the age where we can, and we should be talking back to those people that are of our parents’ generation or above. You know, standing up for what we believe in, and I guess that’s my personal stance. In my own life, I perhaps haven’t taken a stand as strongly as I might have liked, in a public sense. Now, I feel confident to do that through songwriting.

.

.

Sabrina: You feel like you have, I guess, a leg to stand on. And, as you said, during COVID, you weren’t sure if you were ever going to have the opportunity to do this again. So suddenly, there’s a dim light at the end of the tunnel. It’s like, “Okay, I can’t waste this opportunity. Now, it’s time to say something”.
Alex: Yeah, exactly. At the same time, that is tempered by the fact that our band is five guys who come from fairly comfortable backgrounds. You know, who are in a very privileged position. So, I don’t think our opinions on things are necessarily very relevant. I mean, there’s a lot of voices out there that need to be heard more than ours. And so, therefore, I want what I write to amplify the voices of those other people telling stories. Certainly, no one needs to hear the preaching of a 30 something-year-old. You know, guys like me, I have the skills, wherewithal, and platform to observe and amplify those stories.

Sabrina: Yeah, because there’s something so… un-clichéd Australian about your sound, I don’t know how to put it because I feel like there’s a pointed Australian sound here that is currently saturating the platforms like Triple J. But, you guys take that sound and manipulate it in a very clever way where it feels unique while still sitting in that pocket.
Alex: One of my favourite authors, David Foster Wallace, talked about mixing high and low culture. So, write a song that is three chords and very simple pub rock music, but the lyrical themes within that can be more complex. And that doesn’t mean complex in terms of the language that’s used but complex in terms of the thought that’s gone into it, the themes.
Pub rock was such a dirty word. Early reviews went after us quite vociferously and referred to us as “pub rock” like it was a slur. And, mind you, we were still sort of working out exactly what we were going to do (as a band). And, I guess, we struck upon the idea of, “Well, actually, if people want to call us pub rock, why not?”. There’s so much that’s great about this genre. It’s uniquely Australian and also egalitarian -— it’s not pretentious at all.
But, we always want to add something new to that “pub rock” mix. An interesting thing about our band is that you can like the music just as something that people come and jump to in a mosh pit. But then, one of the very pleasing things is those people that I see who act like total Yabos during the gig, then come up and want to talk about the lyrics. You know, we bring people in with the pub rock, but then it inspires them to think.

.

.

Sabrina: Talk to me more about being “uniquely Australian.” What do you mean?
Alex: Well, our band actually met at a football club. None of us can pull off the skinny heroin chic rock persona with designer tattoos sitting around Smith Street. We are Australian. But, saying that, I think Australia has changed a bit now. There’s nothing wrong with liking football and ACDC but also liking poetry and art and having liberal values and not being misogynist. For a while, Australia just fell down in that way that the white Australian men were known for being into football and V8 cars, and that’s it. I think there can be role models now. Like, it’s fine to play football for, but that doesn’t mean you have to act like the stereotype.
It’s not an easy message to get across. I like the fact that there are Australian guitar bands with Australian accents dominating overseas. But, there is the reality that a lot of them have dumbed it down and are playing to cliches when I think they’re better than that.

Sabrina: Exactly, things are changing, and things need to continue to change. So I wanted to ask about the new record. Should we expect an ongoing narrative theme? Kind of like a post-apocalyptic world? One where everything and everyone is trying to rebuild from the absolute mess that we’ve all contributed to? Or are we taking a completely different turn?
Alex: Well, I think if anything, because we’re getting together in Adelaide, it’s going back to our roots a little bit. We basically had the blessing to feel like the band was done, and now everyone is so excited that we’re back. We’ve missed it. I think everyone sort of is going back to Dogs at Bay — wanting to reconnect with Adelaide.

Sabrina: Brilliant, okay! What should we really expect from your gig at Homebrewed in Adelaide? Are we doing old school stuff? Are we doing something a continuation of the cancelled Doomsday Ballet tour? Or are we playing anything new?
Alex: Well, our ethos is always just to play what we reckon are our best songs. We tend to lean towards our more rambunctious bangers. We have to! It’s a barbeque and beer festival Haha!

.

CLICK THROUGH TO MERCH SITE

.

Follow BAD // DREEMS
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram

.

Press Release 16th December 2021 (below)

BAD//DREEMS,
CABLE TIES,
THE MEANIES
and more lead
Mornington Peninsula’s
beach-side music festival
NINCHFEST 5

.

.

After a year off the tools, Mornington Peninsula’s acclaimed music festival NinchFest has today announced its monster fifth instalment, unveiling the biggest lineup in the festival’s history. 

The 2022 edition of the adored coastal festival features a colossal roll call of homegrown talent, presenting the likes of Bad//Dreems, Cable Ties, The Meanies,  CLAMM, Tek Tek Ensemble, Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice, The Living Eyes, C.O.F.F.I.N, and plenty more. 

Returning to its stunning home of St Andrew’s Beach Recreation Club, the Autumn festival will be split across two days on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 March for the very first time, making space for its ever-expanding lineup. Punters can choose from either single day or multi-day tickets. 

Since its inception, this esteemed beachside music festival has hosted a slew of top-tier Australian acts, including Amyl and the Sniffers, NO ZU, Private Function, Bitch Diesel, Lazertits, Power and many more. Upping the ante year on year, NinchFest is now renowned as the leading music festival on the Peninsula, and a festival favourite for both local and metro music lovers of all ages.

Tickets to NinchFest 5 are on sale now via trybooking.com (free entry for kids under 13). 

.

.

NinchFest 5

Friday 4 and Saturday 5 March 2022

St Andrew’s Beach Recreation Club

Friday March 4th

Cable Ties
Stiff Richards
Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice
Millar Jukes and The Muscle
Mutual Colour
Runnin’ Hot
Rennie and The Shitchair

Saturday March 5th

Tek Tek Ensemble
Bad//Dreems
The Meanies
The Living Eyes
The Seven Ups
CLAMM
C.O.F.F.I.N
Caitlin Harnett and The Pony Boys
Izy 
Don’t Thank Me, Spank Me
Fresh Verse
Watty Thompson
The Shaky Knees Band
Tabloid TV Darlings
Doe St

Tickets

.

.

Follow NINCHFEST
Website – Facebook – Instagram

.

AMNPLIFY – DB