Feature Articles

DMC: How long have you guys been together for? Where and when was your first ever gig? Who did you play with at that gig, were there any other bands or individuals?

Bob Scott: Since the end of 82. We played at the Empire in Dunedin, New Years Eve, can’t remember who else played. Any more info about that gig at all?

DMC: What was the main inspiration in The Bats coming together as a group? Where did each of the members of the band come from to form the Bats?

Bob: First started jamming with Paul late 82 in Thanks to Llamas, then went flatting with Kaye and was starting to write my own songs and getting more confident. Soon had Malcolm on board and got our sound going. It was pretty rough at first but it didn’t seem to matter much.

DMC: Why didn't it matter much?

Bob: The sound didn’t matter so much back then or so it seemed, we never had anyone come up to us and complain about the sound, even though my cheap guitar was never in tune, we didn’t know about intonation and things like that. We also let a friend convince us to tune down a half step to be in tune with the Moon! That was until about 84/85 when we realized we couldn’t play along with anyone else.

DMC: Was that creative desire sated for bit by being in a band and making your own music, or why?

Bob: I have always had a very strong desire to write and perform songs, not quite sure why, and so getting a band going was pretty important, I was able to spend a lot more time working on the craft, growing up in public.

DMC: How did the process go of signing with the seminal indie label Flying Nun? How did it all come about?

Bob: I can’t remember but most of the bands like us were releasing stuff on FN. Not much was signed, and usually we paid for the recording, and they looked after the other stuff. We did do a lot of touring and that helped a lot. We also did a lot of our own posters and artwork as did many of the other bands, people seemed to have lots of ideas.

DMC: How creative a time was it then? You guys came on to the scene a couple of years later than the Chills and Verlaines et al. What was the buzz like in Dunedin musically at that time?

Bob: Well I was living in Christchurch in 82 until mid 84, The Bats made a few trips down to Dunedin to play places like the University, The Oriental, The Empire and The Cook. The scene was very alive with bands playing all the time it seemed, busy making videos, posters, backdrops, record covers. There was a great deal of hands on work done by band members. There were a few managers but mostly everything was done by the bands themselves, a lot of miles were covered on state highways around the country in station wagons, Bedford and Transit vans. The favoured amps of that period were Holdens.

DMC: You have been involved with various labels over the years, from Flying Nun to Arch Hill to Rough Trade Records. Where do you stand on the argument of major label versus independent label and its ramifications and effects?

Bob: Most labels that we have worked with have been great, it was sad when FN was bought out by Mush/Festival/Warners but that’s the way it can go. The Independents have been great and you do have more control over things and it is easier to keep in contact with them. Mushroom teaming up with Flying Nun and paying big dollar for Nic Sansano to come over from NY to produce Fear of God. There was a week spent on pre-production which involved us endlessly going over the songs and Nic listening for things he could change. The Recording started at mandrill Studios in Auckland, after about a week the studio broke down and we had to take the 2” master tapes to Marmalade in Wellington, as a result of lost time we didn’t have time to mix it and Nic had to take the tapes back to NY where he put some overdubs on without our consent or knowledge. So that was a big loss of control. There was a bit of a weird one when Mushroom wouldn’t hand over the tapes for mixing until a studio bill was paid. I think it was for Silverbeet.

DMC: For a young band starting out, what is the best course for them to start out and where is the best place to go to get music put out?

Bob: Mmm it is so different now I wouldn’t really know what to say on that, maybe get a good online profile, be as original as you can and work very hard on your songs, get a good sound person and score some good supports.

DMC: As musicians, what are some of the musical influences you draw upon in composing and performing music?

A hell of a lot really, all the stuff we have been listening to over the years comes through in our music. Neil Young, Velvets, Suicide, Feelies, T Rex, Kate Bush, Neu, Kraftwerk, Can, Smokey Robinson, Elvis, Nic Jones, Martin Carthy, Hank Williams…I could go on.

DMC: Any other particular musicians that have influenced you in certain ways?

Bob: I must say a big influence on my ass playing was JJ Burnel from The Stranglers, what a sound. In 79/80 I would listen a lot to the first two albums and learn as many of the basslines as I could by ear, there was tab on the Internet of course. Keyboard wise I think the 60’s garage bands, Alan Vega, John Cale and Cluster to name a few. Mostly it is the sound of what people are playing that I listen to, it may be something cheesy like ELO or The Alan Parsons Project [Tales of Mystery and Imagination]. Growing up Abba were a big melodic influence and also the mid 70’s Fleetwood Mac albums of my sisters. Since I am very rough and ready as a guitarist I didn’t follow too many even though I enjoyed a lot, I don’t practice enough.

DMC: The band has been together for nearly 30 years. In that time you have been busy Bob in other projects like The Magick Heads and the other three members formed a side project group called ‘Minisnap.’ Over time how has the group dynamic and relationships between band members changed and evolved?

Bob: Mmm good question, I’m not sure really, we all have become more confident in getting our ideas across, early on we would just plug in and play and hope for the best, now we think about things a lot more, I do with my songwriting anyway.

DMC: What other things do you think more about nowadays?

Bob: Wow that is a deep one; I don’t really ponder the meaning of life. I do look out for new ideas for songs through the day and try and remember melodies I have running through my head, sometimes I hum them into my cellphone [when it’s on record function]. I do quite a lot of writing on the road as different surroundings tend to bring out different ideas and moods.

DMC: What are your views on the Dunedin music scene as a whole? As an experienced musician, how do you think the Dunedin music scene has changed over time from its Flying Nun days to today?

Bob: Yes of course it has changed over time since then, nothing stays the same. Back then a lot of bands were working in a similar vein, and getting ideas off each other, slowly it has pulled apart and some people are doing other things, as more influences come through, different bands are born so now there are a bigger variety of styles.

DMC: Could you elaborate upon that? Do you think the local dynamic and aesthetic has changed due to that divergence in styles?

Bob: Yes I think as time has gone by and there has been so much different music made that there is a lot more for writers to draw on and absorb. This has created a broader mix of styles and sound. Of course technology has changed things a lot with people writing and composing on computers. It’s all about decision making and self editing, because with computers the possibilities are endless, and you can get stuck in a quagmire very easily.

DMC: The band has toured America four times, featured on the front cover of Billboard and put out nine albums. The journey is not over yet but looking retrospectively, what comments can you give on the band’s musical career thus far as a whole?

Bob: We have achieved a lot but it has taken us a long time to do it too, we have had long breaks for different reasons. We have worked hard though and sticking with the same people helps keep your sound consistent. We have had some amazing times and gigs, and seen some very funny things it all turns into Spinal Tap after a while.

DMC: Examples of other funny things?

Bob: Funny things on tour 101…on the way to the great failed Neon Picnic Festival at the end of the 80’s of course it fell over so we had no gig to do, mmm we were halfway up the NI going through Tokoroa and saw a sign for a Country and Western Festival, oh well we will do that instead, ended up on the back of a truck surrounded by Haybales, the act after us was Horse shoeing I think. Getting stuck behind a tractor in Germany on the way to the East German Port Town of Sassnitz, we had played Berlin and Sweden was next so that was a good way to go, we couldn’t get passed it and the trip took 4 hours instead of 2, missed the ferry and had to hang in town for the next one. We were approached by a lot of locals wanting to buy Levis and wanting us to smuggle them over to Sweden, how would we do that, “oh its easy we will hang onto the underneath of your chassis” we eventually got bored and drove around the town after a while we noticed we were being followed by the Secret Police, luckily the Ferry arrived and we drove on.

In 86 in London we bought our own Ford Transit so we could get around, I slept across the front seats, Malcolm in the middle and Kaye and Paul in the back. One night in Italy we stopped in what we thought was a quiet carpark and went to sleep for the night, I was awoken early in the morning by some loud thuds, I looked out the front to see a 20 ton steel girder swinging by the van, we had managed to park in the middle of a building site! And there was the time we agreed to play at an Ice Skating rink in Christchurch…bad idea. Guitars don’t like the cold, it was impossible to get them in tune and our hands were too cold to form chord shapes. There was the infamous Sesqui festival in Wellington in the late 80’s, not very well attended, we did our 30 mins then hung around to see who was on after us... it was…Live Sheep Shearing!

DMC: Where do you see the band heading next? What direction do you see it taking?

Bob: I think we will head left and take a sharp turn... mmm some delicate folk meanderings and some heavy synth pieces, some more writing together in the studio too that takes things in another direction. So try and make it a bit more different.

DMC: What is influencing and making you take this different track?

Bob: I think we are ready to take a different tack and explore new territories, the odd review has mentioned some of the songs sound the same so we don’t want to fall into that trap. An album is a journey of discovery in some ways, we would like to try some different things on the next one, probably jam a lot more together, this tends to bring out a different side in us and esp me in my writing, you do have to be careful though as you don’t want to be hauling round banks of Keyboards and string sections on tour if you can help it. It is good to be able to play at least half of an album live.

AK


Related artists: Robert Scott

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