TMR TALKS TO...
CABLE TIES
In this interview feature, we get to know the most radicalist up and coming stars on the planet.
This time, we get to know Australian “tiresome punk” band Cable Ties a little better.
Hope is the central theme of Cable Ties’ new album, Far Enough, which was recently released via Merge Records. We’ve already explored two tracks from the record, namely ‘Self Made Man’ and ‘Hope’, of which we noted the band’s riotous approach to songwriting. Below we step further into the punk-laced territory of this Melbourne trio, in which singer Jenny McKechnie tells us about the doomsday prepper backstory to ‘Hope’, breaking down the neo-liberal mythology of the self-made man and her tendency to focus on individual failings in songs like ‘Sandcastles’. We’re also given more recommendations for new bands and artists to check out than we can shake a stick at, so for those who are loving the album, you’ll know exactly where to go from here.
TMR: Congratulations on the release of the album! I hear that it’s about hope, and more accurately, about getting hope back. Would you say you achieved this?
Jenny: Yeah some days! The kind of hope we talk about on the album is a really functional, active feeling. It's about realising that deciding the world's fucked and there's nothing you can do about it is of no use to anyone, least of all yourself. So when I'm feeling my worst I try to remember that and then act like I think the things I do make any difference, even if I don't fully believe it at the time.
TMR: That question easily leads us to the single ‘Hope’, which for us was a moment where mundanity met with revelation. What does the track mean to you?
Jenny: Yeah the song does start at the mundane and I guess that kinda links to the micro, self-reflective purpose of hope. So much of it is about the steps that come before you're able to take the small steps towards activism or protest or speaking your mind. It's about getting out of that circular, despairing loop where you think the world's totally screwed, you're part of the problem and nothing you do will be enough to fix it. It's also about not giving into the fear and becoming a doomsday prepper who says screw everyone else, the end is nigh and I'm gonna WIN at the apocalypse cause I'm a tough guy.
TMR: Through this process, what did you learn about yourselves as a band and as individual musicians?
Jenny: Reflecting on it now, I see us as a band who can acknowledge our strengths, know when to ask for help and to put trust and faith in your ideas. They aren’t always going to work but you can always take something valuable away from every experience. We definitely aren’t professionally trained musicians or audio engineers, so a lot of the decision making was based around a feeling rather than conventional standards of writing or recording.
TMR: Songs like ‘Self Made Man’ with its energetic video portrays a clear anti-capitalist message with little code-breaking involved on the part of the listener. Do you think it’s important the music takes a direct approach?
Jenny: My songwriting is fairly direct. A theme I wanted to explore on the album was the cult of the individual and how it prevents people from being able to work together to solve big problems that threaten us all. The myth of the self made man is really central to neo-liberal ideology and the cult of the individual so I wanted this song to be a pretty clear critique of that idea. In other songs like ‘Hope’ or ‘Sandcastles’, I more indirectly critique my own tendency to focus too much on my individual failings or the image I project to others.
TMR: Are there times in the album that you’re more indirect?
Jenny: Yep sometimes. The songs that are a bit more personal like Lani are less direct as I don't need or want to let the listener in on everything that's behind that song.
TMR: We’ve described your music previously as punk, and so would you agree that Far Enough is a punk album?
Shauna: I guess most people screw their nose up at the idea of defining or pigeonhole-ing the sound of their music. We certainly get called a punk band more than anything else, which isn’t necessarily a negative description - I would also hope that this description lends itself to more than just the sound of the record. I’m sure there are more than a few willing humans at any given Cable Ties gig to argue and debate the origins and development of punk into what it is today. I reckon I could just imagine a bunch of them saying “there are certainly elements of punk but it doesn’t quite fit within those labels”, so let’s just go with that hey?
TMR: What were the bands or artists that influenced you most when writing the album?
Jenny: This is a list of musical influences and also local music mentors like Jen Cloher, LJ from Little Ugly Girls and The Dacios, and of course Paul Maybury from Rocket Science and The Pink Tiles who recorded the album. Jen Cloher, Little Ugly Girls, The Dacios, RVG, Tropical Fuckstorm, Mod Con (Erica foreverrrr!!) Rocket Science, The Peep Tempel, Cash Savage & The Last Drinks, Tom Lyncoln from Harmony and The Nation Blue, The Stooges, AC/DC and Patti Smith.
TMR: And how about some local flavour, who should we be looking out for from the Melbourne scene right now?
Jenny: ooohhh yay!!! Mod Con, Zig Zag, Scratch Match, Pinch Points, Porpoise Spit, Hexdebt, Simona, Shove, Moody Beaches, Hextape, Miss Blanks, Vanessa Worm, V, Jesswar, Use No Hooks, The Native Cats, Clamm, Alice Skye, The Faculty, Ubik, Hearts and Rockets, Eaglemont, Shepparton Airplane, Rhysics, Dr Sure's Unusual Practice, Hacker, The Pink Tiles, Moon Cup, Tragic Carpet, Rot T.V., Mr Teenage, Program.
TMR: As with everyone, your live dates have been postponed till later in the year and so to evoke our reader’s imagination, what’s a Cable Ties show like?
Shauna: Simply put, it’s three people who really care a lot about their songs and who want to play them for you as loud as we’re allowed too.
TMR: Lastly, what are your top tips for staying sane through the coronavirus lockdown?
Jenny: Adopt a dog. I did. Best decision of my life.
By Hannah Thacker
Photo credit: Spike VincentListen
