Readers, pack your bags! Today we're taking a trip to Australia to visit the infinitely creative and prolific Billiam of Disco Junk and a million other badass projects. We talked about how he got into punk, the stories behind some of Disco Junk's records, and what it was like playing shows with Amyl & The Sniffers.
photo @space_baget on IG
Also, you're gonna wanna see what Detroit bands he's been listening to lately...
Hows your quarantine been going? What have you been up to?
Pretty Alright I'd say haha. Started off a bit rough but I've adjusted and now I'm trying to make the most of it. Recording as much as I physically can. I've done about 4 albums worth of stuff and done tons of other stuff. I'll have content for probably the next 3 years
You're involved with a lot of crazy punk happenings. Give us a quick rundown of your bands and projects!
Alright, I'll try and give a rundown. Disco Junk is my main and first project, it started as me recording songs in my room on my Ipad because I couldn't find anyone else to play with me haha. Eventually I was able to record a 7 inch and that got me a live band. The line up has changed a bit but now its stable and were writing songs together and we have a 7 inch coming out soon!
Collective Hardcore is the Hardcore Punk project I started one day as a joke. It was originally a shitpost on American hardcore of the 80s recorded in one day, then it became a somewhat serious hardcore punk band with a full band nearly starting and now its some weird combination of the two. Its me and a drum machine at 2000% gain. There should be an album by the end of the year (if I get off my arse and recorded the thing) and a 7 inch coming out on Goodbye Boozey.
Billiam is the name for the softer and weirder stuff I record. I have one poppy ep of bedroom song, one minimalist synth-punk album out at the moment and one in progress album of subtle punk songs. It's a dumping ground for other stuff that I don't find fitting to anything else
The other main band I have is TOR which is a collaboration between me and two friends. Its like if Bis was more of a Synth Punk Band. We have an album done but we're waiting on releasing it until we can actually rehearse which is hard because we all like 2 hours away from each other respectively
There are other things but those are the main ones.
You're incredibly prolific. How do you put out so much awesome music?
I just kinda hit record and see what happens, there's no real method to the madness, I'm just always recording down whatever I write and then putting it out somewhere and just hope people like it. I should probably release a lot less and make my brand stronger but I have fun so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
How did you first get into punk?
Watchmojo. I know thats unbelievably embarrassing to say but when I was like 12 or 13 I heard a green day song in a watchmojo video and i just fell in love with the band. Every aspect of them I thought was amazing. I bought a little box set of all their music and I think I knew music was my "thing". I continued down the pathway of Blink 182 and Goldfinger until I started to get into more "mature" forms of music (Mac Demarco and Led Zeppelin) until one of my mums friends showed me Modern Living by Living Eyes and then I knew I had to go down punk and abandon anything else (ok I still listen to Mac Demarco occasionally)
Who are some of your favorite bands?
There's a lot, I listen to a lot of music. I guess the top three overall would have to be Ausmuteants (In my opinion the greatest modern punk band of all time), The Mo-Dettes (the greatest post-punk band of all time) and Velvet Underground (my boring choice in the matter). This list changes all the time and if you asked me in an hour I will have changed my mind. Like at the moment all I listen to is Set Top Box on a constant loop so they could count as one of my favorite bands but I feel like my mind will change in a week when ________ band is all I listen too
Tell us a little bit about your scene! Australia seems to have the best punk in the world right now.
It's pretty insane, I'm spoiled for choice in every single way. When gigs were actually happening every single night of the week some band is playing thats absoloutely incredible, theres a great new band starting every week! I'd use to read about stories of Seattle in the 90s or LA in the 60s and I'd dream of being able to just walk to a local bar and see Janis Joplin or Mudhoney. But now that's what Im able to do! (even though that's on pause for the moment) Plus 99% of the time everyone
I saw Disco Junk played with Amyl & The Sniffers. How was that show?
It was incredible! We've played with The Sniffers twice and both times were incredible, the energy in the room was just electric. The entire band are the nicest people and they deserve every little bit of their success. They will do anything to help out smaller bands or venues in any way they can. Plus they're up there with the best live bands on earth, I'm so excited to see what they do next
Disco Junk put out some killer albums. Tell us about'em! Any inspirations? How did they come together?
That all came together when I met Todd when he came down for Maggot Fest in 2018. I was in this record store called Lulus that used to be stationed out the back of a bar (its now in a much nicer shop) and I complimented his Lost Kids shirt. We got talking and I slowly realized he was the dude behind Hozac Records which scared the hell outta me but I kept talking and mentioned my band. He told me to send demos over and I did thinking nothing of it. Then one day he just asked if I wanted to do a 7 Inch and I swear I nearly cried tears of soy I was so happy. I went into a studio with Billy Gardner recording and one of my best friends Lachie on drums (Who traveled 7 hours by train to record the drums). It was just an incredible experience to work with one of my idols on a record and it was also funny when I lost my voice doing vocals and then tried to order a burger completely voiceless. In terms of inspiration It's my attempt to do a Killed By Death record, short fast snappy songs. I was listening to a lot of The Eat when I was writing the initial versions of all those songs
That album is sort of my attempt to create a cohesive punk album. I had done a bunch of smaller demos but nothing substantial so that was my attempt to do a long-form punk album. It was also HEAVILY influenced by Killed By Death which I was really into at the time. It was just me pointing my ipad at all the sound sources and pressing record until it sounded "good" (the comment this album gives me a headache in a good way really describes the sound). It was also the first time I ever put out a physical release of something. I made 10 copies thinking that was enough and I remember how excited I was when someone ordered a copy, it was like man this is the best and it will never sell more than this. by the third pressing, I had sold 25 copies in one day and teamed up with Roolette to do a proper run of 100 which somehow sold out. crazy ey?
Have any future plans to tour? And if so will ya visit us in Detroit?
Oh absolutely! I am so desperate to come over to the US, its really my only item on my bucket list. Detroit seems really cool, been listening to a lot of The Stools and The Dumpsters lately. Its just really expensive and scary to do, Disco Junk hasn't had a stable line up until fairly recently so we havent been able to tour and obviously we cant tour at the moment but once we try touring this country and we finish the damn album I hope we can pop over to the US!
Lastly, what's your goal with music?
I guess its to entertain either myself or others. There's no real logic to me making music and I don't record anything with a goal of doing X or Y, I do it because its the most fun in the world and when someone says they like my music or buys something I put together it means the world. I'm just here to make some weird sounds
Questions by Joey Molloy