I sat down with Alex from Captain Kickarse the other day. With our chins dragging and our energy flagging, we managed to bring forth this. Enjoy.
MF: So you guys have a great name how did you come up with it?
Alex: We threw sticks and dripped blood into a small pond then read what it spelt: Captain Kickarse And The Awesomes.
MF: I’ve heard you’ve just written a song for a kids television show; tell us about it.
Alex: That was mad fun. We have an inside connection to the heads behind ‘Lab Rats’, a new Aussie-made kids science show, 4pm Channel 9 every Mon – Wed, CHECK IT OUT! We wrote and recorded all of the music for the show, about thirteen songs – main theme, background music, quiz and race music, even a shrinking-ray gun noise. It’s a little toned down from our regular sound but it still has plenty of that Captain Kickarse wackiness.
MF: Do you like children?
Alex: I like them with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.
MF: What kid’s shows did you watch growing up?
Alex: Romper Room and Play School and Gummo when I was tiny, then Voltron and Transformers cartoons. Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies had a good stint in there too along with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Captain Planet. And Monkey Magic.
MF: Tuna or Salmon?
Alex: Salmon if it’s fresh, tuna if it’s tinned. But no brine! Actually I like tinned dolphin posing as tuna, convenient and intelligent.
MF: What’s this I hear about this gig at sonar?
Alex: Saturday night, September 13 with The Space Banditos, Day Of The Meerkat and us Captain people. I’m so pumped I’m about to burst. The idea was to gather bands whose music and performance will take you on a journey or put you in a trance, then give enough time for each bands’ set to allow that journey to take place. It’ll be perfect to keep your boogie shoes busy after Earthdance during the day. Sonar @ Luna Park, 1 Olympic Drive Milson’s Point.
MF: How close are you and the guys from Meerkat?
Alex: We’re real close. Not like Siamese twins close, more like eight people in a five-man tent close. We have played a bunch of shows together since we met at Secluded Sundays – The Abercrombie Years, and we’ll continue to do so til long after the sun goes down. They’re good little prairie dogs.
MF: How would you describe you music?
Alex: InstruMENTAL. We lost the battle with singers, or we won the battle if you look at it that way. So there are no vocals at all, meaning lots of space for delays, time signature changes and genre hopping. Tying it together are the underlying constants: progressive rock, psychedelia and bent humour.
MF: If you had to choose between losing your hands or your hearing, which would it be?
Alex: What was that? Speak up – I have a pen between my teeth.
MF: How many arses have you kicked?
Alex: Farcically, untold thousands. In reality, nine.
The boys will be playing a spate of shows:
September 20 @ The Lansdowne (Secluded Records Presents…)
September 25 @ Hermann’s Bar (Bird’s Robe Collective presents Happy 21st Kirsten!)
October 10 @ The Gaelic Theatre (Secluded Records Presents)
Have a listen at http://www.myspace.com/captainkickarseandtheawesomes
