We all remember The Bee Gees. Windblown locks with a golden sheen. Furiously virile shrubs of chest hair erupting around gold medallions. Deliciously catchy vocal melodies and layers and layers of strings. They were Gods. They are legends.
Richard Lucano definitely hasn’t forgotten this, which is why the young frontman of Sydney four piece One Flew East enlisted the olive skinned genius that is Barry Gibb, to help the band get match fit.
“We’re being counselled by Barry Gibb,” Rich tells me, pausing for a moment as he finishes his workout on the rowing machine. “He’s a good man Barry is, he knows a lot about competition and we need that. We made the final of the Jager Uprising competition at the Annandale, which is happening on the 2nd of July, so that’s why we got Barry.”
Dripping in sweat Rich moves over to the treadmill. “The Bee Gees had the competitive advantage of their voices so he’s helping us find our own advantage.”
I ask if Barry is around and Rich warns me not to mention his name, fearful of his watching eye. Banishing the thought of the mocha skinned Adonis from my mind, Rich and I begin discussing the band and his work in the Syndey scene.
While One Flew East takes up all his musical energy, Rich also applies his impressive stamina to running Thai Fisherman Pants, a band night that has recently moved to its new home at Hotel Hollywood.
“The Hotel Hollywood is going great, Thai Fisherman Pants just really feels at home there. We had the launch with Decorated Generals. They’re writing some really solid music and their live show is really schmick, like properly produced,” he is gushing to me when a high pitched shout from some hidden room shocks him back on topic.
“Another thing that’s awesome about this new version we’re doing is from Midnight onwards we have this blues jam going and we invite all the bands that play on the night to stay around and have jam,” Rich explains enthusiastically as the treadmill buzzes loudly, increasing the incline.
His phone rings and he leaps off the treadmill to answer it. The conversation doesn’t last long – Rich explodes with quiet fury as his phone proceeds to drop in and out of reception.
“I’m using this phone that’s like 4cm long cos my iPhone’s broken,” he seethes. I ask what happened but I am met with a firm rebuff. “Don’t even go there man, I mean this is probably going to ruin any hope of getting one of our songs on an Apple ad but the best advice I have is to just not get one.
“It’s such a love hate relationship you know, it’s like I love you but you can’t keep throwing these tantrums on me. I think having an iPhone trains you for being a parent. You can’t understand it, it’s always chucking hissy fits, it looks so basic and as much as you love it at the same time it just shits you to no end.”
Once again a high-pitched scream echoes around the room and Rich falls silent, moving back toward the still humming treadmill to finish his workout. Trying to lighten his mood I ask about when the band plan to record next.
“Well we recorded our demos in March with Anthony The, who is just a champion, a great producer. He’s actually Youth Group’s sound tech and he has worked with The Vines and a bunch of other bands on the local scene. The demos were literally just us in a room going gangbusters and playing our arses off. I mean our live show is a large part of what we do, especially seeing as though we didn’t have recordings for so long, and I think we really captured that on the demo.”
“In July we’re going back into the studio to do the job a little bit schmicker, you know, keeping it raw but just making it a little bit more appealing to more ears, you could say.”
An alarm starts going off and Rich tells me it’s time for him to go sing scales in a sensory deprivation tank and that I have to leave or else Barry will get mad.
As he walks me to the door, I ask him if there’s anything else he wants mentioning. “If you’re free on July 2nd come on down to The Annandale and show us some love. Throw your G bangers. The more G bangers onstage when we hit that last note the better we’ll go. However preferably bring a bag of G bangers, nobody wants skid marked undies on stage.”
There’s another high pitched scream and Rich sighs. “Also Barry might come past, you never know.” Be sure to catch the band when they play The Annandale Hotel Jager Uprising Grand Final on July 2nd.
