When you read that a rock band’s sobering influence is its drummer, you know they might be doing things a little differently. Drummer as stabiliser … really?
Click further into the website of Stunts – the self-described ‘odd couple’ of northern Illawarra electro-grunge – and you’ll see that certain rock traditions have been trashed or upheld, with a touch of wit, a little self-deprecation and much humour. There are nods to Nick Cave, the Pixies, Kate Bush and a smudge of Placebo beyond the tall dude’s dark eyeliner.
You’ll see the photo of Matty and Racey Stunts (above) – like 1930s art classic American Gothic, but this time the woman holds the pitchfork (in this case a garden rake), there’s a Hills Hoist festooned with pegs, and Matty’s sporting a shirt your cool uncle would wear to a family barbecue.
“We love that photo – it was taken in our spiritual home – and actual home – in Bulli,’’ says Matty. “We were lucky enough to have the amazing Lisa Tomasetti come down for a day of shooting.”
Having released their first album (Housework), Stunts – their band family name – are fun in tongue-in-cheek fashion. Join their mailing list online and you’ll be told “Thank you! You are clearly very smart and attractive.” The comedy lives in Stunts’ lyrics – “I am quite disappointed” is the hook in Disappointed, a Smiths-like understatement if the listener has ever heard one.
Latest single Probs Not is “about longing from afar, social awkwardness and the self-loathing that comes with it”. You can hear 1980s Manchester sobbing down the line.
That decade shuttled Matty around musical dabblings in Canberra, the UK, Brisbane, Dublin and Sydney before parenthood took him into ‘’more important stuff to do”. Having moved from Sydney to the Illawarra 17 years ago, he again picked up a guitar and later joined forces with drummer Pacey, who has a knack for “keeping things on track”, and singer Racey, a veteran of the area’s music scene.
Along the way, Matty had to deal with “one pretty nasty old brain tumour” but is enjoying a clean bill of health 18 months later.
He started writing the songs on Housework after more than a decade away from music.
“So when I came back to writing there was lots I was looking back at … the impossible dreams from my youth, the things that didn’t work out how I planned, the disappointments and heartbreaks along the way,” he said.
It might also be his stab at creativity in a house that harbours the not insignificant creative shadow of his wife, accomplished actor Deborah Mailman.
In April, Stunts launched their album with a gig in the intimate Kings Room at Anita’s Theatre – the first band to do so.
Visit www.stuntsmusic.com
