If you don't know who Oedipus Rex is, you're not the first. With their explosive live shows and undeniable energy the word is bound to spread. Oedipus Rex are a 4 piece hardcore//insanecore band from the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. They are brought together by Shane Watson (lead vocals), Josh Cuss (guitar), Nathan Cuss (bass) and Matt Francis (drums). Having formed in 2012, the band have released a demo, split EP with fellow Melbournites Break the Wall. They are blazing are trail in the local scene; leaving a trail of destruction, partying, chaos and good times in it's wake. If you build it they will come, as someone once said.. We recently got the catch up with Josh.
Firstly, this might seem like the most obvious question. How did you band form and where does the name Oedipus Rex come from?
So the band formed early 2012 when I started writing some tracks after my old band went to shit. I wrote a couple of tracks and showed them to my mate Shane, who I knew has always been keen to be a vocalist for a band. He dug the tracks, we made a drunk phone call to Dave, the ex guitarist, and within one night we had half a band. Then the ex bassist Daniel jumped on board and we found Matt on Melband[ausband.com]. The whole process went really quickly, within a couple of months we had a 6 track demo and we were playing our first gig!
Daniel came up with the name. Dave and I were chatting, and came up with Oedipus Complex. For people who don't know; it's an old theory that Sigmund Freud came up with, which is pretty much the theory that at a very young age a boy wants to have sexual relations with his mother, so he kills his father. Daniel then found a play/story about it called Oedipus Rex and we thought that sounded more hardcore, so we went for that! (laughs)
As far as influences go, who do you look up to?
It varies a fair bit between members. Personally, a few that really influence me with this band are Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, The Chariot, letlive, Between the Buried and Me, Converge, Trash Talk etc. The list could go on for ages but they're the first that come to mind. All those bands have really pushed themselves to make interesting music in a genre that can be very bland at times and flooded with bands that are just doing the same thing time after time.
Also Freud was a bit of a nut job, but I think it fits in well with the chaotic nature of the music. How would you describe your sound?
Yeah he was a bit of a nut job, but as you said, it probably represents us well (laughs). I'd just call it hardcore. You could sub-genre it as much as you want because it's pretty bipolar in parts, but as a general over view i'd just call it hardcore.
You definitely have something unique going on, striving not completely fit in with the pack.
Thanks man, appreciate it. I think that in a way it wasn't really a conscious decision to be "different" from the outset. The music I write just comes out and our stage presence pretty much came to us naturally. Standing still on stage is boring (laughs). It just evolved over time but it is a bonus that we're set apart the tiniest bit from the general run of the mill hardcore band(s).
I was about to ask whether it came naturally or if you practiced the way you act on stage... but there you go!
Any unusual influences outside the hardcore area some people might not expect?
Not really, most of our other influences that aren't heavy, I find that other kids that listen to the heavy stuff enjoy too. Gorillaz is one that I really admire, their album Demon Days is awesome. Panic at the disco!, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, you know, all those bands we frothed as teens. Nathan, the bassist really enjoys white man reggae, which I really cannot stand for the life of me (laughs). He also loves Aussie Rap, which kills me inside. Most of us sweat Kanye West, enjoy some Odd Future too, but what hardcore kid doesn't these days?
Personally I don't know Odd Future, what am I missing out on?
Yeah (chuckles). It took Shane a bit to get into a first, seeing as it was his first band. Have some footage of the first show we played, and it's hilarious. He looks so cute and nervous up there. But after he found his comfort zone, we can't stop him flipping off shit, breaking shit, jumping off anything he can find (laughs).
Tyler the Creator, Earl, Hodgy Beats? You're pretty much missing out on some dirty ass dank beats, with a touch of lyrical genius.
(laughs) I refuse to believe the man I saw do a back-flip off the stage and nearly got banned from a Youth Centre was ever shy.. Also, could you tell us more about what happened at EV's?
He was never shy as a person, just the first gig I guess! (laughs)
Not much really happened. We just played as we usually do, and the council guy didn't like Shane doing the back-flip. That was pretty much it (laughs)
These guys in suits just don't know how to have a good time.
They don't! Fun police were definitely out that night.
You have a split EP out with Break the Wall, have you done any shows with them to promote it?
Yeah, we held a split launch show on August 2nd at Gertrude's Brown Couch in Fitzroy. The turnout was amazing that night, every one was enjoying the music and we had some real rad support bands that we have played some shows with before too! Jurassic Penguin, Laser Brains and Loser Denial. They all killed it.
We've regularly been playing shows with Break The Wall since the start of the year, so there's always been constant promotion of it. We were always going to do a split together sooner or later (laughs)
Are they similar to you guys stylistically?
They're a lot more straight up punk compared to us, but it always felt right to do it with them, because both bands have the same mentality as far as the DIY approach comes to our music. They're also funny bastards with the same sense of humour, so everything matched up perfectly (laughs)
What is your stance on bands playing covers and what are your favourite songs to play live?
A cover in among-st a set of originals is fine, it's pretty useful when you're not that well known. Get's the crowd involved. Cover bands don't do much for the music scene, but they're fun when you're drunk and partying (laughs)
One of our newest songs off the split, Fuckable Messiah, has quickly become one of my favourites to play live. Winter Nights/Satan's Mum's Dick is always fun to play live too. We have a couple of new songs in the set that will be on our EP that are still pretty fresh and exciting to play live.
Do you like to honour the way the covers were originally played or find it necessary to breath your own life into them?
I like covers that bands put their own spin on, it's enjoyable to see what they come up with. In saying that, I've seen bands live that have played covers really well that are near to the original and it's just as fun when it's a song you really like.
I guess it can go both ways really. Your song titles are fairly tongue and cheek, what kind of lyrical ideas does your singer like to explore?
You'll have to read the lyrics to find out that one. All of our lyrics to the demo are on our Bandcamp page (oedipusrex.bandcamp.com). Some are about how shit religion is, money, loss we experience in our lives, whack dreams, the end of the world and much more.
Satan's Mum's Dick is actually about Satan's Mum's Dick though. That's how we described the band to Dave when we first convinced him to join, so we thought we'd write a song about it (laughs a bit)
I'll just go with that one even though I have no idea what you're talking about (laughs),
but in a way it does make some sense if you've seen this band live before.
Yeah, pretty much. To quote the almighty Shane, "A revolting atrocity not to be witnessed by the mortal". That pretty much sums up the band live (laughs a bit)
But as much as we take the piss live and with some of our song titles, the contents of the lyrics and music are both taken pretty seriously.
Yeah, in the end you need to take things seriously sometimes.. Having fun is always good though
Yeah definitely. I don't think there's much point acting like you're playing at Rod Laver Arena when you're playing in front of 20 people at a dingy little venue in Melbourne. Then again, it's always good to have some professionalism about you no matter where you play.
What was your weirdest gig experience and why?
Probably one of the weirdest gigs we've had to date was when we played the IDGAFF Bar earlier this year. We had a gacked as chick walk in screaming that Mick Malthouse was going to Carlton when he had already been at the club for quite some time. She then stayed for the whole gig, sinkin' Melbourne Bitters like a champ. She also tried to fill her whole back with demo's and other promotional material. Top sheila..
Pretty weird but also fucking hilarious (laughs)
Has your guitar every come loose when you swing it around like a madman on stage?
Fortunately not. The only thing that has gone the slightest bit wrong when I've tried to guitar swing is whilst I've been jumping off stage at the same time. It always seems to smash the the top of my head when I land, but I never learn (laughs)
That would hurt! Any other injuries or mishaps while on stage with the other band members?
Nathan cracked his bass on my face just the other night when we were playing at the Tote. Dave went to hospital twice when he was in the band, Shane has fucked up his feet numerous times as well as other cuts and bruises along the way. Y.O.L.O.
How have the crowds been so far? Any circle pits?
Yeah the crowds have been relatively good so far! Our split launch was awesome, a few people there all gettin' rowdy. We've had circle pits a couple of times consisting of three or four people, including members (laughs vigorously)
What is your dream venue to perform at?
Don't really know man. A small venue packed with a fuckload of people losing their minds would be plenty (laughs)
What advice can you give up and coming musicians?
I think the best advice I could give to musicians/bands these days is to get some sort of music out there and start playing shows ASAP. It's no good having thousands of likes on Facebook before you even play your first show or release your first song. I feel those bands tend to explode onto the scene and die just as quick. Obviously some hype around social media is good because that's the main focus for any band these days, but it will grow over time if you keep persisting with local shows and putting out music.
The future for Oedipus Rex is looking pretty good at the moment. Heading to Adelaide to play with Statues, Life Pilot, Mara Jade, A Ghost Orchestra and One In The Chamber. That show will be our first show interstate so we're stoked about that! Then I guess we'll keep playing shows and writing more music. We're in the early stages of sorting out our debut EP, which we'll hopefully start recording early next year if it all goes to plan.
