Dick Desert & The Shotgun Country Club

RAVE MAGAZINE ISSUE #816 (Nov 13-19 2007)

DEATH IN THE DESERT
Local country punk showman DICK DESERT is launching his new album at The Troubadour this Saturday night. Fellow drinking enthusiast GENERAL ZED put a few questions to the man, and got replies from his personal menagerie instead.

This is an attempted interview with Dick Desert. Unfortunately it seems Dick was a little too busy‘ packing pipes and drinking beer’, and left the answering to his 2:24am drinking buddies, who replied en masse as ‘Dick Desert’. Dick would like you to know that this interview is not a reflection of him, but of the folks that answered for him: Lola The Vamp (his Penthouse Pet), The Gorilla (his primate friend), and Gladys (his Mum).

Dick Desert in the Urban Dictionary: Explanation
1: The drought-like state of (a male) not having sex for a protracted period of time. “He's had a bad case of desert dick since he broke up with his fi ancée.” Is this an accurate description of you?
The Gorilla: I think I’ve got that syndrome. My new side-project is called ‘Gorilla’s Don’t Get Laid At Gigs.’ Why Not? I'm trying to change the stereotype. Sure I stink and I spill beer on myself, but most primates do.
You used to run solo but now have a team, is it better?
Why the change?
Gladys: It’s good for Dick to have social contact with folks of all ages. I’m raising him to be a fully functioning member of society and the band is good for his social skills.
So, your bandmates in the Shotgun Country Club, are they handy with the steel?
Gladys (Dick’s Mum): I made sure all the boys were fully conversant in fi rearms. You can't be too careful these days.
I’ve heard tales of anarchism being the basis for Dick Desert’s lifestyle. Care to elaborate?
Lola: I met Dick in honours class at uni. I like to tell people that he’s the first philosophy honours graduate from our Uni. He used some anarchist theory in there and it really turned me on.
What have you been reading recently?
Gladys: The Pushy Stage Mother’s Guide To Getting Your Son Famous And Starring In A Reality TV Show About His Rehab Stint So You Can Live Off His Royalties Forever.
Speaking of drinking, I’ve heard tales of a shot called Death In The Desert. What is in it and have you killed anybody?
Lola: Death In The Desert is a variation of my favourite cocktail Death In The Afternoon. My version contains (good) champagne and (good) absinthe. Dick invented Death In The Desert and it contains equal parts tequila and absinthe. [Note reluctance to answer the ‘have you killed anybody’ bit. Dick obviously requires discretion from his associates – General Zed]
Will the Gorilla be at the album launch? What’s with that guy anyway?
Lola: He has ADD. And every virus and infection known to primates. It’s a hassle getting him through customs, but he came out of rehab a couple of years ago and he’s been taking it day by day since.
DICK DESERT & THE SHOTGUN COUNTRY CLUB launch their debut self-titled album at the Troubadour on Saturday Nov 17, supported by The Re-Mains, Sue Ray and Bob Weatherall (and maybe a gorilla)
- RAVE Magazine Issue #816 - General Zed

Shotgun Stories

DICK DESERT & THE SHOTGUN COUNTRY CLUB



MAINSTREAM COUNTRY music in Australia has for too long seemingly focused on somewhat benign subjects such as utes and sheepdogs, all the while eschewing the dark, outlaw themes that are the root of the genre.



But there are many talented faces on Brisbane’s burgeoning alt-country scene that are bucking that trend, one of the foremost being Dick Desert & The Shotgun Country Club. Combining the energy and intensity of punk with dark subject matter, and wrapping it all up in a wonderfully disheveled delivery, the band reinvigorate country music with a nod to the spirits of early pioneers such as Hank Williams and Johnny Cash.

“I think more of the rough edge sort of style, where you just go out and play and have a couple of chords and don’t get too technical about it all and just have fun,” lead guitarist Mick Desert explains of the band’s take on country music.

“It’s more down the Johnny Cash sort of road, what I’d imagine his live shows would’ve been - a big party, everyone drinking and having a good time. Those guys were doing crazy stuff back then, it still goes on today, I guess. We’ve done some shows where we’ve been pretty trashed [but] they turn out fine; we play that kind of music where it just doesn’t matter.”

The band have imbued the seven impressive tracks on their self-titled debut mini-album - including a jaw-dropping cover of Cash’s ‘Ghost Riders In The Sky’ - with that ragged, outlaw spirit.

“It was done pretty quickly - we did two seven-hour blocks and ten hours’ mixing,” Mick says of the recording. “I think there’s probably five songs that had three takes, two with two takes, and ‘Ghost Riders’ was pretty much straight up.

“I think it definitely represents our live show, but it’s got a good studio vibe to it as well. I really love the sound of it; it’s like Beasts Of Bourbon or Spencer P Jones albums. It’s gritty.”

Ending this year with blockbuster performances at the Woodford Folk Festival, 2008 is set to be a particularly productive year for the five-piece.

“At the moment we’re looking at doing the next album early and getting down to Sydney and Melbourne and other places as well,” Mick anticipates. “We want to get on some more festivals; we’re a pretty good band where we can play a lot of diverse festivals and do it convincingly. We’re no-bullshit; I think we appeal to a lot of people.”

Dick Desert & The Shotgun Country Club launch their self-titled mini-album at The Troubadour Saturday Nov 17.

JUSTIN GREY

- Timeoff Magazine

DICK DESERT & THE SHOTGUN COUNTRY CLUB

Self-titled (Independent)

It’s been a while in the making, but Brisbane’s finest purveyors of outlaw country, Dick Desert & The Shotgun Country Club, have made it worth the wait with their superb self-titled debut mini-album. Dick Desert’s ragged country-punk vocal delivery is the perfect mouthpiece for these redneck tales, and he’s complimented by the driving drums of Bubbunj and the piercing mouth organ of Kaustic Kev.

The album opens with the brilliantly rollicking ‘Country Music Star’, which features some deft slide work from lead guitarist Mick Desert that sets the tone for what’s to come. The hilarious ‘George Bush’s Chicken’ works the political satire angle of Desert’s previous single ‘My Dad Fucked John Howard’ to great effect. ‘Heart Bleedn Red’ is a great piece downtrodden country blues, before the pace is once again raised with ‘Gladys’ and a rampaging cover of Stan Jones’ ‘Ghost Riders’, a tune that was popularised by Johnny Cash. The seven-track disc closes in fine form with the bluesy, mid-paced ‘Deserts In Heaven’.

For a real interpretation of country music, look no further then Brisbane’s own backyard and Dick Desert & The Shotgun Country Club.

(Justin Grey)

- Timeoff Issue #1350 Nov 21-27 '07

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1
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- 4zzz 102.1FM Brisbane