Fear Of Comedy

Fear Of Comedy scored the opener for a night of black eyeliner, corseted waists and gargantuan boots. To give credit where it’s due, Fear Of Comedy have no fear of mixing it up and making it interesting. In simplistic terms, they have a punk presence but there are so many other noticeable stylistic meanderings. In that respect, it’s great to watch a bunch of musos who are unconcerned with where there music should or shouldn’t go. Laith Tyranny, also of The Bible Bashers, is a bold frontman to top off the group.


_LAURA GLITSOS
- XPRESS MAGAZINE

Fear of Comedy Interview

First, a caveat: when Fear of Comedy and I meet, we do not do so as strangers. We’ve known each other for years. I’ve shared lodgings with various members, went to university with the drummer, am godfather to the bassist’s firstborn. This isn’t me namedropping, though; in the interest of preserving whatever tattered shreds of journalistic integrity I may yet retain, I feel it’s only fair to clue you in at the outset: I know these boys.

And let me tell you, they’ve been through a lot over the past few years. Out of the gate they were one of the hardest working bands in the Perth scene, fusing horror stylings with post-punk influences in countless memorable live gigs, culminating in a successful eastern states tour. Roughly a week after that particular jaunt they split, brought to ground by personal acrimony and the relentless pressures that all working bands are subject to. That was two years ago.

Then, quietly, the boys patched up their differences and began to play once more. A gig here, a gig there. A heartbeat later, they announced that they’d be supporting Marilyn Manson at his Perth show, easily the biggest show of their career so far. That’s pretty heady stuff for a group who had previously called it quits. When I met with frontman Laith Tierney, guitarist Nathan Christensen and drummer Liam Dunn over a few drinks at 399, one question was at the forefront of my mind…

How the fuck?

Laith laughs. “Is that a question?”

Yes it is. How the hell did you guys score the Manson support slot, because I’m mystified.

“Okay, here’s the deal. First of all, we announced that we were getting back together, just by perthbands.com, and sent out a few press releases. Then a band called Friends of a TV Evangelist from Melbourne came over in August, they were doing a secret show at a venue called 208, which is run by the guys from Extortion, and we thought, let’s do it, let’s play with these guys, and we suited them, we did it. That sort of leaked out that we were playing on that, but we didn’t make a big deal of it, it wasn’t really a return show, our inner circle knew, I guess. After that, I dunno. We got asked to play the Night of Horror Film Festival, and we announced that we’re playing Sin on the 31st, and I guess from that, a promoter called Heath was asked his opinion on who would fit the bill, and he recommended us. And yeah, that was Monday night. That brings us to the now.”

Nathan, where were you when you found out?

“I was in Richmond, which is in sunny Victoria. I was just starting to settle in there when Laith called me and said, dude, we’re doing the Manson gig, you’ve earnt this, come back for it. And I couldn’t really say no to that. I think at one point when I was fourteen, I’d written in my journal, “play with Marilyn Manson”, so…”

Small dreams, really.

“Small dreams that I now regret, yes.” He laughs. “Don’t put that in there.”

Laith laughs again. “How quickly you regret mentioning that was in your diary!”

And how quickly did you get back to Perth? What’s the time lag between finding out and getting here?

Nathan drags on his hand-rolled cigarette. “That was about… well, see, I’m a free spirit, Travis, as you well know. I think it was about two weeks later? Three weeks later? I ended up back in Perth to start rehearsing. And that was about a month-”

“Start of October,” Laith interjects.

Nathan nods. “About a month before we did the gig. Yeah, about three or four weeks of rehearsing, and then we played the gig. That’s how it went down.”

You’re a fairly cynical soul, Liam, What was your reaction? Because you sure as hell didn’t see this coming.

“I absolutely did not see this coming,” says Dunn. “When I got the message from Laith that we’d been approached to support Marilyn Manson, I basically messaged back “Are you fucking kidding me?” I was at work feeling sorry for myself, and I just thought, “No, this has gotta be a joke.” I mean, we’d been a band for a couple of years and then broke up for a year –
“Two.” says Laith.

“For two years, and then we get back together, and then the next day we get approached to do this huge international support. It came right out of the blue and just didn’t seem real at the time.”
Laith continues: “I think initially he thought it was too good to be true. It’s strange; when I got the message, it was a text message, and I’d been talking to Josh from the Painkillers who said “Oh don’t worry, something will come up.” And I was thinking, “Yeah, I hope so.” The next morning there’s a text message, and I’m hung over as hell, it’s 8 o’clock in the morning and there’s this message from this guy Nick, who’s with (tour promoter) Michael Coppel, and it says “Would Fear of Comedy be interested in supporting Manson?” I just rolled over and went back to sleep! I didn’t recognize the number, so I thought it was a joke. I woke up a few hours later and made a phone call, then got on the phone to everyone else, and everyone just went “No, you’re fucking kidding me.” No one really believed it. It sunk in over the next few days, once we started seeing contracts and paperwork to sign.”

Says Dunn, “I think for me it didn’t really sink in that it was going to happen until I saw it in print, in the newspaper and Xpress and things like that, where it actually had our name in print, and it’s like – œYep, that’s Fear of Comedy, it says it right there. F…e…a…r… so on and so forth. If this is a joke it’s extremely elaborate.’”

Nathan picks up the thread. “The interesting thing is, two years ago we were sitting there watching MM, thinking to ourselves, – œMy God, we could fucking do this.’ And absolutely laughing it off as – œAs if!’ And two years later it’s reality.”

Laith:

What’s strange is, two years ago we were in our prime, watching that Manson show in 2007, going “This is where we’re gonna try to get, guys.” We saw The Spazzys were supporting, and we’d working our asses off for two years, thinking – œGod, why don’t more local bands get the internationals support slots?’ Then we break up at the height of our hard work. It’s so ironic and bizarre that it happens two years later after we’ve split up. For a promoter to book us… they don’t know if we’ve lost it. They don’t know if we’ve gone soft, gone clean, y’know? Everyone was shell-shocked and excited at the same time.

Take me through the build-up.

Nathan:

I think we took it really seriously. I came back a month before, and we rehearsed hardcore. For three weeks it was twice a week, and for the last week it was every single day. And that’s a lot. You get pretty exhausted, but by the last day we really had it sorted. And we’re trying to bring in Conrad, who’s our new keyboardist, and going essentially – œHere’s ten songs you’ve never heard before. You’ve got a month to learn them.’ And he did, just simply because we all worked really hard at it and took it seriously. He was really on top of his game as well, which was awesome.

Laith:

We didn’t take it lightly, that’s for sure.

Liam:

Yeah. It’s been rather intense actually. When things transpired and we couldn’t rehearse sometimes, that felt good, because we were able to get a break and let the work percolate a bit, and then next rehearsal we’d be even more fired up. We tried to fit in a rehearsal on the day of the gig, but I think we were trying to over prepare, and we didn’t really need it. We were just bang on, perfect, as best we could be, and I thought we were absolutely amazing last night. I just think that everyone brought their A-game. It’s such a huge… it’s Challenge Stadium, for crying out loud! There was no choice but to be super ready.

Was there ever a point when you thought, – œShit, we can’t do this. We’re out of our depth?’

Nathan:

No, not really. When we were jamming and I was trying to get back into it, I was amazed at how quickly we gelled again. Sure, two years had passed, but we still knew so well how each other played that it was quite natural. It’s good that the older members of the band gelled so quickly because we were able to help Conrad more efficiently.

So do you no longer feel you’re in a niche? Do you feel you’ve broken a bit wider?

Nathan:

We’re no longer playing the same gigs to the same crowd that we always did every week. We’ve had the opportunity to showcase what we do to a whole bunch of people who will never have heard of us. And the response has been really good. And now we’ve got to capitalise on it.

Liam:

I remember from years and years ago, an international band would come, and they’d have a band from Sydney or Melbourne who tours around the country with them, and then there’d be a local band that played in each state before the national support band comes on.

Laith:

And the bands would have airplay or CDs out. Signed bands with distro and that. People who are actually going to pull a crowd. The Spazzys were a national band that had a record label behind them, their own promo and their own exposure, regardless of who they’re supporting. They don’t know that we’re going to bring in tickets; they just know they’re booking a local band that haven’t played for two years. We’re grateful to have been on the ticket. It’s just surreal and bizarre.

It must have done wonders for your confidence, how you approach an audience.

Liam:

Absolutely. It’s given us a great incentive. This is what we were working towards two years ago, and now, the minute we get back together it’s happened. It boggles the mind.

Nathan:

It also feels like something we’ve worked so hard for that it’s kind of like our reward? When I got on stage I was a bit nervous and shit, but it felt like it’s legit. We deserve to be here because we’ve put in the years of just gigging locally and trying to work our way up that hierarchy. It’s bizarre that there’s been a two year break, but it felt real natural, like a reward for everything.

Like you’ve earnt it.

Laith:

Yeah. Part of the break-up was just how hard we worked, the stress and the tension and the time and money and everything we put into it.

Liam:

We worked 50 weeks in the year. Basically two weeks off where we didn’t play a gig. It was insane.

Laith:

I think when we did our APRA return for 2006-2007, it worked out that we’d played at least two to three times a week. For a year, playing more gigs than there are weeks in the year.

There was a bit of a panic over the equipment. Tell me about that, because it could be a useful lesson for anyone who finds themselves in this position.

Nathan:

I think we’ve prided ourselves over the last five years on being, definitely, a band that had the shittest equipment out of any band in Perth. I was playing the spoons at one stage because I didn’t have a guitar.

Laith:

Those spoons were good, though. Good spoons.

Nathan:

The electric spoons, man. I can rock the electric spoons.

Liam:

They’re commemorative.

Nathan:

My Nana’s real pissed off. I stole six of her spoons, man.

Laith: She was in the SS.

Nathan:

Yeah, they’re Hitler youth spoons. It was a combination of things. Like, we had to hire some shit, but there was a huge outpouring of local bands that we’d played with and friends of ours who said – œYou can borrow my guitar, you can borrow my amp’. We ended up borrowing amps from… who was it? Pete?

Laith:

Pete from ZXspecky gets an honourable mention for helping out Adams with the bass rig. The legendary James Baker assisted Liam Dunn here with the drum kit. He’s a solid character, that man.

Liam:

Absolutely.

Laith:

And friends of ours helped out with guitars and stuff. I mean, we haven’t played for two years; we haven’t built up a band kitty. In fact, we broke up in the red.

Nathan:

We were always in the red.

Take me through the night.

Laith:

We get to Challenge about four o’clock. We load in, and then… there was a little bit of a freak-out over where’s our dressing room? Where do we put our gear? Are we gonna get yelled at? We don’t have passes yet. These people are looking at us like we’re weirdos.

Nathan:

Yeah, gigantic American security guards just going “Who the fuck are you?” And I turned up with my MM lunchbox and they thought I’ve gotta have some knives and shit in there, trying to take Mazza out. (Bass player) Liam Adams had a classic moment where he was standing on stage trying to figure out where his amp was gonna go, and he was looking for a pass-out, so he could get in and out of the place, and he asked a security guard without looking, and when he looked up, Manson’s standing there with his fist out, and says “You just run into this really fast.” So, you know, Manson’s obviously a witty guy.

Laith:

We’re used to 15 minute changeovers at the Hydey. The Homicides have set up and finished, they get all their crap off, and we set all our crap up, the audience is there watching us set up, and they’re all our mates. This was like, the techs set up offstage, Manson finishes sound check, we go round the corner to go the toilet or have a smoke or get a beer or something, we come back and all our craps on stage and we’re ready for sound check. All right! Okay!

Liam:

And after the show, we pulled everything offstage, and I’m starting to pull the drum kit apart and haul it away, and my tech’s like “No, go sit down and have a beer, I’ll do this.” So I go to walk off and grab a drink, but I had to come back and help. It’s like, that’s what I do! I have to put the drum kit in the car! That’s what happens! I can’t not do that! It feels weird to not have to do that. I couldn’t even let that go.

Nathan:

I must admit, I got used to it very, very quickly.

Laith:

It kinda creeped up on us. At 7:40 we’re at the side of the stage, and it’s – œOkay, we’re on!’

No nerves?

Liam:

Oh yeah, there were nerves, but the nervous energy just becomes fuel. And I knew I’d get all wound up ready to go, and then it’d be over. And it was, it just went by so quickly.

Nathan:

I was remarkably calm. It was probably the two dozen Quaaludes I had. In reality, I think I had maybe two beers.

Laith:

The rider went pretty quick.

Nathan:

Yeah, I had two beers and the rider went pretty quick. Explain that, you fuckers.

Laith:

The contrast between sound-checking to an empty venue and then an hour later going on stage to…. the floor was full when we went on. The stands weren’t, but the floor was. The lights are down, we’ve got a full lighting rig and all this amazing equipment we’ve been loaned and borrowed and hired, there’s people there, some we recognize, that we can see. It was great looking out and going hey, there’s him and him and her – fantastic! And then the first song, and you realise – it’s begun. It has begun! We are playing now. There’s no going back, this is it. It’s show time, boys. And there’s people there! The first song ends, and right! Okay! And there’s a cheer! Sure, it’s not a deafening cheer like Manson’s…

Nathan:

There was like a second of silence and then this roar from the crowd. It was fucking crazy! A thousand people cheering – it was bizarre.

Laith:

If twenty people dug it, I’m happy. So we flew through the set, it felt like five minutes, and it was over too quick. Just feeding off the energy, I wasn’t nervous because I knew… I love that shit. I fuckin’ love that shit. And as soon as we stepped out, it was like show time, here we go, it’s on. I like to put on a show, I went there with the plan to win people over, not by being something we’re not, but by being ourselves and amplifying it. I think playing music is all about amplifying your own personality.

Where to next?

Nathan:

God knows.

Liam:

The moon!

Laith:

The sky’s the limit.

Nathan:

We’ve got four shows planned over the next month. Then I go back to Melbourne.

Laith:

Yeah, we still don’t know what’s happening there.

Nathan:

This is such a big deal that changes everything, we’re just gonna go with what happens. Whatever comes our way, we’ll take. I’m just leaving it up to fate at the moment. That’s all I can do.

Laith:

I plan to push this with every fibre of my being. This I feel is an extension of myself that I really wanna take somewhere. Soon we’ve got the One Movement Fringe Festival, that boggles the mind because we’re playing in Wolf Lane in the city, on the street. We’re let loose in public, out of our cages, on the streets of Perth. During a music industry festival where there’s potentially a lot of A&R and record industry types roaming around checking out bands. Who knows what can happen from that? Maybe there’ll be somebody looking for music for film, which is something we’d love to hit. Potential record deals, more international support, maybe touring overseas… And then we’re finishing the month on Halloween, at a massive venue like Gilkinson’s. That’ll be great. So, where to? Well, the sky’s the limit, but it’s all up to fate I guess.

Liam:

We’ve got momentum now.

Laith:

The potential is unlimited. The willpower is there, the ambition is there, we’ve just got to capitalise on it, and hope it carries over. Just keep building it.

We finish our beers, smoke a few cigarettes, and chat for a while. The boys are both excited and reflective. The future seems bright. If there’s any justice, next time they’re at Challenge Stadium, they’ll be headlining. - Faster Louder / Travis Johnson 17th Oct, 2009

Then Fear Of Comedy came along and finished everybody off. Although rarely gigging these days, the reason for this is that they’re creating new material and are working on a bigger return in the coming months. Black was a chance to try out some of this new material, and it must be said, what we heard was exciting stuff. Laith Tyranny (vocalist), although reportedly suffering from a nasty cold, gave it his all and still sounded great. The entire band was tight, and proved why they’re one of Western Australia’s most beloved bands. Fear Of Comedy greatly impressed an avidly watching audience. Watch out for when they return, the wait will be more than worth it. - Faster Louder

NEXT BIG THING HEAT .. 7 - Swan Basement - Saturday, July 8, 2006
Almost all of the heats in this year's Next Big Thing competition have come down to a very close call between three or four bands, but this last remaining heat was somewhat of a total annihilation for first placegetters Fear Of Comedy, who stormed home by the biggest margin of the competition.

That's not to say Fear Of Comedy were the only talented act on the bill, it's just that no one else really came close to being in the same class as them.

Fronted by one of the most interesting and talented singers Perth seems to be guarding as a best kept secret, Fear Of Comedy had the one thing that almost every other band in this heat lacked - an identity. There is so much power in a band made up of members who are all on the same page, as the unanimity it brings forms an impenetrable wall musically and aesthetically.

Taking the very punk rock stance of thinking for oneself, Fear Of Comedy slipped and slid between funk, cabaret, and various rock 'n' roll siblings, whilst never breaking their own style (which is obviously a strange composite of said genres). Looking and sounding the part, Fear Of Comedy came across convincingly sincere, with only the minor irritant in their mix being singer Laith's tendency to speak in a fake American accent between songs. Knock that shit off, fella.

Minor quibbles aside, Fear Of Comedy simply wiped the floor with everyone else, and did so without even breaking a sweat. - Mike Wafer of Xpress Magazine

Openers Fear Of Comedy didn’t let the ‘first band blues’ prevent them in any way from delivering an absolutely cracking performance. Looking something like the aftermath of a zombie attack on a 1950s American milk bar/diner, they swung seamlessly between a myriad of musical styles and influences without ever compromising their own sense of musical self, and performed a brilliant set for the dedicated early arrivals.

Fear Of Comedy are able to blend straight up rock with a good helping of punk, a dash of psychobilly, with some funk, jazz and even a few ‘doo-wops’ thrown in. This is a band who have apparently taken a ‘let’s just play whatever the fuck we like’ attitude and used it to create something completely original and utterly entertaining. - Xpress Magazine

LAY SOME SKIN ON ME

ATTENTION ALICE COOPER PROMOTOR: SURVIVAL HORROR ROCKERS FEAR OF COMEDY WOULD APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT SLOT.

BY MATTHEW HOGAN.


"The aim of Fear Of Comedy is to take over the world," begins Laith Tyranny, ecentric lead singer and facial expressionist of Fear Of Comedy explaining the band's goals. "Basically Fear Of Comedy is all about getting a grip on your pisser," adds Jimmy Nightmare, one of the band's two guitarists, expanding on the mission statement. Tyranny interjects: "we're about grabbing you by the balls and saying [shouts] like this… or die!"



The local lads believe their brand of 'survival horror' is going to firmly entrench their name all over the world. But what is this survival horror genre they claim to have originated? Tyranny begins to explain: "survival horror is a blanket for us so we can do whatever the hell we want and not have a bio that reads punk slash rockabilly slash industrial slash metal slash punk slash caberet slash indie slash experiemental. Because that's an annoying way to describe your music and when you say 'survival horror', people go 'what the fuck are these guys on?' and we get out of having to explain ourselves."



Nightmare adds that surviving a Fear Of Comedy gig is also an acheivment for the audience member. So perhaps seeing them live and living to tell the tale could be on par with surviving a house full of zombies and living to tell the tale a la survival horror video game series Resident Evil. "In terms of gaming there's absolutely no relation except that maybe there's some flesh eating going on in those things," defends Tyranny. "We get to flesh eat so I guess it's even less in common with Resident Evil."



The band is releasing its debut LP this weekend, entitled Murder Made Sexy. It's their second attempt at a release, with their first being a recording session in 2004. "In 2004 I think we did our first recording and that was at Rockstar Studios," recounts Laith. "We did nine songs there or something like that. We weren't entirely happy with it but there were at least four tracks of really good material. Then the producer just disapeared." "He went to see his girlfriends sick father or something over east," adds Nightmare, "but he didn't leave Perth apparently." "He just bailed on us," says Tyranny. "There's something Silent Hill-esque going on there."



More currently, Murder Made Sexy has strong influences from bands who helped shape the survival horror genre, such as Alice Cooper, Fantomas, Beasts Of Bourbon, The Fall, Joy Division and The Birthday Party. In fact Tyranny himself was raised on the music from the darker side of life. "When I was a kid, my parents had a record player and there was some shitty GI Joe record and then I had a Humphrey Bear record and then I had Welcome To My Nightmare. So somehow my parents' records had got mixed up with the kids records and I thought that Welcome To My Nightmare, with the cartoon cover and the bugs on the back, it kinda looked like something for a little kid. So I started listening to it and I grew up on Welcome To My Nightmare. But I'll never get to see Alice Cooper play live because I'm not rich."



While not rich in money, the band is certainly rich in unique fans, or at least rich in ideas of how they would like their ideal fan to be. "We just want to have people scratching their heads and after a while they peel the skin off their face and then they buy a Fear Of Comedy t-shirt," daydreams Tyranny. "We want skinless fans." - Drum Media Perth

Fear of Comedy
Murder Made Sexy
Firestarter
Review by Dominic Pearce


The debut EP for local five-piece Fear Of Comedy is an interesting concoction of post-punk, swing, fifties and sixties pop, and rockabilly, all garnished with the over-the-top, big band style vocal machinations of front man Leith Tyranny. As with most early recordings, things are quite lo-fi. The crunchy guitars are a little on the thin side, the intensity of the music calling for some fatter, fuller distortion in the riffs. Despite being let down by the production, however, the songs themselves are actually pretty good.

Vultures channels The Clash with its reggae-rock style groove, while the violent screams, angular guitars and disco beats make March Of The Blood reminiscent of everyone's new favorite band, Young and Restless. With some songs, things are a little clipped and distorted in places (and not in the good way). This is most evident on the opening guitar and bass lines of House Of Misery and Underground. That's a shame, particularly for Underground, as it's a pretty decent tune. It draws from Faith No More and Tomahawk, but with more groove, and it rides the up-beat. This reviewer's personal favorite is Good Luck, Johnny, a doo-wop number that would do nicely as the stand-in for Beauty School Dropout in a B-movie zombie remake of Grease.

Mercy.

Murder Made Sexy is a stylish, dance-floor friendly celebration of all things macabre. A little on the cheesy side, but that's all part of the fun, I suppose. - Rockus.com.au

interview from perthsounds.com


Leith Tierney from Fear of Comedy

Interview by Leo Abbs

1. The CD you are releasing is 'murder is sexy'. Why did you go with that name?
Well, murder IS sexy. Think about it.

2. Where did you record and how did the process go for the band?
if we told you that, we'd have to kill you. as you can imagine, we're tempted to tell you. but lets just say, the process was lengthy but rewarding. It has taken us quite a while to get this recording out, and we are pleased with the results. We are drunk on the juice made from the fruits of our labour.


3. What is your favourite lyrics on 'Murder Made Sexy'?
"There's no exceptions child, we all have our mistakes, as we get deeper down, we see the mess we've made, and we reap what we've sown, on judgement day. - March of the Blood

"then Johnny burns Betty with his - cigarette" - Good Luck, Johnny.

"come on, lets get creepy" - Murder made Sexy

4 Leith, you previously played in Life Of Mars and A Means To An End how does Fear Of Comedy compare to those bands?
Absolutely nothing beats being a frontman. But..If those bands didn't exist, i wouldn't have came to where i am now musically.. AMTAE was my first band, a band of best friends and those were the first songs i ever wrote. I did enjoy being the chief song writer and playing with a group of guys who were EXACTLY on the same page as me, I've found a fear of comedy to be a similar experience.

Life on Mars were great to have played with, all amazing people, looking back the songs were great and played exceptionally well, just a little too commercial for my tastes. I have many underground or cult music influences and so the music I make tends to be more of that nature.

5. What is the writing process of Fear of Comedy?
usually, either Jimmy Nightmare, Nathan the Knife or myself, will come up with the basic idea and riff of the song and pitch it to the rest of the band. if it fits in with the rest of our songs and at the same time as progresses our sound, then its a winner. we like to push our own envelopes. at the same time as refining our musical identity. nothing is sacred, we're not confined to any particular genre, but we are concerned with keeping with what you've come to expect from Fear of Comedy. we're only a few songs away from DEATH JAZZ, INDUSTRIALBILLY, GOTHIC MOTWON or a MEXICAN OPERA. we're only happy if your head hurts.

6. What is the best part and worst part about being in Fear Of Comedy?
The best part is having an outlet for your daily frustrations.
The worst part is the band being a source of daily frustrations.

7. What do you like about Perth music, and what do you dislike?
There are plenty of great things going on in the Perth music scene. One thing i strongly believe is that Perth's next big exports should come from our Punk, Psychobilly, Goth, Rockabilly, Metal and left of center bands, with a bit of support behind them they could reach a much larger market, regardless of whatever niche they are in. These bands ARE Perth music.

The pop, indie and soft rock scene in Perth and the world in general, just doesn't interest me, hopefully I'm not alone there. I'm sure those bands are very talented and good at what they do, but i can only imagine how many other bands are jostling for positions in charts, all equally subliminally catchy, hooky, and jam packed with pop sensibility. That sort of music has had its time in the sun. as soon as its played in elevators, its time to try give something else a go.

We've already had U2, Coldplay and The Police..lets move on shall we? Its time for the underground to surface once and for all.

Also,here's an idea, how about successful Perth bands "sponsor" a new up and coming band. to give them the support and the push they need to get somewhere themselves. you see it in the entertainment industry, directors giving new actors lead roles and having well known actors as supporting cast. its a vote of confidence, and whats the harm? are successful bands just greedy for fans? we'll play anywhere, anytime, with anyone. so remember that.

8. Where did the band name come from?
Liam the Bloody first read the term 'fear of comedy' from an interview Michael Palin (of Monty Python) was giving on the nature of their show's success. He used the term in reference to society's apprehension to confront taboos and controversial subjects. The term rattled around in his head for a couple of years and when it came time to come up with a band name, Liam suggested Fear of Comedy and it stuck.

9. Favourite Perth bands?
Mile End should have been selling out shows years ago, so its only only a matter of time.

Tomas Ford will be a household name, and when he is, i can't wait to see the shit he'll pull on us.

Trash Madonna should and will be worshipped in the underground.

The list goes on to include Project Mayhem, Zxspecky, Suprise Sex Attack, Mongrel Country, Silkie Krusher & the Sex, Macarburettors, Capital City, Jacknives, New Husseins, Sex Panther and Sure Fire Midnights.

Oi! all you bands, give us more gigs or you're in big trouble!

10. Myspace has become a massive networking website for bands. What do you think of it?
Myspace has been perfect for Fear Of Comedy, i mean we've got a friends list of 1038 users, and it grows every day. all your have to do is a leave a comment on somebody else's myspace, have all their friends see it and then they end up adding you..if they like your sound that is. Myspace.com has helped us get fans around the world and with any luck that audience will continue to expand.

Since the mastered/final version of our tracks have been up we've had a total of 10454 plays. it's also filled a gap for bands that can't afford a .com, its now got to the point where we will be having fearofcomedy.com, but we'll definitely be keeping the myspace site around.

Myspace has also helped me keep track of my favourite Perth bands. so its great. but not where business should be conducted. use the phone!

11. Launch Details?
Saturday 26th May at The Bakery, James Street Northbridge, from 8pm to 2am.

Joining Fear of Comedy on stage will be Tomas Ford, Mile End, The Macarburettors, Capital City and the Fear of DJ's.

Tickets are $11 through Planet Video, Exotic Body Piercing and Red Stripe Clothing or $12 at the door.
Myspace: www.myspace.com/fearofcomedy - Perthsounds.com

MURDER MADE SEXY : cd review by Mike Wafer of Xpress Magazine

FEAR OF COMEDY
Murder Made Sexy
Firestarter Music

Although the recording of this CD is all over the place, the strength of the songs is powerful enough to shine through what is essentially a tinny and misleading sound.

Bearing this in mind, all of the things that make Fear of Comedy such an interesting band can be found within this selection of horror-obcessed punk cabaret numbers.

Driven by an infatuation with the '50's that never was; Fear of Comedy are to horror - sci fi what nick cave is to Murder-Mystery. Deliberately camp, though in an exceedingly clever way, Murder Made Sexy winds its way through serveral thematically linked narratives that, musically, go through a whole manner of ups, downs, lefts and rights.

The Nick Cave comparison wasn't pulled out of a hat...Fear of Comedy have so much Birthday Party in them it's not funny, as well as a tremendous dose of Mr Bungle, David Bowie and the Misfits. In case your're stupid, these are all good things.

'brilliant Singing' is the lasting first impression this CD leaves, though there are so many interesting things going on in Fear Of Comedy's songs that a lot of the true brilliance is only revealed during subsequent listens.
At the very least, this band is a helluva lot of fun. - Xpress Magazine

The second time I saw Fear Of Comedy play, their drummer threw a tennis-ball at me because, I believe, I looked like such a wanker. I was flattered.

They held the show at the Bakery to launch their first EP “Murder Made Sexy” and got support from Mile End, Macarburettors and lastly Capitol City who, unfortunately, had an off-night. However, Fear Of Comedy delivered a performance that seemed unbefitting of their modest stature. It felt like the elements of Hardcore Punk, Metal, B-Grade Horror, Drive-In Movie-Theatres and 50s Rock And Roll were being synthesised in a way none of us there had seen before. Not to mention the band’s theatrical element, which in itself separates them from the majority of Perth’s musical community, such as the pretend facial injuries adorned by each band member in their show at the Bakery. Or the audience-member who was encouraged to seal himself in a body bag and writhe around on the stage for three songs before lead singer Laith Tyranny found it in his heart to put an end to this suffering. A few months later I attended a Mile End gig (resulting predictably in a party) and some time after midnight who should happen to come marching through the kitchen but Laith, guitarist Nathan The Knife and their mohawked bassist Maximum Adams: leather/denim-clad, with boots steel-capped, and obviously still in show mode. They didn’t remember me. Thank Christ.

After staining the Civic dance-floor with blood while assisting in the launch of ‘WA Decay’ (a compilation of punk rock and hard-core from Western Australia), none of the members of Fear Of Comedy felt like talking to me. Instead, Laith and I arranged to meet at the Scotsman later that week...



Would you agree that by bringing together so many eclectic influences you guys have found a unique sound for yourselves?

Accidentally, yes. We’ve got this problem now. Whereas initially it was all these influences coming together, now the influence is Fear of Comedy. We’ve kind of pigeon-holed ourselves. You play a certain style of music, trying to be different, and then you have to maintain that. You have to raise the bar. But it’s not such a bad thing, we haven’t labeled ourselves something as limp-dicked as surf-rock. It’s this sort of psychosis-rock, cabaret, punk, metal, indie, horror thing. We’re trying to stay true to: “This is what we are now, let’s keep up with it. Does that sound like Fear of Comedy? No? Well, let’s not play it.”

This is the masterpiece. How well do you feel you fit into the Perth punk rock scene? Bands like Mile End, Moonlight Wranglers, Capital City and Mongrel Country seem to have placed a ban on presentation and performance within themselves, or obvious career ambition. Fear of Comedy are not self-preserving, but they are more stylised and theatrical than most bands. Does that represent a difference in ideology?

I think we fit in really well with the punk scene, which is mind-boggling. If you were to tell me two years ago that we’d be headlining the launch of a punk compilation CD, I would have laughed in your face. But it just goes to show that the punk scene’s not as closed-minded as the stereotype. If you look back at the 70s in America, the term “punk” covers a wide spectrum of music. Patti Smith, Talking Heads, The Fall. We play with all different types of bands around Perth but somehow we manage to fit in, which is a credit to us and, if they like us, it shows that they’re not closed-minded. The ideology I have no fucking idea about.

There’s no master-plan behind it?

...Oh, there’s a master-plan. [Laughs] It’s just, you know... a draft. It’s evolving, like the music.

The name Fear of Comedy... Am I right in thinking it’s drawn from the term Comedy of Fear, as in Comedy of Menace?

No, no. Our drummer, Ian the Bloody, likes Monty Python, and I think Graham Chapman talks about people having a fear of comedy. But it’s the best band name ever! If I could have come up with it first, that’s what I would have called my band. It touches me…

It moves you?

It moves within me. Actually, it’s something that’s been happening in my life! It seems like people around me have this fear of comedy. I don’t. I have a fear of being perceived as an idiot. I don’t do myself any favours…

How much of your live show is rehearsed routine?

None!

None at all?

None!

Like the chair… Did you plan to do that?

No, I did it the week before at a gig, spontaneously. So I did it again this week. The last gig is the rehearsal. No theatrics are rehearsed at all. None of the crazy shit I say. I don’t plan to bleed at a certain time. It’s spontaneous! Otherwise, it’s try-hard.

You take on a threatening, psychopathic persona when you’re on stage. Is that an idealised version of your usual self, or is it more a vehicle whereby you can disturb people’s sense of security and normality?

I really haven’t figured it out yet. I think it’s me. Definitely, if you have a conversation with me at the bar you’re getting a very different person. But I don’t think of it as an act, it’s a release. The whole show is a release. I go crazy without a gig. I go crazy without a rehearsal. Because it’s just the actual act of jumping around, singing, getting everything off my chest. Pent-up aggression and stuff like that. What the stage does is it allows those lines to blur, and I like that because you can get away with murder. Is it an act? Is he just being himself? We’ll never know. So it’s just a blank cheque to do whatever you want, so I do it. It’s great! You can choke a guy with a microphone lead, and afterwards shake his hand and say “You right, man? Glad you didn’t freak out.” You can dry-hump someone on the stage, as in your case, and the only thing that really happens is you give the show homoerotic undertones, which is great! Because everyone’s too repressed anyway. I’m not going out of my way to convince anyone I’m crazy. I like the idea of psychosis-rock… Ah, we’re all fucked in the head.

In our own ways, yeah. Certainly live, there seems to be you, the front man, and then the rest of the band playing behind you, which works great for a performance purpose. But how do the others feel about that?

I guess you’d have to ask them. It’s certainly not Laith and the Fear of Comedy. It’s Fear of Comedy. I have a big fear that they think it’s like that, because I can seem to be a lot more arrogant than I actually am. I think they deserve all the credit in the world. So we’ll see how it goes... If the next few reviews are like “Laith, Laith, Laith, Laith…” the other guys will get upset. But I think it’s the nature of performance. You don’t watch what chord that guy’s playing, you watch the guy who’s grabbing someone by the hair and throwing them around the stage. You watch… the show. Someone said to me the other day, “Aren’t you worried that people aren’t listening to the music and are just watching the show?” Fuck yeah, I’m worried! But then that all goes to shit, because you’ve got someone buying your album, someone playing it on the radio and someone going to your website listening to it. I refuse to stand still! But the music itself is theatrical.

Yeah, it is.

And I’m the puppet of the music.

Hey, that’s good! Is this all representative of how the band works generally?

There’s no hierarchy in Fear of Comedy. We have to work as a team. On the whole management side of things, I’ve got my eye on… the game. I’m watching the other bands in Perth, I’m watching the whole scene and I’m trying to figure out where we’re going with this, where we’re fitting in. I’m trying to push that across to the other guys. When we first started we were writing a few songs and finding ourselves in the songs. Now we’ve fucking found ourselves, everyone knows who we are. Keep going with that, that’s proving a hit. The more you keep getting good reviews, and now with the feature album, the less you want to abandon the trend. Well, it’s not a trend… It’s confusing! At the moment I’m very confused by all of this. But I know one thing, I like playing live, and I like the songs we have now, and I’m quite happy for the next month to push whatever we are now as hard as I can, and then figure out what’s next. When we released the CD, that was meant to be our extravaganza! That’s the big night, that’s Fear of Comedy in their prime! Well, if that was us in our prime, why did we just blow the shit out of it at the Civic? It’s just the natural progression of the performance. If we’re getting better, that’s a good thing, right?

We’re down to the last—

Is that blood?

What? No, no…

It looks like blood...

Yeah, I was wondering about that… Anyway, where did you record the album and how was it financed? Some of it was recorded at Satellite, right?

One track.

That’s fairly up-market, I’m led to believe.

Yeah, we won it. Next Big Thing.

Really? I didn’t know that.

Next Big Thing, 2006. And… That’s Benny Mayhem! Is that Benny Mayhem? No… Don’t worry. ...Don’t put that in.

Ok...

Yeah, Satellite we got for winning our heat, and added a track on to the album.

Which track is that?

That’s ‘Good Luck, Johnny”.

Oh, cool!

Which is insane, because if that’s high-fidelity recording I’ll eat my shoes!

I was going to mention that. It doesn’t stand out quality-wise from the rest of the songs.

That’s the thing. The first track… the second track! Don’t count the intro, that’s just stupid… “Murder Made Sexy”, the actual song, is the best recorded fucking thing on there! See, there were three different engineers. Sarah [Turk], Ollie [Thompson] and… the guy from Satellite [Darren Halifax]. The CD’s a little up-and–down. I should be saying it’s great… It’s great! Buy it!

Well, if you get three different engineers, you’re going to get three different sounds.

Yeah, but that’s the weird thing, you’ve got two! I still think it sounds great. It doesn’t sound as big and fat as all these rock ‘n’ roll bands. It doesn’t have poppy guitars, throbbing drums, and all that sort of crap. But it stands out and that’s good. It was recorded in very disturbing circumstances. Lot’s of late nights… Stretching out recording over a year, really. Mostly 2006. I remember in 2006 we thought we were going to release it in December, and we were still doing work on it in March! We kept going back in and trying to fix it and do this and do that. I’d like to re-record the whole fucking album now anyway!

But that’s what you were saying about the progression of the band. With the band getting better, it’s inevitable. You could do the same thing now or in a year and you’d still want to go back and do it better.

That’s right. I think it still stands up well.



By Brendan Polain, DIRT Magazine.

October, 2007.

- Brendan Polain, DIRT Magazine

"COMEDY OF TERRORS"
WA Decay CD Launch
Saturday September 22nd, 2007
...
intent to go all-out crazy were headliners Fear Of Comedy. Lead singer, Leith Tierney, was in fine form, parading around the stage like a possessed marionette..the perfect visual accompaniment for their punk-cabaret horror inspired tunes. channeling Danzig and Dave Vanian at the same time, Tierney led his band into a furious rampage of a set which even involved (almost) strangling an audience member with a microphone lead.

The band support him the utmost disregard for his lunatic behaviour, not letting his antics affect their precise delivery. Fear of Comedy's set was a great example of the chaotic nature of punk music and a perfect climax to a night intended to celebrate the release of a compilation dedicated to the genre.

_KRYSTAL MAYNARD
- Xpress Magazine

First to get this misfit crowd’s attention were local masters of horror-laden rock Fear Of Comedy, playing their comeback show two years on from a volatile breakup. Despite going onstage 20 minutes before the advertised start time and taking a song or two to adjust their scale from the Hydey back room to the stadium sized stage, they absolutely nailed their set. Frontman Laith Tyranny threw himself around the stage with a manic theatricality that went on to show up even the headliner and by the time they knocked out March Of The Blood, he was strutting around the stage like an evil, epilepsy-prone incarnation of Bono, pronouncing his lines upon the audience like blasphemous sermons. With the crowd well and truly on their side by the end of the show, this was the best relaunch they could have hoped for. - Tomas Ford (Drum Media)