Regurgitator ready to scare the adults and charm the kids

Regurgitator are wearing new horror masks as they set off on another tour in support of their new album Headroxx, discovers Mikey Cahill

Mikey CahillHit Journalist

5 min read

August 1, 2018 - 5:07PM

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QUAN apologises.
The Regurgitator frontman is mid-interview and there is a loud, squealing cacophony coming from somewhere near the phone.

Is he in the middle of cutting a new track?

Sampling an Aphex Twin B-side? Chopping wood with a Kong Foo Swing?

No, it’s his youngest child, a 10-month-old son. The beast is awake.

“I just want bite to their faces off,” he says affectionately, making calm, coo-coo noises until his esky lid stops whimpering. “I adore being a parent, it’s helped me grow up.”

Ostensibly, we’re here today to talk about The Gurge’s ninth album, Headroxx, and their upcoming national tour.

Quan Yeomans and Ben Ely remain the core members since 1993 and drummer Peter Kostic is well entrenched, having replaced Martin Ely in 1999.

All well and good.

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Regurgitator’s Ben Ely, Peter Kostic and Quan Yeomans.

First though, we need to discuss something 45-year-old Quan mentions in passing: Regurgitator’s children’s album.

“It should come out next year, it’s been done for a while. We did a show at the Melbourne Recital Centre and it went really well. We’ll tour it,” Yeomans enthuses, thinking of the future. The Wiggles better watch their backs.

In fact, Yeomans sounded off to Music Feeds about the blue, green, yellow and red characters who have a monopoly on kids entertainment: “I think a lot of the kids’ stuff can be a little bit dumbed down and they don’t really take into consideration how tedious it actually is for parents to sit through s--- like The Wiggles — not that I want to denigrate them or anything like that, I think they’ve done incredibly well, of course — but I just won’t listen to it, I refuse.’’

He added “My kid, even though he likes [The Wiggles], I’m like, ‘Nup, you can listen to it at your grandma’s place, you’re not listening to it here.’ He listens to The Beatles, The White Stripes, The Sound of Music, anything but them. So I think there’s a huge opening to do something that’s a little bit more, I don’t know, interesting for kids, not so namby-pamby, and I think we’re going to enjoy giving that a shot.”

Look ma, no hands. Quan of Regurgitator at The Gov.

It’s easy to say Regurgitator were ahead of their time in the mid ’90s. That’s a slight.

They were right on the button with their NEW EP in 1996, boasting hits Track One and Blubber Boy. This was rap-rock in the vein of Red Hot Chili Peppers before Limp Bizkit came along and made the genre sound soggy.

I had to purchase NEW three times after it got scratched up on the way to Metro’s wild Thursday night alternative music institution, Goo, where ’Gurge tracks would feature heavily. I see you very slowly headbanging in agreement, seasoned reader.

Their 1997 debut album, Tu Plang, grabbed us by the ears with Kong Foo Sing, Miffy’s Simplicity and pretending-to-be-innocent-jangle-pop number I Sucked a Lot of C--- To Get Where I Am.

1998’s UNIT embraced Nile Rodger’s funk on The Song Formerly Known As (aka !), Nintendo Gameboy synth-rock Black Bugs, and the critic-baiting, autotuned opening track I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff.

It won a swag of ARIA Awards and made them one of our biggest bands. Further albums followed, six in fact, none which made the mark of their first two efforts.

Although they continued touring, making their last album Dirty Pop Fantasy nearly finished them off.

“During Dirty Pop Fantasy we were having a midlife crisis. It was the second one for me,” Quan smirks. “Then I went to Hong Kong and we (Ben and I) happened to meet our wives at the same time. We’re both really settled emotionally now,” he says, whispering sweet nothings to his baby.

“We have this crazy work ethic. We work in the cracks because we’re both dads, we have to just knock out two hours at a time. In some ways it’s a good way of disciplining. I was frustrated at the beginning. I spoke to Ruben (Nielsen) from the Mint Chicks about it. He had a young baby when he did Unknown Mortal Orchestra and he found it hard but he managed.”

Their ninth album, Headroxx, won’t get the attention it deserves. It’s wildly experimental, occasionally indulgent, never pretentious.

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And it has some stone cold should-be-could-be-won’t-be hits on it. Party Looks is up there with disco cut It Feels Alright. Light Me On Fire harks back to Music Is Sport and 7’10” when he raps “Extinction imminent, who really gives a s---? Too busy fighting for the right to feel legitimate, we bob our heads to the bulls--- on the mezzanine, and sweep the mess under the blanket of the smoke machine.”

So, brace for impact, why do they still do it? “It’s hard to give up,” Yeomans replies, anticipating the question.

“It doesn’t tax us terribly. It keeps a minimum wage going without too much effort. We still have energy to play live. We’re not playing aged care centres — which I’m looking forward to, I must say.

“You’ve got to accept the nostalgic trip. The reason is we love making music together and need to do it creatively.”

Ely adds “We continue to play havoc with the spirit of the now.”

Sadly, Triple J won’t touch Headroxx. “Triple J were invaluable to us and helped break the band. They position themselves as a youth station so we understand they won’t play our new stuff. I’ve got a long residency for Double J over four weeks. They asked us to pick out 60 songs. I love the ABC from way back in the Recovery days,” he says, getting political for a moment: “It would be a terrible shame to see ABC go, there’s so many media outlets out there, the ABC’s voice is needed.”

Nice young men. Regurgitator with new masks for a new tour.

Yeomans has to scooch. There’s a child that needs feeding and rehearsals for their Life Support tour. “I don’t recommend people come and see us for us the first couple of shows. We’ll be polished up after a few gigs.”

Way to sell it, mate. He changes tack.

“This guy is making us some masks we’ll be wearing on stage. They’ll look f---ed up. His name is Ben Adams. The masks will be really bent, Gwar-ish, pulsating, grotesque, eyes in the wrong place.”

It’s safe to say the masks will be gone for the kids’ album tour.

They’ll return when the ’Gurge hit the retirement home circuit.