Gold Coast punk upstarts Charlie Rebel release their new album The People’s Republic Of Earth on May 1, with guitarist/vocalist Nick Torr and bass player/producer Guy Cooper sitting down with HEAVY to give us the rundown on the album and more.
“It’s great to finally get the full album out”! Cooper enthused. “It’s been a couple of E.P’s and a lot of singles so it’s been a bit of a journey. It’s great to push for that full album and really pull together the essence of the live set. I first saw the guys live up in Cairns a long time ago and this album is a culmination of trying to capture that live energy and rawness and fun sound that the guys are delivering on stage. Finding a way to deliver that on a recording is a tricky situation but they’ve really pulled out all stops. The guitars are slamming and heavy and raging and Chris (Torr) is a monster on the drum kit and really captures that sound well. The whole album is a really good version of what they are live”.
With a name like The People’s Republic Of Earth it is clearly evident that Charlie Rebel are focussing on things that could be controversial and divisive in terms of lyrical content, but Nick scoffs at the thought of having to censure anything that comes out of his mouth or pen.
“Nah mate, I don’t think there is a line”, he deflected. “That might be a fault of mine, I don’t know. There’s always people that do get offended but it’s the old saying, opinions are like assholes, everyone’s got one. The way I see this planet is it needs more fucken opinions. It needs more truth. If I offend you then come back and say something to me that is otherwise and offend me”.
“That’s what is great about punk music too”, Cooper interjected. “You get to stand up and say something about how fucked up the government is and how all the terrible shit they are doing is going down and you’ve got a voice as a musician and as a punk band to do that. People might expect it or not expect it but they’re getting it whether they like it or not”.
In the full interview Charlie Rebel go into greater detail about the album, run through new single ‘You Know’ and the story behind it, introduce us to Charlie Trout the bands unofficial mascot, discuss the album launch on May 4, reveal their Japan tour and things they have seen and learnt from previous tours that would translate well to Australian venues.
