Tex Perkins is back in town this weekend with his new band ‘The Ape’. Over the years Perkins has been the the front man for Beasts of Bourbon and The Cruel Sea but also enjoyed success as a solo artist and part of trio Tex, John and Charlie. More recently he’s been delivering ‘The Man in Back’ a show which pays homage to Johnny Cash.
Speaking to OUTinPerth Perkins shares that of his many musical ventures a few of is band names have had a link to the LGBTIQ world. His covers project, which released a CD a few years ago, was called The Ladyboyz, and one the first bands he was involved in were called ‘The Poofters’.
Speaking to OUTinPerth he revealed how he came to be in a band with such a provocative name.
Tex: Well I mean I felt justified being in a band called The Poofters because I grew up in Brisbane and everyone used to call me a Poofter just because I was dressed slightly differently to everyone else. If you had an earring, you were a poofter. [Laughs]
OUTinPerth: Didn’t take much in Queensland.
Oh no. Didn’t take a lot to be arrested or spat at in the street, or called a poofter from a moving car.
Tell me about The Ape, how did this come about?
It was a lot of things, I guess. Basically I was accumulating songs that were too dumb and simple and primal for any of my other bands and I was writing these songs if you will, it’s hard for me to call rhythms and riffs and lyrics ‘songs’. But I guess they are. I write a lot of music that I never intend to show the world. There’s my techno albums, my ambient albums.
Do you put them under secret names like McCartney?
Well, the difference is I will never release them to the public. It’s a personal- I’m a creative guy, I create shit and one of these things was this rhythmic, slightly funky but thick, chunky rhythm rock sort of pieces that I was writing and I would just put them aside and say ‘Oh, that was fun.’ But then the pile kept getting bigger and bigger and I didn’t know what to do with it for a long time. I knew that the pile had some worth and I think eventually it was seven years since the initial, what I would call the seed of The Ape was recorded until I actually decided ‘No, I need to form a band and get these songs played’.
I get to do a lot of things and I pride myself on my smorgasboard of a musical pallet and I do all sorts of things but I didn’t have a fun rock n’ roll band that I played guitar in, and The Ape fills that need. I think I see it, musically and additude-ly, sort of halfway between The Beasts of Bourbon and The Cruel Sea. As in it’s nice and loud and chunky like The Beasts, but it’s a bit more funky and good time. It’s not as nihilistic as The Beasts of Bourbon, it’s not as nasty. The Ape just wants to have fun.
And you’re coming back to WA soon with your Johnny Cash show as well?
Yes, fortuitously I do The Ape, on the first weekend and then I have a couple of days off and then it’s a week as the man in black.
It’s a couple of years that you have been doing that show now, what have you learnt as you have been through that journey? Have you learnt more about Johnny Cash?
No no, I think we did all the research, we did a lot of research at the beginning of the show. There isn’t a continuing need for further research, actually. When we started the show it was full of little tit bits and a bit of information that was interesting but it actually confused the narrative of the show. So we’ve kind of honed it down a bit over time.
I guess what I’ve learnt is that I’m a professional entertainer and when we do these things, sometimes it’s a season. When you do theatre work you do seasons. And you can do weeks and weeks at the same venue doing a show every night, doing two shows on Saturday. It’s brought a discipline to me that I never even needed up until that point.
How would you feel down the track if someone was to do a show about Tex Perkins?
[Laughs] I don’t think I’m that interesting.
I think many would disagree.
Oh, thankyou very much. Maybe a mini series. Maybe a three part mini series.
I remember going to a gig of yours many years ago when you’d just brought out your first solo album and it was at a venue which sadly no longer has music playing at it, and what I remember very clearly about the gig you asked out to the audience if anyone had a harmonica and I was standing there thinking ‘Well who would have a harmonica with them?
The dude standing next to me who I’d been talking to all night went ‘Yeah, I’ve got one in my pocket’ and came up and joined you onstage and played his harmonica. I was just wondering how often do you do that and how often does someone have a harmonica? It’s a thought that’s stuck with me for decades.
That’s a different me, for sure. I really thought you were going to end that story with me saying, ‘Has anyone got a harmonica?’ – ‘Yep’ – ‘ Well then, shove it up your arse!’
I actually have a great fear of harmonica players. Every half arsed, grubby, crusty hippy’s got one in there pocket. They play over everything and they’re really hard to get rid of.
Well you were very generous to that guy.
I promise it won’t happen again.
Tex Perkins band The Ape is playing at Friday August 22nd at The Astor Lounge and Saturday August 23rd at Mojo’s in Fremantle. Guests include Kisstake and The Painkillers.
