In the early to mid 2000s Full Scale was a force to be reckoned with. The band conquered WA and the east coast before aiming their sights on the rest of the world. To say the band are intense is an understatement – visceral and explosive in their live performances, passionate and militant in their voice for action.
It was no wonder that such a potent entity could not sustain itself for too long. In 2006 the group disbanded but original members Ezekiel Ox and Jimmy Tee remained active by engaging in their own projects, Ox forming Mammal, The Nerve and Over-reactor, while Tee joined American heavy act Helmet and then WA’s Sleeping Giant.
In 2018, Ox and Tee have rekindled their fire for Full Scale and are embarking on an Australian tour in support of their first single in over 10 years, Jurassic Graveyard. When the tour hits Perth on March 10, Full Scale will join fellow WA based reformed heavy acts Caddis, Mutt, Choke and others to play the Slayfest Festival: Reunion Edition at Amplifier Bar before heading to Bunbury to continue the tour at the Prince Of Wales on March 11. ANTHONY JACKSON spoke to guitarist Jimmy Tee ahead of the WA leg…
How is the Jurassic Graveyard tour going?
The tour so far has been amazing, the intensity of the fans has been scary. Brisbane fans just fucking went off!
In this current crazy political climate, the time seems right for a Full Scale reunion. Does the world need Full Scale right now?
I think the world will always need art as a political mirror to itself, the far right has immeasurable power right now. Because of the constant feeding of funds by corporations to the liberals and Republicans they have achieved this incredible imbalance of what they want over what we need. Big business and politicians have become morally bankrupt. They are using abhorrent war time techniques of misinformation and classic misdirection to create just enough doubt to dissuade us all from doing anything about it. They feed the middle class just enough so they get by, and screw anyone below that.
People are brainwashed that it is futile to resist, through all forms of media including social. But none of this should be news to anyone, it’s been going on for years … But something very big is coming that will change everything. A tipping point is coming. With the advent of artificial intelligence more and more jobs are going to be replaced by computers. We just saw 5,000 bank employees go down last week. This is just the beginning, according to some reports the figures have been grossly underestimated.
So what does that mean? Well eventually as more and more people are displaced and are not able to feed their families then finally we will revolt. It’s already started in certain areas. But when people are forced to revolt, and then they win … then that is the tipping point. That is when we all realise that you don’t have to take this shit from the assholes. Just look at Iceland. When the GFC hit their country, and some of their politicians were caught with their hand in the cookie jar, the people rose up, met together in the street with the police, marched down to Parliament and arrested the dickheads and put them in gaol! Now that’s some inspirational shit right there!
Who do you see as the voices for political action in popular music today?
Honestly I see all bands having responsibility to call bullshit when they see it. Your musical style might not lend itself easily to some hard core political views, but you can do it smartly. Sneak it into your lyrics any way you can. People are listening to you, make a difference! Stand up for what you know in your heart is right. People need you now more than ever before.
The new single Jurassic Graveyard is a cracker. The song seems to be themed by the prospect of Nuclear War. Can you elaborate on the message behind the song?
The dogs of war are evil vicious bastards, they always have been. We saw it first hand with the Iraq war, they literally made up WMD’s so they could have a war. And then it came out that Bush and Rumsfeld actually had shares in oil and profited from the war. Evil mothers right there, and make no mistake the same type of evil is lurking in Federal Parliament right now. They are always there. The trick is to spot them when they stick there their beady little heads out.
Was it a natural process getting together to write again, did the writing and recording come easy?
The writing process has always been easy, I bash out a few tunes at home in my dog box, then bring them to Webbsy and Lethal for some fine tuning, then we jump in the studio with our main man Neil Colliss, local music legend. He whips the tracks into shape then flicks them over Steve Smith from Mothership Productions who gets in the Ox man to record the vocals. Zeke and I usually write together at his house or mine, we visit each other all the time. Then Steve busts out a mix. It’s been such a pleasure working with these guys.
It’s great to see bands like The Butterfly Effect and Cog reforming and touring again, do you think the Jurassic Graveyard tour will spark the fuel for more Full Scale albums and future touring?
It’s already happening. We’ve got a bunch of songs in the can, just waiting for Zeke to lay down some vocals. A few songs still need tweaking but I’m getting there.
To touch on Slayfest, the Perth show of the tour, so many of the bands on the bill are reforming just for this show, it’s really going to be a step back in time. What can can punters expect from the Full Scale performance?
We cannot wait for Slayfest, all the bands look killer. Full Scale playing last on the Amplifier stage is perfect, you just know what’s gonna happen. Another Grosvenor front room incident? Denis Radacic bring your camera!
Full Scale play the Slayfest Festival: Reunion Edition at Amplifier Bar this Saturday, March 10 and the Prince Of Wales, Bunbury on Sunday, March 11.
