The Rooster cometh: Here Comes the Rooster take flight with debut album launch

Here Comes The Rooster’s debut album, Taking Stupid Music Seriously, has finally landed. To celebrate its digital and 12-inch vinyl release, the Perth rockers are hosting a launch party at Milk Bar on Saturday, September 14, with special support from Pat Decline, The City Views and Gorilla Glue. OLIVIA WILLIAMS caught up with chief rooster Tristan Mamotte to find out the story behind the record and what we can look forward to at the show.

Congratulations on the release of your debut album, Taking Stupid Music Seriously! How did you guys come up with the title, and how does it reflect the vibe of the album?

We’ll, let’s just say that we’re individually probably not the sharpest tools in the shed. You might even say that we have fingers and thumbs in the shape of an L on our forehead, but we do take our songs pretty seriously. Like we want them to be good dumb songs like Baby Shark, not bad dumb songs like Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy.

How does it feel to have Taking Stupid Music Seriously on vinyl? Do you think it adds a unique touch to the listening experience?

It’s pretty special to be able to hold it in your hands. So much stuff goes up into the cloud these days that you begin to question if anyone’s actually listening to it. At least this way we’ll know for certain, based on the amount of unsold vinyls we have, how many people are not listening to it.

You guys recorded the album at Sound City Studios with Sam Ford. How was that experience, and did Sam bring any surprises to the sound of the album?

Sam is an enigma wrapped in a puzzle. We were only able to communicate with him via semaphore and had to leave choice offerings of unroasted coffee beans at the door of the studio every morning, and when I say morning, I mean like 12pm. In return, he blessed us with cool tones and a really neat snare sound, which you can hear on the album.

You guys described this album as a mix of “big dumb fuzzed out rock” and “delay-drenched melodies.” What inspired those sounds, and how did they come together for you?

I think we all come from the big, loud rock sound school of musicianship, one foot firmly in the 90s grunge scene and the other foot firmly in the 90s grunge scene. We do come from broadly similar musical backgrounds and interests, but there's a bit of diversity around the edges.

I listen to a lot of electronic stuff like Portishead and Technotronic; John's really into country, or at least he dresses like he's really into country; Casella is an old hardcore punk and metal guy; and Dudley has listened to more Midnight Oil than Peter Garrett. So I guess the whole thing about getting the different elements to balance is not being too attached to your own particular flavour, but trying as hard as possible to sneak in those secret spices without anyone noticing.

You’ve got an awesome mix of bands for your launch at Milk Bar. How did you pick them, and what do you think each of them brings to make the night really stand out?

We're trying to make it diverse enough that the audience doesn't get bored, but there has to be some common musical thread in some sense. Having said that, we're all a bit older now and don't get out to a lot of shows, so frequently we're booking bands that we want to see play. There's a lot of talent in this town, and it's hard to get around to see all of it. An easy way would be to come to our album launch on September 14 at Milk Bar.

Looking back at the two years it took to record this album, what were some of the biggest surprises or challenges you ran into along the way?

It's been a bit of a wild ride in some respects. We recorded the first half of this EP right before my partner and I had our first kid, and I had to take a hiatus for a bit while the rest of the guys kept going. It speaks to the amount of trust we feel towards each other that they were willing to wait for me to get my life in order to return and to hold the spot for me.

There's a lot of questions that a situation like that raises: will the direction have changed, will I still fit in, will I still be match-fit in a performance/writing sense? Thankfully the robot the boys had secretly hired to replace me got too wet at a particularly lively rehearsal and so they're stuck with me for the foreseeable future.