I
t’s not every day you get to sit down and chat
with an Australian music icon - a lunchyard legend
and mythological sticks man who’s seen it all and
then some. At FROTH we’re all about the comebacks
and underdogs, but as we rip into a dialogue with
Spiderbait’s Mark Maher, known moreover as Kram,
he is quick to hose down any talk of their first album in
nearly a decade from being any kind of return. Truth be
told, the ‘bait never actually left the building.
Fresh from hitting the Gold Coast for the car races in
October, Kram is still abuzz, and his exuberance is clear
from the onset. He starts telling us about his little dip in
the sea - the one he took smack in the middle of their
blasting set on a crowded Surfers Paradise foreshore.
“It was awesome!” Kram tells FROTH. “I don’t really get
to go to the races and see all of the exciting stuff, but
the gigs they put on are always fantastic and generally
the crowd, I mean, this was no different. They set up the
stage on the beach, and as soon as I arrived I thought
‘I’ve got to get in the ocean’, so half way through Black
Betty I just jumped off the stage, ran and took a dive
into the waves and it was just awesome ... the crowd
started coming in as well and we had to kind of get
them all back and then get me back on stage and
finish the song. I thought well, if they’re going to set up
an awesome stage, a fantastic gig right on the beach
where the sand is, right where the people are, well I
thought it was really cool.
Someone said there were stingers, so we ask him, but
Kram managed to dodge the critters saying - “I survived,
I don’t think there were any bluebottles, it was like 8 or 9
o’clock at night. Some of the security were worried that
I might not be coming back, but I made it back ha.”
Spiderbait are back, at least on the album front with
a cracking new record that holds a lot more than the
gleaming cover suggests. The self-titled offering is richly
diverse and stacked with everything from dreamy synths
to rip-roaring riffs, all without straying for a second from
the unmistakable famous Spiderbait sound. After a few
listens we get onto the topic of a particular song, one
that has taken many by surprise.
The outer space sounds of Supersonic hook you in and
take you places, with the smoothest of vocal harmonies
and rollercoaster ride melodies. Kram is stoked we
picked it first, and we find out it’s the first time he’s ever
written an entire song for Janet to sing.
“Yeah I live in Byron now, and I spend a lot of time at