Author's Note: This was written in 1994 for Rabelais, the infamous La Trobe University student newspaper. The Verys was one of the most candid interviews I did: after some hesitation, Bazz talked about Nirvana's 1991 tour of Astralia. The Verys signed to Red Eye, a major indie label that was consolidated into Polydor before being divested in 1996, reflecting the Australian music industry's shake-out in the mid-1990s, as bands were targeted by maajor label A&R. Members later formed The Deerhunters. The story is partly told in Craig Mathieson’s book The Sell-In (Sydney: Allen & Unwin Publishers, 2000). The Verys invited me for a beer after the interview.

Those who play the media game know that good interviews rarely occur if the conditions aren't right. When Alex Burns spoke to guitarist/vocalist Bazz Barrett and drummer Greg Wales he was battling a hangover and they were recovering from a late night van drive from Sydney. Over several cups of coffee they candidly discussed the harsh realities of the music industry, from writing songs to facing journalists, the death of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, and The Verys debut album on Red Eye/Polydor titled 20th Century Fix (1994).

Your press release mentioned the Spinal Tap-like use of various 'exploding' bass players in different states after [former bassist] Matt Day left the band. What happened?

Bazz: "We were in that situation for awhile, but we've had a new full-time bass player for the past two or three months. Matt left the band to pursue a career in the television industry . . . we wish him all the best - he's a great guy who deserves everything."

Greg: "We did a three week tour with Deniz Tek [ex-Radio Birdman] and had a few bass players. Later we found Leno Romeo, whom when he auditioned, knew the songs better than we did! [laughs] We've become a full unit again, and are all happy."

Why did you list all the band in the CD credits [eg. Nirvana, X, Mudhoney]? Were they seminal influences on your sound?

Bazz: "All the bands listed are bands that I've worked for handling lighting. I just wanted to thank them for having me along - I had a good time. They weren't influences, although I like them all. We influence ourselves."

What made you decide to move from handling lighting or in Greg's case being a sound engineer, to playing?

Bazz: "It just came to a point where I'd got as far as I wanted to go in lighting, I was lucky to work with Nirvana, seeing them had a definite influence on how I saw what the whole thing was all about. Meeting those guys, getting to know them, seeing that you could just go and rock out - do what you liked. It restored a bit of faith that I was losing in the industry at the time."

I hate to sound cliché, but the album does have that grunge/melodic pop sound to it.

Bazz: "I've been listening to punk records since I was young. Guitars for me have always been full of distortion."

Greg: "We do get a lot of different sounds - Bazz gets a clean sound on tracks like 'Low'."

Bazz: "The album is just based on the thirteen songs we recorded - every song is different. There are lots of them that didn't go on the album for space and time reasons."

Greg: "If we doubled our time in the studio, we would have doubled the number of songs recorded. The ones we chose had to be tight."

Is the album's sound a good indication of how you are live?

Bazz: "It's hard to know . . . we sound a lot louder!"

Greg: "I suggest that you move around the room a bit at the gig."

Bazz: "It's odd - people have told us that the record really catches our live feel - a lot of bands lose that in the studio and become really stale."

Greg: "People have different opinions - some like our live shows better than the recordings, and vice versa."

What's the main equipment that you use live?

Greg: "My basic drum kit: one rack tom, one floor tom, two cymbals - ride."

Bazz: "The bass rig is all Fender - a 400 watt stack with 4X10 and 2X15 speakers, and a 400 watt Fender head. I use a 1962 Vox AC30 amp, a 1962 Maton Firebird guitar, and five distortion pedals."

Greg: "Tim [Oxley, guitarist] uses a 100 watt Marshall combo with a '58 junior Les Paul Gibson, which is one of the original solid-body guitars, it has a unique sound, and a distortion pedal."

You used that set-up in the studio?

Greg: "Yeah, a lot of the guitar sound comes down to Tim's Marshall - one main sound on it."

Bazz: "No matter how loud it is, it sounds evil. It's extraordinary, but it's a little broken at the moment - it had a drink of beer last week . . ." [laughs]

What are your tour plans for the rest of the year?

Greg: "We plan to keep touring for six to eight months and then make another album around November. We'll make four to five albums over the next few years and travel around the country."

How quickly was the album recorded?

Bazz: "Ten days recorded and mixed - not much sleep, but it's the only way to do it. Don't get too involved, just get it done on a budget that you can afford. It helps to keep a live vive - a sense of urgency. Give a shit whilst you can, not a 'we go back in two weeks to fix this up' kind of attitude. We're not a band that spends months in the studio wanking around."

That reminds me of The Rollins Band's guitarist Chris Haskett. They tour constantly and test songs onstage, not spending a year in the studio and then try to support the release by touring.

Bazz: "We take the Johnny O'Keefe approach - shoot into town, play a few gigs, bail out."

What have been your most memorable gigs?

Greg: "Last one in Melbourne at the Gershwin Room – [Melbourne band] Painters & Dockers were playing in the front room at the Esplanade [a notable Melbourne live pub]. We went on at 10:30 PM, there was a large crowd and we played well."

Bazz: "It was the first time that we got a response here. It takes eight to nine tours to Melbourne before anyone even takes notice, and this is our eighth."

Greg: "In Sydney at the Phoenician Club we played a good show with You Am I and Drop City - a sold out crowd of eleven hundred people - our largest audience ever. We got a bad review - we have all the bad journalists and reviewers listed."

Bazz: "One day we'll vent some spleen, until then we mark them down in a little black book - won't speak to them! [laughs] Much to their chagrin we'll be around in five years, they'll want to talk to us, and we'll refuse. Some reviews have verged upon defamation - we were thinking of suing, but it's like parliamentary privilege. A good slagging can keep you level - if you needed it in the first place!"

Some journalists seem to be frustrated musicians who never got anywhere. They're more obsessed with their own egos, than with what's really important - the music and the artists.

Greg: "It's a rough thing to happen - being judged on a debut album recorded on a sixteen track in ten days by someone who doesn't know what we're about."

OK, just for the record, what are you about?

Bazz: "We're just a band who plays music to entertain ourselves and please the public."

What were your favorite tracks on the album?

Bazz: "The last track called 'Tag'. It ended up better than I expected."