Track By Tracks: Shake The Temple - Shake The Temple (2021)

1. Huntsman:

In Australia there is fairly common spider we call a "Huntsman". They are large and furry...brown in colour and can grow to be the size of a man's hand! During a rehearsal we were exploring a new riff we were exploring....and whilst we were experimenting with chord progressions, a huge Huntsman spider appeared in front of our drummer (Dave Emms). He screamed, threw down his sticks and ran away!!! We immediately laughed and decided to call the song "Huntsman".

But as I developed the lyrics I steered the story to one about the loss of a loved one - a Romeo and Juliet inspired true life love story of loss as a cause from disease. We often hear about how people will explore extreme and cosmic treatments out of desperation - but ultimately as humans, we still face the prospect that we still do not have a cure for so many diseases.

2. The Devil's Approach:

This song is about a frightening real life dream I endured as a child. I will never forget it. I woke up, and wrote down the whole episode with pen and paper, and I keep it locked up in a small box.

When I first started playing in bands, I wrote a song about it. We performed it live but never recorded it and it simply got lost in time.

Recently, after I recovered from my brain surgery in 2020, I decided to reminisce and found some old storage containers with personal stuff. I found that little box, opened the box, and read the whole story. It was chilling. It inspired me to try and remember the song I wrote. I looked through archives of old cassettes and videos...and I found a live performance of the band performing the song. That song was called "The Devil's Approach".

After I recovered from brain surgery, we decided to record 2 more tracks to satisfy Sliptrick Records preference to release a full length album - so Dave Emms (drummer) and Damian Cutler (bass) agreed to record the song for the first time. The amazing thing is our bass player (Damian Cutler) performed this song with me when I first played it live many years ago!

3. If You And I Could Make It:

Violence against women remains one society's most challenging crimes. In Melbourne we have witnessed some of the worst acts of sexual violence against women. As difficult as it was, I wrote this from the perspective of a deprived stalker. I was inspired to write this after studying feminist legal theory at university which exposed me to some of Australia's most horrific crimes but also the challenges women face in our legal system.

4. Precious Lover:

This is a true story of a male teenager that took his own life after his first girlfriend left him. He left behind a loving family and a twin brother and it broke the hearts of some many people and friends. I attended his funeral. It profoundly affected me to see his teachers, his school mates and family so lost without him. If only he knew....

5. Who I Am:

I grew up in a country with non English speaking parents. It never felt like my home because of the racism I endured. Maybe you have experienced this too? My family had racist threats painted on our house whilst my siblings and I often were forced to defend ourselves. We formed gangs to protect ourselves on the streets.

When I was old enough I travelled to my parents place of birth. I backpacked for many months. But when I was there, I felt for the first time a sense of wanting to return 'home'. It was then I realized that maybe I had found my home in my travels.

Like so many people, we all need time to discover who we really are. This song is the realisation of what makes us who we are. It offers hope for those who feel lost in themselves.

6. Late Indicator:

This track was triggered by the terrorist attack and subsequent murder of Melbourne identity Sisto Malipina. He was famous for establishing a much loved Italian restaurant called Pelegrinni.

People all around the world saw footage of a homeless man fending off the attacker with a shopping trolley. It made me think of that person's life and what compelled him to defend Sisto. Most other people ran away. Did the homeless man feel like Sisto was his family? It left me in shock and with a deep sense of hope for humanity.

7. Martini:

I often get to travel through some really wealthy areas of Melbourne. One day I parked my car on a street... and as I got out, two women approached me. One was middle age and the other lady an older lady. Both had faces that looked like balloons...with blood trickling out of one of the lady's eyes. Clearly both had just come out of a cosmetic surgery, and could hardly walk, talk or see where they were going.

It made me sick.

Martini is about the ultimate quest for beauty and anti ageing.

8. Driven:

Driven was originally written for an Australian TV reality show.

The show was about B grade celebrities, social media influencers and professional athletes. Whilst it showcased their glamorous, funny and faced pace lives, the show also explored the darker side of their personal lives.

9. Fist of Love:

Touring in rock bands has exposed us to some of the funniest and most curious of human experiences. It comes with the territory!

The accommodation is never perfect... sometimes we stay in amazing venues .. and on this occasion we were forced to sleep in tents!

Fist of Love is the story of a night of absolute debauchery. Enjoy!