This is Hip Singles

Rip It Up, Issue 61, 1 August 1982, Page 8

This is Hip Singles

Ann Louise Martin

This is the Hip Singles' first tour north since the first line-up split last year. They seem to have emerged the stronger for it. Guitarist Peter and bass guitarist Trevor are old friends. They've known each other since they were thirteen. They picked up Dick Driver in Melbourne 18 months ago, but were unsuccessful getting work. The choice was to stay and slog it out, to go to Perth, or to Christchurch. They chose the latter, partly because Dick's buddy Jim Wilson was there, but also according to Dick because "I subconsciously wanted to bring the guys around to my idea of what a band is. I really like their writing and playing ability/but they were very much into the Australian heavy metal thing which I wasn't. I think we've compromised." And what doesn't Dick Driver, lead singer of the Hip Singles, like about 'heavy metal'? "I've never been a fan of sexist type bands, or of trashy lyrics 'baby, woe woe woe hold me tight', I've never liked that stuff, or the overtones of heavy metal." Last year the band was doing songs with titles such as 'Elephant Man', 'Naughty Neighbours', 'Circus Freaks'. Dick reflects: "It was getting a bit bizarre and it wasn't what Trevor and me wanted to do for a start. It was really confusing, four of us pooling ideas, and clashing like mad. And the keyboards were incongruous with Peter's guitar. 'There are still about ten songs from Hip Singles Mark I that we've kept in the repertoire, because when we reformed we had two weeks before we started playing. We had to rehash some of the

old songs. We dropped some of the really horrible ones. I think the songs are heading into a more personal area now, as opposed to the perverted." Why did Hip Singles I fall apart? "There was a lot of financial pressure," says Dick. "But had it been going well financially, it still would have collapsed creatively, because it was such a mess. We weren't going in one direction." Why the decision to reform? "I couldn't commit myself to the Blams. I respected them as a three Ciece as it was, and Trevor wasn't appy with Graham (Brazier). Steve and Peter had gone back to Melbourne with Stewart (original keyboardist), but Stewart went off on a different tangent again. Drummer Steve rang up and suggested starting again. We thought about it, Trevor and I had written some songs together while I was with the Blams." A rushed reform took place. "We've always done things in a hurry." What makes Dick Driver so sure it's going to work this time? "You never can be sure. I think I've matured a lot, playing with the Blams, I learnt how to live and work with people. With Pop Mechanix and the first Hip Singles I lacked commitment and I was very much an arsehole to live with." It has been written of the Hip Singles that they produce 'pure pub pop'. Dick however, is hoping a single recorded this month will break the pattern. "We'd like to do something slower and not the best song that we play live now, because there

are four or five songs we don't play live they're laid back. We're a bit tired of the wall of noise, thrashing around." The Hip Singles intend to cross the Tasman when they're ready, a natural progression bearing in mind the band's Melbourne heritage, but Dick denies that they're tailored for Australian audiences. "We're not tailoring our sound for that market at all. We'd never become like the Angels or a really over the top band, although we do have an aggressive attitude to the way we play and I suppose that's an Australian way of thinking." Wouldn't a move to Australia mean more of the same old pub gigs? "Whatever happens," Dick replies, "no matter who you are or what you try and do, you eventually get drawn into that trap, so I think you have to resign yourself to playing in pubs. You can escape it recording but pubs are your bread and butter. This is what we do for a living and we have to compromise. I'm basically a truck driver, and I don't want to go back to that."