Praise Be

Rip It Up, Issue 244, 1 December 1997, Page 13

Praise Be

Jesus

The unknown-in-New-Zealand-but-qettinq-biq-in-Oz band the Super jesus are due to play dates with Shihad in ; Auckland, Mt Maunqanui, and Wellington in mid-December For the Adelaide based outfit, it will be their first time in NZ

Cl \ a / — weren’t going to go but Shihad V V invited us on the tour and it’s a

great opportunity,” says singer Sarah McLeod. “We’ve played heaps of Shows with them in Australia, so when they asked, we were like, ‘we’re there!’ It’s going to be great fun.” Bordering on ‘household name’ status in Australia, the Superjesus have achieved recognition on the strength of just one release, their Eight Step Rail EP, that earned the band two ‘newcomer’ trophies at this year’s

Australian music industry awards. “The awards are a humungous deal to my parents, my mum thinks it’s fantastic,” says McLeod, “but it’s also a good stepping stone for the band, and it’s national recognition.” McLeod says it often feels ridiculous to have been swamped with nationwide praise for just an EP release. Once the Superjesus’s debut album, The Absolute Truth, is released in early February, McLeod explains they’ll feel more deserving of the band’s high profile.

“We’re at a level where we know where we could be because we’ve got confidence in our album, but it’s not out yet. We’re going on the strength of one song that people have heard on the radio. People know something is happening, and people are curious about us, but we feel at an in between stage, like there’s almost been too much attention on us.”

Through a joint album deal between the Warners Brothers labels in Australia and America, The Absolute Truth will receive

simultaneously release in both countries. The arrangement is a ‘first-of-its-kind’ for an Oz band, but it also revealed to the Superjesus the manipulating nature of the music biz at major label level. “Warners Australia wanted us to use an American producer because the album was being released in America, it makes the Americans feel more involved. So we sifted through this list of producers the record company gave us, and found this guy, Matt [Serletic]. He lives in Atlanta and he was pretty keen to work there. We didn’t want to work overseas, it was quite important to us that the album was made in Australia, but cost wise it was way more expensive to get him to us than it was for us to go there.” At Triclops Studios in Atlanta, the Superjesus recorded The Absolute Truth with Serletic, unaware he had previously sat in the producer’s chair for a trio of Warner label acts — Collective Soul, Matchbox 20, and Cool For August. “I didn’t know that until afterwards, and that was scary,” says McLeod, “we were totally kept in the dark. I hate all those bands, I really hate them. I hate Cool For August, I hate Collective Soul, I don’t like Matchbox 20 but I don’t hate them as much as the other two. The whole American music scene is really lame, really safe middle of the road rock, and Matt is the king of it.” And upsets for the Superjesus didn’t end

with Serletic, continues McLeod; “We hated the guy who mixed the album, some guy Matt had organised, he was a sexist American wanker. We thanked everybody on the album except him.” Early in 1998, McLeod and co. will return to tour in the USA, promoting the release of their debut album. Her experiences in America to date has ensured McLeod won’t be heartbroken if the Superjesus and The Absolute Truth aren’t heralded as the second coming. “If the first album goes well then we’re guaranteed a second release, but if it dies in the ass I don’t think we’ll get another crack at it. It doesn’t really matter ‘cause we’re not that concerned with the American market at all, if

we do well in Australia that’s cool to us. I don’t have a lot of respect for the American scene, the whole music industry is just total wank, really fake. In America, there’s tossers everywhere, I hope we don’t have to spend too much time there.

“Whatever happens in the band, if we are continually coming up with good songs, that’s personal success to me, and that’s where I feel comfortable. The American success looming round the corner that everyone’s talking about, it would be great, but it seems bizarre to even have an opportunity to do that — I can’t picture it so I don’t think about it. I just do each thing each day that I have to cope with, before tomorrow.”

JOHN RUSSELL