Words and banner by: Tom Wilson @thetomwilsonexperiment - Sense Music Media | Monday 25th July 2022
Pictures by: Ian Laidlaw

Talking Family, Painted Nails and Crowdsurfers with Phil

Best known as frontman for Aussie rock legends GRINSPOON, frontman and all-round charismatic bugger Phil Jamieson is spreading his wings and unveiling his first ever solo album, Somebody Else. Ahead of his upcoming tour with THE PICTURES, he spoke to Sense from his home in Port Macquarie about family life, personal growth and why he doesn’t like crowdsurfers.

I just realised that I have your interview questions filed between Phil Anselmo of PANTERA and Phil Campbell from MOTÖRHEAD…

Well, what company to be amongst! I’ve played with MOTÖRHEAD once. Probably one of the loudest bands I’ve ever seen. That was a time, MOTÖRHEAD. Far out.

I grew up in Tassie, and you were actually the first mainland band I ever saw. It was at the Gone South festival in 2002. I remember the opening of Ready 1 and then got knocked clean the fuck out by a crowdsurfer.

Oh yes, I hate them. I’ve never been a fan of crowdsurfing, Tom. Going to early Big Day Outs, obviously ’94/’95 were my formative Big Day Out years. I’ve always been quite slight or slim, and people were falling on top of my head. I was like, “This is not fun. I’m trying to watch THE RAMONES. Can you not do that, perhaps?” I understand that we’re all together and this is meant to be part of a tribe thing, but I’m like, if everyone’s not into it … if everyone’s holding up the crowdsurfer, then yeah. I give crowdsurfing a two-star review. Like, I’m just not into it. And hence, there’s evidence of it right here: you being knocked out at Gone South. It’s unacceptable.

You were wonderful, though … I’ve since seen you probably ten times over the years, and you should be flattered, because I have excellent music taste.

[Laughs] No doubt! No doubt!

I’ve always liked the contrast between you as a frontman and as a performer. GRINSPOON have always played this really muscular Aussie rock and had jock-y, blokey fans, but you’ve always been this very flamboyant, almost effeminate frontman at times. Is that something that happened naturally? Or is that something that you consciously put effort into?

I hate jocks. The song Champion from GRINSPOON’s back catalogue is a piss-take on that whole subculture, so when it got taken literally, I was like, “Well, this is upsetting.” [Laughs] You know, I don’t actually think about it being effeminate at all. The band, whilst we do have songs that are muscular and sometimes quite intense, I think there’re enough Chemical Hearts and No Reasons in there to juxtapose … Bad Funk Stripe comes to mind … We just kind of did what we wanted to do, and that was the advantage of coming from a small town in New South Wales. We didn’t really align with … what was happening that was groovy or cool. We just did what we kind of wanted to do. From a flamboyant stage thing, in the late 90s when the band started into the early 2000s, if you watch those early performances, there’s not heaps of flamboyance going on. There’s me, nervous, and usually heavily intoxicated onstage. I think the flamboyant things started coming a lot later in my career, when I became probably a lot more aware and grateful of what I was doing, and acknowledged that people were there to maybe … see me [laughs], rather than accidentally stumbling on stage. My favourite performers over the years have been David Bowie and those kind of guys … and I love showbusiness. It’s a fun thing to do, to try to get the back of the room involved as well as the front, and if that means a bit of flamboyance, then let’s have it!

Also, locally, seeing people like Tim Rogers … when he’s in form, he’s incredible to watch, you know? I’ve done a bunch of touring with him, and sometimes you’ve got to follow that guy, which isn’t always that fun! [Laughs]

Speaking of being cool, you’re a father to two teenagers. What are the challenges of that? And do they think their dad is cool?

In relation to fatherhood and being a dad, it’s all about soft landings and heavy landings. I think in some ways, now, they’re going to make their own decisions about stuff, and not necessarily listen, so then you’ve got to be there for when, maybe, the decision is not great. [Laughs] My eldest has just got her license, and that has changed everything dramatically in relation to my time, because my time over the last seventeen years has been driving her everywhere … [Laughs] … because we live in the country. So I’ve noticed a big seismic shift in that relationship. She loves driving. She’s got a car, so that’s been a big change I think, in some ways. But yeah, I get along great with my kids. We have a great relationship, and I’m really grateful for that.

I noticed you like to paint your nails. Did you teach her how to paint her nails?

I don’t paint my nails, gosh! I got to the bloody salon! I’m not touching my nails! Tom, are you kidding me? There’s people who do that! I wouldn’t know how to paint my fucking nails if I started! I actually need a manicure. No, Lyla is probably quite adept at doing that stuff. I’ve got no idea. I’m happy to take her to the salon though, and we’ll go get a colour … Yeah, no, I’d be terrible.

I’ve got a bit of a tricky question for you. You can answer it if you want, or you can not, that’s fine.

Sure.

A bit of context: I was a shocking alcoholic, and I actually went to rehab at the start of 2018 and quit drinking, and knock on wood, I’ve been four years sober.

Congratulations!

Thanks mate. I bring this up because I remember reading an old [interview] with you, it was from about ten years ago, where you talked about life in the aftermath of the Andrew Denton interview, and that you were sober for two years. You actually did a Big Day Out tour completely sober, to my understanding. The question I wanted to ask is, you’ve since let alcohol – at least partially – back into your life. Did you get a lot of resistance and a lot of judgement when you made that decision? Because I feel like, if I started, people would lose their fucking minds.

So, I don’t often talk about this, but we’ll go there for a hot minute, and you can choose what you want to put into the piece … Basically, I wasn’t an alcoholic. I had a different substance abuse issue, and I’m fifteen years clean off that substance, which is great. Where we go from here and there, there’s many ways we could look at it. I love my friends who are a part of the program, and everyone has a different path. In my experience, I just know when to switch, and when to not. So for example, most of the year, I don’t drink at all, and then I was at a 40th on the weekend and I had a couple of beers, you know? I think that if I was, for example, like yourself, an alcoholic, and that was my substance of choice, and we’ve identified alcoholism as being the elephant in the room, for want of a better term, maybe yeah. I think my friends would give big resistance. The great thing is, there’s so much stuff out there to [drink instead]. Like, the non-alcoholic beer … all that stuff. I did a whole tour this year on that stuff. So that helps me immeasurably, because it’s basically like a placebo, but jeez, it tastes good! [Laughs] It kind of does the same thing! Everyone’s journey is so personal and so different that, essentially, you’ve just got to be kind to yourself, in some ways, and what people think is sort of irrelevant. You’ve got to be kind to yourself, and you’ve got to know yourself, and over the last fifteen years I’ve gotten to know myself pretty well, and know when I can dip my toe into having a glass of beer, and then not. Does that answer your question?

It does man, it does, and I appreciate your candour … I watched the video for Trouble and it is absolutely charming. First question – did you go to private school?

No! [Laughs] God! Far out! Fuck, I hate private school! No, I was public school – I went to Wauchope High School, which is west of here, actually, year seven to twelve. And then I did university in Lismore for a hot minute until the band formed. No private school for me. That was the director. Arlo Cook works at that school we shot it in, and I had Fabian Holdford, who I met on the American Idiot Broadway show that I did with GREEN DAY, the musical. She did wardrobe on that, so she helped with costuming and stuff. It was a really fun video to make, and those guys in the band that I’m touring with through July and August, that’s Rob and Sam on drums and bass, we had a great time shooting that video. It was really fun.

Were you a big troublemaker in school?

No, not really. I think, later on, quite possibly, I was a little bit insubordinate. I have a massive problem with authority. I’d be shit in the military, I’ll be honest. I didn’t really get into much trouble, no, not really. I think there were much bigger troublemakers than I was. I was very much on the fringes in school, so I just dipped my toe in and dipped my toe out of education, to be honest. [Laughs] I was pretty well-behaved.

Phil Jamieson’s solo album Somebody Else is out July 29th. Phil tours nationally in July and August. Ticket links below.