After a 10 year hiatus and a string of individual successes, ‘Gravity’ troupe THE SUPERJESUS have given new life to their catalog of tunes after a highly successful one-night-only reunion show, live in hometown Adelaide. Learning fans had traveled from around the corner to around the country to see them, bewildered were Paul, Tim, Stuart and Sarah so much to the point it triggered a nationwide tour to be delivered this May and June. Also, invited to play beside rockers Aerosmith and Van Halen at this year’s Stone Music Festival, the ARIA award winners can’t wait to hit the stage together. PEARL DAVIES caught up with bassist STUART RUDD on the last 10 years of projects, new music and the dismay of Sydney’s Annandale going under.
As the group meet for their 10 year anniversary, we reminisce game plans each member took during the decade absence of the quartet. Iconic rock chick and front lady Sarah McLeod has spent time playing to the beat of her own song, while drummer Paul Berryman went on to do a stint with fellow alternative rockers, Faker. Guitarist Tim Henwood started doing session work with Australian Crawl’s James Reyne which then led to more session and guitar work with Chocolate Starfish and even Rogue Traders. Not stopping there was bassist Rudd going on tour with power pop band Nick Barker & The Reptiles as well as releasing an album with his own band, Southpoor. “Well it’s not that we broke up at all, we just went home after a show, started to do other projects and just never seemed to get back to it. We probably could have put out a statement or something, woops,” said Rudd.
Drummer Berryman recently returned from abroad. Thinking this is what may have prompted the reunion show, I was wrong. Rudd explains, “two or so years ago, Sarah and I were having breakfast and we thought about doing something again. We were both really keen on the idea and of course Paul was living overseas. In the meantime I did a few acoustic shows with Sarah which were great fun. I let it be known to the other guys on how much fun was had. So yeah, then Paul came back and it all kinda lined up you know, and in time for a 10 year reunion, so why not. At least we’re all back in Australia now and can do something together again. We have no management; we’re independent right now so it’s just the band. We have a publicist organising some stuff but other than that, we’re coordinating all the flights and everything. A big job.”
The show-stopping event, or shall we say the show starter that resurrected the band’s set list was based at The Gov Hotel in February of this year. The media was all over it, and so were the fans. Rudd spoke on how he felt. “Well when we were so busy doing everything else, the point where we were back stage, the door was shut and it was just the four of us, it was such an amazing feeling being back together again. It was really cool. I guess the energy from that just went off on stage during the night. We just started playing the tunes and it just flowed so well. It all came back, but not to say it left us. We’ve played those tunes over a thousand times so we knew it all, we just refined it. It was a great night with a great response”.
Filled to capacity, Adelaide’s Gov Hotel went off, and the band was pleasantly surprised. “We were so shocked, we were just hoping someone would rock up,” he laughs. “Yeah we were kinda thinking, well we hope at least somebody shows up to the show. We had no idea we were going to play to such a huge crowd. We loved it. There were people coming interstate for that gig it was unbelievable. We went out afterwards and there were just people everywhere. Then the emails started flowing in, it was insane. That’s when we thought well, why don’t we just go around the country and take it out.” With emails and social networks being smashed with gig requests, how could they refuse. “Yeah, we weren’t prepared for it I guess, we were overwhelmed by it all but its all great news.” Without losing their love for music, all four artists have been working on other projects over the years so performing in front of huge crowds is nothing new.
Kicking off their “Resurrection” tour with a double header at Sydney’s iconic Annandale Hotel, we discuss the melancholy effect it’s had on its punters and artists on the news of the venue’s receivership. “It’s been happening in Sydney for a while now, places are just shutting down. It’s sad because the Annandale cut us a break back in ’96. It’s a real shame, it really is, that places like this have so much stress put on them. It’s such a shame and you know, those guys have been running their assess off keeping that place afloat.” Talking about the great names The Annandale supports, Rudd agreed “Do they ever! I mean the Annandale, it’s by far the greatest place to be.”
Upon asking if there’s any news to come on new Superjesus projects, Rudd was excited. “Well I hope so, I really do. We’ve all matured with our music. I guess at the moment we’re taking this show and seeing how it goes. We’re always gonna write, we’re always gonna write. In the meantime we’re more just focused on these shows and having a good time. I have no doubt we’ll keep on going.”
The Superjesus perform this Saturday at the Stone Music Festival, ANZ Stadium, Sydney, before starting their national ‘Resurrection Tour’ this May.
Thursday 30th May – The Annandale Hotel, Sydney
Friday 31st May – The Annandale Hotel, Sydney
Saturday 1st June – The Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle NSW
Friday 7th June – Gershwin Room @ The Esplanade Hotel, Melbourne VIC
Saturday 8th June – Gershwin Room @ The Esplanade Hotel, Melbourne VIC
Saturday 15th June – The Zoo, Brisbane
Sunday 16th June – The Zoo, Brisbane
Friday 21st June – Amplifier Bar, Perth
Saturday 22nd – June Amplifier Bar, Perth
Friday 28th June – The Gov, Adelaide
Saturday 29th June – The Gov, Adelaide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4vQrzYX1uw