Jury’s Out

 

I didn't exactly shed a tear, but I was disappointed earlier this month to discover quirky Sydney pop outfit The Philadelphia Grand Jury have called it quits.

Who, you say? Look here, here and here for a refresher.

No fuss, no nonsense. No entry in rock folklore about a booze-fuelled dispute, sex-game-gone-wrong or Cadillac in a swimming pool. Just this simple statement on their website:

Philadelphia Grand Jury are no more. After years of touring together, recording together, working together and living together, we've decided we need our own space. Big, big thanks to everyone who has supported us and given us the opportunity to have what is pretty much a dream existence. Most of all, thanks to all the drummers that have put up with us both.

In keeping with this spirit of simplicity, the story below is a rehashed interview I did with singer-songwriter Berkfinger a year or so back.

It's no great shakes, but it seems fitting that MakingTheNut.com pays a small tribute to the band that bought us Going To The Casino (Tomorrow Night) and its self-fulfilling refrain… 'What could possibly go wrong?'

 

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For a band that travels the world spreading joy with music, where is home?

“I just think we’re going to be wandering for a few years,” Philadelphia Grand Jury front man Berkfinger said from his London base. “I keep wondering whether there’s some city out there I’ll think, ‘Oh yeah, this is definitely home’.

“What I’ve worked out is it’s all about the people. I get lonely, so I’d like to be in a place with a lot of people around.”

Surely there are other pre-requisites too? “The thing about London is that the food sucks. I’d like to be able to get a good burrito or something, you know. So maybe I’ll try somewhere in America next.

“In London, people don’t really talk. You know, in the street, people are pretty scared of one another. Being from Sydney, I thought that was the way Sydney was, but London’s a whole new level for people being up-tight in the street.

“The rest of the UK is amazing. You drive an hour in any direction; you meet a lot of lovely, really community-based people.”

And this has been the big positive for Berkfinger and his pal MC Bad Genius as they’ve toured their way back and forth across ‘Blighty’ for the past few months.

“We’ve not been to Ireland or Wales, but we have played a lot in Scotland,” he said. “We’ve been all over England- just covered it back and forth in crazy zigzags.

“Lots of little cool venues- venues where it’s free for people to come, which is great. Venues where on a Thursday night, people know there are bands, you know what I mean? All their venues are really well organised which is really cool.”

The tour, as well as being instrumental in establishing the Philly Jays on the UK scene, has also been worthwhile in terms of smashing commonly held assumptions about British traditions.

“Yeah, I was worried about warm beer, but they have cold beer, too. Lots of ones I recognise, but I think the only thing is the beer is in pints. I prefer the pint. I’m worried if I go back to Sydney schooners aren’t going to be big enough.”

And speaking of traditions, we've got our fair share in Tasmania, too.

"I heard from my friend who used to go to play in Launceston that there was this guy who used to drive an hour and bring them amazing food,” Berkfinger said. “One time they played a show in Launceston and the guy said ‘Come out to my car I’ve got something for you’ and they went out to his car and he opened it and took the lid off a big eski and there was a huge cooked fish and they had a feast in the carpark outside this pub and they always make sure they go to Launceston ‘cos this guy will feed them.”

It might sound like a strange ‘bonus’, but as Berkfinger explains, Tassie isn’t always a favoured destination for touring bands.

“People say, ‘Look, do you want to go to Tasmania?’. When we started they would say ‘you’re going to lose money there’ (because) there won’t be as many people to play to and all that sort of stuff.

“Last time we were there the crowd was wicked. The last time was really rowdy.

“I remember I kept getting electrocuted that night. I found out hours later I plugged my guitar amp into the wrong powerpoint. Every time I went to sing I would get an electric shock.”

For anyone unfamiliar with the Philly Jays’ live show, it comes complete with pre-recorded banter between songs. 

The album and new songs have been well recieved in the UK as well.

“We’ve got a studio full of our gear we shipped across painstakingly and rebuilt here."

“We just collect songs, no matter where we are. Even if you just mumble them into your telephone or something, there are always some ideas around. We just keep chipping away at things.”

And there’s little chance of the ideas running dry as Berkfinger and MC Bad Genius explore their new home and think about setting themselves new horizons.

“It’s been inspiring to stretch ourselves. If I had stayed in Australia without making any changes in my life I’d have nothing to write about. Being on the other side of the world away from people has made me think about what I’m doing and think about things in a different way.”

 

 

Interview first published at TheDwarf.com.au in November 2010