This month The Cud chats with Hamish Macarthur, lead singer and guitarist of Sydney-based rock outfit The Teddysexuals. The latest album, ‘Devil Horses’, is their first in a few years, so The Cud’s Evan Kanarakis sat down with Hamish to ask why the extended delay in a new album, what of the band member’s somewhat static –but ever active- history together, and how fatherhood affects the rock and roll ethos.

The Cud: Tell us a little about the history and makeup of the Teddysexuals. It has been a little while between releases, right?

Hamish Macarthur: It has indeed. As far as history goes,I do believe this is our tenth year of existence. Tolly (drums) Nik (bass) and I started the band way back in ’97 and we were mad indie musos with little time for anything else for many years. Writing, jamming, recording, releasing, touring, playing all sorts of crazy places – wherever we were asked to play – like our lives depended on it. A few years ago we needed some time out and that’s when I did the Red10 thing (Macarthur’s previous band) with a rotating cast that also included from time to time, Nik and Tolly. That was great and we played a lot of big shows.

But It’d always wanted to record our epic instrumental Hovercraft and wanted to do it properly as part of a long player. So a couple of years ago we started recording again, then started sneaking in Teddysexuals gigs and realised it was much more fun being The Teddysexuals, so here we are.

The Cud: So what would be the main differences you can cite between the Teddysexuals and your other music projects?

Hamish Macarthur: Basically playing with the Teddys is like playing with family. There is so much shared history that we don’t always need to talk; we can communicate very well with looks and expressions. We can also tell each other to fuck off quite sincerely and there will be no grudges. It’s very comfortable on a personal level. I like being able to tell my friends to fuck off. And they like telling me when I’m being a cunt. Also we have a very loyal following, and the band really has its own life. It’s just better all round.

Although I have to say other projects are fun and it is always great to make new musical connections and these can spill over into the Teddys, a good example being Grant our official 2nd drummer who fills in for Tolly when he’s off touring on his sound mixing gigs. Also Johnny who played bass in Red10 ended up playing on several tracks on Devil Horses.

Another thing about other music projects is that for all of us, it really makes us appreciate having the Teddysexuals.

The Cud: Does anything especially stand out for you that changed in the Aussie music scene in those brief few years since the Teddysexuals were last doing a lap around?

Hamish Macarthur: No, not really that I can tell – though I’m sure heaps has. Certainly there are more Aussie bands doing great things internationally which is wicked. I love to see Aussie bands doing well. Although I haven’t ever really paid too much attention to the ‘scene’ as it were. We do our thing pretty much on our own and whatever is going on around us with scenes and shit tends to go largely unnoticed – which is actually a very effective survival mechanism. We love playing and performing, but networking and following trends is for people with more time and patience than us. I mean fuck, you have band practice, gigs, writing and then all the work administering and promoting the band. That takes up a pretty big slice of the week. After that I’d rather go for a surf or hang out with family and friends or get on it or a million other things I’d prefer to do over following an ever-changing scene around.

The Cud: The new album is called Devil Horses. How do the Teddysexuals approach the creative and recording process in preparing an album? Has it changed much?

Hamish Macarthur: Yes it’s changed in one very important way – protools. The song seeds come about in the same ways but now we have the technology to fully realise each idea and take all the time we want recording without going broke. Our last release Hovercraft (not to be confused with the track of the same name on Devil Horses!) took about 4 weeks to make I think, because that was all the studio time we could afford. Devil Horses took 15 months and the results are so much better.

The Cud: And why the name Devil Horses?

Hamish Macarthur: Devil Horses are a twisted hybrid of Nazgul, sea-horse and dragon. They’re symbols of what lies in store for humanity. Twisted, burnt, wretched creatures lurching from one temporary shelter to another - trying to survive and all the while being malformed by external conditions. We will survive, but we’ll be barely recognisable.

The Cud: At the moment, this is an independent release. While you guys are still very young, one need only be in their late 20’s or early 30’s to be considered very much firm ‘veterans’ of the music scene. What’s in your arsenal of veteran skills as an established, indie band? I imagine you can competently run your own cottage industry of marketing and promotion with your eyes closed by now, right?

Hamish Macarthur: I don’t know about very young! (laughs) Our tour arsenal includes a cold chisel, pepper spray and a small aboriginal club, and of course mike stands for the bigger work. And we still run our cottage industry as incompetently as ever!

The Cud: You’ve recently become a father. How does that play into touring and supporting an album? Is rock and roll dead now?!?

Hamish Macarthur: Ha! I have a deal with my wife we made a long time ago - a musical me is a happy me so music is always allowed to be a top priority. Although going on benders has taken a backseat to time with the fam. I simply can’t go out for three nights running any more and take a week to recover. I feel heaps better – who would have thought?

The Cud: Every musician I’ve met always harbours at least a little beef about some aspect of the industry. Go on, feel free to have a quick rant and tell me what really bugs you about the current state of music…

Hamish Macarthur: I don’t really give a shit about the industry to be honest. There are too many other things in life to enjoy. It’s an industry like any other in that it’s there to make money and I understand that completely. We’re almost totally removed from any industry shit - that’s one of the great unsung pleasures of being independent. I used to get very upset about commercial radio and stuff like Australian Idol and all the complete shit out there but now I just couldn’t give a fuck. We are still rocking and doing it on our own terms and most importantly having a ball and giving people a really fun night out. Whatever anyone else does is their own business. Eliminating the negative and accentuating the positive seems to work for us.

The Cud: So then what does have you excited about music at the moment? What’s on your current playlist?

Hamish Macarthur: I love the Arcade Fire and the New Pornographers at the moment. I had a lot of fun with Wolfmother too. A friend just dropped off a bunch of CD’s I’d lent him ages ago including AC/DC, The Black Crowes, Matthew Sweet, Supergrass, The Strokes and a few others. I’ve loaded them all into the antiquated multi-disk CD player and that does make me excited!

The Cud: Finally, as in all Cud interviews, seeing as our magazine is called ‘The Cud’- what issue has you charged up and talking most about today?

Hamish Macarthur: Global warming – we’re fucked.

You can visit the Teddysexuals online at www.myspace.com/teddysexuals or www.teddysexuals.com.au