Legendary Rockers Screamfeeder, are releasing their new studio album Five Rooms this Friday, and the band are excited to get out and showcase the new music on their national album launch tour which kicks off in June and sees the band visit Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane with Adalita as support. The first single from Five Rooms, ‘Don’t Get Me Started’ and the newly released ‘Deidre’ has already received high praise within the industry and has seen a revival of interest in Screamfeeder 30 years after the release of their first album, Flour. So before the band’s schedule fills up we took time to ask Screamfeeder’s Tim Steward about the new album, playing festivals like Spring Loaded and covering Sesame St songs.

Screamfeeder is described by Time Off Magazine as "hands down the country's best rock band", how do you feel about that title? accurate?

Haha it’s very kind of them, but I feel perhaps not 100% accurate, maybe they wrote that after a few lagers.

Your music has been labelled pop/indie rock, fuzz-pop and full of contradictions, how do you describe your sound?

That’s pretty accurate actually, we do mix it up a little, we like really heavy dirgey songs, and then the next minute we’ll be playing a Sesame St cover. We just love pop, in all its forms, but we grew up through punk and grunge so that filer is always very obvious! Plus we’re not the world’s greatest musicians so there’s definitely an element of clunkiness about what we do.

Your new song 'Don't Get Me Started' has just dropped, what is the story behind the song? What do you hope fans take from it?

Kellie wrote this one, it’s a real collage of ideas from her - she is definitely the writer in the band whose material is way more obtuse. I tend to go for more literal. This song is also a great example of our clunkiness, she assembled her demo in Garageband and it was this huge spaghetti bowl of tracks and weird sounds - we managed to untangle it ok and make it so we could actually play it.

Who came up with the concept for the video? Any memorable moments during the making of it?

Ha, that was me and the only concept was “we’re almost out of time”. We were playing in Victoria a couple of weeks ago, and we had an hour before we had to leave our accom. I was like “Kel, grab your bass, move the furniture, stand in front of that white wall, and play the song on your phone, I’m filming you. I cut it together over the next 2 days using the album artwork as the background.

Your new album 'Five Rooms' is due out on the 6th of May this year , what can fans expect from the new release?

It was a hard album to put together, so it’s pretty all over the place. But it is a great example of our kookiness - it’s very much us, there are heaps of odd moments, mistakes and things we didn't plan, much like most of our records. It’s fairly un-polished too, so I reckon people will feel right at home.

“It was a hard album to put together, so it’s pretty all over the place. But it is a great example of our kookiness”

— Tim Steward

You have a capital city tour planned for June, are you excited to be able to play in front of live audiences again?

YES. We have had to cancel two national tours, so it’s going to be amazing to see everyone again and have fun with the songs!

What's your Favourite thing about touring and being on the road?

It’s really the best thing about being in a band, you’re hanging out with your mates, and getting to see all the people who’ve helped the band and been close to us over the years. It’s a celebration. Without meaning to sound spiritual or some shit. More, it’s a party.

What's the worst part about touring and being on the road?

When it’s really cold. When you play to no one - this has happened to us too many times to count. When you play badly and feel like shit.

Small intimate pub style gigs and big arena events are obviously very different in the energy and audiences, which is easier to engage in with great crowd participation? Which do you prefer? Clubs or Stadiums?

Honestly I personally prefer the smaller shows, there’s an immediate and very visceral connection and it’s easy to keep it going for an hour or two. It’s more about the moment; festival gigs are more about the whole day.

Is the preparation for an event like Spring Loaded different from a regular show?

Yeah we kinda have to tailor the set towards people who might be casual listeners of the band. Play more of the singles. At our own shows we can play weird obscure songs and we know at least some of the people there will be digging it. At a festival you’d just have 1000 people tapping their foot and thinking about going to the loo and getting the beers in.

Do you find festivals present your music to new people or different generations who may not have heard Screamfeeder before?

Definitely, this is one of the best things actually - people are generally up for it, and like to hear new music - we often have people saying “My dad loves you guys, and this was the first I heard you” - things like that.

What is your favourite song to perform from your back catalogue and why?

Kinda too many to mention, but some of the big dramatic slow songs have a great groove and you can really get lost in them, songs like Numb, or Broken Ladder. They’re very physical too, great fun to play. Older songs, so we play them rarely, which adds to the appeal.

“We’re very lucky, and we still get a kick out of it just like when we started”

— Tim Steward

The life of the band has spanned many moons with a longevity rarely seen in music, what’s been the highlight in your career so far personally? And why?

Just the whole thing. You’re right - it is a long stretch, but it’s become really about our lives, what we do in life, who we are. That’s pretty amazing. We’re very lucky, and we still get a kick out of it just like when we started. We still feel naive and kinda wide-eyed at it all.

Who in your crew or team deserves a shout out but never gets one? And what is it they do that keeps your world turning?

Our guitarist, Darek, who has been with us on and off for 20 years. He’s got the most amazing memory for songs, and really hides his light under a bushel. His parts add so much to the songs, and it makes it that I can just play the most rudimentary dumb rhythm guitar and prance around the whole time.

What does the rest of the year hold for Screamfeeder? What can fans look forward too?

We’re releasing a book this year, it’s a photo book, documenting our first 15 years, through our own personal photo albums, and photos from fans. It’s mostly touring snaps and incidental photos - not many of us actually playing live. Lots of anecdotes too. I think it’s going to be very illuminating - and funny. It’s called End Of This Summer. I’ve been working on putting it together for almost a year and it’s close to finished. So there’s that, as well as the new album, a lot of Screamfeeder for people this year

Stream: DON’T GET ME STARTED

Listen to brand new song Deidre : https://screamfeeder.com/deirdre/

Interview by Michelle Symes

May 2022

Screamfeeder return with new album and tour !