Melodic moshers with a Beautiful Machine

For those of you who dreamt about starting your own rock band during homeroom at high school, read on for a rock’n’roll exclusive, where we chewed the fat with Shihad frontman Jon Toogood about ‘Beautiful Machine’, the latest offering from the heavy metal/alternative rock enigma.

New Zealand born musos Shihad have been toying with the concept of rock godliness for the past 20-odd years. Formed in New Zealand in 1988 by vocalist Jon Toogood and his drumming mate Tom Larkin, Shihad was formed by two guys living the dream of running away and becoming rock stars. Surviving on a diet of Metallica tunes Toogood and Larkin packed up there sheepskin knapsacks and headed for Melbourne.

With a career that has seen them live out their rock fantasies by recording in the same rooms as Motley Crew and Dr Feelgood, and being scared shitless by crowds when playing on the same ticket as Bjork and Rage Against The Machine, the Shihad crew have done away with the obscene budgets and refocused on their love for the music.

Now, seven albums later and a devoted legion of Aussie and Kiwi fans, not to mention a solid UK fan base, Shihad are looking forward to hitting the road again to tour Down Under and hit the Festival circuit in the UK.

Signally a departure from their earlier works like ‘The General Electric’, the creation of ‘Beautiful Machine’ saw the guys head into the studio to drain the creative remnants of several years of incessant touring.

”Once it ended we didn’t want to do the typical Shihad thing and take two to three months off after touring and then have to come back and restock the creative fires and try and remember what it was like to play with a tight band and work it back up again, Toogood said.

The result?

A purgy, cathartic angst ridden record that turns everything we know about Shihad’s style on its head.

“We were touring and writing and we just fell in love with what we were doing again and we got our hands on all this cool equipment to play with and we would be sitting in the hotel with all this ideas flying around.

“Tom (Larkin) got a studio in Brunswick and he’s a total studio nerd which is really great for a band member to be that into it have as the space was set up with every instrument ready to go, so you’d be like ‘I’ve got a bass line or a keyboard line’ and we just had fun.

“The only rule was don’t make a record that sounds like any of the other ones, obviously we were still working with the same formula but thought ‘fuck it’, it’s been 20-years and we’ve managed to make different record every time so lets continue with that idea and have fun with it.

“We set up an environment where no one was afraid to fail; it didn’t matter if it was a new order idea on keyboard or a speed metal riff we just did it as we had nothing to lose.

“We have used all the tricks we have learned along the way and everyone is on top of their game as far as being a musician goes, which gives you that freedom to experiment, I can get Karl (Kippenberger) to play a crazy fucking bass line that’s not rock but he can pull it off as he knows his way around that instrument.

“It’s the same with Tom, it’s great.”

With all the foundations for a stellar album, the band enlisted the help of Matt Lovell to co-produce.

“He was the right guy for it, he understood when we’d say ‘I want it more rock music’ he just knew exactly what we were going for.

“One thing I was really stoked with is that he got me to sing rather than fucking scream, I’d written some words that were decent and I am really proud of the song ‘Waiting Around for God’, I’ve been talking about religion and people like that for years and it really just summed it up in simple terms, it was good as there wasn’t a wall of distortion to cover it up, I actually had to sing.

“He was like ‘you can sing, you may as well fucking sing’ and I’m glad he did that.

Rather than locking the newly minted songs in a vault prior to the album release, the band decided to share a few live versions with the fans to generate some feedback.

“We’ve been playing seven or eight songs live for the last year and taking into consideration how an audience moves to it or what the look on their faces is and then go back and work on it.

“It’s a real thrill playing live and we’re really looking forward to touring this time around.”

For the latest news, tour dates and ticketing info head to www.myspace.com/shihad