Cosmic Psycho’s Eternal Fishing Trip
For 40 years, they’ve been working hard and playing loud. Ahead of their gig at Lion Arts Factory, drummer Dean Muller looks back at what it means to be a Cosmic Psycho…
Words by Tyler Jenke
When Melbourne pub-rock legends Cosmic Psychos entered the new millennium, they celebrated with a compilation titled Fifteen Years, A Million Beers. For their 30th anniversary, Matt Weston’s documentary Blokes You Can Trust cemented their legacy and introduced them to a new audience. Now as the band turns 40, there’s a sense of disbelief.
“Who would’ve thought any band would last this long?” asks Dean Muller, the Psychos’ drummer of almost 20 years. “Especially a band that’s not employing 400 people like The Rolling Stones. “It’s a testament to the machine itself, and how it’s all very casual and friendly,” he adds. “It’s sort of like a fishing trip. You go away with your mates, have a laugh, and maybe catch a fish or two.”
The Psychos’ cavalier attitude to their craft has been a hallmark since their earliest days. When drummer Bill Walsh and guitarist Peter Jones of Melbourne hard-rock outfit Spring Plains needed a new bandmate, they recruited farmer Ross Knight on bass and vocals.
Adopting the name Cosmic Psychos, the trio blended the proto-punk stylings of Detroit’s The Stooges, the New York City simplicity of the Ramones, and their own unapologetic Australian swagger. The music was local, uncomplicated, and accessible, and their stage shows were intense.
“The first time I saw them was in Sydney in the ’80s and I thought they were terrifying,” remembers Muller. “They were the kind of guys you would be frightened of stabbing or glassing you! The mullets, the bodybuilding, the tight Faberge jeans that were too high cut; they were like football players of the ’80s. The typical sort of ’80s bogan – that’s far more scary than a mohawk.”
The image was part of their charm, however. Average Aussie fans saw themselves in the Psychos, and the rest of the world enjoyed the exotic, hard-edged allure of a band that flouted conventions. “They sort of looked a little bit like Rose Tattoo but sounded like one of those Brisbane punk bands like Razar, but even more intense,” recalls Muller.
In 1989, their second album – Go The Hack – found itself issued on pivotal US label Sub Pop. Soon, the Psychos’ influence had spread far and wide, with bands such as Mudhoney, Pearl Jam and Nirvana citing them as crucial in helping define the grunge sound. Their impact wasn’t just isolated to rock, however. In 1997, English electronic icons The Prodigy also took notice, basing ‘Fuel My Fire’ on L7’s cover of the Psychos’ ‘Lost Cause’. The unexpected collaboration saw the band receive credit on the album, which would sell millions and top charts globally.
“You go to a Psychos show, you get something you haven’t heard before, and something very Australian,” says Muller. “Ross is a farmer, and he writes about what he knows about. He lives in the bush, loves a beer, and writes about the bush, beer, and kangaroos,” adds Muller. “He’d never write a song about the problems in the Middle East or something.”
Guitarist Robbie ‘Rocket’ Watts replaced Jones in 1991, and three more albums arrived before an eight-year hiatus of sorts in 1997. In 2005, Walsh was dismissed in favour of Hoss drummer Dean Muller, who had played with Knight in the short-lived punk band, Dung.
Though 2005 ‘comeback’ album Off Ya Cruet! would be recorded by this lineup, the celebrations were short, with Watts passing away from a drug-related heart attack while touring in support of the record. John ‘Mad Macka’ McKeering of The Onyas would join the group in 2007, and remains their guitarist today, though Muller notes their lineups are less about technical proficiency and more about what fits.
“It’s the sort of band where you would never get a gun player in or something like that,” says Muller. “Why would you want to do that? It’d wreck it. It’s the style that fits the band, and it’s taught me a lot about what not to play.
“There’s no one out there who sounds like the Psychos,” he adds. “Once you hear the first note, you know it’s the Psychos.”
Having wrapped up a tour of the US with The Chats in September and October, the coming months will be somewhat retrospective for the Psychos. A three-night stand at their “home ground” of Castlemaine in early December alongside The Chats, Amyl and The Sniffers and Dune Rats will mark their 40th anniversary celebrations, before shows in South Australia and Western Australia will be followed by a tour with US hardcore punk band, Zeke.
The anniversary celebrations are something of a full-circle moment for the Psychos, who have curated the lineup to play with bands they’ve shared a stage with before.
“I think the biggest achievement of the Psychos is to have helped all these young bands that are doing really well,” Muller notes, nodding to the headliners. “All of these bands went on tour with us early on in their career and probably got some good tips on how to not take yourself too seriously. And to look at them now, it makes us so proud,” he continues. “It was great going on tour in the US with The Chats and playing to 2000 kids who were just mental for them. It was really humbling.”
The SA portion of their tour will see the Psychos return to Adelaide for a performance at the Lion Arts Factory on December 7. The Psychos have been playing Adelaide since 1985, and Muller himself has been a visitor since his former band, Voodoo Lust, performed alongside Exploding White Mice.
Despite this debut visit resulting in him limping back to The Austral with broken ribs after a run-in with some tough customers down Hindley Street, Muller calls the city one of his favourites. “We’ve played so many great shows, and we’ve got so many mates there; the Exploding White Mice guys, the Meatbeaters, Gerry [McCaffery] from The Iron Sheiks,” Muller recalls. “Adelaide is like Detroit. It’s Australia’s rock city. I’ve never played a dud show there.”
It’s been more than two decades since the Cosmic Psychos released their Fifteen Years, A Million Beers, and it’s a little daunting to guess how many more beers the band have consumed since then.
“The world changes, except for the Cosmic Psychos,” quips Muller. “We don’t change. We don’t even change our undies.”
See the Cosmic Psychos play at the Lion Arts Factory on December 7. Tickets on sale now.
