Over the course of a weird and wonderful decade-plus escapade that has spawned some five or so mind-controlling, wig-out LP releases, Sand Pebbles were to develop into Melbourne radio guru, RRR’s Stephen ‘The Ghost’ Walker’s love child band. Dark Magic is their latest and loveliest folk rock opus.

With dual vocals and guitars led by Andrew Tanner and Tor Larsen (The Sun Blindness), the band’s two other mainstays have been bassist and songwriter Chris Hollow and chief guitarist/writer Ben Michael X. Several drummers have drifted in and out of the scene but currently Wes Holland holds down the oscillating beat.

They’ve always referred to themselves as ‘Flower Punk’ and not as a psychedelic squad. They believe they are ‘Slightly-Delic’. We believe they are great. Sand Pebbles. Hypnotic. Cosmic. Kinetic. Freewheeling. Exploding From The Eye Of The Universe, they say.

Here’s what went down when we yarned with bassist Chris Hollow about Dark Magic…

Nick Argyriou: Malcolm McDowell produced your latest record and was involved in the mixing. Alex DeLarge?
Chris Hollow: Malcolm produced Dark Magic and contributes some vocals and keyboard. His name is Malcolm McDowell but he’s not the Malcolm McDowell. Funnily enough our last record, Ceduna, was produced by James Dean, but obviously not the James Dean. We’re hoping the next one can be done by Whoopi Goldberg. The Whoopi Goldberg.

NA: Every Sand Pebbles record has seen an evolution in style and texture. What is it that makes Dark Magic uniquely different for the band?
CH: On previous albums we’d banned acoustic guitar. The ban was lifted for this record. Also, Tor has come to the fore on this record. He and Tanner trade lead vocals pretty much song for song. I love that because it means we’re getting two distinct perspectives – innocence and experience.

NA: You were banned from the Meredith Music Festival in 2006. Did you think a recall was in order for the 21st anniversary?
CH: Yeah, I do. I think our Meredith story is one of the best Meredith stories going around and reconciliation would be great content.
NA: Why exactly were you banned again? Rose Tattoo stage invasion… like when Jarvis Cocker raided Michael Jackson at the ‘96 Brit Awards?
CH: It’s the most rock’n’roll thing we’ve ever done. Invade the stage and let Rose Tattoo know that we don’t appreciate them being running dog lackeys of the Liberal Party’s Right Wing while taking out a couple of unwitting bouncers sworn to protect Angry Anderson. The thing is, it wasn’t actually us – just some angel-headed, cosmic cowboy loner rebel hero with a Sand Pebbles sticker on his jacket. But the ban makes us out to be rock’n’roll outlaws. I’m sure Angry has seen worse. I’d hope so.

NA: Post 2008 Ceduna, you guys were quoted as saying the next record was going to be more acoustic which is as you mention, another band ban lifted now. What was that ban on acoustic guitars all about anyway?
CH: Bands are more interesting when they have strict rules. It’s helped us to not sound like everyone else. Some of our rules have included: No crash cymbal. No acoustic guitar. No blues. No super long shows. Rules are meant to be broken, too.

NA: Talk us through ‘Long, Long Ago’ - perhaps the loveliest song Sand Pebbles have ever arranged? Perhaps too lovely. Your thoughts?
CH: A friend ribbed us saying it was our Seals & Crofts moment, but we’re not afraid to go soft and fuck anyone who doesn’t dig it. We’ve done plenty of hard songs. There’s plenty of hard bands out there. Too many.

NA: I read that you and Tor were the primary drivers behind the more folk edge of the record, tapping into a little Bert Jansch and Pentangle and Tor’s mission of self-discovery to Scotland?
CH: I hated English folk music for a long time. Growing up, my father was a folk music devotee and would play The Chieftains, Steeleye Span and The Bushwackers and many more. I reacted against that like any good teenager. But, as I get older, I find myself drawn to it. I haven’t built the bridge enough to listen to All Around My Hat but I love those ‘60s albums by Bert Jansch, Pentangle, Donovan and Fairport Convention. All those records have a great mix of acoustic guitar and double bass with wild electric guitar and real inventive drums.

NA: How did Ben Michael X and Andrew Tanner deal with this shifting of the sonic guard?
CH: Tanner’s first musical love was The Band, so it’s in his make-up. Ben hates all that shit. He didn’t really enjoy doing anything folky. So, he dealt with that in his own way – just tried to make as much noise as possible, which gave most of the songs some nice tension. He’s happy to bide his time. He knows our next record will probably have electric drums and be a New Order style dance album.

NA: Drummer Wes Holland was happy either way?
CH: He was just excited to be playing and recording for the first time. His contribution was to organise Tim Holmes [Death In Vegas] and Will Carruthers [Spacemen 3, Spiritualized] to do some incredible mixes for us. Very un-folk mixes, which was brilliant. Wes’s perfect album is Primal Scream’s XTRMNTR.

NA: Tor is singing like a bird again alongside the light and dusty tones of Tanner. The relationship just continues to blossom vocally between the pair.
CH: Yeah, two incredible voices and they blend beautifully. My bugbear is that these days, if you can sing you have your own band. My take on the old days – I’m talking late ‘50s/early ‘60s was – if you could sing, you’d find other people who could sing and you’d sing together and you’d have two, three distinct perspectives in the band and all this energy going into one entity. These days, most bands have [only] one voice.

NA: ‘Dark Magic’, the song has an eerily similar intro melody to the Sesame Street Theme. I love it. Do you hear it?
CH: Ha! I can’t hear it. I wish I could. I love Sesame Street. I bought the ‘70s episodes for my kids and they love them, too. Funnily enough, they have a warning at the beginning to not show them to children of the millennium. Too politically incorrect. 

NA: As a driving bass player; the quarterback of the band, Nick Maxwell-esque – what’s it like having three electric guitars swarming the sound, on record and live? How do you check their heads?
CH: Three guitars are wild. Live, I feel like the bass is the part people can hook onto. They might go with the guitarists and follow their flights of fancy but if it’s too much, they can always find the bass and feel safe again. Haha.

NA: You must be sick and tired of the tag of ‘Melbourne’s most underrated band’ after being around since 2001 now and having been revered here and the world over?
CH: I get more sick of people giving us a hard time for being psychedelic or, not being psychedelic enough. We’ve never called ourselves psychedelic. We have called ourselves flower punk and I can defend that tag much easier against all-comers. Some guy on Mess + Noise had a great quip: “They say psychedelia, their haircuts say otherwise.” Brilliant. 

Words: Nick Argyriou

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