With their debut London show taking place next month and a blazing introductory EP coming out on Bermondsey's celebrated Play It Again Sam label, you could say Australian rock'n'rollers, Spookyland, are experiencing happy days. Fronted by the charismatic Marcus Gordon, the chaps all hail from Sydney and have had a whirlwind year down under.
While the title track of EP ‘Rock and Roll Weakling’ was written especially for the new release, other songs date back to Gordon's early days as a song-writer. Both his brothers were guitar players in punk bands and, at the age of 11, they inspired him to start writing songs himself. Ahead of the band's first gig in the capital, Londonist had a quick chat with Gordon to find out more about Spookyland and their music.
Where did the name Spookyland come from?
It was just happy word play, the etymology of the word fetish apparently harks back to irrational reverence for something, the word spooky just did something to me. Mum tells me now that it was a word I’d always love saying when I was little.
Who came up with the concept for the Rock and Roll Weakling video?
We make videos with a director called Rory Pearson. I take a very passive role with the video side of things, I trust this guy so I let him invent them.
You're about to play your first live show here in London...
Yes, it’s a first for all of us, far from something we’d expect to happen so soon. We’re very happy to be doing it.
What can people expect of the gig?
Our only interest is playing the music with the spirit that it deserves, riding the muse and playing off each other to deliver a sincere rock and roll show.
Is there anything you are looking forward to doing or seeing in London?
For me to be around fresh energy is the main thing, absorb whatever comes when we’re over there. It’s one of the world’s most astonishing cities so it’s inevitable that we’ll be charmed by it.
‘Rock and Roll Weakling’ EP is out on November 3rd on Play It Again Sam. Spookyland play Madam JoJo's on 28 October. Tickets are available here.
