Disorientated with The Dissociatives

Paul Mac and Daniel Johns are the two names behind The Dissociatives – an idea conceived when Paul was asked to put his spin on a track by Daniel’s other band Silverchair. Spotting a golden opportunity, uk-fusion nipped backstage to talk to the duo and not once did we bring up Mrs Daniel Johns (Natalie Imbruglia)…

Firstly, how did you two come together?

P: Daniel was in Silverchair, err, is in Silverchair and I was asked to do a remix of ‘Freak’ in 1997. When I handed it in, I sorta met Dan and he liked it and he started listening to the stuff I was doing. I was always a fan of Dan’s stuff. We started hanging out and I started adding noise to Silverchair records and then we started mucking around and making music on computers and shit. (At this point, Daniel flicks his lighter on Paul) Aaahh, don’t burn my knee!

D: I didn’t like what you were saying! (laughs)

P: It’s like live editing!

D: Start again!

P: (starts talking really quickly)…and he was really really nice and I thought, I’d really like to work with him one day! We did this online release called, ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Rock’, which was just an experiment for us. Then Dan asked me to help him record the demos for Diorama and I played piano on a lot of that. That process is when it all happened. This is fun, let’s do something together.

(At this point the lights in the room are suddenly turned off)

P: Hey, now we got vibe!

D: (sings) Let’s get the party started!!

Having worked together on Silverchair records, did you have any expectations of what you’d do together?

D: We just wanted to write really nice pop songs, with really ambitious ideas, but still just wanted to make a pop record that didn’t sound retro, one that was inspired by the late 60s mentality, but with the sonicality of everything that’s being released, a lo-fi, low budget record, that ended up sounding quite expensive.

Did you think this would be a big success?

P: No, literally, Dan was in London and I was in Australia. I had two weeks, I came to London with a laptop and we had a piano and guitar. We recorded 70% of it in those two weeks. There was no budget, no record company, there was nothing. At the moment of conception there was no expectation. We hired a studio to do the drums and expensive stuff, but everything else was done at home, the vocals, the mixing, the whole thing. 

D: Home is this massive studio in Sydney. (laughs)

How would you describe the Dissociatives sound?

D: The intention was to see how good we could make it sound with lo-fi equipment and then connect a computer and I guess you gain some fidelity, don’t you?

P: We were trying to limit the sound sources in some ways. I mean Dan’s previous album had a fucking orchestra and my last album had expensive shit as well. This time round, it was like, here are our five or six instruments, what you gonna do with them? So it was more like, coming up with different ideas on each track even to see what we could do with them. That was the vision. Making this music was about making something we hadn’t heard before.

D: At the same time, every single thing we’ve ever loved has influenced it as much as the void we saw. So it’s as much influenced by what we’ve never heard as it is what we have heard.

A lot of people have compared it to The Beatles’ Sgt Peppers and The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds; it feels like that sort of record.

P: I don’t think it sounds like either of those records, even though I’m a huge fan of both. It’s more the spirit, which those records were done with. Colour and atmosphere and inventiveness and fun, They were really fucking colourful playful records, both of them.

(Turning to Daniel) So..?

D: So how’s the arthritis, Daniel? 

You seem fine.

D: So how’s married life?

Err, I’ve not got one question like that.

D: Good on ya, man.

So how did the creative process start?

D: I think we just started, by sitting down and saying “Well we wrote that kind of track yesterday, so let’s write this kind of song today” If we’re feeling energetic and in a good mood, we’d write an up song. If we were feeling stoned and hung over, we’d write a stoned and hung-over song. We made sure we felt a little bit different from the day before, emotionally, which I think comes out in the songs.

P: The vision was also to make really good instrumentals, that would sit on their own, then Dan would go and do the lyrics and stuff. So it was about doing music that would stand on its own, before the other stuff later.

Who inspires you?

D: There’s heaps on bands that inspire us, from Kraftwerk to the Beach Boys, to weird electronic stuff from Japan, punk rock stuff from Sydney – anything that’s good and makes you excited.

Are there any particular artists or bands you keep going back to?

D: No, not really, it’s just going back to creating something magic and special and anyone who’s done that, is an inspiration.

P: My heroes seems to change. One year you might have a Brian Eno year and another year, you might have a Kraftwork year. Your favourite act ever keeps changing.

What do you do in your spare time?

P: Probably drink lots of beer and ride my motorbike, but not at the same time (laughs). When music is your love and job and everything combined, the best holiday is away from it. So it’s more being on my bike where there’s silence.

I ride, so I know what you mean.

P: Cool, so you know what I mean.

Yeah, but I have a habit of riding with my earphones in though.

P: I’ve tried that, but it fucks it up (laughs) It takes away from the experience, it fucks up your rhythm.

What about you, Daniel?

D: When I’m not creating music, I’m creating illnesses! (everyone breaks down in hysterics)

Any secret ambitions?

D: Well if it was a secret ambition, we wouldn’t say it.

OK, any secret ambitions, you’re now willing to share (‘cos we’re not asking you about married life or arthritis)? Err, did you see Billy Elliot and want to become a dancer?

D: I’ve not seen Billy Elliot. I saw Michael Bolton once. I didn’t wanna be him or anything I just saw him at a nightclub.

P: I’m intending to be a train driver at the end of my music career.

For the hat?

D: More the endless lines meeting in space and the rhythm of the clickety clack.

Funniest rumour you ever heard about yourself?

D: That me and Paul, were a couple.

P: Yeah! (laughs) That’s the weirdest one I’ve heard.

What’s the most rock star thing you own?

P: My motorbike, which I bought with my first decent royalty cheque.

D: I’ve got a Spinal Tap guitar from the movie.

P: Actual Spinal Tap guitar?

D: Yeah.

P: Wow, I didn’t know that! That’s cool.

What have you done that was only kinky the first time?

P: I tend to do things 10 times to make sure, so I’d explore that kink 10 times before moving on.

Any particular examples?

P: Not that I wanna share with the world (laughs)

D: Golden syrup, Vaseline and that art school glitter, make a rich mug of it and pour it on you and your lover, while you do your thing. Golden syrup, Vaseline and glitter melted in a pot

And that’s just kinky the first time?

D: Yeah, ‘cos the second time, you’re just sticky.

What’s next for The Dissociatives?

P: The dream is, we still do our own thing. I’m going back to do my next solo album. Daniel is doing his next thing. Then we’ll come together and do the next Dissociatives thing. The door is open and there are no strict plans, just possibilities.

What have you got planned next, Daniel?

D: I’m writing songs for an album at the moment. I don’t know what they’re for yet. Just a whole bunch of stuff.

A solo album?

D: I don’t know, might be Silverchair as well. I’m just finishing it up and seeing how it sounds.

Is it still easy to write?

D: Yeah, totally, it gets better, you just wanna do more. You hear more sounds, get inspired by more and you wanna make more.

Your development as a songwriter has been a massive progression, why do you think that is?

D: You find different music as you get older, you start feeling a different way, you want different things to make either make that feeling go away or to feel better, so you keep searching for music and if you can’t find it, you make it.

The Dissociatives  Check For Live Dates  Photos: Helen Nicholson

With thanks to Melissa, Johnny and the band. No part of this interview can be re-produced without the permission of uk-fusion.com.