Bamodi are back from hiatus with 8 new songs recorded by Al Smith from Bergerk on his mobile recording rig. It took place in November last year, everything was done live apart from vocals which were done on 16 June, followed by mix/mastering on the same day.

The recordings are coming out very soon on a split CD with our Japanese noise punk borthers Bariken, who are comin to Australia for a few shows in August:

1 August at Kulcha, Fremantle, with Bamodi, Injured Ninja and Wind Waker
7 August at Red Rattler, Marickville NSW, with Bamodi and more
8 August at Birmingham Hotel, Collingwood VIC, with Bamodi, UV Horses and more

We have uploaded 4 new song on our myspace, enjoy!

this is the unedited interview with Pex for local students' magazine GROK. done by Steven J Finch. the heavily edited version appeared in GROK issue 5, October 2007.

1. Pex, seeing as how you're in a few bands, where does Bamodi fit creatively? Like, how does the work you do in this band differ from the work you do in Abe Sada or something like that?

It's totally different. Abe Sada's music is totally improvised on the spot. So, there is no pressure in playing all the 'right notes', although it's extremely demanding, both physically and mentally, to try to create something right there and then with three other people and attempt to make some sense of it. With Bamodi, it's simply: make songs, learn them, play them, try not to screw up too much when playing it live. With my solo-bas act Bassta! Pex it's a mix of playing songs (mostly covers) and improvising on bass. I don't find it too hard to play something on the spot with Abe Sada and I think most of the times I do a fairly decent job. I do think that Bamodi is creatively more demanding though. It's usually the case one of us bringing a riff or three and we try to put it together. I do not practice at home often enough, so we mostly create it when we jam.

2. The name Bamodi raises my curiosity. Where did it come from? Do you guys believe in the power of a good pseudonym?

It's from the 80s trash sci-fi/horror/comedy "Killer Klowns From Outer Space", in which a bunch of alien clowns come to earth and fuck the shit up. Apparently, one of them says something that sounds like: "Baaaamoooodiii...". I have yet to seen that masterpiece. When we first started rehearsing we sat and thought of the names. I can't remember many, but one was "Bwa-ha-ha" or something like that... We thought Bamodi sounds better. Didn't realise it would be so hard for people to spell properly, so often we would get billed as Bambodi.

3. Where (in Lucifer's name) did Bamodi find that awesome voice?

We dug deep and found it in young Kenta McGrath! When we first met as a band we knew it would be Scotty on drums, me on bass and Kenta on vocals/guitar. However, his singing in Bamodi is significantly different from what he did in Mannequin. I have to admit I was taken a bit at first by the sheer power/loudness of his voice, not to mention the 'screeching' bit, hehehe. We acknowledge it's probably the most difficult aspect of the band for a listener to get used to, but once they're past that, the whole new world opens...

4.What was the first sound that made you guys want to do music? How old were you? Does that sound stay with you now that you're all accomplished and sucessful?

Personally, at the time we started Bamodi I was a lot into Minutemen. So, deep inside I wanted to have a band that will have at least some of Minutemen 'influence'. When I listen to Bamodi music now I think I can hear some Minutemen in our songs, but I have long lost the desire to have any rational influence on this band. Bamodi started in March 2006. I'm going to be 37 in October. Scotty and Kenta are much younger. So much that I could be their father. Metaphorically speaking.

Honestly, when we started I thought that our 'success' will be to play a gig at Hydeys once every 4 months and once or twice play at some bigger venue. So, having played a lot more gigs than that, and having our first album released by a cool label (Love Is My Velocity) is way beyond my expectations. I guess the reason is that a lot of people have much bigger access to wide range of music nowadays because of the internet. There are a lot of acts in Perth that do something that's alternative to the 'alternative' and there's audience for that kind of music.

5. What do you think the psychic links are between Noise music and 80s Horror film?

Both are made by deranged individuals.

6. If I were a noise I'd be that sigh dogs make when you rub their belly juuust right. If you could be a noise, what noise would you be?

The beautiful noise that Albert Ayler makes just when he starts going off in "The Truth Is Marching In".

7. What bands get you excited nowadays?

Locally: Astral Travel, Mental Powers, Blow Up, Trevallys and the Hundred Thousand Fireflies, to mention just a few 'obscure' ones. Globally: Ike Reiko (Japanese pinky violence actress who released one hell of a great album "Ike Reiko Kokotsu No Sekai" in 1971, then messed up with drugs, yakuza and police and disappeared off the face of the earth), lots of Yugoslavian music (especially Gypsy brass bands and new wave/post punk stuff), Shibusa Shirazu Orchestra (Japan's finest), Welcommin' Committee In Flames, Death Disco and Tigrova Mast (all from Croatia), the Shaggs...

7. What noise-bands stand out in music history for you guys?

In the 80s I was a lot into Touch & Go/AmRep stuff, which was noise-punk/rock/whatever. Only later I started getting into 'real' noise. As in any other music field, there are shitloads of great and at least as many crappy acts. But unlike most other kinds of music, it is very demanding and requires special attention. Masayuki 'Jojo' Takayanagi was a Japanese free jazz/improv noise guitar player. His vinyl album on Tiliqua Records is a particular record I enjoyed in last couple of years. I didn't play it too often, but every time I gave it a spin I was drawn into its sounds.

8. Favourite album this year?

 Tigrova Mast CD (excellent Croatian 3-piece instrumental prog/folk/punk), upcoming debut by the Leap Year and, of course, Bamodi and Abe Sada releases, just because I was able to get some of my music out. I'm sure I'll forget zillion of great records, but I do remember lots of awesome reissues, like bunch of Serbian new wave bands like Sarlo Akrobata, Elektricni Orgazam and Idoli.

9. You guys have a sound that has been described as  "no wave helter-skelter with locust insanity", " hypnotically weird, brain-shredding skaz"  and "koran reading day at special school". (The latter one's a little bizarre.)  How would you describe your sound for those who've yet to hear it?

Loud and slightly not-typical pop songs.

10. People in Taos, New Mexico have complained about hearing an inexplicable machine-like hum that comes and goes without warning. (I am not making this up. Check Wikipedia)What are Bamodi's thoughts on "The Hum"?

I love The Hum. I'm humming The Hum. Can you hear me humming The Hum? Huuuum, huuuum...

11. I love Double Nickels on the Dime! Will Bamodi ever go creative-nuts and create a large sprawling triple album of top shit with no song over a minute and a half? 

Yes! If I won lotto in next Saturday 20 million dollar jackpot I can pay other guys a year's sallary (and we're talking a big fat one), we lock ourselves in rehearsal room and chunk 'em out. Personal note: buy that lotto ticket next weekend.

12. Why short songs? What's the secret of the short songs? How do you know when to end your songs? Have you guys noticed re-occuring structures in your spinning songs?

We didn't have many ideas about what will Bamodi sound like when we first started, at least not ones we stuck to anyway... But one of the things was that we wanted to do short songs with which we will try to say as much as possible. The secret is not to overdo it. Sometimes just when we would get into a riff we would change it to something different, and by the time the listener would get into the new riff we would go into something else or just finish the song. Having said that, Bamodi's song require repeat listening. In a way, I think I can say that that was one of the goals: to make 'challenging' music. Yet, I believe we do make pop songs. It might be often loud and fast, but in the background there's always a melody. And once that gets to the listeners, we want them to like it :) Having 22 songs on our first album obviously make it harder not to have re-occuring structures in our songs. At the moment we are working on a bunch on new songs. We'll see what way they will turn out soon...

13. If the earthmaster itself gave you an ultimatum: sing earthmaster praises or get out, what would you do? How important is it maintain doing your thing(even when other people want it different)?

Maybe no one realised yet, but all Bamodi songs are praises to the earthmaster! Especially instrumental ones.

14. I don't like Conor Oberst more than I like potatoes, but I do like the fact that he played, like, a six hour show in Perth. And there was this clip on youtube where Bruce Springsteen came from nowhere and started jamming with this busker on the streets. How do you guys feel about magical live shows? (What you guys have put up on youtube is amazing by the way)

I had to check who Conor Oberst was... See how well informed I am about current music. I feel magical about magical live shows, whether they're by other bands or by my own. I love the fact that I can still get excited by seeing another people playing awesome live music. A recent magical show I attended was a house party with Soul of Condemned Ape, Astral Travel and Mental Powers. If you were one of the 30-odd smart party-goers that night you would know what I'm talking about. Also, the Hundred Thousand Fireflies/Blow Up gig recently at Swan basement was one of those too.

15. Have you ever heard metal machine music? If so, would you ever try to do a cover of 'Metal machine music III'?

Yes I've heard it. I'm keen to cover it as long as Guitar Player transcribe all the notes in their next issue.

 16. Some say that pure art is abstract thought and "The most abstract idea conceivable is the sensuous in its elemental originality." Only music has the power to capture the 'pure sensuous', the feelings before any thought; Some say making music the purest art form. What do you think of this? Is this what you think when you play music? Is it about the moment rather than any conscious thought? Or are you just rocking out?

It's rocking out to the conscious thought about the moment! Seriously, it's all of the above. It's never just rocking out (even though I'd like to see people dance more to Bamodi songs), never too conscious but it is about having a bit of two together and trying to capture a moment. With some of Bamodi gigs I've noticed it takes us around 5-6 songs to get totally into it. Not always, though. I do really love to play with Kenta and Scotty regardless if it's at rehearsal, a house party or at some bigger venue. Oh, the art we create...

Some 10+ years ago I stumbled onto a copy of a faznine called Year Zero. Now, I know Australia has a great tradition of even greater fanzines, but this one (as well as the Moderate by the same person) has to be THE best one ever published in this country. I kept in touch with its editor Dave Lang for a while, but we lost contact some years ago.

As I said, I finally had a chance to meet him when Bamodi played at the Old Bar. Nowadays he runs a record label, plays in a band and does an awesome blog Lexicon Devil: http://manwithoutshame.blogspot.com/

Dave wrote about Bamodi performance and here it is:
After the 'Boogas there was Hand Hell, whom I kinda missed altogether, then a Perth band by the name of Bamodi. It was late and I was about to split until my compadre Richard ('Boogas bassplayer, by the way) noted to me that an old friend of ours, a "friend" whom neither of us had ever actually met but had been in touch with the both of us on and off for probably nearly 15 years when the printed word was all the go, was a member of the band. His name is Pedrag and it suddenly struck me that he had left a note on this very blog a month back that his band would soon be in town. Well, it'd only be the polite and civilised thing to stick around and at least catch a few songs, especially so since they came all the way from Perth for only a couple of shows. I mean, imagine it's 1980, you're in California and a bunch of barely post-pubescent punkers from DC by the name of the Teen Idles take the trouble of travelling from one coast to the other for a show or two and you pass it up! Well, OK, that's a different story, but stick around I did. And I'm glad I did. By the end of the third song I turned to Richard and gave a two-thumbs-up, Fonzie style. He then mimed a bit of keyboard action back to me, smirked and said, "I can see a bit of bloggin' going on over this one". Damn right! Here I am, hunched over a keyboard on a sunny day telling you about Bamodi! A three piece, they comprise of this: a shite-hot drummer whom I watched in envious awe as his arms spastically moved around the kit at the speed of light, his style hovering somewhere 'round a Joy Division/Rey Washam nexus; a tall, looming bassist - that's Pedrag - farting out basslines in a nonchalant manner not unlike Venom P. Stinger's Al Whateverhisnameis; and a singer/guitarist, small in stature but with a yelping, screaming voice that sounds alternately like a screaming child, a cat in pain and Rudimentary Peni's Nick Blinko. In fact, after the show I talked to Pedrag and let him know that the band reminded me of none other than Rudimentary Peni - frighteningly so, in fact - and that they must be influenced by them. He gave me a quizical look and just said something like, "They were linked up w/ CRASS, weren't they?". Whatever. Bamodi were a shock to the system, a goddamn musical force and an excellent way to finish the night. There ain't nothing on this earth like witnessing a band you have zero expectations for and promptly having any preconceptions of blasé been-there/done-that/seen-it-all-before BS thrown out the door as they blaze through a short, sharp set w/ nary a break in between. By show's end, I was gushing. As I am now. I was given a free CD for my troubles, some of which you can hear on that link above, and whilst it doesn't contain the absolute drive and nerve-shattering wall of sound of the live experience, it's something I'll be hanging onto. Nice bloody work, is all I can say...

Third and last day on the tour started with another trip to city in search of a nice meal (didn't find it - instead had the crappiest "japanese" meal ever - avoid Gigi on Swanston St!!!). After couple of hours of checking the shops I met my host Vlad and we went to see "Control". It was alright.



Caught up with the rest of the crew outside Pony around 1am, we loaded our stuff, played a good set and started packing. It was time to say goodbye to Melbourne and our friends here, as we headed towards the airport around 4.30am to catch 6am flight to Perth. WE arrived back here at 8am, went straight home for a long shower and some well-deserved sleep.



I'm really happy we had a chance to go and play some shows outside Perth - it went much better than I expected. Again, thanks to all people to gave hand: Vlad, Jake, Rene and Hand Hell, Annalee, Dirty Pink Jeans, Matt from Burning Vinyl at 3CR, Tim, Erin, Jess, Shaun Tenzenmen, Lucy Tehan, Yama Indra... Thanks to all the bands we played with and all the punters who managed to stay through our set. We are fuckin' nobody outside Perth (not that we are huge here or anything) and hopefully we planted Bamodi seed in Melbourne, so next time when we get there Bamodi tree will wait for us to pick the fruits off it :)

Bamodi - Bamodi

Love is My Velocity

I don't know what a Bamodi is – if pressed, I'd hazard a guess at a distinct European spirit that's prepared according to a centuries old recipe and is classified by the World Health Organisation as detrimental to one's health if consumed in greater than cursory quantities. The first limb of that definition is unlikely to apply to Western Australian band Bamodi; as for the latter aspect, there's probably a few lovers of music that lies at the insipid end of the spectrum who'd object strenuously to Bamodi's unashamedly intense punk style.

The introductory tones of Moonface conjure up haunting images drawn from Bram Stoker's vivid imagination; the frenetic concluding moments forecast what's in store. Like the Dead Kennedys, there's a striking dialectic between screeching vocals that could shatter an entire Orefors warehouse and a rock'n'roll beat thats bolted to the ground with industrial strength hardware. Flies Catch Spit throws back ever so slightly to the days when the likes of X spat punk venom into the faces of the very average pub rock dweller; Amos Kito stabs the listener in the metaphorical eye like Kicking Giant avenging the premature death of a loved rock'n'roll colleague.

The change in pace in Rainbow Head might qualify it for ballad status – and any love professed to its lumbering rhythms would survive for ten seconds or a hundred years. The thirty seconds of unrestrained noise that makes up the aptly titled Stresshead should be the soundtrack to a deranged punter's inner psychological turmoil; the succeeding anger of Headless suggests that same punter has found their inner child and is having a fuckin' killer of a time. When sounds like the Beasts of Bourbon under the influence of a cocktail of amphetamines not even those seasoned purveyors of excess could comprehend; Cliff Jumping could tempt you to do the same, but that'd be taking the soft option, and ignoring the rest of the ride.

And that ride is an absolute freak scene, an out of control Ghost Train fueled by nitroglycerine cooked by three guys who've spent too long scouring the gutters of West Coast punk rock. Strangely, what they find always seems to hit the mark. This is potent stuff – it won't be for everyone, but if you want – and need – your punk rock with attitude, take a ride with Bamodi.

Patrick Emery

On second day in Melbourne we met for brekkie/lunch in the city, went to Missing Link and spent some money and then took of to 3CR radio for an interview. While waiting to be invited to the studio I saw 3 older looking fellas on the same courtyard and one of them was wearing D.O.A. t-shirt. When I looked a bit more closely I realised the guy resembles Joey Shithead a lot. The on a second glance I realised it was him! Didn't even know they were in Australia. Went to them and had a chat, gave them our CD and went to get interviewed. Our host - Matt who does Burning Vinyl show - was super friendly and didn't ask them same old boring questions.
After that we all went our own ways, I picked a bass amp from a friend of a friend and went to my buddy's place to relax a while before we go to the second gig.
Tonite we played at the Old Bar with Zond, Ooga Boogas and Hand Hell, who organised it and lent us their gear. It was a real cool nite and quite a few people came, including some folks from Perth - we're everywhere! Our set was one of the most enjoyable ones and the sound was great on stage.




After the gig I hooked up with Richard Dropkick and Dave Lang, who I've been in touch with some years ago, so it was great to finally meet them.
I've been battling this extremely nasty cold for the last 10 or so days, so I couldn't do anything excessive, but to leave after the gig. The rest of the crew went home too. Tonite is the last show at 2am, then catching a plane back to Perth at 6am...

So, we had our CD launch in Perth on 11 August and after that we were scratching our heads, what to do with all the money we made??? The first plan was to go to Sydney and Melbourne and play a couple of gigs, but Sydney fell through, so here we are in Melbourne for next three days and three shows.

Kenta and Scotty arrived last nite, and I landed at 12.25pm today. Went to my host Vlada's place, had launch and a nap and took off to meet the boys in the city. The weather has been perfect, for a change, and we headed off to Pogo for our first gig.

It was an evening at this club, and we're still buffled about its name, organised by a nice fellow Yama Indra. We opened and the chaps Dirty Pink Jeans (who lent all their gear to both bands - thanks heaps!!!) as well as The Holidays from Sydney played after us.

There were more people there than I expected when we hit the stage at 10pm, however, having never heard the band most of them were just watching, probably thinking who the hell are these guys, hehehe... As far as I could see the street rags over here didn't pay much attention to the importance of having Bamodi in Melbourne for the first time :)

We played a good set. The sound was pretty good, except there was a bit too much guitar feedback on stage, so sometimes it was hard to figure out what I'm playing. The ceiling was a bit too low for me and I had to be careful not to bang my head on it, being the tall bastard. I expected the gig to be a quiet affair, but it turned out way better. I'm happy with our tightness, can't wait for the gigs tomorrow and the night after.

Bamodi self-titled debut CD album is out now on Love Is My Velocity Records.
If you live in Perth you can get it from 78s, DaDas or Planet. If you live somewhere else get in touch - we can mail it to ya.
The album has 22 songs and it runs for around 30 minutes. It was recorded at bergerk! studio in Perth, with Al Smith behind the decks. Nice guy. We love him dearly.
The dates we recorded it were: 26 October, 16 and 22 December 2006, 6 and 25 April 2007. We were slack and it was hard to get some studio time, hence it took us so long.
All the songs are written and performed by Bamodi, except "Ballroom" bass line was written by Milos Smiljkovic (great fella - he was even a best man at pex's wedding!) and the opening bass line on "Headless" was 'borrowed' from Du Du A's "Primitivni Ples" song. Never heard of them? Shame on you!

The Bio of Bamodi (or, You Can't Spell Bamodi without B-I-O)

The members of Bamodi – Scott Hancock (drummer), Kenta McGrath and Predrag (Pex) Delibasich – began performing in early 2006. Hancock and McGrath had played in epic avant-rock band Mannequin and Delibasich played in 70s punk channelers the Soviet Valves before that band's premature demise. After playing the lengthy, labyrinthine material of Mannequin, McGrath and Hancock were eager to keep things short and punky, McGrath going so far as to institute a rule: no song over two minutes. Most were around a minute to a minute and a half and those that went longer were judiciously cut off at the two minute mark.

This constraint opened up the writing process for the band. Suddenly, every idea could become a song, and did. To date, every pitch made during Bamodi's jam sessions has turned into a part of a song. Influenced by the Minutemen, with whom they share a preference for short songs and unconventional structure, they put together a pounding, chainsawing set that was unleashed upon Perth in mid-2006. Their first set list was made up of eight songs and went for 10 minutes, but it was one head-stabbing 10 minutes. Then, as now, Bamodi songs leapt into existence with all the ceremony of a quick punch to the back of the head and exited just as suddenly. Song parts were slammed next to each other seemingly at random but the juxtaposition created a powerful albeit bumpy ride, and belied the band's very deliberate designs.

Perth's weird set dug Bamodi's vibe almost straight away. They played cozy venues like the near-legendary Maylands venue House 208 and the Hyde Park Hotel before being picked up by and featured heavily on Meat Salad line-ups, a sort-of community of noise, ambient, avant-garde and punk acts. Though abrasive even by weird's standards, that they were well received makes sense – there is an almost comic quality to the velocity, brevity and epilepsy of Bamodi's music, the speeding, pogoing bass, the screeching guitars, the high pitched, babbling vocals. When faced with them one's instinct is to either grimace or smile, or both, one after the other. What ultimately gets you and keeps you smiling is their tendency to slip killer riffs in among the noise and the sheer relentlessness of their waves of no-wave.

With their MO now firmly defined, Bamodi have relaxed but not completely done away with the "two minutes maximum" rule. They even say their newest batches of songs have seen elements convention creeping in, but knowing them this probably means maybe a couple seconds respite from the high pitched, largely incoherent vocals, and maybe the occasional semblance of chorus. For now, though, their brilliant first experiments in the style of 70s and 80s underground post-punk pioneered by Mars, Lydia Lunch and James Chance, then kept alive by Melt Banana, My Disco and Erase Errata (whom Bamodi played with and Hancock had a beer with at Cottesloe beach when they toured Perth) have been captured on their debut, self-titled album, to be released in August on Love is My Velocity Records.

written by nice people at Love Is My Velocity label - we, for sure, can't write this good...