Tag: Peter Bibby Grand Champion

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Peter Bibby Shares Boozy “Bin Boy”

Peter Bibby is an acclaimed Fremantle, Australia-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, whose music career started in earnest when he turned 19: He quit the unfulfilling job he was working at the time to busk, eventually landing a few paying gigs. Sometime later, Bibby landed a high-paying job that he eventually lost, because he would frequently show up hungover from the gigs he’d play the night before. 

So the Aussie singer/songwriter and musician played even more gigs with a series of different backing bands, including Frozen Ocean, Fucking Teeth and Bottles of Confidence, gradually developing a rough and tumble sound and approach that a critic describes as being like “Shane McGowan screaming at bleeding laudanum and typhoid hallucinations” with his guitar described as being like “a dog drunk on rum.” 

With the release of his first two albums 2014’s Butcher/Hairstylist/Beautician and 2018’s Grand Champion, Bibby proudly championed — and has been championed for — being a working class and wholeheartedly independent artist, which was documented in greater detail in the 2018 film Chasing Palm Springs, which followed Bibby on a cross-country trip from Perth to Melbourne in a temperamental van. Since then, the Fremantle-based artist has begun to build a growing profile and reputation as a must see act, as a result of a rowdy and raucous live set —  and through headlining shows and international festival circuit stops at Laneway Festival, Falls Festival and SXSW.

Bibby’s third album, 2020’s Marge saw the acclaimed Aussie collaborating with Dog Act — Pete “Strawberry Pete” Gower (bass) and Dave “Dirty Dave” Taylor (drums) — and derived its name from Dave Taylor’s grandmother Marge. The titular Marge is prominently featured on the album’s over art, smoking a cigarette on a beach in Darwin, Australia, seemingly watching her corner of the world go by. 

Sonically, the album is splintered and volatile and written as a sort of soundtrack to a surf movie from hell, where there’s blood in the water, a dirt road leading to a dead end — and everything is covered in diesel fumes and dust.  “The Dog Act and I recorded this album in a week off in Perth between two Australian tours. We were match fit and full of beans,” Bibby says of the album. “It features a selection of songs, some fun, some completely bloody miserable. It was made better by the involvement of the fourth Dog, Mitch McDonald, who engineered the record and offered endless energy and ideas. I love this record.”

Produced by Dan Luscombe, whose work with fellow Aussies The Drones and JOVM mainstays Amyl and The Sniffers convinced Bibby that he’d be in safe hands, Bibby’s fourth album, Drama King was released last week through Spinning Top Music. The album was mixed with White Denim‘s Josh Block.

“It was the first time I’d worked with a producer, and I prepared for it knowing that my songs were going to get chopped up and shortened,” Bibby recalls in press notes. “I’m glad I did, because for the most part, Dan was like, oh, you’ve already solved every problem I had with these. He was completely underselling himself, because he shaped and sculpted every song on the record into a far more beautiful and articulate thing than I could have on my own.”

“Where Dan shaped and sculpted the songs into superior arrangements, Josh made them sound better than I ever thought they could sound,” Bibby adds. 

Although Drama King‘s material may have come together without major incident, the album’s lyrics reflect Bibby’s evolution from hard-partying prankster to a more enlightened, responsible human, who has grown up, and now knows when enough is really enough. Fittingly, the album’s second single “Fun Guy,” was an up-tempo, in-your fafe ripper built around a motorik groove, scorching guitars and relentless drum machine paired with Bibby’s punchily shouted lyrics and howls.

It’s the sort of song that’s perfect for furious calisthenics — or worse, Peloton sessions — while recalling some of the awful decisions and incidents informed and influenced by hard partying, hard drinking and harder living that you must stay away from — presumably because of all the shit you’re afraid of losing. But at its core, is the unvarnished honesty that comes from having lived the life that his songs talk about. Bibby has been the stupid, drunken lout, who has embarrassed himself and others. And he’s gotten tired — perhaps of not remembering what happened or why it happened; of being completely out of control; of being hungover; of the flop sweat-filled nights or mornings . . .

“I was just really over all the silliness and getting wasted and all dumb behavior that is considered ‘fun,'” admits Bibby. “A lot of the songs on the album are the result of situations where I was drunk or dealing with the drama that comes from it all. It suggests a period of change, and honing in on the shitty situations which have inspired it.” 

Bibby adds “It’s a fun song about quitting fun. A bit gross, a bit self deprecative, a bit of a banger. Rather than a drum loop, we just went full drum machine with this one, taking a few hints from Suicide’s first album. We laid this whole thing down in a few hours on my first day in the studio, setting the tone for a disgustingly productive few weeks.”

The album’s latest single “Bin Boy” is a boozy, Kerosene Hat-era Cracker-like tune featuring twinkling keys, strummed acoustic guitar, a shuffling and drunken rhythm, and a bluesy electric guitar solo serving as a lush, slow-burning bed for the acclaimed Aussie’s beer and whiskey soaked, plaintive delivery and a soulful backing vocal. The song hilariously anthropomorphizes a trash bin, and examines with a great deal of empathy, the one-sided relationship people have with their trash bins — with the song’s narrator lamenting its thoughtless treatment.

“Could this be the world’s first song written from the perspective of a wheelie bin? I think it might be,” Bibby says. “The song marks a clear connection between man and bin, how we are not so different after all.” He continues “I went full guitar hero on the solo and was very pleased when Carla’s backing vocals lifted the song onto a whole other level. I don’t think it was that easy for her to harmonize with my derelict vocal style, but she nailed it.”

Directed by Robin Bottrell, the accompanying video seems inspired by Harmony Korine‘s Trash Humpers and follows Bibby as part-man, part-bin in the suburbs being taken out on the curb and its contents — without Bibby, of course — being dumped into a garbage truck.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Peter Bibby Shares a Furious Ode to Sobriety

Peter Bibby is an acclaimed Fremantle, Australia-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, whose music career started in earnest when he turned 19: He quit the unfulfilling job he was working at the time to busk, eventually landing a few paying gigs. Sometime later, Bibby landed a high-paying job that he eventually lost, because he would frequently show up hungover from the gigs he’d play the night before.

So the Aussie singer/songwriter and musician played even more gigs with a series of different backing bands, including Frozen Ocean, Fucking Teeth and Bottles of Confidence, gradually developing a rough and tumble sound and approach that a critic describes as being like “Shane McGowan screaming at bleeding laudanum and typhoid hallucinations” with his guitar described as being like “a dog drunk on rum.”

With the release of his first two albums 2014’s Butcher/Hairstylist/Beautician and 2018’s Grand Champion, Bibby proudly championed — and has been championed for — being a working class and wholeheartedly independent artist, which was documented in greater detail in the 2018 film Chasing Palm Springs, which followed Bibby on a cross-country trip from Perth to Melbourne in a temperamental van. Since then, the Fremantle-based artist has begun to build a growing profile and reputation as a must see act, as a result of a rowdy and raucous live set —  and through headlining shows and international festival circuit stops at Laneway Festival, Falls Festival and SXSW.

Bibby’s third album, 2020’s Marge saw the acclaimed Aussie collaborating with Dog Act — Pete “Strawberry Pete” Gower (bass) and Dave “Dirty Dave” Taylor (drums) — and derived its name from Dave Taylor’s grandmother Marge. The titular Marge is prominently featured on the album’s over art, smoking a cigarette on a beach in Darwin, Australia, seemingly watching her corner of the world go by.

Sonically, the album is splintered and volatile and written as a sort of soundtrack to a surf movie from hell, where there’s blood in the water, a dirt road leading to a dead end — and everything is covered in diesel fumes and dust.  “The Dog Act and I recorded this album in a week off in Perth between two Australian tours. We were match fit and full of beans,” Bibby says of the album. “It features a selection of songs, some fun, some completely bloody miserable. It was made better by the involvement of the fourth Dog, Mitch McDonald, who engineered the record and offered endless energy and ideas. I love this record.”

Bibby’s fourth album, Drama King is slated for a May 31, 2024 release through Spinning Top Music. Produced by first-time collaborator Dan Luscombe, whose work with fellow Aussies The Drones and JOVM mainstays Amyl and The Sniffers convinced Bibby that he’d be in safe hands. He later traveled to Los Angeles to mix the album with White Denim‘s Josh Block, a frequent collaborator with Leon Bridges.

“It was the first time I’d worked with a producer, and I prepared for it knowing that my songs were going to get chopped up and shortened,” Bibby recalls in press notes. “I’m glad I did, because for the most part, Dan was like, oh, you’ve already solved every problem I had with these. He was completely underselling himself, because he shaped and sculpted every song on the record into a far more beautiful and articulate thing than I could have on my own.”

“Where Dan shaped and sculpted the songs into superior arrangements, Josh made them sound better than I ever thought they could sound,” Bibby adds.

Although Drama King‘s material may have come together without major incident, the album’s lyrics reflect Bibby’s evolution from hard-partying prankster to a more enlightened, responsible human, who has grown up, and now knows when enough is really enough.

And while the material on Drama King may have come together without major incident, its lyrics reflect Bibby’s evolution from hard-partying prankster to a more enlightened, responsible human who now knows when enough is really enough. Fittingly, the album’s second and latest single “Fun Guy” is an up-tempo, in-your-face ripper built around a motorik-like groove, scorching guitars and relentless drum machine paired with Bibby’s punchily shouted lyrics and howls. It’s the sort of song that’s perfect for furious calisthenics — or worse, Peloton sessions — while recalling some of the awful decisions and incidents informed and influenced by hard partying, hard drinking and harder living that you must stay away from — presumably because of all the shit you’re afraid of losing. But at its core, is the unvarnished honesty that comes from having lived the life that his songs talk about. Bibby has been the stupid, drunken lout, who has embarrassed himself and others. And he’s gotten tired — perhaps of not remembering what happened or why it happened; of being completely out of control; of being hungover; of the flop sweat-filled nights or mornings . . .

“I was just really over all the silliness and getting wasted and all dumb behavior that is considered ‘fun’.” admits Bibby. “A lot of the songs on the album are the result of situations where I was drunk or dealing with the drama that comes from it all. It suggests a period of change, and honing in on the shitty situations which have inspired it.” 

Bibby adds “It’s a fun song about quitting fun. A bit gross, a bit self deprecative, a bit of a banger. Rather than a drum loop, we just went full drum machine with this one, taking a few hints from Suicide’s first album. We laid this whole thing down in a few hours on my first day in the studio, setting the tone for a disgustingly productive few weeks.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Follow Acclaimed Aussie Indie Rocker Peter Bibby on a Hilarious Night Out in New Visual for “Calcium”

Over the past handful of months, I’ve written a bit about the rising and critically applauded Fremantle, Australia-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, Peter Bibby. Bibby’s music career started in earnest when he turned 19: he quit the unfulfilling job he was working at the time to busk, eventually landing a few paying gigs. Sometime later, the Fremantle-based singer/songwriter and guitarist landed a high paying job that he wound he losing because he would show up hungover from the gigs he’d play the night before. So, he played even more gigs with a series of different backing bands including Frozen Ocean, Fucking Teeth and Bottles of Confidence developing a rough and tumble sound and approach, a sound and approach that a critic described as being like Shane McGowan screaming at bleeding laudanum and typhoid hallucinations while his guitar playing has been described as being like a dog drunk on rum.

With the release of his first two albums 2014’s Butcher/Hairstylist/Beautician and 2018’s Grand Champion, Bibby proudly championed — and has been championed for — being a working class and wholeheartedly independent artist, which was documented in greater detail in the 2018 film Chasing Palm Springs, which followed Bibby on a cross-country trip from Perth to Melbourne in a temperamental van. Since then, the Fremantle-based artist has begun to build a growing profile and reputation as a must see act, as a result of a rowdy and raucous live set — and through headlining shows and international festival circuit stops at Laneway, Falls and SXSW.

Bibby’s highly anticipated, third album Marge sees it official released today through Spinning Top Records/Caroline Records Australia. The album, which features Bibby’s latest backing band Dog Act — Pete “Strawberry Pete” Gower (bass) and Dave “Dirty Dave” Taylor (drums) derives its name from Dave Taylor’s grandmother Marge. The titular Marge is prominently featured on the album’s cover art, smoking a cigarette on a beach in Darwin, Australia, seemingly watching her corner of the world go by. “I felt there was no better image than a smoking nanna to be the face of this album,” Bibby says. Sonically, the album is splintered and volatile and written as a sort of soundtrack to a surf movie from hell, where there’s blood in the water, a dirt road leading to a dead end — and everything is covered in diesel fumes and dust. “The Dog Act and I recorded this album in a week off in Perth between two Australian tours. We were match fit and full of beans,” Bibby says of the album. “It features a selection of songs, some fun, some completely bloody miserable. It was made better by the involvement of the fourth Dog, Mitch McDonald, who engineered the record and offered endless energy and ideas. I love this record.”

So far I’ve written about two of the album’s previously released singles: the disorderly, wobbly and boozy “Oceans,” a track full of spittle, fury and howled invective centered around fuzzy and lurching power chords, thunderous drumming and drunken shout along worthy choruses reminiscent of Johnny Thunders‘ “Born to Lose,”and John Cale‘s “Pablo Picasso” — and “Whyalla,” a love letter and condemnation of rural Australia that viciously points out the hopelessness, small-minded thinking and boredom of that world with the sort of lived-in hate, despair and deeply abiding love you’d feel for a dysfunctional and fucked-up family member.

Marge’s third and latest single “Calcium” is a slow-burning track that’s one part sarcastic yet scientific study and one part late night, shitfaced blues, centered around shimmering guitars, BIbby’s earnestly howled vocals, twinkling piano and shout along friendly hook. The song features a narrator, who’s deeply concerned about his calcium intake — mainly because he’s concerned about his teeth becoming jacked up. See, vanity, they name is male!

“I wrote this song on the back porch of a mate’s place in Mt Lawley. I remember having read a lot of mumbo jumbo about the dairy industry at the time. The lyrics felt silly but the tune felt so nice to sing. Engineer Mitch pulled a real shifty on me and put my guitar solo in reverse, resulting in me being a happy boy,” Bibby says of the new single.

Co-directed by Bibby and Billy Bowen, the recently released video for “Calcium” follows Bibby on a typical night at his regular bar: Bibby having preternatural restraint and control as friends and regulars offer him booze, cigarettes and alcohol, which he steadfastly refuses. Throughout the video we see Bibby drink milk, lose terribly at pool and hunt for vitamins like a fiend. It’s hilarious and absurd — but at the end, Bibby can say that his grill looks good.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Acclaimed Aussie Artist Peter Bibby Releases a Fiery Examination of Rural Australian Life

Peter Bibby is a rising and critically applauded Fremantle, Australia-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, whose career started in earnest when he turned 19: he quit the unfulfilling job he was working at the time to busk, eventually landing a few paying gigs. Sometime later, Bibby landed a high paying job that he wound he losing because he would show up hungover from the gigs he’d play the night before. So, he wound up playing even more gigs with a series of different backing bands including Frozen Ocean, Fucking Teeth and Bottles of Confidence while developing a unique, rough and tumble sound and approach — one that many have described as being like Shane McGowan screaming at bleeding laudanum and typhoid hallucinations while his guitar playing has been described as being like a dog drunk on rum.

With the release of his first two albums 2014’s Butcher/Hairstylist/Beautician and 2018’s Grand Champion, Bibby has been championed for being an inherently working class and wholeheartedly independent artist, further documented in greater detail in the 2018 film Chasing Palm Springs, which followed Bibby on a cross-country trip from Perth to Melbourne in a  temperamental van. Since then, the Fremantle-based artist has begun to build a growing profile and reputation as a must see act, as a result of a rowdy and raucous live set —  and through headlining shows and international festival circuit stops at Laneway, Falls and SXSW.

Earlier this year, Bibby released “Oceans,”  the first bit of new material since the release of Grand Champion. Featuring his latest backing band Dog Act — “Strawberry Pete” Gower (bass) and “Dirty Dave” Taylor (drums) — “Oceans” is disorderly, boozy and wobbly take on garage roc that’s full of spittle, fury and howled inventive, fuzzy and lurching power chords, thunderous drumming and drunken, shout worthy choruses that reminded me a bit of Johnny Thunders‘ “Born to Lose,”and John Cale‘s “Pablo Picasso”  — but much more unhinged. 

“Oceans” will be included on Bibby’s  forthcoming third album, Marge. Slated for a September 18, 2020 through Spinning Top Records, the album features Dog Act as his backing band. Reportedly, Marge, which derives its name from Dave Taylor’s grandmother Marge, and is an album of splintered, volatile Australiana written as a sort of soundtrack to a surf movie from hell — the sort where there’s blood in water; a dirt road leading to a dirt end; and everything is covered in diesel fumes and dust. “The Dog Act and I recorded this album in a week off in Perth between two Australian tours. We were match fit and full of beans,” Bibby says of the album. “It features a selection of songs, some fun, some completely bloody miserable. It was made better by the involvement of the fourth Dog, Mitch McDonald, who engineered the record and offered endless energy and ideas. I love this record.” 

The titular Marge is prominently featured on the album’s cover art,  smoking a cigarette on a beach in Darwin, Australia, seemingly watching her corner of the world go by.  “I felt there was no better image than a smoking nanna to be the face of this album,” Bibby says. 

“Whyalla,” Marge’s second single derives its name from name of a South Australian steel town that had been in decline for years. Centered around churning  power chords, thunderous drumming and an unhinged spittle and invective delivered vocal and a classic grunge rock song structure, the track is simultaneously a love letter and a fiery condemnation of rural Australia, pointing out the hopelessness, small-minded thinking and boredom of rural life in a way that feels full of the sort of lived-in hate, despair and abiding love you’d feel for a dysfunctional and fucked-up family member. The song’s spoken word bridge features Bibby telling some tall tales about some of Whyalla’s notable legends — but drenched with irony. 

“I wrote this song a few years back after my mate Racoo asked me to write a song for a road trip compilation she was putting together. I don’t think it saw the light of day. I had a lot of help from Wikipedia,” says Bibby of the track. 

Directed by Brendan Hutchens, the video is sort of a hitchhiker’s guide to nowhere in particular; the sort of nowhere in particular that somehow feels, well — American. We see Bibby getting up from camp, walking alongside a deserted road, hitchhiking until two guys — the members of his band — pick him up, They pull over to the side of the road to play and pay homage to Whyalla’s legends. Much like the video for “Oceans,” the accompanying video for “Whyalla” feels like a slow-burning fever dream. 

“We shot this thing out in Glen Eagle’s Rest, due to COVID 19 we couldn’t shoot it in Whyalla,” Bibby says in press notes. “It came together nicely with the help of great friends, a great crew and a weird toilet cleaner who hung around telling us strange and creepy facts about the location. He said he was disappointed that we weren’t shooting a porno.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Peter Bibby Releases a Feverish and Watery Visual for Rowdy and Explosive “Oceans”

Peter Bibby is a rising and critically applauded Fremantle, Australia-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, who started his career when he turned 19, quitting the job he had at the time to busk, eventually landing a few paying gigs. Sometime later, Bibby landed a high paying job that he eventually lost because he would show up hungover from the gigs he’d play the night before. So, he wound up playing even more gigs with a series of different backing bands including Frozen Ocean, Fucking Teeth and Bottles of Confidence while developing a unique, rough and tumble sound and approach — one that many have described as being like Shane McGowan screaming at bleeding laudanum and typhoid hallucinations while his guitar playing with his guitar playing like a dog drunk on rum. 

With the release of his first two album’s 2014’s Butcher/Hairstylist/Beautician and 2018’s Grand Champion, Bibby has also been championed as an inherently working-class and wholeheartedly independent artist, commemorated in the 2018 documentary Chasing Palm Springs, which followed Bibby on a cross-country trip from Perth to Melbourne in a  temperamental van. Along with that, the Fremantle-based artist has begun building up a growing profile as a must-see act as a result of rowdy and raucous live set through headlining shows and stops across the international festival circuit — particularly with stops at Laneway, Falls and SXSW. 

Interestingly, today marks the release of Bibby’s first bit of new material since Grand Champion, his latest single “Oceans,” features his latest backing band, the rowdy and disorderly Dog Act, “Strawberry Pete” Gower (bass) and “Dirty Dave” Taylor (drums) — and the track is a wobbly, boozy and disorderly take on garage rock that’s full of spittle, fury and howled invective, fuzzy and lurching power chords, thunderous drumming and drunken shout worthy choruses that to my ears reminds me a little bit of Johnny Thunders’ “Born to Lose,” John Cale’s “Pablo Picasso” and others — but much more unhinged. 

“‘Oceans’ started out as a little sea shanty-esque poem scrawled on a piece of paper about going mad in the middle of the ocean. With the help of the Dog Act it soon morphed into a fairly raucous tune,” Bibby explains. “I used vibrato on the guitars to give it a wobbly seasick kind of sound, and we had some mates join us in the studio to sing along and clink beers together in the final chorus to give it the vibe of a pack of people getting drunk on a boat. As far as I recall, it is the only song I have written about losing one’s mind out at sea.”

Directed and shot by Duncan Wright, Luna Laure and Rhys Jones, the recently released video was shot around Fremantle and features Duncan as a shabbily dressed merman, a fisherman, a loutish, local drunkard and a drowning man — and each of those characters in one way or another is slowly going mad. It’s a dizzying and lysergic fever dream seemingly inspired by way copious amounts of booze, despair, loneliness and seasickness.  “The video was shot around Fremantle over a weekend by Duncan Wright , Luna Laure and Rhys Jones who came up with the whole idea in no time flat after COVID-19 put holes in our original plan,” Bibby says of the video. “I got to pretend I was a poorly dressed mermaid, a wharfy, a fisherman and a drowning guy as well as have a pretty damn good time doing it. I got a lot of seawater in my mouth for this video, but as we say in the game you have to suffer for the art. This is my second video featuring work overalls.”