Photographer: Russ Neipp
Venue: ?
Location: Byron Bay, Australia
Show Date: December 23, 2009

By Natalie Salvo

When you hear a name like Philadelphia Grand Jury, you would be forgiven for thinking they were a litigious group heralding from Pennsylvania. Instead they’re a duo from Sydney, Australia, which play indie rock, punk and soul music.

The group is made up of two kings of pseudonyms- Simon Berckelman aka Berkfinger (vocals/guitar) and Joel Beeson aka MC Bad Genius (bass, keyboard and guitar). They are joined by a rotating line-up of drummers, a role presently occupied by Michigan-born funkster, Calvin Welch. This arrangement has also been the source of many amusing drum battles between those past and present in the chair.

Their first single, “Going To The Casino,” and debut album, “Hope Is For Hopers,” has won the boys a legion of fans that affectionately dubbed them, The Philly Jays. This doesn’t stop Berkfinger from coming up with new band names – a pastime he thoroughly enjoys, as today he’d like them to be known as Funny Farm.

Indie Rock Reviews was given the opportunity for an email interview with The Philly Jays and as a result learned about rag-tag hobos, shredding along to Alice Cooper and playing with rain sticks.

Indie Rock Reviews: Firstly, congratulations are in order as you recently won an Australian Independent Record (AIR) Award for Best Independent Single for “Going To The Casino.” How are things going?
Simon Berckelman: Thanks! Our manager Martin has the award on his desk. He loves that kind of stuff.

IRR: For those who haven’t seen Philadelphia Grand Jury live, how would you describe your shows?
SB: Well, I guess they can get a bit crazy. Boisterous, I suppose. Our bass player MC Bad Genius is one of those people that you meet and think, “Wow he’s nice and friendly and polite.” And then you see him on stage and he’s breaking everything in sight. I think he’s slightly disturbed, you know?

IRR: Many bands have their own unique ways of staying sane on tour by amusing themselves and fighting boredom with megaphones or doing silly things. What does Philadelphia Grand Jury do to stay sane on the road?
SB: Sleep is the key. If you get sleep then you are less likely to ruin a friendship of 10 years because of something stupid like who ate the last Pod. Also, we usually get a 12-seater bus but there’s only three of us so we get to stretch out and avoid one another. And I guess the best thing about touring is that you often go to interesting places so we just try and make friends and then get them to show us around. Once we got to go to Wet ‘n’ Wild (Water Park) – that was cool.

IRR: Before your shows at Brisbane’s Troubadour you were planning to build a volcano out of papier-mâché. Do you have any surprises planned for your upcoming festival dates?
SB: Ha! Yes. I was not supposed to speak about it but I guess we can announce it here first. Our drummer Calvin (Welch) is going to play Falls Festival dressed as a dolphin. It was his idea.

IRR: On September 25 this year the group staged National Philly Jays Day to coincide with the release date of the record, “Hope Is For Hopers.” The band played seven shows in one day on the back of a flat-bed truck in what some people described as a homage to AC/DC’s “Long Way To The Top” video. How did things go performing so many shows in such a short space of time?
SB: It was hard. But so is bricklaying, you know? Next year we are going to play in all the states of Australia in one day, but not territories because that would be impossible.

IRR: “Hope Is For Hopers” was self-produced and made with a shoestring budget. Can you tell us a little bit about how things went recording-wise?
SB: Well I do most of the nerd-tech stuff and MC Bad Genius turns up late and takes all of the glory. The record started under my grandparent’s house and lived through various set-ups including MC Bad Genius’s flamboyant uncle’s house in Fitzroy, Melbourne, a bedroom in Kings Cross and Big Jesus Burger Studios in Surry Hills. We did a lot of the big studio stuff in the early hours of the morning after the real clients had gone home. We made a lot of mistakes and pissed each other off a lot and it took four years but that’s the price you pay for self-producing with no money.

IRR: With your background as a producer, mixer and an engineer, I’m curious to know whether you will be wearing any of these hats when you record your second album?
SB: I heard that hats make you go bald. I also heard that a man should take off one’s hat when he meets a woman and never ever wear it again. The only way we can afford to exist as an independent band is by self-producing so that’s what we are going to do for the next album. The album after is going to be produced by E from the Eels.

IRR: Is it difficult for you guys to perform with a rotating line-up of drummers?
SB: We have much bigger problems than getting to work with three of the best drummers in the country. Our entire live show is held together with tape. Every morning we wake up and have to find someone to fix this or that. It’s never ending. We feel stupid describing the night before and how it all happened.

IRR: In one interview you said you hope to bring out the groove on your sophomore record. What else can fans expect from your new material?
SB: It’s all going to be about a new girl.

IRR: I once read that Ben Ottewell from Gomez recorded music from a Cambodian Street Festival when he was on vacation and this was subsequently used on their album, “In Our Gun.” Have you ever captured unique sounds to add layers to your own recordings?
SB: Wow, that album is so shit. I love the first Gomez record though. When I was a teenager I used to run around trying to capture amazing field recordings and put them into my music but you get over it pretty quick. Like a rain stick, you use it once and then you get it out of your system.

IRR: Can you tell us a little bit more about the song writing process?
SB: Most of the basic musical ideas come out in everyday life and get recorded onto the mobile phone. Then they get translated via musical instrument, then MC Bad Genius adds another part or section then I walk around the streets at night until I get some lyrical ideas. If MC Bad Genius starts a song he usually scores out the parts in musical notation and faxes them to us for us to prepare our parts.

IRR: What would be the quintessential items required to be impersonators of The Philly Jays?
SB: You would have to assemble a rag-tag bunch of hobos and winos and spend years emotionally abusing them.

IRR: Do you think a song needs to have an underlying message of love in order for it to be any good?
SB: Love or hate. Same Shit.

IRR: The music video for the single, “The Good News” has a great “Where’s Wally” meets “Animalia” vibe. How much input do you have into deciding the theme of your videos?
SB: None on that one. We were so tired and angry and over things at that point in time that we really enjoyed letting someone else be in control. And it turned out real nice. There’s probably a lesson in that.

IRR: What is your earliest memory involving music? And what is your earliest memory involving the band?
SB: They used to sell cassette tapes on big tables on the street in the Sydney CBD (Central Business District) and I remember that I got Alice Cooper’s “Billion Dollar Babies” for $3 from a stall on York St. Now I had stolen my dad’s acoustic guitar long before I was old enough for him to teach me how to play it and so, armed with my Alice Cooper I took to jamming along on my bunk bed in my room. I must have been 11 because my little sister was a baby and she would be crying and my mum would be yelling and I was just locked in there shredding away. Of course I didn’t know how to work the guitar at all so I would just hit it and attempt to manipulate it like I had seen on TV and it was fascinating because I would just stare into this thing, knowing that it could make so many noises and I felt like it was my mission to work out its secrets. In some ways I’m still just as naive.

“Hope Is For Hopers” is out now. Philadelphia Grand Jury also plays SXSW in 2010.

Philadelphia Grand Jury – The Good News

Visit Philadelphia Grand Jury

Top 10 Australia albums of 2009:
I’m going to fly the Australian flag and pick my top ten Aussie releases from the past year. I picked these for a range of reasons and these are far too many to list here. But I guess primarily you should know that I have given these goodies many spins in ‘09…

1. Dappled Cities – Zounds
http://www.myspace.com/dappledcities

Dappled Cities – The Price

2. Sarah Blasko – As Day Follows Night

http://sarahblasko.com

3. Red Riders – Drown In Colour
http://www.myspace.com/redridersmusic

4. Philadelphia Grand Jury – Hope Is For Hopers
http://www.philadelphiagrandjury.com/

5. Darren Hanlon – Pointing Ray Guns At Pagans
http://www.darrenhanlon.com/

6. Paul Dempsey – Everything Is True
http://www.myspace.com/pauldempseysolo

7. Shane Nicholson – Familiar Ghosts
http://www.shanenicholson.com/

8. Matt McHugh – Separatista
http://www.matmchugh.com/

9. Yves Klein Blue – Ragged & Ecstatic
http://www.myspace.com/yveskleinbluemusic

10. Jamie Hutchings – His Imaginary Choir
http://www.jamiehutchings.com/

Top 5 EPs of 2009:
I chose my top five EPs for the year because I think these are sadly a dying art. Has anyone else ever experienced the sheer thrill that is hearing an awesome b-side? If not, you can check these out because they’re pretty amazing.

1. Liam Finn and Eliza-Jane Barnes – Champagne In Seashells

http://www.myspace.com/theliamfinn

2. Tame Impala – self-titled EP
http://www.tameimpala.com/

3. Papa vs Pretty – EP2
http://www.myspace.com/papavspretty

4. Death Cab For Cutie – The Open Door EP
http://www.deathcabforcutie.com/

5. Deep Sea Arcade – Don’t Be Sorry EP
http://www.myspace.com/deepseaarcade