SCENEzine
Do you have memories of shooting the video for “Just Ace”?
Kris Hopes
I do it was a really late night in a underground railway station in Sydney. We had a permit to film from midnight until 5AM. So it was a very late night. I think we’d been up for almost two days when we got to it. It was a pretty funny video to shoot. We shot the last scene about five minutes before the first commuter train for the morning came in when our time ran out. We were lucky to get it all done.
SCENEzine
Another huge crowd favourite is “Champion” do you remember how that song came about in the writing process?
Kris Hopes
The music came first. Joe wrote most of the music for that one. Him and I basically rehearsed a couple of rhythm tracks that we had we just thought that was a pretty cool rhythmical tune to play. Then obviously Pat and Phil added their bits and it came out pretty good we really liked that track.
SCENEzine
To celebrate Guide to Better Living you have re-released it featuring some live tracks recorded at CBGB’s. What was it like playing that iconic venue?
Kris Hopes
It was amazing. It’s a shame that it’s closed down now. We got to play that venue a couple of times. We had a pretty memorable gig there the last one. Bands like Blondie and Pearl Jam had played there it was amazing to be a young band from Lismore and get to play a venue like that in New York.
SCENEzine
Grinspoon are quite uniquely Australian. So did American audiences understand what you were all about?
Kris Hopes
No well back then it was kind of weird because Americans really like to put you into a category. They could never do that with us, they weren’t sure if we were a metal band or a punk band or a rock band. We didn’t really fit the pieces together for any of those genres. Our true fans out there got the band and knew what we were all about. I think it was difficult for a lot of people especially Americans to work out who we were.
SCENEzine
Guide to Better Living has also recently been pressed on vinyl. It must be a cool feeling to see the album now on vinyl?
Kris Hopes
Yeah it’s pretty cool for us. The EP we did before the album we got pressed a really small run of vinyl back then and I’ve still got one floating around somewhere. It was really cool to be able to do it these days and have some limited edition red vinyl. I’m stoked to have the album on a record that I can play at home. Not that I have yet but I will.
SCENEzine
I grew up like many Australian’s seeing you play at Big Day Out, Homebake and all kinds of places. It must be surreal to think how Grinspoon affected so many peoples lives growing up?
Kris Hopes
Yeah that’s exciting for us. We obviously set out when we recorded the album for people to like it but we didn’t think it would carry on this long. We’ve had fans bringing their kids to our shows. It’s pretty amazing really.
SCENEzine
Is there a key reason why Grinspoon has been able to stay the same four members?
Kris Hopes
I think if Grinspoon ever wanted to change a member we would break the band up. The chemistry between the four of us is a key to this band. It would be something totally different if there was a different guitar player, bass player, drummer or singer. It has a lot to do with the longevity of the band and why we are back doing it again at the moment. My suggestion to people in bands these days is find some dudes that you really like and stick together.
SCENEzine
Is Phil as crazy off stage as he is on?
Kris Hopes
Generally yeah (laughs). He’s always a bit of fun. There’s always something going on with him. You need that in a front man for your band. He’s an amazing front man.
SCENEzine
During the bands hiatus what were you personally up to?
Kris Hopes
I ran a commercial handy man business and took time away from music. I just wanted a break from music to recharge the batteries. We had been touring for almost eighteen years solid and when we weren’t touring we were writing and recording. So for me it was time to get away from music for a little while and take a fresh look at it.
SCENEzine
Lastly is there any news on new Grinspoon music happening anytime soon?
Kris Hopes
We’ve talked about a bit of stuff and there’s a couple of tracks floating around. I don’t know if they’re going to see the light of day but we are just taking it one step at a time. We will get to the end of this tour then see how everyone is feeling. But nothing concrete we are just focusing on this tour at the moment.
(Interview by Christian Ross)