The Screaming Jets and Baby Animals will forever be cemented in Australian rock music. Back in the early 90’s they both achieved major success through hit radio singles and incredible live shows. Fast forward to June 2017 and both bands are teaming up for an Australian co-headline tour. We caught up with The Screaming Jets guitarist Jimi ‘the Human’ Hocking as he shares his excitement for the tour.
SCENEzine
Firstly how’s 2017 going for you?
Jimi Hocking
So far it’s looking like a busy year for me. I’ve got another band besides the Jets where I play blues music. I’ve been really busy with that since our last Jets tour. Just like Dave has been off doing The Angels gigs, he and I have been out there playing. I’ve also got a new baby coming very soon so even though I’m in the middle of rock n roll worlds I’m going to be a new dad again so it’s a big year.
SCENEzine
It’s around a year since The Screaming Jets new album Chrome was released. Looking back are you stoked with how it all turned out?
Jimi Hocking
Absolutely, you couldn’t of asked for a better response from Jets fans and people in general because obviously it was a long time between drinks for albums from The Screaming Jets. A lot happened in the eight years between the last record and this one. What people don’t realise is that for us making the Chrome album together was kind of like a cathartic experience. We came to a good place again. There was a bit of lineup changing going on I came back in 2009. We kind of got a little momentum up again, we started playing , we started re-thinking ourselves a bit. We came to a good place and said lets make a record even if it was just for us. Then we made an old fashioned rock n roll record by standing in the studio together, playing together. We didn’t cut and paste, we made a real record. The fact that everybody got on board with us and liked the record that was all cream. It really was good for us as individuals to make the Chrome record.
SCENEzine
A standout track from the album is “Automatic Cowboy”. Is there a story behind that song?
Jimi Hocking
I have no ideas what the story behind the song is (laughs). When we came to thinking about the record it started when Dave and I were just working on some ideas together. He was sending me some lyrics and I was putting some riffs together for him. We didn’t know what we were going to do with those songs by the way. Then Dave and I thought you know what, to make a Screaming Jets record you really have to have a certain flavour and so Paul is the guy that’s written the body of The Screaming Jets catalogue over the years. So we said we’ve gotta get Paul to write the record. We charged him with the task of coming up with material. We locked him away and said go and write twenty songs so he wrote a bunch of new songs and then we re-visited a few old songs that I even demoed with the band twenty years ago. So we sifted through a bunch of stuff and “Automatic Cowboy” originally was some riffs that Paul had come up with then Scotty and me embellished in the demo session. We just loved the way the riffs went down they were really fat. When I left the studio from the second bunch of sessions we still didn’t have a vocal for that song. So the first time I heard the vocal of “Automatic Cowboy” was when I got sent the mixes for the album. It was awesome to hear it come together so well.
SCENEzine
You also recently released a live EP that featured a cover of “Folsom Prison Blues” do you think it’s cool that The Screaming Jets can take on a song like that?
Jimi Hocking
There’s a lot stuff musically behind the scenes in all our lives that people would be surprised about. Dave is a huge early country music fan. He loves Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. I know all I know about that kind of country music from Dave. When we drive we used to bring our car tapes on the road, mine would be old blues guys and Frank Zappa and Neil Young. Dave was always Johnny Cash. So for us it’s not a far cry that Dave wants to play that song. We’ve played it off and on for years and now it’s turned up on that live EP. So I think it’s kind of funny because we all know that Dave loves that stuff and people get a shock about it sometimes now.
SCENEzine
You are about to hit the road co-headlining with Baby Animals. How did this tour come about?
Jimi Hocking
Well one of the earliest tours that The Screaming Jets and the Baby Animals ever did was about twenty seven years ago. Before the Baby Animals went to America and did the Van Halen tour and before the Screaming Jets had their big success with “Better”. Last year we did a big outdoor festival together at Hope Estate. It was good to see everybody and catch up and I think that after we hung out a bit we all reminisced about those old days and thought it would be nice to go out and do some gigs together and maybe even a tour. So the idea was hatched then and gained momentum behind the scenes ever since. So it’s part nostalgia and also part a good idea. Two great bands of the same age group so our fans would relate. Palace Of The King will be joining us so it’s a good lineup we are really looking forward to the tour starting.
SCENEzine
Among the dates you will play Newcastle will that date hold special significance for The Screaming Jets?
Jimi Hocking
Of course that’s where the band emerged from the Newcastle scene. I joined the band in 1993 so I was the first person to join the band who was an outsider of Newcastle. So novacastrians gave me shit for years because I wasn’t from there (laughs). We love playing Newy I lived there for a while at Dave’s place. There’s a lot of good memories and it’s a cool place for the band to play it’ll be a good show.
SCENEzine
Did you know much about The Screaming Jets before you joined?
Jimi Hocking
In those days there was a whole swag of bands that came out at the same time. I had a band in Melbourne called Jimi the Human and Spectre 7, don’t laugh that was appropriate for the time. The first time I saw The Screaming Jets was when they came to Melbourne and opened for me because I was a legend in Victoria but pretty much nowhere else. So we all met in the very early days that was two years before I joined the band. That was how it all started all these bands came out at the same time like Baby Animals, Johnny Diesel, Nick Barker. So we all played shows together we were all part of the scene. I even knew Suze when she first came over from Perth and was forming the band Baby Animals. So there’s a bit of history between us all and it was a no brainer in some ways that I came into the band since we knew each other. I was a no brainer that I came back because Dave and I were always close friends for many years even when I had left Screaming Jets. So we are part of the same contemporary group.
SCENEzine
Can you believe it’s twenty years since World Gone Crazy album was released?
Jimi Hocking
Hell no I can’t. Somebody actually sent me a message about that the other day. I’ve got some video footage of us recording the record that I took. To look at us is like holy shit look how young we look. I’ve got long flowing brown hair and I’ve got short grey hair now. People say to me what ever happened to that guy with the long hair and I’m like yeah…that’s me I’m a bit different now (laughs). It’s pretty funny but we’ve had a dream run, we’ve had the ups and downs of every rock and roll band but we are still here to talk about it. We have a great time playing and the bands in a really good place. Yes we are older but we still love what we do.
SCENEzine
Even though its twenty years since you guys recorded your version of “Eve of Destruction” that songs meaning is still sadly relevant today.
Jimi Hocking
Unfortunately that’s completely true and that irony is not lost. You’d thing that we would of moved ahead. It was an old song when we recorded it and to think that the message is still something that people should be still listening to now is a little depressing.
SCENEzine
Back in 1988 you played as a member of The Angels. This June is three years since the passing of Doc Neeson. Do you have a favourite Doc memory?
Jimi Hocking
It’s ironic that Dave sings in The Angels now because that was a no brainer since the Jets and The Angels did many tours together over the years. I was the first one to come from our generation into that band when Bob Spencer broke his wrist and I filled in for him. Doc was a gem to me because I had saved their tour. I was just this young kid who came in and sort of saved the day. At one point I remember in the middle of one song he would crawl towards me on his hands and knees like a dog with the microphone in his mouth. He would kind of hump my leg while I was playing on stage (laughs) it was pretty bizarre for a young guy like me. I was just happy that for years and years to come all the guys in The Angels were really supportive of what I did. I had made this connection with this group of guys and it always stuck. To this day we are all still great friends.
SCENEzine
When you hit the stage is there a particular song old or new you love playing live?
Jimi Hocking
I’ve got some favourite songs but they might depend on my mood. I like “October Grey” those kind of melodic songs. I like “Automatic Cowboy” as well and “C’mon” I think they are great songs and I love getting out there and playing them. I’m a guitar nerd I take different guitars every tour. This is my thing, it’s a good time for me.
SCENEzine
Is there any chance The Screaming Jets might cover Baby Animals for fun on this tour?
Jimi Hocking
(laughs) You’re the first person to suggest that. I might bring it up at rehearsal but I don’t know that’s a hard one because we are kind of out there both doing our thing. It’d be nice to get up there and play a song together.
Leave that one with me.
SCENEzine
Lastly can you leave us a message for all the Aussie fans stoked with the tour?
Jimi Hocking
Well it’s great that there’s been people supporting us all these years all through our crazy career. We appreciate you coming and rocking out. Come and see us again because we are still out there doing what we love and we hope that you join in with the fun with us. It’s rock n roll, it’s good times.
(Interview by Christian Ross)
