You Am I - talking convicts

When You Am I were announced in the line up for last year’s Meredith Music Festival, there was excitement - followed by speculation about what they would play. All four members had been in the public eye for other projects but as a band they’d appeared a little sleepy. These concerns were initially allayed by a combination of new music and old rock antics- the perfect recipe for an amazing show - but when the band started playing tracks circa 1996, the crowd went mad.

With such a strong history, dating back more than 13 years, You Am I are constantly competing against themselves. The release of their seventh studio album, ‘Convicts,’ is their latest attempt and seems that they may be in with a chance of winning.

Their new record company, EMI, put ‘Convicts’ on par with their best work ever and band member Davey Lane confirms the consensus from inside is that it’s pretty great, ‘It’s definitely the best record I’ve gotten to play on, I’d put it up with Hi Fi Way.’
Four years have passed since the last studio album so You Am I came together to lay down ‘Convicts’ with renewed energy and excitement, ‘It felt good, it felt like coming back home to your mates,’ Lane told me. ‘When we do things together we have a pretty similar sense of humour and follow the same kind of things, whether it’s Arrested Development (the TV show) or whatever.’

Having all come from diverse projects (Tim Rogers fronting the Temperance Union, Davey Lane up front in The Pictures, Andy Kent moving into the management side of music and Rusty Hopkinson into record distribution and joining Radio Birdman) I asked Lane how things came together creatively for the recording?

‘Tim would give us a cassette with just acoustic guitar, he pretty much had all the structures worked out before. I can’t speak for Andy or Rusty but I couldn’t figure out my parts before I went to the studio. I’d always spend a few hours bashing away at the songs the night before in rehearsal.’

‘Convicts’ was recorded across five different studios as a way of working in with their schedules and Lane insists this was beneficial to the album. He’s not a fan of a lock-in approach to recording, ‘long stretches of recording tend to blur your creativity.’

I think back to Meredith and my excitement at their temporary regression to the nineties as I ask whether one of the downsides of longevity is the hesitancy of fans to let the band move forward. Lane seems a little unimpressed at the idea, ‘I hate to think that people would want you just to keep on playing the same things over,’ he answers, ‘I mean, people say stuff and you just have to grit your teeth. Hopefully people can listen to the record with an open mind.’

Hardcore You Am I fans are not only annoyingly attached to ‘the old stuff’ but some are even hesitant to recognise Davey Lane as anything other than ‘the new guy.’ After roughly six years as a three-piece the iconic rock band took on a fourth member, ‘I felt honoured to walk out of high school and join one of my favourite bands.’

His seven years with You Am I have flown by and he’s confident in his role with them, ‘Sure there’s people on internet forums saying You Am I were better as a three piece and stuff but I try to ignore that…People are always gonna consider me the new guy. When I think about that I just think of Ronnie Wood who everyone calls the ‘new guy’ and he’s been with the (Rolling) Stones for 30 years.’

Lane is in a coveted position, not only for his role in a band that is openly touted as a primary influence for much of Australia’s rock scene but also when proving his talent as a songwriter and singer for The Pictures. I ask him what he’s learnt from You Am I that he’s taken to his own band.

‘How to tune a guitar,’ he nominates first, ‘I had no idea when I joined the band…I’ve also learnt about having a degree of professionalism on stage.’ I wonder whether he learnt this from Rogers, who’s at times unprofessional to the point of being a liability…but I’m too scared to ask.

‘I’ve also learnt not to be too perturbed by criticism,’ he adds. ‘I was extremely unconfident for most of my life until I joined the band. Through (playing with the band) I learned to puff my chest out a little.’ The first single, ‘It aint funny how we don’t talk anymore,’ indicates there will be further reason for chest-puffing in the future and Lane is looking forward to touring with the boys, ‘I’ve been listening to this record a lot and it’s really conducive to a live setting.’

So fans get listening because ‘Convicts’ is out now and there’ll be many a gig to follow- your chance to see for yourself that the boys still have it.

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