I recently sat down with long-time friend and fellow musician Kegan Daly. We spoke about underground music, anarchism, Zen and permaculture.
Kegan is a member of Space Bong and Funeral Moon, and recently began FALSExIDOL Records.
Date: 12 June 2015
I suppose we should start with some sort of introduction as to who you are. So, Kegan; who are you mate?
I suppose I’m known as being involved with Adelaide bands Space Bong and Funeral Moon. I help out at a DIY record store down here called Backwater, and am the main organiser behind FALSExIDOL Records – a label I began when I got back from America last year.
I’m curious about how you first got involved in Adelaide’s underground. What were some of the first show you went to? How did you start playing in bands?
The first shows I went to were death and black metal shows at now defunct clubs in the mid-to-late nineties. That was back when both those styles were still raging.
That didn’t lead to anything straight away, but when I went to uni I bumped into people from those shows and became friends with a few more metalheads. That led to me joining with some musicians my own age who required the services of a vocalist – which I wanted to be.
That’s how I became involved in my first band, Meat Wallet. We played grindcore and technical death metal with jazzy interludes. It was good to mix the style up a little bit; we wanted to avoid being a typical metal band, which is basically quite boring and doesn’t really show off any diversity of taste in music.
Overtime I developed a taste for radical philosophies like anarchism and deep ecology. This naturally led me to punk and associated movements of squatting, dumpster diving and direct action.
So you’re currently singing in Funeral Moon, Space Bong, maybe Death Cult Jock. Are there any more projects on the horizon?
At this point probably not.
In the future I’d like to start up a dark blues type band that refers back to Howlin’ Wolf – but that’s a while off. At the moment the heavier side of music is definitely pre-occupying me more than enough.
I recall that six or seven years ago you were quite active in promoting shows and attempting to organise the chaotic rabble that is the Adelaide underground music scene. From memory, many of those shows were well-attended, and had quite eclectic bills.
But a few years later you stopped organising shows – or you seemed to only do so begrudgingly. What happened?
I think the toll of doing that for a number of years got to me. There was no personal development outside of those scenes. As soon as I wanted to break free and do some other stuff I found myself not being able to due to psychic/social reasons.
I deliberately tried to move out of that realm in order to gain some clarity of mind. I needed to take a six month break to regain some sanity, which was probably on the cards for at least a few years.
Finally I did that, and I feel a lot a better for it.
During that period you moved out of the city and into a rural property to begin studying. What were you studying and why?
I was studying horticulture and permaculture in order to develop the skills I’d need to live more self-sufficiently out in the country in the future – basically try to live the dream, because that’s the only real purpose I could see in living. I also become acquainted with Zen, esoteric buddhism and psychedelic therapy. I’m still heavily reliant on all these ideas today as part of my daily life.
Off the back of that period of study and slight reclusiveness, you travelled to America. Why did you make that trip?
To learn how to build using recycled materials and earth-based methods of construction at the Earthship Biotecture Academy in Taos, New Mexico. I also stayed on farms and participated in the organic operations of a few projects.
I just wanted to clear the air and get back some of that peace of mind that had been lacking after so many years of abuse.
You did quite a bit of cycling over there. Tell us about that.
Basically I started in Seattle, went down to San Francisco and then road through the south, to northern New Mexico. It ended up being around 5,000 kilometers once it was all through.
I spoke to you not long after you returned from that trip, and noticed a huge change in your attitude. You went from being burnt out and disinterested in music, to having an intense passion once more. There was almost a defiant edge to your announcement that you were going re-engage with the music scene. What changed?
I needed that break in order to figure out what I was doing with myself and whether or not music had the same hold on me that it did when I first started.
While I was overseas I did a bit of thinking everyday over a beer, and I motivated myself with the potential that existed back home. Now I just wanted to manifest that as fully as I can.
I definitely have something to prove to myself. I feel like I have unfinished business that I needed to attend to. I think there were a few people in Adelaide that had the same feeling, and who probably needed that same space to realise the importance of the musical relationships we’d developed over the course of a decade.
At the heart of this new commitment is your label, FALSExIDOL Records. What can you tell us about the ideas behind that?
The idea was to release bands that I felt passionate about. For ten or fifteen years I’ve been most passionate about black metal, doom metal, and grindcore. I wanted to release bands that I was truly passionate about, as opposed to just anything that came on my radar.
I also wanted to express an aesthetic, or perhaps a philosophical focus which resonated with me – the recognition that I need to feed my passion for the dark side of humanity or the chaos or whatever you want to call it. I wanted to give respect to that form by supporting it financially or organisationally.
And how does this relate to your logo; an image of Alan Watts with his eyes gouged out and a cross carved into his forehead?
It’s paying homage to the philosophies of Alan Watts, and almost poking fun at them as I think he was accustomed to do.
I’m basically poking fun at gurus and idols and those that claim to have some idea of what the truth is, and just trying to basically disembowel and disfigure that claim. It’s a zen thing.
Were there any other labels or organisations within Australia or internationally that have inspired you?
There were probably individuals, friends, who ran labels – like yourself (Art As Catharsis), Bubsy (Grindhead Records), and Jem (We Empty Rooms) – who provided me with on-ground inspiration required to begin, and helped me have confidence that I knew what was required to pull it off.
Internationally I think Southern Lord and Profound Lore, and a few other bigger labels provided a sonic and aesthetic inspiration. They are the overlords of the dark sounds I’m into.
What’s coming up on FALSExIDOL?
At the moment I’m focusing on a few releases which will be pressed on vinyl, and attempting to release those in a more “professional” way, with a very clear aesthetic. Those releases are the new Space Bong, Drowning Horse and Tombsealer/Swamp Lung split. These are the doom releases for the next six months. Beyond that, I’ll follow these up with a few black metal and grind releases. Probably splits between Australian bands.
Beyond that the label is going to be a lot more particular as to what bands it releases. I want to be 100% into the music and the bands that I release – I don’t want to have to feign enthusiasm when dedicating my time and money towards these projects. Unless I’m really enthusiastic about them I’ll probably not worry.
What has FALSExIDOL done to date?
I’ve released the Space Bong single ‘In Doom We Crust’ and the latest Funeral Moon recording, as well as a few others related to a local band called Shadowwolf, and a couple of the spinoff noise/drone projects they’ve been a part of. Namely Vulture Queen.
How about in terms of tours?
At the moment I’m taking the next step in the touring game. I’ve done a couple of national tours in the last few months with Funeral Moon and Encircling Sea, as well as Space Bong and Horsehunter. Having completed those I’m now looking to book a couple of other national tours; one will be the Space Bong album launch tour, as well as a South-East Asia tour.
I’m hoping to get Funeral Moon together with a couple of black metal bands, for a couple of splits in the next six months. Assuming that goes ahead we’ll go on another national tour.
Beyond that I’ve been talking to various doom and black metal bands from overseas about coming to Australia throughout 2016. One of those bands are confirmed for late March / early April. I’m getting excited about putting all the bits and pieces together to ensure that its as heavy as it can be.
Now that you’re back amongst the Australian underground scene, and having gone on those tours, what do you think of the state of “the scene”?
From a personal level I’ve been incredibly satisfied with the way that shows have been attended, I’ve been impressed with the sense of enthusiasm and support that people have generally shown. Whether or not that could just be a reflection of my attempts to be positive I’m not sure, but the reception has been encouraging.
As far as any other sort of analysis, whether it be economic, social or cultural, I don’t really trust that I’ve been involved in enough over the last couple of years to make too much of a statement. From the position I think things are quite healthy. I feel like there is a density of talent and creativity that’s quite healthy.
Trends and the like are hard to judge because the context is quite narrow in Australia; it’s hard to compare that to what’s going on overseas. It’s a tricky one to analyse, but from my position I’m stoked to see what everyones doing around the country.
As an aside I answered an interview for one of my bands the other day. I was asked typical questions like “What do you hate about the Australian music scene?”, and “What is better? Being a DIY band or being on a record label?”
I didn’t really want to dignify those questions with an answer to be honest. What’s the point of answering them?
It’s really just trying to create antagonising and drama where there doesn’t need to be any. Once you start feeding that beast it can get out of control very quickly. That seems to be what happens a lot in Australia because it’s such a small scene; everyone knows everyone and it gets dirty pretty quickly.
As soon as someone gets onto their ideological high horse, shit fucks up quickly. My strategy is to not give oxygen to any of that. Some people really crave attention, that’s why they have such strong, unjustified opinions. If it’s love they crave, well I’m happy to kill them with kindness. I have plenty of it.
Maybe the interviewer just wanted their views validated and reinforced. I probably won’t print this jibberish in the fucking interview, but that’s okay.
Well, I still like indulging in it like anyone else. I’ve got my own pet hates, but I try to make sure they’re not too petty. You’ve just got to hate the things that you know are worthy of hate, ultimately.
Well, it’s easy to hate. The more difficult thing is to say “Okay, well I don’t like this – how am I going to build something to move people away from that?” I feel that, for the criticisms to mean anything, they need to be followed with action.
I see that in your work with FALSExIDOL – you are embodying the change you want to see in the music scene, and you are facilitating the growth of the aspects of Australian music you think are worthwhile.
I think it’s always been that dual strategy amongst radical activists to either tear down the system that they despise, or create within that system the embryo of a future society. At some point you’ve got to make a choice – you need to really muster all your strength in order to oppose the juggernaut of Capitalism (or whatever it is that you despise) but, on a day to day basis, you really can try to embody the change that you want to see. I find that takes a lot less energy – especially a lot less negative energy – to do. That’s what I’m more focused on these days.
I’ve reflected on that a little bit in terms of anarchist thought; the idea that global capitalism will come crashing down, and that we’ll dance on the ruins before rebuilding a new, utopian society – that’s very hard for me to grasp.
But starting a small, effective collective – which is a considerable challenge in itself – is a much more attainable goal, and one that, rather than feeding antagonism and conflict actually allows for the vision to be realised, at least on a small scale.
There are various theories which articulate views around the “end of revolutions” and “the end of mass movements”, and while I don’t necessarily agree with them, I think you can’t have a mass revolution without it starting with a small group of people. At some point within some mass or global movement there’s always going to be a small beginning, or there’s the continuity of a small group of people who move on to be the main drivers behind those mass movements.
Not everyone can be a leader in the traditional sense. Everyone can participate, but there are always going to be those people who provide the inspiration, or some original thinking, or just act rather than wait. Whatever ultimately eventuates you’ve always gotta start somewhere, and I think these small projects are those places to begin.
So would you count all of the strong, DIY organisations or collectives around the country – Black Wire Records, or Backwater, or Black Goat Warehouse – as examples of spaces which are, while not technically operating within the current system, are sitting slightly outside of it in an attempt to cultivate some kind of community to resist?
They definitely are, but where it starts getting interesting for me is where you take the people who are contributing to those projects and you see how they manifest those same ideas outside of the music culture that they’ve been brought up in.
It’s very easy to nourish yourself with the culture provided by, say crust punk or doom metal – but to then take those values and work with them in the “real world”, say in a small business, or social activism, or working in NGOs – then you can see how those values manifest in the world of capitalist economics and social relations.
There a few of those groups like that in Australia at the moment, but there’s a lot more room for those alternate structures to push a bit of a new space – whether doing so under this conservative Abbott government is the best time or not I don’t know.
I definitely feel that, whether it be my age and growing cynicism, or the objective reality that things are worse now than they were twenty years ago, that there is a struggle going on – and in a sense we’re losing it, because all the money that was previously being invested into environmental projects, or social projects for equality or Indigenous sovereignty, is being ripped out. Now there are very few places for proactive anarchists or socialists to hide in the bureaucratic structure of the state.
We’re trying to confront the system. And while some of us are trying to compromise and work within it, there aren’t any places for us anymore, so we’ve almost got to start our own structures with our own funds. We can’t rely on the bosom of the state to provide those funds through the goodwill of some reformist socialists who get into power via the Labor Party. Those days are certainly not as prevalent. They may come back around again, but what that will take I’m not sure.
You touched earlier on the idea that perhaps the end of mass movements is at hand. I think that is a legitimate threat that we’ve got to worry about.
First of all the media is incredibly shallow, and keeps recycling near-meaningless micro-events – like when Tony Abbott says something mildly politically incorrect. The question for me is how much air do you give that versus real-world structural impacts his government is having in terms of ripping out funding for the arts, Indigenous culture, social services, women’s shelters…
And those anti-terrorism laws! When I was still working at [ redacted ] it blew my mind that they were essentially just signed off by the Labor Party and shipped through Parliament with little to no debate. What kind of effective democratic system is this meant to be when both the media and politicians are so neutered and ineffectual?
I think you’re completely right. That again links in with the problem that we can’t rely anymore on any shred of support from these larger structures, whether that be within the government, or the mass media. But then the question arises; how do we pursue our own ideological goals without any sort of support from those sections of society that have the most power?
Before John Howard I think we were lucky enough to have the support and goodwill of some people within the system. Now I don’t think there is any. We literally have no clout in the socio-economic system.
It’s interesting. There are rumblings that The Greens are in the midst of an upswing, and could be on the way to becoming a more mainstream party with considerable influence. Whether that will actually eventuate I don’t know.
The thing that really scares me is that, what has become default now is this sort of cynical apathy – “Yeah of course politics is a joke, of course Tony Abbott’s a jerk, of course Bill Shorten’s a bit pathetic” – and then we just disengage from the process and go on to live our lives. That sort of complacency is really dangerous. Taking Abbott as just a clown – rather than someone who has really negative real-world impacts – is a mistake.
I agree completely. That is my worry with these little tidbits of embarrassment that Tony Abbott receives from the media. They’re a joke, so therefore you can’t take it seriously – and how can you muster serious political action against someone that you don’t take seriously?
But on The Greens; I struggled with this question for quite a while, that the more I reflect on it the more I think that The Greens are probably one of the better hopes, despite the fact that in places like Germany they’ve have had to moderate their policies in order to get governmental power of some sort. I’m continually hopeful given the characters of a lot of their sitting members that these are people who are genuinely in touch with the values that they claim to support. Their values are matched by their rhetoric and by their policy solutions.
That pendulum can swing back into radicalism or at least reformism given The Greens continual rise to power. The trends are basically that, unless there is some sort of cataclysmic event within The Greens themselves, the voters, as they continue to become younger, will provide The Greens greater levels of power.
Interesting. Well maybe we’ll jump off politics and get back to music for a moment. Have you been listening to much music these days? What’s on your playlist?
Because I’m always observing what’s going on in the underground music scene in Australia, whenever I get a chance to listen to music for pleasure I try not to listen to metal or anything heavy. Classical music is something I love listening to.
What kind of classical?
Mozart, Bach, and all the greats and anything playing on ABC Classic FM, besides opera. Outside of that I like really chill, electronic ambient stuff.
As far as metal goes I do like the new movement of modern black metal in bands like Celeste, Hexis, and Wolves in the Throne Room – I really embrace the sentiment behind that.
Doom metal is just totally saturated at the moment. I’m particularly picky and judgemental when it comes to that genre because so many people are trying to do it, and therefore it gets harder to find a band who does it well. I suppose I’m just really waiting to listen to the new Goatsnake album and anything Primitive Man puts out.
Have you heard the new Liturgy at all?
What is that?
You know how Wolves in the Throne Room are sometimes labelled “hipster black metal”? Liturgy are the epitome of that term. So this guy who is obviously quite intelligent, but incredibly pretentious, has gone out and written a new black metal manifesto – he’s written a whole philosophy of why he engages with black metal, and it’s very different to why other people do.
They’ve released some pretty out-there stuff – their latest album is just really fucking different. It’s the type of thing where, if someone is an old black metal purist, they are going to despise it. They’d be disgusted.
I’ve never heard anything like their new album. Is it listenable? Probably not. Is it interesting?… You’d probably hate it.
I like the idea of someone taking their own views seriously enough to sit down for that long and create some sort of totality of who they are as a being. I think that’s admirable. Whether or not I agree with that is a different story. You take some of the National Socialist black metal and it’s just junk.
Are there any other bands in the Australian scene you think are doing interesting things?
Mainly the bands I particularly like I’m releasing or seeking to release. I really like what Tombsealer are doing – I’m starting to notice more death/doom bands trying to re-insert themselves as that style, which is something new for me. That’s going to be interesting to watch over the next few years.
I do like this attempt by doom bands like Drowning Horse to increase the heaviness of doom while stripping back to the bones of what heavy sounds like. Whether that be keeping on one riff or one note for ten minutes – to be able to do that and make it interesting is the test of what doom metal was initially about; which is just to be heavy without being complex.
In the black metal and grindcore realms, I’ve seen Hordes Of The Black Cross, Grimalkin, Thrall and Coffin Birth recently. They all do justice to their fields and would love to work with them on some disgusting shit some day soon. Melbourne is continually pumping out the most brutal bands. Any opportunity I get to tour over there with a band from Adelaide, I take.
What do you think of the fact that blackened influences are moving across to other genres? There are obviously a lot of blackened hardcore crossover groups of varying quality popping up; there are scores of post-rock and post-metal bands trying to incorporate elements of that style.
I’m sort of not really sure what these musicians are trying to do. To me it just sounds like a genre sounding a bit heavier or a bit darker – and that’s it. I’m not sure what the relevance of the term “blackened” is. Not saying I don’t like it. It’s probably an apt description of their sounds. I just see it as a natural evolution of boundary pushing, call it what you will.
Are you reading anything interesting at the moment?
I’ve been under the pump these last few months trying to start the label and a permaculture business, so I haven’t had enough time to indulge in personal reading.
I’ve been attempting to read the likes Carlos Castaneda and some of the traditions of psychedelic ritualism. I’m always on the cusp of diving back into that.
Wasn’t Carlos Castaneda outed as a fraud?
I think there was talk of his writings being fictional, but that was always the doubt that they could he completely truthful. It’s one of those things where if it’s fiction – fine. If it’s not – fine. You can take it how you want it.
I can remember reading his first book, The Teachings of Don Juan. He seemed very focused on the practises but I don’t feel like he explained the philosophy very well – or at all. Perhaps he was just trying to be obscure.
That’s a fair analysis. A lot was based on anthropology rather than the beliefs. Whether or not that was his attempt at using a different format of novel to convey his message I’m not sure, but I suppose that’s the reason why I’m studying it, to try and get some insight via the practises rather than just a re-interpretation of values – or someone else’s interpretation of someone else’s values.
That’s all I’ve got mate, but I think that’s plenty. Thank you for the chat.
https://falsexidolrecords.bandcamp.com
The interview originally appeared in Unbelievably Bad
