motel void

Melbourne’s Bollard – the sextet of Tom Walsh, Lam Jushung (The mirrors, Raindogs), Luke Scott (Highschool, Raindogs), Benton Ching, Wes Faulkner and Marni Walsh – make intense and unpredictable music. Packing out band rooms since 2018, championed by the likes of Trouble juice, Doubtful sounds and Hysteria magazine, Bollard are a seasoned band with plenty to give.

MOTEL VOID: You’ve just released your new single Jacob the Liar, will it be part of your new album?

BOLLARD: Jacob The Liar is part of our 4 track EP that will be released around July/August. We wrote and recorded these tracks quite soon after recording our last album ‘Lo.‘

MOTEL VOID: ‘Lo’ came out last year. What was the writing and recording process behind it? Are you satisfied with the reception of the record?

BOLLARD: ‘Lo’ was recorded with Aaron Dobos, who we had previously recorded an EP and album with, at Newmarket studios in Melbourne. We were limited in time to record due to lockdowns and members time commitments and so only had 1 day to record in the studio. We spent a week or so before we recording finalising the song sketches and getting them polished for the recording. We took a bit longer to add the final touches to the tracks and it was much more of an iterative process than our previous efforts. This can distort how we feel about the tracks because there are so many versions to reference, but ultimately we think it made the tracks a lot stronger.

We were extremely happy with the reception. There are of course many metrics to judge success, but we felt that audiences seemed to connect and have a good time at our live shows which is the most important this for us.

MOTEL VOID: You cooperated with Houston based label RockhandRecords in the past. Is there any chance that you would go on an American tour in the near future?

BOLLARD: Yes, Paul from RockhandRecords was an incredible help for us especially in the early years and an important connection to the USA. We would love to take our live show to the US in the future! While it’s unlikely to be anytime soon, it’s definitely on our radar. We love the American scene and the diverse music that comes out of it. The ability to play to so many people who support live music is a big drawcard.

MOTEL VOID: You draw inspiration from bands like Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr., are there any current indie rock bands that you are inspired by as well?

BOLLARD: Yes, there a plenty and too many to name. At the moment we draw inspiration from DIIV, Moin and Melbourne band EXEK.

MOTEL VOID: You come from the suburbs of Northern Melbourne. In addition to shows in Melbourne, Sydney… you also played cities I have never heard of – Geelong, Ballarat, Frankston, Creswick, Castlemaine, Northcote… How different is playing in smaller cities/towns In Australia? Which one do you prefer?

BOLLARD: Yes, Australia has some incredible places to play and we’re trying to get to as many as we can. These regional towns have scenes with diverse and eclectic music tastes and cool venues which makes getting there a lot of fun. Getting on the road and seeing new places is always interesting and we love having a new audience to perform to. Playing in these places can be different because you do end up having a more personal relationship with the audience and venue for the night. When we played in Creswick they let us stay in the adjoining hotel and rehearse in the main bar in morning. A few of the people who came to see us the night before came past with their morning coffees! I hope more international acts start getting to more of these places.

That said, our adopted hometown Melbourne has a very rich scene which makes playing shows and making new music quite motivating. There’s always a new band to support and audiences to play to. We like a healthy balance of hometown shows and getting on the road, but I lean to getting outside the bigger cities purely for the adventure.