In this Thrashville special, we talk to Ross Knight AKA Knighty, the Cosmic Psychos’ lead vocalist/bassist and sole remaining original member, and guitarist John McKeering AKA ‘Mad Macka’.
Interview by Corin S. Destruction
Metal-Roos: Cosmic Psychos have been since the mid-80s. Take me back to those early days – how did it really start?
Knighty: “Our first release came in ’85, [the Down On The Farm EP], but we’d sort of been goin’ for a few years before that. As you do in a band, you bum around for a bit before you can put the money together, the $600 to make a record, which is what it was then.
Metal-Roos: You were called in after FEAR had to pull out of Thrashville. How did it feel to get that call and return to Thrashville?
Knighty: We feel at home doing any show, we don’t give a stuff, but really, it was a nice surprise to get called in, because FEAR couldn’t make the show. We first played here nine years ago. Loved it. It’s a really good festival to play, so we were more than happy to come and, I don’t know, fill a hole.
Metal-Roos: You guys have often championed the younger Aussie punk generation, including bands such as The Chats and Amyl & The Sniffers. What made Lachie from Good Sniff the right fit for you guys, as your drummer tonight?
Knighty: He’s done a few gigs with us now, which has been unreal. Lachie’s a very, very good drummer. I think he’s been playing drums since he was four years old, and he can play guitar, play bass and sing. I don’t know why Lachie’ not doing the whole fucking gig.
Metal-Roos: Beyond their musical chops, what really gives someone the Cosmic Psychos tick of approval?
Knighty: You’ve just got to be a good person. That’s it. Honestly, if Lachie stood there with a funny hat on and a snare drum and a marching outfit, but he was a good bloke, he’d still be having the gig. We’re not standing on a pedestal going, ‘you have to be this good’.
Metal-Roos: You recently played a show at a swimming pool. How did that come about?
Knighty: That was the OK Motel in Charlton, run by fantastic people. It’s just got a really good history and a good vibe. Not unlike where we are today [at Thrashville]. It was fucking hot, so we decided to jump in.
Macka: You nearly drowned.
Knighty: I won’t do that again, wearing boots. I got to the bottom of the pool and thought, ‘right, it’s time to get to the surface’, but as I pushed off the bottom, because my boots were full of water, I didn’t go anywhere. It was like I was walking around the bottom of the ocean, looking for pearls.
Metal-Roos: Weren’t you worried about the gear and cables getting wet, at the gig? Macka: No, they were too far away.
Metal-Roos: You’ve got this reputation for being loud, intense, hard-drinkers. What’s touring like for you now?
Knighty: Gone are the days of touring in Europe where you’re just playing bloody Body Count and Badmotorfinger flat out after a gig, getting fucked up, yelling and screaming, and everyone’s smoking in the van, drinking, yelling and screaming on different drugs. These days it’s different. We’re just sitting there, and it’s nice and quiet now. If anyone wants to listen to music or do anything, you put your bloody ear pod fang-dangle things in your ears.
Metal-Roos: Your latest, twelfth album I Really Like Beer recently came out with a beer-filled vinyl record. Where did that idea come from?
Knighty: Well, if it was a smart idea, it wasn’t ours. It’s unreal. I don’t know why no one’s done it before. I reckon it’d have to improve the sound, give it more fizz.
Metal-Roos: Fans see you as a no-bullshit, heart-on-sleeve band that loves the music, the fans and having a good time. Is that the guiding principle for the Psychos?
Knighty: Plus, we’re not that bloody good, which rounds the whole thing out perfectly.
Macka: We do the best we can. There’s a few obstacles.
Metal-Roos: Looking ahead, what’s next for the Cosmic Psychos?
Knighty: We’ve got festivals in Europe, we’ve got Japan coming up, then probably back to America, and then another East Coast tour of Australia in January, so we can’t wait. Thank goodness for the Labor government’s aged care policy. I can make it through a whole tour.
