Just a word of warning this no-holds-barred documentary will have you in hysterics. It is the story of ‘70s Aussie punk rock band, Cosmic Psychos, who started from nothing in rural Australia and built an international fan base that included Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Garbage. The group of mates formed as a high school rock band in 1977 and called themselves Rancid Spam. The name Dirty Cosmic Psychos came about from each of their nicknames - yep Jones’ was known as ‘Dirty’, Walsh ‘Cosmic’ and Ross Knight had long been called ‘Psycho’ through out his school years - says it all really.
Knight, the star of Cosmic Psychos: Blokes You Can Trust - who these days is a small town weightlifting champion and is known to drive bulldozers and dig ditches on a farm in Victoria - talks about how he and his mates just stumbled across this career as musicians and says at the beginning, for the most part, they never really knew what they were doing. Thirty years on and the band are still going strong. Described by Steve Turner from Mudhoney as “pretty exotic and from a completely different life and world - they sang songs about driving a bulldozer and dead kangaroos” the band and their story is pure entertainment and one not to be missed!
Just a word of warning this no-holds-barred documentary will have you in hysterics. It is the story of ‘70s Aussie punk rock band, Cosmic Psychos, who started from nothing in rural Australia and built an international fan base that included Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Garbage. The group of mates formed as a high school rock band in 1977 and called themselves Rancid Spam. The name Dirty Cosmic Psychos came about from each of their nicknames - yep Jones’ was known as ‘Dirty’, Walsh ‘Cosmic’ and Ross Knight had long been called ‘Psycho’ through out his school years - says it all really.
Knight, the star of Cosmic Psychos: Blokes You Can Trust - who these days is a small town weightlifting champion and is known to drive bulldozers and dig ditches on a farm in Victoria - talks about how he and his mates just stumbled across this career as musicians and says at the beginning, for the most part, they never really knew what they were doing. Thirty years on and the band are still going strong. Described by Steve Turner from Mudhoney as “pretty exotic and from a completely different life and world - they sang songs about driving a bulldozer and dead kangaroos” the band and their story is pure entertainment and one not to be missed!
I got to ask the ever so brilliant Melbourne based filmmaker, Matt Weston why he rates the Cosmic Psychos and questions about the film ahead of its debut on Rialto tonight.
Who are the Cosmic Psychos?
Cosmic Psychos are an Australian punk rock band from regional Australia that began in the mid 1980’s and found themselves in Seattle right as grunge broke.
What is your personal connection to the band and how did the idea for a film come about?
I’ve grown up playing in bands and around the music scene here in Australia, and had someone suggest, “you should do a film on the Psychos”, which I knew nothing about. It so happened that the drummer was related to a good friend of mine so I investigated it – and after a few quick stories, I was hooked.
I saw you went for crowd funding for this film and congratulations on exceeding the target! How receptive did you find funders or the public were to this project?
The crowd funding went incredibly well. I think I got a little lucky, as it was one of the first music docos, at least in Australia that had been made using crowd funding so the fans really got behind it. It was fantastic then having an army of supporters getting behind it and help push it once it came out in cinemas.
From start to finish, how long did the film take? Where were the primary shoot locations?
It was made over 2 years. Most of the filming was done with Ross on his farm in northern Victoria and the rest was done across 2 trips to the USA and the UK.
How open-minded were band members to being interviewed for the film?
Everyone was really open to it thankfully! Before I really committed to doing the project, I started with an interview with band founder Ross Knight to make sure the story was engaging and that he was a good story teller. He sure was.
Did you come across any challenges along the way?
There were some definite challenges. On the surface, the film appears to be a rock and roll beer fueled party ride, but there are some very heavy themes that the film touches on that I had to deal with carefully. I’m really happy with how it came out (as are the band – who I know manage bizarrely as a result) but some feathers were definitely ruffled. From the get go, Ross said he would only ever tell the truth and it made it all the more revealing and engaging.
Loved your use of animation in the film - what was the reason behind it?
Thank you! When initially asking around my circle of friends about the Psychos, or any bands that toured with them – it was always these hilarious anecdote stories that generally would begin with “this one night we played with the Psychos” then follows some hilarious beer induced stupid story. So I knew before I even started, I would need a creative way to ‘show’ these stories as they were being told. There wasn’t likely to be videos or photos from a lot of this stuff. I was a big fan of the animator Lluis Fuzzhound’s work, and we have always been trying to get a project together – so it made complete sense to animate a bunch of these stories. It also allowed me to indulge in making something close to Ren And Stimpy in style, which I think, suits the band and their cartoon like personalities.
Documentaries often unfold during the film process. Cosmic Psychos is light hearted and full of humour – had you planned it to be this way? How did you steer the feel to the film?
I really didn’t know where the film was going to go, and certainly got ‘lucky’ as far as plot revealing itself along the way. For example, I had no idea about Ross’ dramas with losing his farm early on, and maybe 9 months into the project I only found out about Ross’ weightlifting when he had to postpone an interview as he forgot he was in a weightlifting competition!!
You capture some great moments on film – each of the band members are entertaining in their own right and make the film what it is really. Can you let us in on something unexpected or funny that happened in a behind the scenes moment?
I guess the Eddie Vedder 50 cent coin game is the most memorable. I was in Seattle and Ed had told Ross the interview was going to be all fine, but I still hadn’t been able to lock in a time or place with Ed’s management. I was at Matt Lukin (ex Mudhoney / Melvins) place to shoot his interview, and Ed had called Matt to see if I minded if he popped in! So it all happened on the spot. Thankfully I had enough cards and batteries!
What was one of the most gratifying moments for you during the making of the film?
There has been many, but the first screening we did for all the crowd funding investors, after the band played on Ross’ farm in the country was pretty incredible. 350 people drinking and cheering and singing and shouting and then being dead quiet in all the heavy moments, and seeing Ross stand at the back of the room with a relieved and happy grin was pretty great.
You close the film with a live gig by Cosmic Psychos. After all these years they’re still going strong and with a very loyal fan base behind them! So, the big question - how do you rate them?
The band are hilarious and incredible. There’s even a new album due in a few months.
Screening Times:
08/04/2015 08:30pm
09/04/2015 07:25am
12/04/2015 11:00pm