Q&A: Squiz (King Parrot and Fridge)

By ADAM COOPER

Hot Metal: Hey Squiz, nice to chat mate. Been a minute. I see the Fridge boys have reunited and doing some shows. How did that come about?

Squiz: “Fukk yeah doodle!! Been a good long while! I recall we use to regularly rattle the ol’ Great Britain Hotel 30 years ago together with Suiciety, Root Beer ,Powder Monkeys ,Damaged, Meanies etc. Was magic shit! A touch more wizardry must’ve been in the air around Wollongong recently cos it seems Yee Ol’ Tumbleweed brothers were reminiscing and decided to try prize us Ol’ barnacles off our respective rocks ‘n’ tow us along on their 30^th anniversary tour. Didn’t take a lot of convincing and here we are. That’s really how this reformation came about. Although I copped covid and we missed out on the Victorian leg of the tour – so we’re striking out on our own for a quick blast through Melbourne and possibly down to our home state of Tassie come September in order to make up lost ground.”

HM: Ol mates Rootbeer along for the ride too?

Squiz: “Yep, and in turn Root Beer are polishin’ up their act n gonna join us at the Barwon Club in Geelong on the Sat’Dee night. Smashing stuff that, cos they were one of the earliest n most fun bands we connected with back when we first transitioned from mainland Tasmania. We got legends MOLER and Phil Lally’s APE RIB from Wollongong  ta boot so its hootenanny time fukkers!!”

HM: Are Fridge thinking about penning some new material?

Squiz: “Never say never. The set we gonna bust out includes a few virtually unheard-of tunes that we never recorded and rarely played so in effect are kinda new. Alex Lynch has stacks o’ idea’s always so I’d have to say there’s a good chance the way it’s naturally re-gelled that some fresh songs may emerge yeahh……!!??!”

HM: What are the King Parrot maniacs up to at the moment?

Squiz: “King Parrot are bout to get serious n scrape some o the riff shit off the wall and finally mould said turds into something even less palatable. Will def include more freaked out ocular candy for those keeping a close eye on our on-screen song adaptations. A particular album’s anniversary may also be getting a live airing in full if all goes to plan…”

HM: How are you finding balancing Fridge and King Parrot duties?

Squiz: “The balancing act hasn’t been too precarious .A couple shows back-to-back have had me jet settin’ round like some kinda musical hobnob. But I’ve long trodden that middle ground between both the stink of the anus of garage punk and the waft of the pussy of (un)Heavy Metal codswallop…! Somewhere between the cheese and the corniness of the whole shebang you’ll find me poised on the gooch peering into the crevasse. But you know what ? I’ve never completely given in to either or. Cos the whole stinking cesspools waaay rotten!  On one end o the scale u got too many jerks and shysters overly enamoured with their own intellectual hubris and fretboard fukkwittery and on the other a veritable army of slacker twistos tryna milk their mental quandaries to make it pay by somehow greasin their own poles in song no end ! Seems to be very little real danger left in guitar music these days …. Internet death to all is continually chokin’ the life out of it. Either way it blows ! Ha FUCK IT!! Borrow a lil from column A and a little from column B n you’re sure to be an un equivocal hit ! FUKK OFF!!”

HM: Ok, serious stuff now:bass or guitar, if you had to choose?

Squiz: “I ain’t real good at either so bit of a moot point.Depends on how far up your arse i wanna shove my (non) musical message on the day. Typically, a 36″ scale distorted bass irritates jus that lil bit deeper ya know? But I have been eyeball to eyeball with some giant blights on the pop music ethos and been deemed ultimately mediocre at best which is always reassuring. But then I do have to ask myself,.. ‘Well doesn’t popularity begat mediocrity? Kinda like fukkin McDonalds !? And if I’m standing close enough for you to say that to my face then I must be doin somethin right (ish)  so suck it ! Heh Heh.”

HM: What is your fave all time desert island artist?

Squiz: “Rolf Harris Double Live at the Sydney Opera House The timbre of that wobble board……..The food of life itself.”

HM: Tasmania, stand alone AFL team, yes or no?

Squiz: “Tasmania needs a standalone everything !! In fact the rest o the world should jus fuck off and leave us alone before she’s reduced to a fukkin crisp !! Tassies cooler than you or your favourite place or thing will ever be!!! Peace pain shit bum love fukk arse yay nay stop go yum yuk what? Over n out SQUIZ.”