CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 138: BEDDY RAYS ON THEIR EARLY DAYS, BAND FORMATION, AND FIRST RADIO PLAY

Interview by Hudson Reed.

FMM: So y'all are an Australian punk rock band. How did you guys start? How did Beddy Rays come about?

Beddy Rays: Basically, we were like best mates since about six years old and all played guitar. Then, Benny got really good at the guitar hero drums and Brad’s old man is a musician. We were always writing songs about our parents and went through high school. Basically, like Louis was saying, the Guitar Hero drums. That phase was our world tour. That was the first formation of the band; the world tour. Guitar Hero. Good game.

I guess after school, we sort of thought, fuck it, why go to parties and have to buy alcohol when you can just play a gig and you get free piss?

FMM: That’s the way, honestly. And then now, these days it's like free piss isn’t even that enticing.

Beddy Rays: [Laughs]. Not at all. I’ve paid my weight these days. We just played in a bunch of mates’ backyards and played covers. Then, we started writing our own music and transitioned from a cover band to an original band. We had a bit of trouble at the start with recording music and stuff. We just weren’t keen on the recordings we were getting. Then, we finally found someone who helped us record a whole EP.

I think we were just trying to get it to sound right the first time round, thinking we’re gonna have a crack at this and let’s just do it right, so it took us ages to actually get the songs recorded. We were more just having fun with our mates and stuff.

We were all like first-year apprentices, just broke as shit and couldn’t afford to get a good recording going because we were too busy spending our money on going out to the pub every Friday and all that stuff. So, it just sort of worked out and we’ve been writing away ever since and playing shows around the country.

FMM: I feel that; broke as shit. You’re talking to a music photographer so I’m literally here on my own coin, but worth it.

Beddy Rays: [Laughs]. Yeah, for sure.

FMM: So that eventually led to you touring all over the country. Do you have any favourite places you’ve played? Or any favourite memories?

Beddy Rays: Our first ever time we went international and played a gig, was in Thailand. That was a big thing for us. That was probably in 2019. We got asked to do this festival and we thought it was a scam, the whole thing. The people on the lineup were bands like Dune Rats, Turnover and all these sick bands. We were like, nah, this is a scam. We were messaging Dunies asking if it was a scam and they said, ‘Nah boys, we’re going over. We said ‘Sweet, let’s go!’ and went over there with like 10 mates or more than that. I think there were just heaps of us that went over there because we were like, ‘Let’s just have a holiday,’ and that was my favourite gig.

It was the sketchiest fucking we've ever done because the stage was like a bamboo stage. It was raining and it was like, ‘you're gonna get electrocuted and blah, blah, blah at the same time.’ It was the funnest gig we’ve ever done. We had all our mates from home there and they were just so stoked that we were playing the gig international. I know there was something about the moment we did it. We were like, ‘We can do this, it’s fun.’ We were sitting in this big tour bus that was driving around all the bands going to the festival and we had 10 of our mates on this bus. I was like, ‘Don’t play their songs. Don’t play the other band’s songs. Stretch it out.’

FMM: Oh, good times.

Beddy Rays: That was epic, for sure.

FMM: Both the same answer, though.

Beddy Rays: Absolutely.

FMM: So, I know ya’ll You released Sobercoaster in 2020. How did that go for you? How was that for you as a band?

Beddy Rays: Yeah, that song was massive for us. We all knew it was going to be a good one, but we didn’t have any idea of the legs it was going to have. You know, still to this day, it’s a fan favourite. It really helped us get radio play around the country and it landed on Triple J. It was our first ever song to be put on the radio. I think everything before that, they didn’t want a snippet of it. Then, that song came out and they played it, and then the next day, they played it in the morning. Lucy Smith played it in the morning and I remember being in my car on the way to work, listening to Triple J, and it came on again. In that moment, I was like, ‘Holy shit. They played this song twice.’ It was weird. I was working on a fricken digger just covered in shit and heard it come on the radio. I put my tools down and just yelling out the window, “That’s my fucking song. That’s my fucking song!”

FMM: And then you've just released two new singles, Silverline and Hold On. Did you have the same kind of feeling as releasing previous singles?

Beddy Rays: Well, they’re all different beasts in their own way. You never sort of expect any song to do well or anything. You just gotta hope that it’s received well by people, but it’s always exciting putting out a new song. I

FMM: t’s like this is your child. You’re giving birth to it for the whole world to see.

Beddy Rays: That’s it. You’re just keen for everyone to hear it, you know? And if it gets on the radio, we’re still excited, but we’re probably not yelling out a window now, but you’re still excited for it and thankful they accepted the song and people got to listen to it around Australia, because it’s not like you just expect it to happen., because it could just not. They could not want to put it on or whatever, but it’s still a good feeling.

FMM: You’re just like, ‘It’s here. Have a crack, have a bite. If it’s your taste, then go for gold.’

Beddy Rays: That’s it, and if you don’t like it, we’ll just write another one.

[Laughs]. Exactly right.

FMM: Speaking of writing another one, is there anything in the works at the moment, or in the plans? I mean, I’m an artist myself, so I understand there’s always something that’s being worked on. I’m currently working on a project myself, but anything exciting?

Beddy Rays: Oh, we’ve got a record coming out start of next year and it’s fucking awesome. It’s got some really good songs on there and we’re really, really proud of it.

We tour over the UK a couple of times next year and then hopefully trying to do something in the States and bring someone from the States around here to something like BIGSOUND to show them the local talent and do a bit of a swapover.