The pressure was on for me to get Part 3 of these interviews out just in time for my next tornado of interstate punk rock; Nice Day to Go to The Club at Port Noarlunga Football Club in S.A, so let’s get straight into it:
The Gooch Palms
Starting out this round are a pair I thought I’d never be able to tick off my punk bingo list, The Gooch Palms. It’d been a hot minute since the Novos duo had taken to the stage and that night, they infused punters with their cherry flavoured bubble-gum punk, burning brighter and hotter up there than a polyester jumpsuit next to an open flame. Interviewing Leroy was so much fun, he’s always a millimetre away from a juicy punchline while being totally engaged and interested in everything to do with Aus music.
The Gooch Palms are:
- Kat Friend: Drums and vox
- Leroy Macqueen: Guitar and vox
1. Who are you Psyched As to see on this incredible line up today?
Leroy: Well, obviously Full Flower Moon Band. I think they are… the next Amyl and The Sniffers. Like the first time, I played a show with them at Luliepalooza in Melbourne performing as a solo artist. And I’ve never seen a band (except for Amyl) for the first time and said “Yep, you are the next big thing!”. Yep.
OB: Yep, I saw one-hundred and twenty-two gigs last year, and FFMB was the best live gig. It was just fucking moshing from the stage to the sound desk, and no-one expected it to be that loose.
Leroy: Yeahhh! I love that.
2. As the Hottest 100 is being drawn today, what act would you advise people to keep a close eye on in 2025? (Not necessarily a Triple J artist, but an act that you think deserves attention).
Leroy: Aardvark! Yep, they are the greatest band in Melbourne right now.
OB: Aardvark, alright that’s a new one to explore.
Leroy: Yeah, I have got all the merch, I think I might be verging on like a super fan. Yeah, I saw them play in a small band room in Melbourne, and I was like “This is insane!”. One of the most insane (bands)… kind of like Iron Maiden. Yeah Aardvark…
OB: Aardvark, nice. Well, let’s give them a big shout out. That’s what this is about, revealing new artists.
Leroy: Yeah, check them out.
3. What’s big in 2025 for your band?
Leroy: Ah, I don’t really know what we have on the horizon. These days are more like, feeling we have entered into “legacy” band territory (said with a slight chuckle).
OB: So, you are navigating that?
Leroy: Yeah, I don’t know if we’ll like… will bore people with many new songs, I think we will just keep doing shows like this today. Stuff that means something, and play the odd show. My main focus is like country music now, so that is pretty all consuming. But it’s so fun to put The Gooch Palms hat on, and get it on… Like I always forget how much fun I have playing in The Gooch Palms. Yeah, it’s good to reunite with Kat and get back up there doing what we’ve done together for the past twelve years.
OB: Yeah, and have old and young people come and see you live for their first time.
Leroy: That’s it! I love that so much.
4. What would you pick if you were to choose between: Sydney rock oysters and Resch’s or Moreton Bay bugs and XXXX Gold?
Leroy: (solid long and concentrated pause) Melbourne Bitter and kebabs!
OB: Yes! What an answer. Ha-ha-ha-ha! Love it, best answer yet. Thank you, great set tonight.
Leroy: (Now running out the door to get his ride home) Oh awesome, thank you. I’ve got to run.
Categorising themselves into the “legacy artist” category may understate the electric party fuse they ignited on the outdoor stage. As they would say “Viva La Gooch Palms!”.
David James Young (Guiness World Record Holder: Most Concerts Attended in One Year)
It’s not every day you meet your hero (although with OnlyBands that’s a regular occurrence). Usually they are on the stage, rather than standing before it. From the first note played at the festival, I spotted my hero, David James Young. He was probably the first one through the gate today, that’s his dedicated method.
David holds the world title for most gigs in a year while also being a most notable music journalist; writing, reviewing, and interviewing for over twenty publications. It is very easy to see why he is lovingly regarded as the most dedicated voice of the Aus music scene. I have to admit that I was shitting bricks interviewing someone who has interviewed everyone from Alice Cooper, Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Noel Gallagher and Weird Al Yankovich just name a few!
David: Hi! I’m David James Young. I’m thirty-four years old, I’m Libra, I’m from Wollongong and I hold the current Guinness World Record for the most gigs attended in one year. I went to two hundred and fifty seven eligible shows between January 2023 and January 2024. And I am also a music journalist.
1. Who are you Psyched As to see on this incredible line up today?
David: Oh boy! This is a real solid mix of stuff. Like I just saw Dick Move for the first time when they played at Bigsound last year, and I was hooked on them. I’m a huge fan of theirs. Any day you get to see Full Flower Moon Band is a good one. And I have my good friends The Buoys playing, and of course Gooch Palms, who were instrumental in my mid-twenty-tens gig going years, so it’s a delight to have them back. So yeah, it’s just hits all across the board. They haven’t stopped coming!
2. As the Hottest 100 is being drawn today, what act would you advise people to keep a close eye on in 2025? (Not necessarily a Triple J artist, but an act that you think deserves attention).
David: That’s a good one! Oh man! It’s funny isn’t it, because you can just never pick them. I’ve seen acts play to like thirty people in a room and then a few years later like three hundred people. I think my main thing that I would say is not a band in particular. Just get there early for shows and watch everyone on the bill. Because you never know, that band that was playing for thirty minutes at seven PM on a Tuesday night, at The Lansdowne, or Crowbar wherever else… They might be headlining at those venues and then venues twice that size before you know it. You know?
Like I’ve seen Amyl and The Sniffers play The Lansdowne, I’ve seen Hockey Dad play tiny little rooms in Wollongong you know. I saw Tame Impala in 2008 open for You Am I play to about thirty or forty people. So just keep tabs on what is happening locally, and don’t just turn up for the headliner that would be the main thing.
OB: Oh, Dave, that is brilliant. I absolutely agree.
3. What’s big in 2025 for your band?
David: Honestly, just getting out and seeing more stuff, and acts coming here for the first time, which I am really excited about. So, Kneecap are coming in March, which I’m really, really excited for. Bob Vylan is here tonight, and I’m seeing them tonight in Wollongong. They were a big pandemic discovery for me. So, I am very excited that they are finally coming. And hopefully a bunch more artists making their maiden voyage down here in 2025 is something I am keen for.
4. What would you pick if you were to choose between: Sydney rock oysters and Resch’s or Moreton Bay bugs and XXXX Gold?
David: I don’t understand any of those words, I am straight edge.
OB: No worries at all, what about bugs or oysters?
David: Let’s go with the bugs, yeah sure!
David ended the interview as he started it, with a beaming smile and booming laugh. It’s people like David that keep the Aus music industry going, by largely encouraging others to pitch in and buy a ticket (early), see the support acts (early), buy the merch, spread the word and support the arts, and possibly set a world record on the way. Dead set legend.
The Buoys
The Buoys are red hot, their album is red hot, their live shows are yep, sizzling bloody red hot! I’ve been lucky enough to see them perform at least seven times, which is nowhere near enough. A keen observer will note who’s who in the music scene in a Buoys crowd with their plans to be incognito in tatters as they stand there jaw dropped and catatonically mesmerised, like it’s their first live gig they’ve ever seen. The Buoys don’t just pack a wallop, they will lay you out on a rainbow punk trampoline of bouncing riffs, a voice that nothing else could ever emulate, and a rhythm section of walking bass funk with thundering drum rolls. Hence why they are the headliners on the bill for Psyched As.
The Buoys are:
- Zoe Catterall: Vox, guitar
- Hillary Geddes: Lead guitar
- Tess Wilin: Drums
- Courtney Cunningham: Bass
1. Who are you Psyched As to see on this incredible line up today?
Zoe: FULL FLOWER MOON BAND every gosh damn time! Never get sick of watching them. They are so bloody amazing on and off the stage, absolute legends.
2. As the Hottest 100 is being drawn today, what act would you advise people to keep a close eye on in 2025? (Not necessarily a Triple J artist, but an act that you think deserves attention).
Zoe: Everyone in the world should know about the Full Flower Moon Band. I recently discovered an artist that I’m keeping my eye on, RAGEFLOWER, their new release hit me hard and I can’t wait to see what comes next. In the spirit of Millsy’s home turf, there’s an NZ band I’m obsessed with called There’s A Tuesday, they’ve been releasing a slew of amazing singles and it’s giving me “big things coming energy”, so I’m watching them like a hawk. One that’s wide eyed and just happy to be here.
3. What’s big in 2025 for your band?
Zoe: We’re going back over to the UK and Europe twice in 2025! Big year overseas which is wild to us. We’ll of course be brewing new tunes too. Nothing like juggling all the things! With a touch of insanity you can do anything!
4. What would you pick if you were to choose between: Sydney rock oysters and Resch’s or Moreton Bay bugs and XXXX Gold?
Zoe: SYDNEY ROCK OYSTERS! I know I can speak for the rest of the band, although Moreton Bay bugs would be a close second with Courtney being a huge fan. We’re in it for the food but happy to have a beer on the side too, why not.
Speaking of beer on the side, it’s the only time after the headline act that I’ve heard “What’s the point of being a headliner if you can’t get a beer after the set?!”. There were some rider spiders in the green room that day and the bar was closing for the night. Luckily the awesome organisers of the day were able to quench the thirst of the hometown heroes with some refreshing Grifter Brewing Co. Psyched As Pilsner, now pouring at venues around Sydney’s Inner West.
UK and Europe, you know what to do, get to The Buoys shows to get your Lustre on!
That’s it for our Psyched As series this year. Will we be back for another instalment 2026? Well if it’s happening then we’ll be there! A massive congratulations to the Psyched As team for putting on such a great event and we hope that there’ll be many more to come.
Thanks again to Joel McDonald (@yeahrad) and Tom Wilkinson (@tomwilkinson_) for all the amazing shots in this article!
