The indecisive nature of Cyclone Alfred hampered the travel plans of The Beefs and myself for the third leg of the DZ Deathrays Weekend Warriors tour at the Avalon RSL but luckily there was no such unpredictability in weather patterns to disrupt the Newcastle show. The Steel City has a socially ingrained love of live music. It’s a haven bursting with musical talent where punters turn up in droves, ready to go from the first note, and a great match for exquisitely marbled fillet of self-described pub-pop of The Beefs.
Discussing The Beefs and what goes into their mystery bag of success is a veritable mince of premium-grade name dropping. They’ve worked with the likes of Matt Corby as a co-producer, and collaborated with Kirin J Callinan, and Julian Sudek, Micheal Termonty from The Delta Riggs, and Lucy Lucy (touring vocalist for Yuma X and Peking Duk) on the tracks: Red Bellied Black Snake, Punchin’, The Centre, Country Member, Shins Up Tins Up, and the freshest of cuts straight off the bone, Do You Really.
After a semi-botched effort at an interview upstairs, I put the dad joke puns away (briefly) to sit down (or rather stand up) on the front steps of the King Street Bandroom with the marrow of The Beefs, Sammy Smith, to ask him Five Quickfire Questions!
The Beefs are:
- Sammy Smith: Vox and guitar (Interviewed)
- Lucy Washington (Lucy Lucy): Vox, harp, and tambourine
- Gory Wright: Lead guitar
- Christian Wright: Drums
- Griffith Owen: Bass
1. If you had the chance to invite anyone that you wanted to have some Shins Up Tins Up with, who would it be? What’s the tinny of choice?
Sammy: Well, I think the Young brothers of AC/DC would definitely be good to have a beer with for sure. And they would probably hate my choice of beer. I’ve lived in so many different states that I don’t have a particular beer. You know it’s not West End, where I grew up in South Australia, it’s not Stone and Wood from when I lived in Byron, we are in Perth now. You know the fact that Bon is from Perth? Maybe we’d have a Bush Chook (Emu Export) or a Swanny (Swan Lager). Yeah, I’d have to say a Swanny with the Acca Dacca boys.
OB: The love that so many current Australian bands hold for AC/DC. It is so industry-wide, I love that.
Sammy: You and I were talking before, you said that we (The Beefs) have this interchanging kind of diverse line-up as a band, and I said well look at AC/DC and INXS. They changed fucking lead singers and they got away with it! I guess back when that happened (after Bon died), so many die-hard AC/DC fans would have thought “This is fucking blasphemy! Who is this English cunt that is now singing in our fucking band?”. But they turned it around, you know!
OB: With the Back in Black album, one of the highest selling albums of all time.
Sammy: It gives you goosebumps, listening to it every single fucking time, and he nailed it. And everyone was like “Okay alright, I trust him!” Ha-ha-ha!
OB: Are we bringing Bon back for the Shins Up Tins Up?
Sammy: I mean the band we love, but fucking hell we’d have to have frozen his DNA before he died. And I think his DNA was pretty scrambled before then. So I don’t think we can bring the cunt back. Let’s leave him be and have one in his honour.
2. On the subject of smashing tinnies, whose Rubber Arm is more flexible, yours or Dune Rats?
Sammy: I know, we were definitely before the Dunies boys, but I don’t even think those guys knew about us, so credit to them. I love that song of theirs, and I love those guys as a band. There’s plenty of fucking bands out there with the same song title, right?
OB: Yep, for sure.
Sammy: If you look up the word Sunshine or fucking something like that on Spotify I’m sure there would be a few. But there is not another Red Bellied Black Snake, right? So, I’m pretty fucking happy about that.
OB: It’s kind of back to the Shins Up Tins Up question, maybe the Dunies boys can join you for that Ha-ha-ha!
Sammy: 100%! I’d love that! But I’ve definitely got a more rubbery arm than them! I don’t know why I haven’t hung out with them yet.
OB: They are good fun lads.
(Editor’s Note: Both tracks with the same name actually came out in 2019, Rubber Arm by Dune Rats in August and Rubber Arm by The Beefs in December. It was Hurry Up and Wait the third Dune Rats album which Rubber Arm was the lead single for that came out the next year.)
3. The latest song you have released this month is a real beauty. What Do You Really want to see happen at one of your shows, particularly when that song is played on the setlist?
Sammy: We’ve precariously placed it on the setlist at the end of the set, just before Red Bellied. So hopefully it’s going to really ramp people up. We haven’t actually played it live yet but we’ve rehearsed it lots. Tonight will be the first time we’ve played it live.
OB: Ripper! History in the making.
Sammy: I love it. It’s an excellent song and it’s the first time I’ve worked with another producer in a long time and Alex L’EStrange did a fucking awesome job with it. I made it at home in Freo and he’s in Byron, so we were actually bouncing back things from the opposite sides of the country, but it worked and he did a good job.
4. What is the Full Speed of a Datsun 180B?
Sammy: Uhm I never had a Dato, but I had a fucking Torana. And I think it was the first Torana ever made. And it was piss weak. Like my Kingswood had a 186 motor, and I don’t know what would have been in the Torana, maybe a lawnmower engine basically. But top speed would have been only 100 km per hour, that’s for sure.
OB: My brother had a 180B, but he wrapped it around a power pole.
Sammy: Was he okay?
OB: Yeah, he was okay. Slippery roads with an even more slippery foot on the accelerator. The car was not so lucky (I pass him a gift).
Sammy: Oh, get out! What is this? It’s jerky, isn’t it? Mushroom chocolate?
OB: Nope, not jerky or mushroom chocolate.
Sammy: What the fuck! Thanks, Shelvo… This is fucking great, ha-ha-ha-ha! You are joking! (It’s an original Datsun 180B chrome car badge). That is fucking sick! (He puts it in the mouth of a Red Bellied Black Snake toy that I also gave him)
OB: Ha-ha! Glad you like it with the red belly.
Sammy: Mate you are a fucking legend! Have to get a photo of this. That is just the best!
5. Who is an Australian artist that makes you Feel So Good that it makes you want to dance like a Jellyfish?
Sammy: It’s hard not to move when These New South Wales are playing. When they play it’s such high energy, and you can’t not move. I love those boys. They are absolute legends.
OB: Totally agree! And is there anyone from WA you are really into?
Sammy: Oh, there’s too many bands to name. I know a couple of the Pond lads; they are probably my favourite WA band. There are some incredible WA bands; Spacey Jane, San Cisco, and AC/DC to name a few.
OB: Any up and comers?
Sammy: Far out, I think everyone has been found already hey! The boys from Dice are doing really well. I don’t get out enough to see new stuff otherwise.
6. BONUS: With so many acts like DZ Deathrays, Grinspoon, Frenzal Rhomb, Lime Cordiale, and Peking Duk all doing or having recently done regional Australian tours, what would you like a regional Country Member to raise in Federal Parliament to encourage and promote regional tours?
Sammy: Yeah wow! That’s huge isn’t it. I think the government needs to put more energy into activating rural communities, don’t they? A lot of young people want to move out of the country or regional towns, don’t they? I mean that’s what I did…
OB: The same as DZ, and many artists.
Sammy: It’s hard to keep kids in small towns because there is not enough for them. Things like the Triple J’s One Night Stand, and things like that help activate a bit, it does. It’s a tricky question how to do it through legislation, I don’t know.
OB: Perhaps grants could be a good start?
Sammy: Yeah, grants for bands to tour the country would be wild, 100%! And it doesn’t need to be much either, pay for accommodation, the hire car, and show fees for the band. It doesn’t need to be much more than that, maybe a few beers too!
OB: It’s good to see their reactions to bands that may not normally have the chance to see, and the pride of them visiting their hometown venue. Well, that is it! Thank you so much!
After the interview I met the man behind the Ruby Fields track 92 Purebred (Gory). He showed me the source of the song’s inspiration: his 1992 AU Ford Falcon parked in front of us during the interview. Gory gave me its origin story and I snapped a shot of him with it.
The Beefs are an act you’ll appreciate being patient to see, an act you’ll distinctly remember, and an act you’ll yearn to feel their sound blaring in your face again very soon. Dig right into the meat of their new tracks and there’ll be plenty more cuts up sleeve for the rest of 2025. Thanks Sammy!