Rabbit Interview With The Pinheads

After morning shenanigans of spilt coffee and trying to fit 7 of us hooligans into the cosy (to say the least) Rabbit Radio studio, I finally got to chat to the grating garage-rockers, The Pinheads, about their tour for their debut EP ‘I Wanna Be A Girl’.

You guys are on tour for your I Wanna Be A Girl EP, how has it all been for you guys so far? What mischief have you been getting up to?

We went to Melbourne last week, which was great, we did lots of driving. We brought a coffin up, attached it to the roof and called it the Pinmobile. We put our gear inside the coffin when we’re driving along.  Zank made it cause he’s a weirdo, and when he dies he’s going to stay in his own coffin.

When was the last time one of you threw up?

Luke Spook: Actually two nights ago, I ate a burrito and I’m not going to say where, but I got up straight after and vomited at least 5 times 
Jez: I vomited on stage when I was playing in Melbourne, which was the last show we had. Something happened and in-between a song I just let one loose!

I Wanna Be a Girl is your first released EP, can you give us a little run-down on the album as a whole and what it’s all about?

We’ve been writing song for a little bit now, we just wanted to give out a bit of a vibe of the stuff that we make I guess, just a little mix of stuff. There wasn’t a conscious running theme or anything, it was just the 6 songs we wrote at the time and that’s that

What are things in life that really grind your gears?

A lot of things. When someone spills your coffee (it had to be said), just being a shitty human grinds my gears, hot lettuce on wraps – it’s like wet paper.

Would you classify yourselves as better at ten-pin bowling or being musicians?
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Neither. We’re not very good at either of them haha. We found some ten-pin bowling in the sin-bin of Surfers yesterday after walkin’ around so we might have to go there later on.


How did you think to make a band after ten bin bowling together?

It was a bit of an accident; we were all just kind of friends that went bowling. We used to make really weird songs, I don’t even know what they were, some of them were just like blots of noise and distortion and then we got an 80’s tape machine that we borrowed off a friend and started trying to put songs together with that. We were making cowboy-western songs and stuff like that. We made a song where Luke did the lead guitar and vocals, and then they went out one day and I was like (Jez) I could sing better than that. I’d never really sung before but it went alright so I kind of wormed my way in. That was the first Pinheads song, called Out in the Moonlight, a secret hit that we haven’t released or anything. We just kind of kept adding on and it’s all been downhill from there.


What do you think each of you individually contribute to the Pinheads?

We all have very different tastes in music and someone will come up with a guitar part and record a little demo then everyone else will hop on and then groove out to it. Someone brings the pizza base, and then we all put on our favourite toppings. Sometimes we’ll write lyrics and then Luke or someone will come up with a guitar riff, and the two just magically and perfectly fit together. It’s all one big accident


Your tour is coming to a close but it isn’t over yet, what shows do you have left?

Tonight we’re playing at the Brightside in Brisbane for a little Halloween Festival put together by Bedlam records, on Saturday night (31st of October) we’re playing in Byron Bay at the Great Northern. The day after that we have a show on the Gold Coast at the Liars Bar (Broadbeach Tavern) on the 1st of November. 

Do you have any plans for after the tour?

After our EP tour we’re going a tour with Hockey Dad and Skegss, which is going to be all the way down the coast. Those guys are our boys! We’ve played with them at two different festivals that we’ve played on our current tour. Hockey Dad are from really close to where we live and started their band a bit before us, so we’re mates and have done a fair bit with them! 
We’ve also got these two old songs that we don’t have on the record yet, but have been playing for ages and might put them out. We’ve also got our whole new album written but not recorded yet, so that’ll be out around mid next year!

I’ve gathered that being spooky is your specialty (video clip) does this mean you’re pulling out the big guns when it comes to your Halloween costume this year?

Halloween is out favourite time of year! Our costumes are secret, you have come to a show to find out.


Catch the Pinheads’ final shows for their EP tour, on the coast this weekend!


Bree Garland