DEVIL’S ISLAND featuring Scandal Tree

DEVIL’S ISLAND featuring Scandal Tree

Welcome to this weeks edition of Devil’s Island! Every week we maroon a band or artist on the island and see what they get up to, how they cope with being all alone on a small island in the middle of the ocean. It’s not your average desert island and we’ll see just how each person copes with the extreme conditions.

This week when we arrived at Devil’s Island we find Scandal Tree sat on the beach. The island is far from their home, so how did they end up here and how did they cope with life on Devil’s Island?

Find out now…

Welcome to The Razors’e Edge and our somewhat lovely, warm desert island. Don’t worry about it’s name I’m sure it’s not as bad as that would suggest.

You’re marooned here on this island, but before you ended up shipwrecked you chose one album that you couldn’t live without. Which album did you each chose and why?

Peter: Eat Em And Smile – David Lee Roth band. 
IMHO best hard rock album from the 80s and one I always keep going back to.  

Dano: Scandal Tree – Never Look a Gift Foot in the Mouth because everytime I listen to it I can’t believe that it’s really us. It’s so well done, dynamic and catchy if I do say so myself. Otherwise, lately I keep going back to Soundgarden – SuperUnknown or Alice in Chains – Dirt. I just never get sick of these old school 90s albums.

Grant: QOTSA – Songs for the Deaf. Every song is killer and the way the album is put together like a radio show is very cool I never get sick of it.

Joe: The Angels’ “Face To Face”- it still feels exciting and fresh after repeated listens. 

Huck: Morbid Stuff by PUP. It’s an album I never get sick of. It’s upbeat and lots of energy. 

Just behind that palm tree is a shack for each of you to sleep in, with enough space for you to put up a poster on the wall of one album cover. What album cover do you each chose and why?

Peter: Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Classic b Band – The Beatles. Best and most interesting album cover.

Dano: Alice in Chains – Dirt. It’s the album that signalled my journey in a different direction of music exploration & expansion. I gained my song writing and structure inspiration from these guys. It’s also a challenging and disturbing piece of artwork that puts our mortality front and centre. It boldly questions the decisions we make in life and how these dictate whether our demons take us, or we go graciously into the light. A deep and confronting album.

Grant: Album cover would be Led Zeppelin 3, a very cool cover with a lot to see!

Joe: Skyhooks’ “Ego Is Not A Dirty Word”. The artwork is incredible and the blue really pops.

Huck: Hot Snakes, Audit in Progress. It’s illustrated by the late and great Rick Froberg. It also has a pirate theme which seems appropriate.

There’s also a bar on this here island. But alas each of you only get to choose one drink for the entirety of your stay. What’s your tipple of choice?

Dano: It’d have to be Old Crow neat or with a dash of dry slipping down my throat! As I don’t see it any other way.

Peter: Port Charlotte Whisky 

Grant: Pepsi Max. I don’t drink alcohol and I live on the stuff.

Joe: Iced Tea and no that’s not the rapper I’m talking about!

Huck: I feel Havanna Rum would be appropriate to this scenario.

Your suitcases were lost when your ship sank, but you each managed to salvage one item of band merch. What’s the merch and for what band?

Peter: Cap – Suicidal Tendencies 

Dano: Stubby Cooler – Rose Tattoo (Crest) Outlaws Forever, Forever Outlaws. RIP Angry Anderson I’m sure you’ll be in Heaven raising hell with an Angel – Doc Neeson 

Grant: Probably my Who tshirt with RAF target roundel on it.

Joe: If I still had it, it would have been my Clash t-shirt but my red Cream t-shirt is a worthy successor. 

Huck: I recon it’d be my Better Lovers, Highly Irresponsible tee. It’s got dynamite, explosions and adventure.

You’re sat on the island thinking “I’m stuck here on this island with my bandmates for eternity”… who would you rather have been shipwrecked with?

Peter: The Bangles 

Dano: My wife Lauren of course ! I’d get murdered in my sleep if I said anyone else like Brody Dalle from The Distillers, Orianthi or Adalita of Magic Dirt… No no no this just won’t do at all…

Grant: No one I’d prefer to be by myself much like Tom Hanks in Castaway just give me volleyball with a face painted on it in my own blood…boohaha

Joe: Joe Strummer

Huck: I think it’d be the Rolling Stones. Apparently they’re all short and cocky so I reckon it’d give the scenario a bit of Gulliver’s Travels feel.

There’s a walkman in your pocket, on the tape inside is the recording of the one live show that stands out for you. It could be any show, from any band, anywhere in the world. What show is on that walkman?

Peter: Live after Death – Iron Maiden!

Dano: Not sure. There’s quite a few in there that could make the cut. Maybe it’d have to be a mixed concert tape. 

Grant: AC/DC at the Apollo theatre with Bon Scott

Joe: Ed Kuepper/TheSaints’s “The Church Of Simultaneous Existence” launch show at The Triffid back in 2018- it’s still one of the best shows I’ve seen and there’s a great soundboard recording of it too.

Huck: Objectively I’d say Swingshift by Cold Chisel. It captures the atmosphere, ero and energy of the band at their height.

You’re getting desperate, you decide the only course of action is to put a message in a bottle and hope someone finds it. Your message could be to any member of any band, but should be the most suitable for a rescue attempt. Who is it?

Dano: It’d have to be Sting yeah as he sung about a message in a bottle so one would hope he’d have the experience and eye to find it in the first place. Once found maybe he can grab his longtime mate David Gilmour who has well and truly learnt to fly to come out and rescue The Tree!

Peter: Bruce Dickinson – The dude is a qualified aircraft pilot.

Grant: I’d message Phil Rudd from AC/DC he’s always got a speedboat or helicopter available

Joe: Sting- he’d know what to do. (Great minds think alike and we are the rythym section so it’s good to see we’re in sync! (Dano) )

Huck; Madonna, I feel she’d like the attention.

You’ve been stuck here a while and food supplies are running low. There’s only one thing for it… which fellow band member gets sacrificed to help the others survive?

Dano: I’m pretty good on the tooth and a hungry, greedy glutton being the drummer. So I’d probably do like that convict Alexander Pearce from Tasmania and pop them all off slowly. They’d all end up in the Scandal Tree stewing pot! But my eyes may prove bigger than my stomach so with a Tarzan’s roar I may have to summon a pack of wolves and some maniacally twisted Faeries to help me devour such a feast – Yum Yum Yum Yum Yummio 🤤

Peter: Joe – because he is the youngest therefore would have the most tender meat. 

Grant: I agree with Pete. Joe would have the most tender meat but to be honest I think I’d rather die than eat any of them yuck!

Huck; We have two guitarists. You do the math.

Finally, when the ship sank you each managed to save one person from the wreckage. That person is the one musician that has influenced your career the most, shaped your way of thinking and your outlook on life. Who did you save?

Dano: Steve Adler as he inspired me to get on the drums after reading an article outlining he was self taught. My parents at the time wouldn’t spring for a kit so I hopped on a paper run to get my first tin lid kit and some GNR drum tab and the rest is history! As for the lifetime musical career inspiration award that goes to all the guys who have been apart of Scandal Tree in one way or another over the years. All truly gifted musicians juggling everyday life and responsibilities while doing what they love doing. Its not an easy thing to do as life expands and takes shape 🙏

Peter: Hate me later – Eddie Van Halen.

Grant: In our band I’d save Huck because I can’t sing lead vocals and his lyrics very much define us as a unique band. In any band probably Angus or Malcolm Young from AC/DC just because I wouldn’t have played guitar without them.

Joe: At this stage, I’m hitting the fast forward button and sacrificing myself.

Huck: It would be Elvis Costello whose songbook I studied carefully to learn how to tell a story, build arrangements, use unusual chords and appreciate most types of musical styles. Together we sit on the beach and watch the rappers and hop hippers sink beneath the waves.

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