It was only a mere nine months ago that I was stood out at the back of The River, a wonderful venue in the South West of Western Australia in the magical town of Margaret River. To many, just being in that part of the world is enough but what made it even more special for me was that I was alone talking music with three time ARIA winner, singer & songwriter Sarah McLeod, discussing the solo sets she had been performing to thrilled crowds night after night on a six-show run through WA. The excitement in her voice was evident as was that cheeky glint in her eye, which led me to realise the interview was going to include much laughter…which it did. It became one of my favourite interviews of the year.
Roll forward to January 2023 and Sarah McLeod is once again geared up and ready for a chat, but this time it’s about the new single from The Superjesus with ‘Money (We’re Only in it For Love) released today, Friday 13th January. If she was excited last time we spoke then this time she is sounding like a jack in the box ready to burst from a locked box that has been sat on a shelf high in the kids toys room for an age. She’s back doing what she loves best…rock n roll! Hold on to your hats folks because The Superjesus are back, hungry and ready to play! With a fresh line up including new recruits Cam Blokland (guitar) and Murray Sheridan (drums) joining Sarah and Stuart Rudd, fans will be blessed to hear that the band has recaptured their chemistry and are raring for us all to hear their new music!
Sarah: Sean!
Sean: Sarah!
Sarah: Hi, how’s it going man! So good to talk to you again. I’ve been so looking forward to talking to you today!
Sean: It feels ages since we last serenaded by the bins out the back of The River in Margaret River.
Sarah: [laughs] ah, I know…right! How are you darling? Are you well?
Sean: Very well indeed thank you. You musicians are keeping me busy with all this damn fine music your releasing [laughs]. How about you?
Sarah: I am just riddled with excitement and the fact that I love rock n’ roll again, which is a whole weird musical metamorphosis that I’ve been going through because I went off it for a long while… I think I told you when we spoke last… I was about the piano and acoustic ballads and I was like, “yeah, I’m in a band…whatever” but of late I’m like “hang on”! I’m even listening to rock n’ roll at home. I’ve just got this new found appreciation for guitars and its really, really fun! I’ve got my Marshalls cranked at home, I’m actually playing at home which I never do. I’m super excited about the new record, I’m in to writing again, I’ve even bought new road cases! The new road cases look so fucking cool!
Sean: Billy Thorpe must be looking down knowing his mission was complete when he gave you that guitar.
Sarah: You know what I reckon your right. I reckon so too because when he gave me that guitar he said, “Make sure you get back into Rock n’ Roll” it was still ages before I did. I was like, “Yeah, thanks” and put it aside. Its taken me years but I genuinely, honestly have my passion back for it and it is so very exciting for me.
Sean: Well, its been an incredible 15 months for you really when you think back. It was almost like that musical ‘We Will Rock You’ when music became outlawed and banished from the planet. But like a phoenix rising from the ashes you were suddenly back out there playing relentlessly; The Superjesus toured the ‘Jet Age’ album nationally, then you were supporting Jon (Stevens) playing your wonderful solo set which totally encapsulated me night after night when you visited WA, then you went and trod the boards playing theatres across the country while appearing in ‘Jane Eyre’, and now you’ve been back in the studio with The Superjesus and ready to unleash some fresh music on us. It’s been incredible.
Sarah: It really has. Since I last saw you I have done so much. I did seven months on the road with ‘Jane Eyre’ and in between that I was darting out doing different things like The Rolling Stones review, I did The Beatles show, a few Superjesus gigs, some solo gigs… pretty much playing every night. And I came home the other week and had some time off for the first time in seven months and I just didn’t know what to do with myself! [laughs] I was walking round thinking, “Surely someone needs me somewhere to do something important!” I have trouble relaxing, I’m just not used to it. But your right. It’s been a hell of a year. Once your on a roll and you get some momentum, I reckon don’t worry about it – enjoy the momentum, allow the momentum and even if you start to think about how busy you are, just don’t worry about it. Reflect later when your not busy – just keep going!
Sean: Great advice. Of course you also go to play at The Big Red Bash and at Mundi Mundi too. They just looked fantastic.
Sarah: Yeah, I was at both of those. They were massive! So many people out in the middle of the desert. It was beautiful. And the Airlie Beach Music Festival, I did that one as well.
Sean: I was so close to coming to Mundi Mundi. I would love to get to one of those shows. But since we met I’ve been stalking you across your social media [laughs] and not only have we seen your Marshall amps set up at home, as you mentioned and the odd guitar photo, we’ve been teased with the photos and vid clips of The Superjesus back in the studio. The new single is coming out and tour dates announced for end of January, beginning of February – it’s not only an exciting time for you but also for fans of The Superjesus.
Sarah: You should see how excited we are – especially me, as you can tell [laughs]. I’m so pumped. I love this new line-up. I love the new record and I just can’t wait to play it to people live and to sing my arse off! I cannot wait! I’m really happy with the material. It’s strong material. I’m so happy for this record. I really believe in it.
Sean: So the single is ‘Money (We’re Only in it For Love)’, do we have a release date yet? I did have it somewhere here.
Sarah: We haven’t got a date yet. It will be out in January is all we have said so far.
Sean: See what I did there? I tried to sneak the date out of you there [laughs]
Sarah: [laughs] Was that a trick? “I’m sure I have a date somewhere in an email.” I’d better watch you! [laughs]
Sean: I was waiting for you to go, “Yeah is the 16th!” Bang! Exclusive [laughs]
Sarah: [laughs] Clever.
Sean: Of course you have tour dates out too – no WA yet but I’m sure you won’t leave us out.
Sarah: There will be, for sure.
Sean: I know the fans loved it when you came over to play the Jet Age album. But there are a great spread of shows across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia and I know you’ve already said you are pacing the corridors at home but you really are going to explode out of the blocks aren’t you.
Sarah: Oh absolutely. We are going to explode everywhere…on everyone! So look out. Get a bucket and a mop [laughs]. But seriously, the band has this enraged energy about it and it’s oozing chemistry. We had an unbelievable chemistry when we first started and we were really lucky to have that – most bands don’t even get that feeling once. We had it and its very hard to lose once you’ve got it. But we’ve managed to get it again and I feel so lucky to have had that kind of feeling twice in our careers… so lucky.
Sean: Two new faces join the band. What are their musical stories and connections that helped them join this new Superjesus line up?
Sarah: So, the guitar player was recommended to me by my mummy, my mum [laughs]. My mum lives across the hallway from Cam’s mum in Adelaide and mum said to me that I should try out her friends son for the band because he is a great guitar player and i was like, “Yeah whatever mum! What do you know!” [laughs] And then ages later I did a show at the Adelaide Fringe called ‘The 27 Club’ and Cam was in it. He introduced himself as Cam Blokland and I immediately wondered if it was the same Cam Blokland that my mum was talking about…and it was. I got to hang out with him for a month while we did the show – he’s a great player. When it came time to do auditions I said to Ruddy, “Let’s try out this Cam guy!” I had only heard him play the song from ‘The 27 Club’ but I could tell he had good feel. I couldn’t even be there for the auditions because I was out on tour with Jane Eyre so I was just sending ideas to Ruddy and Ruddy was holding all the auditions, which was a high pressure gig in itself which he handled really well. It turned out lived around the corner from him too which was perfect. So that was that position sorted so then it was Ruddy and Cam who then started to audition the drummers. They almost had one locked in – Ruddy was pretty happy with this one dude and then at the eleventh hour I was playing in this Beatles show called ‘All You Need is Love’ at Hamer Hall in Melbourne. At the time I was doing Jane Eyre and I was beginning to worry that I couldn’t do the Beatles show justice. I didn’t want to do it and in fact I actually tried to get out of it. I rang my agent and just said it was all too much, there were so many songs to learn… I was freaking out thinking I didn’t have enough time to work it all out. I wanted to be really good and I didn’t want to do it if I couldn’t give it my best. So he went to speak to then and he came back and said that I couldn’t get out of it as it was promoted everywhere with me in it [laughs]. So I just realised I just needed to work seven times harder. So I did the show, it was a great success and I loved it. The next day at the airport, we got delayed and I was sat around for sometime with the keyboard player and was telling him about my predicament and what we were doing with the band and he turns and says, “I’ve got the perfect drummer for you.” He said, “I have this knack of putting people together. I’ve put so many musicians and people together in all facets of life. I don’t know why but it’s always been successful.” I thought it sounded a bit weird but he said, “Trust me. Murray Sheridan is your guy! You should get him in for an audition.” So I called Ruddy and explained I knew it was the eleventh hour and that we had pretty much sorted the band but that I wanted to throw in a last minute wild card… and I can’t be there so you’ll have to do this by yourselves. So we sent him down there at the last minute and he played his fricking arse off, they recorded it and sent it to me and that music was just jumping out of my phone. The vibe was incredible… I was like, “Oh my God! Really? This shit is incredible.” I didn’t even know this guy from Adam but loved how he played so I called him and we talked for hours. He was lovely, we just clicked on so many things. I feel like I’ve known him for years. It also turns out he is an amazing producer as well. We were about to go into the studio in Brisbane with a different producer. It was booked and everything and again…the eleventh hour thing. I suggested we used Murray because he is a great producer and I thought how cool it would be to use a producer who was actually in the band too. I said, “Picture just the four of us in a room, with no engineer, no producer, no techs but just the four band members sitting around at the desk working on a record together. Who does that? No one.”
Sean: That’s pretty cool – I like that.
Sarah: It’s super cool. Ruddy was onboard straight away so I approached it gently and Murray was totally in to it. So we all went to the studio and everybody just clicked immediately. It was a beautiful thing. We were all giggling [laughs]. We were sitting round in a circle with our instruments and we’d pull up a song, start to jam it as everyone is trying to learn it – “This bit could go like that” and “You should try this bit like that”… everyone was getting in on everyone’s parts and it was so creative and so fast. It was electric. I’ve never experienced anything like it.
Sean: That’s obviously going to feed into the energy of the album when we finally get to hear it.
Sarah: Totally and I feel like its all very serendipitous because if I hadn’t performed in that Beatles show, we wouldn’t have Murray because he wouldn’t have been recommended to me.
Sean: It goes to show things in life do happen for a reason. There are things that just flow in the universe.
Sarah: Yeah totally. Looking back now, it’s funny how I tried to get out of it but I couldn’t.
Sean: And not only have you found a drummer but you now have the luxury of in-band production too. Free reign to do anything in the studio.
Sarah: For the first time in our lives we have managed to capture the energy of a live show on to the record. I’ve never had that before. It’s really energetic and you can really hear it. I’ve listened to it and I’m just sitting hear smiling.
Sean: I can hear it in your voice, not that you have ever been subdued anytime I’ve seen or spoken to you in the short time we’ve known each other [laughs]
Sarah: [laughs]
Sean: You’re just a little be more hyperactive than normal [laughs]
Sarah: [laughs] I know and I just can’t wait to unleash hell on that stage.
Sean: So with you being so busy over the last 18 months how have you managed to find time to write?
Sarah: I was writing while I was on the road with Jane Eyre. I took my whole set up with me. I’d perform the show then head back to my room with a bottle of wine, get the guitar out and get to work. And Ruddy has been writing heaps in his downtime so between us, once we got together we found we actually had an extensive body of work.
Sean: I can’t wait to hear the new single…
Sarah: …I know, Seany. I wish you’d heard it before we spoke. It’s always hard when the press haven’t heard it before an interview. (I”ve since heard it and it’s superb! – Sean)
Sean: One question I’d love to close with. Taking you back to ‘Jet Age’, when your in the studio and you write and record a song like ‘Gravity’ you you kind of have a shifty look across the room at each other with an excited look knowing your just recorded a hit? Or do you think its a decent song but get a surprise when it elevates to being such an anthemic hit?
Sarah: I think you know. You know when your on to something good.
Sean: Sarah, thank you so much for your time. Every time we chat is an absolute pleasure and I’m so looking forward to hearing this next chapter for The Superjesus. Have fun on the road – I’m sure you will. I may try to find a show somewhere and grab you for a glass of wine afterwards.
Sarah: I’d love that and I would love to talk to you once you’ve heard the track. I would love to hear your opinion.
Sean: Then we will. Thanks again Sarah.
Sarah: Thanks darling.
