Tamala Park Book Club have honed myriad musical and aesthetic influences, a dexterous array of rock, punk and pop all shining through. Dig a bit deeper and the Perth four can be found paying homage to the Japanese visual, kei, on tracks "Palette" and "Sakura Memories", with the songs featuring a blend of hard hitting breakdowns and nostalgic melodies.
Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.
• Craig R: Vocals, Bass, Rhythm Guitar
• Marcel Bluett: Drums, vocals
• Patrick de Rooy: Vocals, Bass, Rhythm Guitar
• Daniel Harvey: Lead shredder (aka the only good musician in the band)
For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Tamala Park Book Club? How long has the band been around?
The band has been around since 2018. It seems like a long time, but COVID has distorted that a lot. We have played in a couple of punk/metal bands before, and Craig was part of a local cover band for a short time.
What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?
Craig and Patrick were thinking of some names that stuck out. Nothing too basic or punk rock, something that added a bit of flavour. Craig recommended the name “Beverly Hills Book Club”, but Patrick thought that Beverly Hills was too cliché, cringe and far removed from where we were. He then landed on “Tamala Park Book Club”. Tamala Park may sound like a ritzy suburb on Perth’s coast, but it’s far from it. It’s the local rubbish tip in the northern suburbs. It’s a nice inside joke at the time, which we can shorten/change to fit nicely on a tour poster. But we’ll assess that when we start playing festivals.
Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
Craig and Patrick write often together, almost every weekend. Marcel is an avid songwriter too. Dan always finds ways to add some colour to the songs that really help paint the picture we try to portray. If Patrick, Marcel and Craig were the ones writing the novel, Dan is the illustrator that brings it to life. We like to cover topics relative to millennials and Gen Z’s alike.
Feelings of optimism for the future, dissatisfaction and dread in the current 9-5 and gig economy. Craig’s the Taylor Swift of the group, writing about love and heartbreak and Patrick is the Billy Joe Armstrong of the group, writing about topical matters that our demographic can relate to. Our topics consistently grow as we do.
What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?
That’s a huge question. We could list a bunch in a hot minute, but that would take up the whole page. We are always looking for new inspiration new and old, from 60’s rock ‘n’ roll, to metal, to jazz. If we had to name names, Craig is really starstruck by Taylor Swift’s new sound with Bon Iver, Patrick is taken aback by the revival of Short Stack and acts like Waterparks, Marcel loves the heavy stuff like Amity Affliction and Bring Me the Horizon, and Dan is a big fan of Patient 67 (another local Perth band).
Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?
You guys don’t hold your punches with the deep questions. If we had to say, it would be the influence of J-Rock and Visual Kei scene in Japan (the GazettE, Vistlip and Alice Nine to name a few). These acts made us want to do something more with our music. We wanted to add a visual element to the material and live shows. A bit of colourful outfits and makeup. But that’s easier said than done in Perth!
What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, etc …
Patrick refuses to drink a beer until after the show, Marcel chugs a Monster and Craig is into a bit of stretching and push ups to get the nerves off. Craig and Dan aren’t shy of a pre-gig drink to calm the nerves either.
What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?
Playing shows in bars like Convenients bar and Beaconsfield Hotel have been a blast. But, at the start of this year, we started engaging with some different PR companies that were able to bring our music to a wider audience. We’d never done that before but the reaction we got made us confident that we were heading in the right direction!
If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
We would love to tour with a band that is either heavier or lighter than us. Everyone’s music taste is diverse, and a gig’s line-up should reflect that. If you see a punk show, you tend to get similar sounding artists. If you see a show where all the acts are different, the audience may appreciate the different nuances of each artist. If we had to name a few, 1970s Elvis, My Chemical Romance, Short Stack or even the Beach Boys!
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Apart from #watchthisspace or #bigthingscomingsoon, we would like to say we’re a band that is trying to bridge different genres and make some new, dope sounds. Only time will tell if we’re successful.