Interview with Raging Hormones: ‘To me, guitars are like oranges that you juice, you get every last drop of creativity out of them’

Melbourne-based rock band Raging Hormones will release their gloriously rambunctious debut EP ‘Public Fun – Part 1’ tomorrow (9 June).

The band, which formed in December 2021, comprises Nick Manuell (lead vocals, guitar), Lucy Rash (synthesisers, vocals, tambourine), David Williams (vocals, guitar), Jon Grace (bass) and Adrian Van Bloom (drums). Manuell, Williams and Rash went to school together in East Gippsland, in the eastern region of Gippsland, Victoria, in Australia. They met Van Bloom and Grace on the local music scene in Melbourne. Manuell describes how he came up with their name: ‘I wanted something ridiculous for the name, that was the first box that had to be ticked (laughs). ‘Nick Manuell’s Raging Hormones’ was the first idea because this band came from a subconscious need to create stuff, I couldn’t really control it. I needed this outlet, it was like a hormone rush!’

Part power-pop squadron, part luminaries of a new wave of punk-spiked, vintage-inspired anthems, all that matters to the commanding Australian five-piece is that you’re willing to check your emotional baggage at the door. Their aim is simple: to make you feel damn good. Fusing blistering guitar and synth hooks with an arsenal of festival-ready anthems drenched in 60’s rock-and-roll, ‘Public Fun – Part 1’ is a debut body of work consisting of five tracks that are as euphoric as they are empowering: a guaranteed, purpose-written antidote to the chaos of modern life extolling you to seize the day and make the most of your life. It’s a relentless call to arms, offering everything needed – the ammunition, sounds, and instructions – for taking aim at everything getting you down, regardless of what’s at stake.

‘It’s borderline conceptual, the idea of taking life to be yours and pushing out all the external controls and letting your life be what you want it to be,’ Manuell said. It was written with the aim of cheering up both Manuell and his partner during one of the long lockdowns during COVID in Melbourne: ‘It was pretty bad for your mental health. My way of coping was to put on these ridiculous sunglasses (laughs) I’d found and write songs, then I gave them to friends to cheer them up. This band is for the listener, not the creator, I hope people listen to it!’

The lockdown frustration that spawned the album is best encapsulated in the track ‘Everything Opens Up’, a Foo Fighters style track, with thundering drums and big vocals and energy from Manuell as well as a seriously hooky bass line. As the track goes: “Fast forward life, to when everything opens up. Can’t wait to see you again, just like the old days.” Sonically, it’s a real pressure-cooker, opening with a solo lead guitar hook alongside driving, krautrock-like drums, it builds in intensity until the bridge. Here, the entire track explodes into euphoria, victory and a sense of pure joy.

‘‘Everything Opens Up’ is a song about overcoming that struggle, and reaching that future goal‘

‘This song was written during the tail-end of lockdown in Melbourne 2020, but its key message is something absolutely central to the human condition: yearning for what the future holds,’ Manuell said. ‘Life has a way of throwing roadblocks in front of the things you want to do. Can’t get that job? Can’t remedy that tricky relationship? Can’t see your family because they’re on the other side of the world? As humans, we’re in a constant state of navigating these issues, while at the same time longing for positive outcomes and reliving our best memories. ‘Everything Opens Up’ is a song about overcoming that struggle, and reaching that future goal. Originally, it started off about life and longing for it to be like it was beforehand and looking forward to the future. That phrase “When everything opens up” was thrown around in Australia all the time during lockdown. There’s always some hurdle, you always have plans to embrace something, the song took on this other metaphor. It’s about seizing the day and enjoying your life. The starting point was that “do do do do do” riff. I’ve got a couple of weird circular Japanese guitars that make me play in a particular way. To me, guitars are like oranges that you juice, you get every last drop of creativity out of them, then you move on to the next one (laughs). The song just fell out of that weird round one.’

Instrumentally, there is a lot going on in ‘Everything Opens Up’ as it builds to a blistering outro: ‘That big resolved ending, I love it,’ Manuell said enthusiastically. ‘It makes people feel as if the obstacle is out of the way, the end is this huge euphoric explosion.’ I tell him that it could easily be a Foo Fighters song and he’s delighted. ‘We grew up listening to Foo Fighters but we don’t deserve to be in the same bracket and our influences are actually mainly older than that. We love The Stooges & The Flamin’ Groovies. Stuff like that.’

The seize the day theme also extends to tracks such as ‘Going Out In Style’, a fearless call-to-arms, a song about breaking free from everything that frustrates you in life, regardless of what that means for the future. The key message of this song is the freedom that comes from throwing caution to the wind and making a conscious decision to get lost in the moment.

‘We were very clearly picturing the final scene of Thelma & Louise when Geena and Susan hold hands and plunge their 1966 Thunderbird into the Grand Canyon‘

‘I was messing around with that opening riff,’ Manuell said. ‘I’m really into Sheer Mag (a rock band from Philadelphia), I wanted to head down that path. I happened to call Lucy and asked if she was doing anything and I went round hers and we wrote the lyrics together. We were very clearly picturing the final scene of Thelma & Louise when Geena and Susan hold hands and plunge their 1966 Thunderbird into the Grand Canyon: ruthless camaraderie, and a willingness to really, truly let go. We were thinking about someone standing in the crowd at one of our shows. We encourage people to get lost in the sound, it’s all about escapism, the “take a break” part, drilling that into the listener. The huge, multi-part harmony pop-punk chorus is best listened to really loud, accompanied by a massive Campari Soda and a group of your best mates. Next step? Get everyone in a car and let the world eat your dust!’

As the track goes: “Lights out on your frustration. Take a breath and change the station. If we’re going out, we’re going out in style.”

His dream guitar changes on a regular basis: ‘My dream guitar changes every month, I’d say! It’s really all about who is inspiring me at that moment. Currently my dream guitar is an early 60s SG Junior but that’s mostly because I’ve been smashing this band called His Lordship from the UK and James Walbourne, the guitarist in that band, rips one of those to pieces. I’d also really like a custom Fidelity guitar from this guy in Cambridge. Those are soooooo cool!’

We have Paul Simon to thank for Manuell’s road to singing: ‘I did take singing lessons as a kid. My family did a road trip through New Zealand when I was about eight and we only had one CD for like three weeks of driving. It was Paul Simon’s Anthology and I learnt every song on that double CD. I think my parents took me for lessons when we got back, probably because I was singing so badly in the car!’

‘Power Hour’ is a natural opener, erupting with a ‘whoosh’ that comes courtesy of a hooky pick slide at the start: ‘I wanted it to be really obnoxious, the aural equivalent of someone giving you a slap in the face,’ Manuell laughed. ‘It’s a common move in rock ‘n’ roll music. Normally, pick slides are short, you do a quick one before the chorus but I wanted to do a huge one at the start, that shocks the system (laughs). I like to build up a repetition and on the third turnaround, derail it, to mess with people’s expectations! I also love a straightforward hook. I’m a white male and I’m looking down the tail end of my life in that song. I know at some point I’ll be an old white male (laughs), we’ve got a lot of horrible old white men in politics and positions of power in Australia. ‘Power Hour’ is a reminder to not end up that way, to forge my own path, stay true to my morals and ethics and be a well-thought out guy who looks at people’s emotions and wants to be a good person. Sometimes you need a punk rock soundtrack for these things. That’s my dog Twiggy barking at the end, she’s a miniature Schnauzer, or military Schnauzer as some people call her! She will bark in the face of anyone, regardless of who they are.’

Within just 18 months, the band has supported the likes of Gyroscope, Bodyjar, Smith Street Band, Press Club, LOSER and Mid City, performing at Forum Melbourne, The Corner Hotel, Waves Wollongong, and more.

‘There’s a big hook on the second EP, it sounds like The Cramps’

Luckily for us, ‘Public Fun – Part 2’ is just around the corner and will be released around September: ‘It’ll have the same number of tracks. There’s a couple of wild card songs on the second EP. One sounds like The Cramps,’ Manuell said.

If he could go for a drink with anyone, he picks Iggy Pop: ‘I love him, that’d be a pretty entertaining pint! I guess I’d ask him some serious questions about life and how he creates all that magic. I love his ability to squash internal and external criticism. His ability to smear peanut butter over himself and remain the coolest person in the world (laughs), I think that’s a super power.’

He brings many different influences to the band: ‘My favorite Aussie band is Ratcat (a rock band from Sydney), they were pretty big in the late 80’s and 90’s. My older sis had a Ratcat CD and she gave it to me when I was eight. When I was young, I was into anything with distorted guitars AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Blink 182 etc. Now, in terms of Australian music specifically, my favourites are Press Club and Neighbourhood Youth, they write incredible songs that traverse several genres, check out ‘Atlantic’ by Neighbourhood Youth, it’s world class.’

Entertainingly, the high school antics that Manuell and Williams got up to continue to inform the band today: ‘We’ve been working on a music video where we set fire to deodorant with cigarette lighters, Dave set my hair on fire, I had to pat it out mid-take (laughs). Dave and I used to do all sorts of ridiculous stuff in high school. One time, I boosted Dave into the ceiling of our math class and he was running around inside the roof! I think that overly energetic teenager part of our relationship still infuses the band today.’

‘I’d love play with Death by Unga Bunga, I’m desperate to see them live’

His dream line up would be eclectic and delightfully raucous: ‘I’d love to play with Death by Unga Bunga (a Norwegian garage rock band from Moss), I’m desperate to see them live, they’re such a cool band, they’d definitely headline! There’s a band from Canada called Ancient Shapes, a punk band formed by Daniel Romano. He’s so prolific, he’s in lots of bands, he writes quirky, strange music that I adore. Songhoy Blues (a desert blues music group from Timbuktu, Mali) would be an interesting twist to the line up. I’d buy a ticket to that show for sure!’

There have been some hilarious yet sketchy moments on the road, as Manuell recounts: ‘I’ve got a really good story from when Adrian and I were in a band before this called The Sinking Teeth. We did a tour in Germany. We pulled over at a petrol station in our van, we were touring with the Danish band Forever Unclean. We had rubbish bags on the windows so that people couldn’t see in and steal our stuff (laughs). A car pulls up behind us with a flashing light. Two guys get out wearing super tight black t-shirts and start searching our vehicle. All the other guys were before me, they pulled us out of the van one by one, and everyone came back five minutes later white as a sheet. These police officers gave me a thorough pat down and pulled down my underpants in the middle of the road! Afterwards, we’re driving in the van, everyone is silent and I’m like: ‘Did they look at your junk, too?!” And they were all like “Yes!” Then we realized that these guys didn’t show us any ID, they were just two crazy guys with a flashing light (laughs). We asked people at our show that night if this was normal in Germany and they started yelling: “No, no, no!” I think it’s a fantastic story, I tell it every chance I get!’

(Second photo from left to right: Dave, Jon, Nick, Adrian and Lucy. Photo credits: Nick Manuell www.nickmanuell.com)