He’s a full-time member of The Stabs, a gun-for-hire for the likes of Love of Diagrams and The Breadmakers and with his new solo project Miniature Submarines already making waves, Mark Nelson tells DOUG WALLEN why he can’t help but submerge himself in all facets of Melbourne’s music scene.

There’s an unmistakable dark side to the debut 7” from Miniature Submarines, the solo project of Stabs bassist and itinerant collaborator Mark Nelson. And yet the Melbourne-based multi-instrumentalist calls it his version of pop. Really, it’s the friction between his gentle, melodic singing and his penchant for gritty guitar and squealing feedback that makes the project instantly engaging. A similar combination of pretty and crunchy is a hallmark of so much ’90s rock, which provides Nelson with ongoing inspiration. But the gloomy noise-pop of both ‘The Little Room Under The Stairs’ and ‘I Heard That You Turned Into A Loser, Baby’ doesn’t recall any one band, which is saying something, really.

The project began as an outlet for Nelson’s home recordings – and it is still is, although Monica Fikerle (Love Of Diagrams, Baseball) played drums on the 7”. As for gigs, Nelson has built a rugged lineup in guitarist Greg Kerslake (Mother & Father), bassist Alex Jarvis (ex-Automatic) and drummer Duncan Blachford (ex-Witch Hats). While keeping the live band intact, Nelson aims to play nearly all of the instruments on his upcoming releases, something that shouldn’t prove too difficult for a guy who plays in at least five bands. A fairly deadpan presence on the phone, Nelson was articulate and often funny while discussing why a project like Miniature Submarines was good for his health.

I don’t know if I’ve ever interviewed someone on the basis of just two songs.
There are more on the way, actually. I’ve started recording the next record. Well, I started a while ago but the computers got stolen. I was working at Jet Studios and it got broken into. People lost albums. I had only recorded three songs, so I lost three. I’m going to Birdland [Studios in Melbourne] to start again. The next one’s going to be a 10”. And then an album.

So you’re sort of working your way up?
Yeah, well, I’ve got this batch of songs. The 7” was just to get something out quickly. Looking at my list of songs [after that], it just seemed like a 10”. If I pair them up into appropriate groups, a 10” makes sense. And then [from there] I’ve got a really good list of album songs with nothing that really sticks out like a sore thumb. I feel like these two songs sleep much better at night on a 7” than they would do among the other songs on the album.

When you re-record the three songs you lost, will you change them at all?
No. I’ve demoed them and then recorded them, so in a way I’ve demoed them a couple of times now. I know how they go, and that’s how they go.

Does Monika or Duncan drum on the 10”?
I’m playing all the instruments on this one. The idea for Miniature Submarines is that it’s a vehicle for my solo recordings. I just didn’t want to call it Mark Nelson because I’d feel like a tool. When I demo songs, I do it all myself to see what I can get away with playing. For instance, that drum fill in the chorus-y bit of ‘The Little Room Under The Stairs’, that’s as important to me as the vocal melody. I could demo it well enough to show to Monika, but I couldn’t play it well enough to pull it off in a recording. So if I need help, I’ll ask someone else to do it. The songs I’m recording at the moment are simple enough that I can pull off the drums on them.

Have you always been able to play a few instruments, or is that part of the challenge?
I wouldn’t say I’ve been able to play lots of instruments, but I grew up playing the organ. I had lessons. And then in high school I had lessons on double bass. So naturally I moved over and taught myself bass guitar and guitar. I’ve always played bass and guitar in bands. And keyboards. Drums, I don’t know, I guess I’ve just learnt by playing air drums in my bedroom. Apparently that’s how Dave Grohl learnt how to play drums. And I’m playing viola on these new songs. My sister has one, so she willingly loaned it to me. But I definitely will be getting someone to play my [viola] parts again [laughs].

And live you obviously need a full band to pull off what you did on the record.
Yeah. I mean, this just started out as a recording thing. But enough people kept asking me to play that the band sort of developed out of that. We’ve got two guitars, because there’s always a rhythm and a lead bit in the songs. It’s cool. Everyone is really down with the idea of me demoing them and then learning the parts off that. They’re all in other bands, so there’s no ego or anything. It’s working out well.

I caught some of your set in support of the Tucker B’s earlier this year.
That was Greg’s first show. He’s the other guitar player. Chris Smith had been playing up until then. I think Greg did that show with one rehearsal, so he did really well.

Have the other shows gone well?
Yeah. Since Greg joined, they’ve been going even better. Because Chris does live in Rosedale [in rural Victoria], which is like an hour away on a V/Line train, rehearsal was a bit difficult. We still don’t rehearse a hell of a lot, but it is easier with a semi-local in the band.

“The Submarines has been a breath of fresh air. It’s made me way more interested in The Stabs too. I probably would have strangled someone in The Stabs if I hadn’t gotten to do this project in the meantime.”

Had you been recording or playing on your own before this?
Well, this is my first solo project. Alex Jarvis really encouraged me to do this. He got me to play viola on a couple of songs on his first solo record, and he’s had me in his band since then, playing bass at his live shows. He just suggested that maybe I should do some solo stuff. Before I did Submarines, I was just bashing my head against a brick wall in The Stabs, it felt like. That’s why I did this: to satisfy an itch that doesn’t get scratched in The Stabs.

The two bands are very different, sound-wise.
Absolutely. That’s the point for me, really.

The bio on the Rice Is Nice website calls it “an exercise in pop”.
I actually wrote that [laughs]. I think I said, “Unashamedly an exercise in pop.” Yeah, this is my pop band. Obviously these songs would never fly in The Stabs. Anyone who likes The Stabs should be warned that it’s not another Stabs record. But it’s music I like and I’m proud of this stuff. I feel justified in releasing it.

You call it pop, but it’s got feedback and noise and, for want of a better word, angst.
Yeah. It’s probably my version of pop.

It really reminds me of the ’90s. Not any specific band, but that prevailing aesthetic.
Absolutely. Pretty much everyone says this music sound very ’90s, which I think is a total compliment. I’m happy about that. That was when I was a teenager. I think I went to my first gig in 1993. Those years when you’re just like a sponge, soaking up whatever comes your way. I was totally influenced and taught by the ’90s. My favourite bands are Nirvana and Sonic Youth. Probably the ’90s era of Sonic Youth in particular.

Was it weird putting yourself out there lyrically?
I’ve always written songs in other bands. I write songs for The Stabs, so there’s a few of my lyrics in there. But it can be weird. It depends on how easily the song popped out. There’s a few, like [‘I Heard That You Turned Into A Loser, Baby’], where the song was written around the lyrics. That came from a telephone conversation I’d had about an old friend of ours who just proved himself to be a loser one night. [Laughs] As soon as I hung up the phone, that popped in [my head]. But there’s other songs where I have the music and I really have to squeeze out some words. And maybe I’m a little more self-conscious about singing. It all depends how much confidence I have on a night.

Sometimes I get really self-conscious singing songs where it’s like, “Oh, I’m so sad and lonely.” Sometimes you feel it and you need to say it, but then other times you just feel like a douchebag standing in the corner of the pub singing about your feelings. [Laughs] I guess everyone that writes lyrics goes through this. Sometimes you wish no one was listening to what you were saying for a minute.

Again, your lyrics are a bit angsty. Do you find inspiration in the bitterness you experience in daily life?
I guess. Particularly that ‘Loser’ song. That’s about one of my main muses. We didn’t end on fantastic terms. So it’s a lot easier, if I’m going to write about them, to write something nasty. I also try not to do it too often, because I wrote three songs about him. I had to stop because it was getting boring for me and for everyone. And you can’t hang on to shit.

And writing songs is part of getting that stuff out.
And I mean, I try to do it with a little bit of humour. That line about being on my mind like a tumour … A tumour’s not exactly pleasant, but it’s still a funnier way of saying it than being straight-up angry.

Besides working with [US singer-songwriter] Kelley [Stoltz] and Alex Jarvis, what else are you involved in?
I’ve been playing keyboards in The Breadmakers lately. They’re rhythm and blues, like The Rolling Stones in the ’60s. I used to work at [the Melbourne label and pressing plant] Corduroy Records, and it’s my old boss Nick Phillips’ band. They just had their 20th birthday. But their organ player moved up to Sydney, so sometimes they have Mikey [Young] from Eddy Current filling in and sometimes me. Lately it’s been me, as Mikey gets more and more busy. Although I’m quite busy myself; I think he’s just better at saying no.

It seems fairly common in Melbourne for everyone to play in each other’s bands.
Yeah. Oh, I just remembered: I’m playing bass in Parading as well, which is with Tom Barry from Witch Hats … I find I can’t just be in one band and be satisfied. I need to play Kelley Stoltz-style pop, and the Submarines has been a breath of fresh air. It’s made me way more interested in The Stabs too. I probably would have strangled someone in The Stabs if I hadn’t gotten to do this project in the meantime. I think it’s very healthy. You can’t stretch yourself too thin, but you can stretch yourself a little. I’ve been playing [second guitar] with Love Of Diagrams as well lately. I just do what Luke [Horton] tells me to do. That’s been cool because he plays in a radically different tuning than anything I’ve ever used.

How do you think the 10” will sound versus the 7”?
Well, songwriting-wise, it’s probably my most rock. It’s big and epic. There’ll be at least five guitars on one particular song, and it’s too long for a 7”. I’ve always wanted to do a 10”. I love ’em. The other side is probably a bit more mellow than the 7”. And then there’s a song we’ve been playing live as a band. I think it all sounds like me. It’s all coming from the same pen.

How many songs have you written total, including the 7”?
There’s probably about 15 I’ve demoed already. There are more half-written or not demoed. There’s two for the 7”, three for the 10”, and probably about 10 more for the album. Oh, and another one I’m recording soon for a split 7” with Bleach. He’s one of my favourite things at the moment. He’s from Melbourne. I’m really into him. So we’re doing a split, and I’m actually going to have the live band play on that song.

Is there a reason for that?
It’s just how I think that song will work best. This song is one I didn’t get to demo. I just showed it to the band. Alex has thrown in some walking bass lines, which I wouldn’t have done. And Duncan has just nailed the hell out of the drum part. It just sounds right. It would be wrong if I didn’t do it with the band.

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‘The Little Room Under The Stairs’/‘I Heard That You Turned Into A Loser, Baby’ is out now on Rice Is Nice.