Lynchpins of the “Little Bands” scene in the late 1970s, Primitive Calculators are experiencing an unexpectedly fruitful renaissance. They slaughter a few sacred cows – from Michael Hutchence to All Tomorrow’s Parties, Richard Lowenstein to Justin Timberlake – with RENÉ SCHAEFER.

Inspired by the punk explosion, Stuart Grant, Denise Hilton, Frank Lovece and Dave Light constituted the classic line-up of Primitive Calculators around 1979-80, releasing the ground-breaking techno-punk 7” single ‘I Can’t Stop It/Do That Dance’, a “posthumous” live album, as well as the Little Bands EP. The latter was a documentation of a scene initiated by the band, where makeshift acts would write a couple of songs, play a gig, and dissolve again.

As an artistic gesture it was more revolutionary than any of its corporate punk-rock contemporaries could have ever envisaged, in that it had nothing to do with musical talent, marketability or longevity. It was nihilist and fun at the same time, giving the finger not just to the rock establishment, but also to the indie mafia of the day.

In 2004, Chapter Music head honcho and all-round nice guy Guy Blackman re-released most of the Primitive Calculators’ back catalogue on his rather awesome label, sparking renewed interest in the band. With local bands like Oh! Belgium and Jemima Jemima paying homage to Primitive Calculators’ influence and music nerds hailing the band as an analogue to New York’s ‘No Wave’ scene, the time was right for Stuart, Denise, Frank and Dave to get back together and prove that their music is still as relevant today as it was 29 years ago.

Being asked to play at the inaugural Nick Cave-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties this year was the final prompt for a full-scale reformation. Their warm-up show at The Tote in January stands as one of the greatest performances this writer has witnessed, and their set at the Applecore backyard festival this month promises to be equally legendary.

You recently played your first live shows as Primitive Calculators in 29 years, at ATP and at Chapter Music’s 18th birthday gig at The Tote. How was that for you and what prompted you to get back together?

Stuart Grant: We got back together because they offered us 5000 bucks. The Tote was great. Very moving. Beautiful atmosphere, beautiful people. ATP was shit. We didn’t get a sound check. It was supposed to be this great love-in, but we were treated like shit by these jumped-up fuckwit stage crew roadies who thought they were above us. Very disappointing. Very “rock industry”. A bunch of worthless cunts. There is evil in the world. ATP was a pool of pus.

Denise Hilton: Stuart moved back to Melbourne after a couple of decades away … so when the folks at ATP offered us a large sum of dollars to play up a mountain, it was the perfect opportunity to see what would happen if we got back together. I was astounded by the audience reaction at both the Tote and Mt Buller. And I was astounded by how much I enjoyed our two months of rehearsals. I had no idea if it was going to work at all. Apparently it did. I had a good time at both gigs.

Frank Lovece: I jumped at the chance to play with my dear friends. We catch up occasionally, but making and playing together I remember why I like these people, and how talented they are. Mt Buller is beautiful. Excellent music, and my colleagues tell me the shows I missed were even better. I think of the stage crew but don’t want to offend our friends the snakes and little lizards. As punters our spirits were in a high place, and the food was okay.

Dave Light: It was lovely to hang out with old friends. The money was nice. I’ve been playing Bolaro Spanish love songs with Stuart for the past few months. I loved the idea of making big bad noise.

Primitive Calculators’ music still sounds as out of step with musical trends now as it did back in the late ’70s. Was that just chance, or a deliberate choice?

Stuart: We just did what we could. We tried to make stuff that was a kind of pop that would change people’s lives forever. We weren’t very good at it so we didn’t sound like anybody else. We just got stuff wrong. It was always out of our control.

Denise: I thought we sounded like we did because we couldn’t play very well and we never thought that was particularly important. We just played with friends and hoped for the best.

Frank: I recall a well-intentioned rock person advising us to create a formula, whatever that means. At that time there were new instruments for making music and experimentation everywhere. As for now, considering our disparate activities, and such a short time to arrange and rehearse songs, we could barely be in step with ourselves let alone musical trends. I’m curious about the music we might make.

Dave: It was just chance. It was great fun and deliberate.

When you first started, what were some of your influences?

Stuart: Billy Thorpe, ABBA, Cluster, The Ramones, Ligeti, [Lou Reed’s] Metal Machine Music, disco, The Seeds, The Fugs, The Godz.

Denise: Being disillusioned by the events of November 11, 1975 [the Whitlam dismissal]. Moving from outer suburbia to the inner city. Living with record junkies (Stuart and Dave), who would bring home weird and wonderful records to listen to.

Frank: We listened to a lot of music, spoke a great deal about it, and made it with whatever we had at hand. We shared books, money and a desire to make …

Dave: Everything.

How did audiences react to your music back then?

Stuart: Bored and confused.

Denise: At the beginning of 1979 there were a lot of people at the back of wherever we were playing with their fingers in their ears. By March 1980, there was a more positive reaction. Other bands really liked us for some reason.

Frank: By 1980 the audience was getting bigger.

Dave: Most people thought we were shit!

“We listened to a lot of music, spoke a great deal about it, and made it with whatever we had at hand. We shared books, money and a desire to make … everything.”

Do you feel an affinity with any bands playing these days?

Stuart: I don’t know much about bands, particularly underground ones. The only contemporary artist I listen to is Justin Timberlake.

Denise: Not really. Loud music doesn’t help my tinnitus.

Frank: My wife hogs the CD so I listen to a lot of Snap and a Neapolitan rapper, Canio Lo Guercio. On the radio I hear breathtaking adventures, such a commanding and inventive use of technology, sounds only Bach could ever have imagined. But if Stuart’s listening to Timberlake, I’ll go out and buy his latest CD tomorrow. I trust Stuart implicitly. But not with my life.

Dave: Justin Timberlake should die or the world should end. I love the Fuck Buttons. What a great name.

Primitive Calculators’ songs come across as quite bleak, but also tongue-in-cheek. What inspires the lyrics?

Stuart: Life. We are all going to die. It is beautiful and perplexing. Most things are remarkable.

Denise: Stuart writes the bleak and confronting lyrics. Frank writes the beautiful and confronting lyrics. It’s an interesting blend. They are both great writers.

Frank: Language is something we all share, and it is very musical too.

Dave: The streets of Springvale.

The band briefly reconvened in 1986 to re-interpret some of its music for Richard Lowenstein’s movie *Dogs In Spac*e. You even appeared as yourselves in the film. How do you regard this experience now?

Stuart: Too long ago to tell. It definitely contributed to the ongoing reputation of the band. Still, they were a bunch of cunts. Film industry people are even more fucked-up with their own self-importance and delusion than rock industry people.

Denise: A very over-rated movie (with a bad version of ‘Pumping Ugly Muscle’), but I got to record a great version of my 1979 all-girl little band (Thrush and the Cunts) with Arne Hanna and Dave Light. Chase Records put out two version of the soundtrack album: one was R-rated, the other one was censored and omitted the vocal tracks of both the Calculators and Thrush songs. Why? Who knows? No wonder the record company went bust soon afterwards. Obviously run by idiots.

Dave: I remember getting really drunk in the front bar of the George Hotel [where it was being filmed]. I stood next to Michael Hutchence who had a bad acne face.

I always liked the idea of the “Little Bands” scene you were part of: forming short-lived bands that write a handful of songs, play a couple of shows, and then disappear again. What was the intention behind this?

Stuart: Dave formed a band with Lee Smith called the Leapfrogs. We wondered where they could play. They only had a couple of songs. It inspired me and Dave to talk about putting other similar little disposable bands together to put on a night of stuff. The Primitive Calculators didn’t have a very long set and we figured we could use our other bands with our friends to support us. They were only allowed three songs and never allowed to play more than twice. The idea was the punk ethos of disposability, novelty and working against the grain of the standard modes of procedure in the music business. Unfortunately a few greedy self-absorbed pub rockers used it as the launch pad for their tawdry careers.

Denise: Thrush and the Cunts played once, Ronnie and the Rhythm Boys played twice and Stuart and I did one performance in a back room at Max’s record shop doing ‘96 Tears’. Playing in four bands in a six-month period was great fun. I got to sing in a couple of those bands, playing bass in another. You felt like you could do anything.

Frank: One beautiful career was launched there.

Dave: To fill in time before we played.

What did Primitive Calculators’ band members do in the intervening years?

Stuart: Ate, shat, fucked, breathed, bred, played in a million other bands, wrote, played golf, read, watched TV, had friends, lived, got sick, got well, paid rent, got evicted, looked at the sky, fought hard to avoid bitterness, did demeaning shit jobs, travelled, learned, slept, wore clothes, became better musicians, listened to currawongs, got fat, got old, laughed, felt pain, became more humble and less deluded, took drugs, fell in love, endured the 1980s, had orgasms, realised we nearly invented techno, came to realize that our dreams of pop music that would have the power to change peoples’ lives were ridiculous, watched cynical jaded hacks of our generation become ugly pub rock stars preying off the stupidity and gullibility of their audiences, learned not to take ourselves so seriously.

Denise: Some of the above … but no breeding or getting fat.

Frank: Films. The sound poetry group Arf Arf. Performances. Little books.

Dave: Did not get fat or lose my hair. Played in lots of bands and listened to lots of Merle Haggard and the Beach Boys. Highlights were seeing Brian Wilson and Merle Haggard live. Writing folk songs with Christine, my girlfriend.

Are you working on new material, and if so, does this mean you will continue as a band, playing more shows and recording?

Stuart: My interest has been pricked. I have been writing more songs. I want to record them. I don’t want to deal with bookers, promoters, roadies, publicans who want to make me feel as though I am responsible for how much beer they sell, agents, hangers-on, and the other worthless sycophants who prey off young peoples’ dreams. I saw some utterly delightful bands at the tote. I would like to talk to them, listen to them, play with them and be part of something beautiful. So this Applecore thing is a perfect place to play. There is too much greed, malice and stupidity when money, fame and prestige become involved. I think Guy Blackman is a kind of angel to do what he does and stay who he is.

Denise: I’m happy to go along with what the others would like to do. It’s been an interesting few months and it’s been great hanging out with the boys. At the same time, I would be just as happy to play a couple of times and disappear again for another couple of decades.

Frank: It’s a joy to do the hard yards. After rehearsals I walk through my front door singing and swaying to the beat. It’s an exciting experience with these fine tools, making noise, and such a privilege to work with Stuart, Denise and Dave. It feels like a band. A large and fiery ball of energy. I love it.

Dave: Who knows? We are putting together a third CD of ’70s material with Chapter Music.

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APPLECORE BACKYARD FESTIVAL

Saturday, February 21
43 Pender Street, Thornbury, VIC
Primitive Calculators + SPOD + Sleepy Township + Laura-Jean and the Edenland Band + Deaf Wish + Luluc + Actor/Model + Deadbeat Club + Hand Hell + Aleks and the Ramps + Graveyard Train

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