Article based on interview with Doug Falconer discussing origins of H&C band name and their changing sound and style.

Author: Andrew Watson, Style newspaper.

Date: November 27 – December 12 1986.

Original URL: N/A

Article Text

Part of the mystique a band can have is its name. Sometimes there is a deep thought provoking/meaning or a witty social comment or part of a history or an association with band members’ names or an experience the band had early in their careers and the possibilities go on.

When it comes to Australia’s Hunters and Collectors, one would logically think that it would deal with the Aborigines (native people). How wrong can you get.

Let’s go to Germany for a minute. According to Doug Falconer the drummer for the band, “We stole the name from a German group called Can, it was just the name of one of their songs. One of the members had the record and we were having problems finding a name. We decided that Hunters and Collectors was (a) visually and aurally provocative name, very different.”

In the initial stages of the band, their music had elements of confusion. “At that time when we first started out it was because of the number of people involved. It was also due to the egos working at that time. Everyone wanted equal input and when you have so many members playing. What you would get was different music elements going in different directions. At that time we would turn the confusion into something good. As we went along we found it much harder to do, consequently we found ourselves up a blind alley,” Doug explained.

There is a change in the overall music doe to less members or as the term goes not as many cooks in the kitchen. Doug’s feeling on the subject is, “We decided to strip it right back. Now it is not controlled confusion, rather controlled aggression. We are now able to channel the individual talents of the band. Controlled aggression to give the right amount of power behind each part of the lyric. It is just a lot more focussed.”

ne of the most distinctive music elements that Hunters and Collectors have is their rhythm. Doug explains the band’s members, “Yeah, that has always been the basis of what we do is to work from the rhythm up. Everybody contributes, not just the drums and bass. We know each others’ strengths and weakness into one for a unique sound.

The confusion element previously mentioned had its problems for Doug and he explained the illness/healing process, “My role in the band has changed completely. Initially what I was doing was attempting to hold down six different rhythms coming at me. I made a solid rhythm as I could under the circumstances attempting to give it somewhat of a solid base. But now I can do that or a great number of other things but the bottom won’t drop out now. This is because the three basic elements of rhythm are working as one, guitar, bass and drums. Therefore I can colour that rhythm much more effectively. There is room in the audible spectrum to this in our music now.”

Since the rock F.M. stations around the world are formatted and restrictive, Hunters and Collectors are touring to break into the market as in Australia. Their targets are through the college radio stations and the alternative music scene. With the band now back on track and determined to do what they do; they just might break into the commercial stations across our continent. Until then, word of mouth will inform people about their music.

Comments

Thankyou to Tim for typing out this article.