OCEAN GROVE: LIVING IN A 'FLIP PHONE FANTASY', MURDER WEAPONS AND REVERSE PUNCHES
Ocean Grove are arguably some of the craziest f*ckers you’ll meet. The Melbourne-based rock band just released their new album ‘Flip Phone Fantasy’, after having a break following their 2017 ‘The Rhapsody Tapes’.
The new album is an intentional blueprint of the changes they hope to see in themselves. A fresh start. An album with the ability to become the listener’s own mixtape. The band explore a rainbow of human emotions, and explore themes and topics they’d never felt they could before. An injection of new sounds, sensations and direction.
Here’s some words we had with Ocean Grove’s Twiggy Hunter & Sam Bassal about the new album, murder weapons and reverse punches:
What is Flip Phone Fantasy?
Sam: Flip Phone Fantasy is the embodiment of nostalgia. A synchronisation of human emotion. As Hysteria put it - “Flip Phone Fantasy is a union of imagination, time, and sound manifest. Go decorate some well earned moments with it. You’ll be glad you did.”
What inspired the album?
Sam: The album is a compilation of songs that touch on multiple subjects, moments and experiences.
Twiggy: A lot of the experiences touched on in the metaphorical undertone of the songs are quite universal, I think a lot of people will find their ‘moment’ and that ‘place’ when listening to this album.
Sam: Yeah, the inspiration spurs from many different places.
Describe your band using a movie title:
Twiggy: I’d have to choose ‘DUDES’. The character ‘Milo’ really resonates with me (played by Flea from RHCP btw) and I can see a little bit of each of the main cast in the rest of my band. This movie was the first VHS I ever purchased as a kid. I went to a video store closing sale, asked my Mum for 50 cents and bought this absolute classic. Still got it, too.
Who is your role model?
Twiggy: My role model is my Pop who is also known as “The Don”. From surviving a Nazi invasion in Budapest at 15 to being able to smoke more weed than anyone I know at the ripe age of 80 while going through chemotherapy and in his own words, stating to his grandson “I don’t wanna be a fucking vegetable. If I’m fucked they can just let me go” this man, is my hero.
What pisses you off?
Twiggy: Sam.
Sam: Twiggy.
Pre-show ritual?
Twiggy: I like a double shot oat milk latte a couple hours before stage. I let that find it’s way into my veins and then I stretch, do some yoga and a full body workout before another stretch, a few long, relaxed toilet visits and a 3 minute (timed) staring competition in a mirror without blinking.
Would you rather experience the beginning of planet Earth, or the end?
Twiggy: Definitely the beginning. What a beautiful, catastrophic moment that could be. It would be hard to pinpoint the exact moment of the ‘beginning’ or the duration of that period but I’d love to see the moment first life appeared. Would definitely need a microscope.
Strangest thing a fan has given you?
Twiggy: A small bag of heroin.
Sam: A non consensual tongue kiss.
What’s the meaning of life?
Twiggy: Wouldn’t you like to know? I can’t tell you all my secrets hehe
What’s the perfect murder weapon?
Twiggy: You’re talking to it.
Your most useless talent?
Twiggy: Speaking on behalf of all of the band here. Probably the ‘Reverse punch’ which we incorporate as a calming method, a form of catharsis when we’re pissed off at each other in the studio. Actually, it’s pretty useful... You put your tightly clenched fist against the subjects head, nose, stomach, crotch region etc and pull away as HARD as you can. It’s the best alternative to an actual full power punch.
Naughtiest thing you’ve done?
Twiggy: Hmm. That’s a hard question. Once I pissed in the back of a divvy van (Police car) when they threw me in there for mouthing off after being wrongly accused of stealing a rolled car we just so happened to be walking past, drunk, as teenagers in the mish.
What’s next?
Twiggy: Once the world is back to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic, hopefully real soon - we’re going to tour our new album around the globe and meet our mental fans from places we’re yet to go. Can’t wait.
Ocean Groves new album ‘FLIP PHONE FANTASY’ is out now on all platforms.
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