Brisbane rock overlords ROLLERBALL have been deathly quiet for most of 2006, but as guitarist DAVE TALON tells BRETT COLLINGWOOD, “December is turning into a real ‘dedicated to rock’ month, so I’m hoping that we’ll do a few gigs and then get together and record something really soon.”

Fans of stalwart Brisbane rock outfit Rollerball could be forgiven for wondering what the hell the band have been doing all year – since the September 2005 release of the mostly live EP Broken Open, things have been exceptionally quiet at Chez Rollerball. But as guitarist Dave Talon amiably explains, there’s this little thing called day-to-day life that can get in the way of unfettered rockage. “Rock & roll in the C-grade is not a exactly big money-spinner, so there’s been a bit of work going on, everyone trying to make ends meet. Also I was in Europe for three months, and Stew the bass player’s wife had a baby, and he basically didn’t want to do too much while the baby was in its first couple of months.

“It’s kind of frustrating,” he continues, referring to the lack of band activity in 2006, “but it’s been the right thing for us to do. I think all of us realise that you shouldn’t take rock & roll for granted, so we really appreciate the gigs when they happen. The last gig we did a few weeks ago at the Miami Tavern was fantastic; it had never felt so good. We played a ridiculously long set and got very self-indulgent and really enjoyed it. So we really do enjoy the rock when we do it.”

Fortunately the four-piece (Talon, vocalist Matt “Tenpin” Bolland, drummer Cam “Cracker” Roach and bassist Stewart “Boots” MacLennan) will be getting the rock machine fired up this weekend, their Saturday night show at the Living Room the beginning of a gradually increasing live presence over the next few months as the band gear up for a new recording that they hope to have ready early in the new year. Dave reckons the new material they’re currently working on sees a return of sorts to the band’s ’70s hard rock/’90s stoner-rock roots, having taken a detour down the “classic Oz rock” road with their 2004 sophomore album Oversize. “Oversize was a direction we really enjoyed but I’m feeling now that we might need to get a little bit more fuzzy, a little fatter and a little uglier,” Dave enthuses.

“There’s this new sound around – there’s this band called Wolfmother, they’ve got this new thing going on,” he continues, tongue almost drilling a hole in his cheek. “I heard Richard Kingsmill talking about it, saying that all these kids are discovering the ’70s sound because of this Wolfmother band! So they’ve really inspired me! Now I’ve heard what you can do, I’ve taken a few tips from them and we’ll see what we can come up with.”
Sarcasm aside, Dave does sound excited by the new Rollerball material and is optimistic about the possible fruits of the forthcoming recording sessions. “I guess if we get the vibe that we’re running with a good group of songs that we feel really great about then it could be an album, but I guess the alternative is we could do three or four new songs combined with some live tracks that we’ve still got up our sleeve. Plus we’ve got unreleased stuff from years ago that we’ve been thinking might be nice to throw on the tail-end of an EP, so I guess the worst case scenario would be an EP, but it would be an extended-Extended Play!”

Rollerball play the Living Room this Saturday December 9, the Great Northern on Friday December 15, and the Sol Bar on Friday December 22

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