Interview by Sarah Mashman

Now this is an interview that was always going to be an interesting read. See what the bearded beasts are really like behind the scenes in this enlightening gab fest.

Even though your music maybe considered as satirical, is there a serious
element to your music?

“Well yeah – we take the music really seriously. This band is the kind of concept that could be really poorly executed and labelled as nothing but a gag band, so we’re careful to make all of our material very strong. We spend a great deal of time writing and rehearsing, so that anyone who is sceptical of the totalitarian folk-rock genre can be put in their place!”

The musical style of The Beards varies greatly from song to song- what is
your favourite style to play?

“Our musical roots are in rock so I’d pick that as my favourite style to play. Having said that, so long as it’s beard-related, I honestly don’t care…”

What are your thoughts on every style you play? Are there any significant
influences in each?

“Musically, it’s a pretty eclectic range of influences – AC/DC, Ben Folds Five, The Beatles, Electric Six, Tom Waits – they’re all in there. We play blues, pop, reggae, folk, rock and more. I think we make a point of including lots of musical diversity because we have absolutely no lyrical diversity.”

What are your favourite venues to play in Adelaide?

“We’ve been playing at Jive Bar on Hindley Street since the very beginning, so I pick that as my favourite Adelaide venue. I’m also a fan of The Gov.”

What about Perth?

“Well we’ve only played in Perth once before, but I recall Mojo’s in Fremantle was a great place to play – and I believe we’re playing there again this time around too.”

Is your target audience the bearded folk of Australia?

“We try to target several demographics.. people with beards obviously! But also people without beards – people who don’t like beards. We exist to change their minds. But yeah I guess the Australian market is where we focus our energies. Don’t get me wrong, the whole world needs to hear our message, but before we convince the rest of the world to grow beards, we need to convert our home country to the bearded path. Australia was once a healthy, bearded land – and one day, it will be restored to the great bearded nation it once was.”

Tell us what’s different about your new album?

“Well it’s certainly still completely about beards, so in that sense, not much. It’s 12 songs all about beards. But we’ve upped the production, added more instruments and increased the musical diversity. Our singer Johann Beardraven traditionally plays sax, and that’s still in there, but he’s also a great keyboardist so we’ve brought that in as a fairly dominant instrument. All the tracks sound great. The album fluctuates from being a joyous celebration of facial hair to a scathing attack on those who have the audacity to shave it off.”

What’s your favourite thing about beards?

“Beards are about diversity, shaving is about conformity. People who shave their facial hair away are sheep. Having a beard means you’ve got the opportunity to sculpt and shape that beard, so it’s a really individualistic thing, as opposed to shaving which is just blindly following a stupid trend.”

Why do you consider yourselves a propaganda machine?

“Because our intent is to convince people that beards are great. Politicians don’t wear beards, celebrities don’t wear beards, CEO’s don’t wear beards. Why? Because society is resoundingly anti-beard and they don’t want to risk their position – they are cowards through and through. People think bearded men are unhygienic, untrustworthy thugs. We exist to challenge those pre-conceptions.”

Catch The Beards on tour throughout August & September stopping in WA for the following dates:

16/9/2011
Settlers Tavern, MARGARET RIVER

17/9/2011
Mojos, FREMANTLE

18/9/2011
Indie Bar, SCARBOROUGH BEACH