Granite Island Discs: Spoz
Adelaide’s resident gonzo photographer and videographer, the one and only Spoz, stepped away from the camera to give us the lowdown on his five desert island albums, favourite song, Big Day Out memories and more.
Image Charlie Jacob Smith
What five albums would you take to a desert island?
1. Depeche Mode – ‘Useless’ (Kruder & Dorfmeister Session)
2. Interpol – ‘NYC’
3. Massive Attack – ‘Unfinished Sympathy’
4. Radiohead – ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’
5. UNKLE – ‘Be There (feat. Ian Brown)’
Or at least that’s what I would pick right now. I’d probably pick something completely different tomorrow. But at the very least, these five songs perfectly encapsulate that approximately 3am “sweet spot” of existential emo-introspection that really makes a song shine. Also, probably not surprising that all of them are over 20 years old. Good music takes time to marinade.
If you could only pick one, what would it be?
Massive Attack – ‘Unfinished Sympathy’. Bonus points for the “one-shot” music video. An entire lifetime LIVES in that song.
What’s your favourite album?
All-time classic, no contest, it’s either Interpol’s Turn On The Bright Lights or Massive Attack’s Mezzanine. Don’t make me choose. Flip a coin.
What’s your favourite song by an SA artist or band?
Currently, but also, it’s been haunting me for a goodly long time now: The Dainty Morsels’ ‘Southern Shivers’. That song is an emotional shirtfront; it’s a dog-damn exorcism! It throttles you like a rabid dingo with its favourite tennisball chew toy. Also, it’s probably way too much for a “3am”, but I would KILL to experience it as a 3am basement bar noodling jam-sesh with this somewhere in the middle. You HAVE seen The Dainty Morsels live, yeah? You should!
Favourite music-related memory?
Firstly, quick shout out to the Thebarton Theatre. I don’t do it nearly often enough, but there are too many classic historical memories fondly encapsulated in those musty four walls. Not least of which, when in 2021 they were INSANE ENOUGH to invite me to guest program four nights of a One12 festival there during the height of COVID. I still don’t understand how the HELL that happened!?
Or back in 2004, when an atrociously drunk friend of mine tried fly-tackling me completely pants-less during the support set for Queens of the Stone Age while his girlfriend was frantically chasing him trying to put his clothes back on. Except…? Yeah, obviously, that’s not a favourite memory per se, but definitely a funny/memorable one!
No, THE memory is Adelaide Big Day Out 2005. And I think this story is long enough ago not to get anyone in too much trouble? We’d just seen Beastie Boys on the main stage, and we wanted to catch The Chemical Brothers in the boiler room for the finale. But the entrance was completely concrete, sealed shut. Not just crowd facing off against security, there was even mounted police. Like a giant ridiculous horse corking that entry. Surreal scenes!
So, there we were, like two dozen relative strangers all huddled just out of view of… all THAT, when we spot a cheeky fire escape. And we all look at each other, and we’re like, “Maybe if we just… I dunno… PUSH?” And sure enough, under complete cover of darkness, with all that noise, and the chaos to distract, we come pterodactyl-flailing into… a surprisingly spacious interior!? Nobody saw us; all their backs were turned, we slinked in and disappeared like giggling ninjas. Absolute top tier set too! Wish I took digicam photos that weren’t total rubbish.
