Brisbane punk rock legends Flangipanis premiere their hilarious brand new music video for “Noise Complaint” exclusively right here on The Void today! Featuring a slip N slide, an epic round-the-kitchen-table singalong, a Brisbane house party and a truly majestic hose-on-boobs shot, “Noise Complaint” is sure to go down in music history as one of the most significant moments in Australian punk rock (following hot on the heels of the epic Flangipanis clip, “My Period Is Late.”) But what is the story behind this magic film? Jodie and Josh of The Flangipanis shed some light on the story, Scrabble noise complaints, injuries and much more with Christina from The Void. Special shouts to slip ‘N’ slider Hayden who “repeatedly went down the slip ‘N’ slide with a bottle and cigarette, got the most air from the jump into the kiddie pool, and didn’t even break his glasses,” Josh explains.
Christina: Who wrote the song and was it inspired by a real-life incident?
Jodie: I wrote the song after getting an anonymous letter from an annoyed neighbour who hates people having fun. Admittedly I was a sh*tty neighbour who’d just gone through a break-up so I got loose as hell on a regular basis, but living by yourself is really expensive so I couldn’t afford to go out. The way the letter was worded made me feel like a complete scumbag at a vulnerable time, so I wrote this song because I was pissed off. People who call the police to do something that would take them two minutes to do piss me off. Tit-for-tat, I guess they got what they wanted: to piss me off as much as they were pissed off. I did quieten down after that, but I also think it was unnecessary to make me feel like a complete waste of air in the process.
Christina: What is the significance of the slip ‘N’ slide? What does it mean to you?
Josh: We’ve been doing slip n slides for ages. We used to do them down the centre of the room at POW shows, then they stopped asking us back, definitely unrelated though.
Jodie: A line from the complaint I received was “disturbing the peace for the nearby neighbourhood”, so what better way than to disrupt the nearby neighbourhood that to use the road for a run-up and the footpath for a soaping station? Also, so the nearby neighbourhood could see that it’s preeeeeetty freakin’ fun and they should stop being such sticklers.
Christina: Were there any injuries sustained on the day? Who was the best slip N slider?
Josh: Our mate Mitch from Blind Man Death Stare cut himself up a bit, but he went down with a bottle so that’s his fault for being a dickhead, haha.
Jodie: Hayden was probably the best slip ‘N’ slider because he repeatedly went down with a bottle and cigarette, got the most air from the jump into the kiddie pool, and didn’t even break his glasses.
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Christina: What is the most insane house party the Flangipanis have ever been a part of?
Jodie: There’s many. I remember one year for 4ZZZ Radiothon you could win a “Flangipanis will come and play at your house party” prize. A guy from Ipswich won so we trekked out there with the PA and everybody drank heaps of his home-made spirits, which I think was just different coloured turpentine. I’m surprised we didn’t go blind. We played two sets in his carport, the police came twice and eventually shut it down. Other than that, the parties where everyone got naked were fun, I somehow acquired a tattoo gun from a friend and found out about 10 tattoos later that I suck and gave the gun back before any more damage was done. Also, I know it’s not a house party but anything that happened at Shed 5 on the Gold Coast was pretty insane. I once had to move a gun off my guitar case so I could set up.
Christina: What is a random thing that happened on shoot day that we might not know about?
Josh: There wasn’t a whole lot left out. I ate about half a loaf of Vegemite toast getting that opening shot, my cheeks are still fucking rosy.
Jodie: Later that night I drank my own pee. I made sure no one filmed – no one needs to see that.
Christina: If the Flangipanis were a home-made party drink, what would be in it?
Josh: The cheapest nastiest goon punch for sure.
Christina: Who in the band is the biggest party casualty? Have you ever found anyone anything random? Has anyone ever been injured?
Josh: Probably Jodie is most likely to hurt herself.
Jodie: Yes, I attract injuries and bruise very easily. Small breaks though, like fingers and toes and ribs, little nicks off the skin or a bit of whiplash, etc. Nothing too serious.
Christina: Who’s idea was the majestic boobs hose shot at the end? What does it mean to you?
Josh: Boobs mean the world! Our mate in the shot and Norris who filmed the clip both had the idea so that worked out well. It seemed like a waste of an opportunity to not have a cheesy boobs & hose shot.
Christina: What do you think is the most effective way to handle a noise complaint? Have you ever gotten in heaps of trouble?
Josh: I once had the cops rock up to a high school era party, there were a few of us getting around in drag that night so we wandered out to talk to them and got our flirt on. The very straight small town cops couldn’t wait to leave us alone!
Jodie: My most recent noise complaint was when I went to a friends house to play a game of Scrabble. It was a case of her neighbour being a total sourpuss. Other than that, I’ve had a handful. I appreciate when a neighbour comes over and asks us to quiet down. It’s by far the most effective way. Most of the time, unless someone tells you, you’re not aware you’re pissing anyone off. I respect that a whole lot more and it’s not a waste of public service resources (“resources”), last time that happened was after the Hawthorn grand final win of 2014. One time we just forgot it was a Monday night and our neighbours didn’t appreciate that. Once got a noise complaint at a friends house when we were playing guitars – not because we were loud but because we were bad. The Po-Po made a point of telling us this. And the cops freaking hate coming to do noise complaint calls. Most of the time it’s unnecessary and occur just because the neighbours want to be passive aggressive.
Christina: What do you reckon is unique to Brisbane house parties?
Josh: I reckon you’re more likely to end up in the backyard than the house. Most parties I’ve been to down south are all indoors, but Brisbane parties do seem to always gravitate to the outdoors.
Jodie: Queensland requires stubby coolers. And there probably ends up being more nudity and sunburn. And you’re more likely to get arrested for something because it’s Queensland.
Christina: Whats your best house party ice breaker opener?
Jodie: Fancy dress for everyone. Sunglasses, hats, dresses, uniforms, absolutely anything. It makes everyone more in the mood when they’re wearing stupid shit. Also, free booze for everyone.
Christina: How can we hear more Flangipanis/buy merch/see you guys play live?
Josh: We’ve got a bunch of stuff up on The Flangipanis’ Bandcamp, should be adding a couple of new shirt designs soon hopefully!
Upcoming shows are:
26 March @ Crowbar with Leftover Crack.Get tickets
2 April @ Cable Ski Punk Show. Facebook event
8 April @ Clash Tribute show, The Triffid. Get tickets
9 April @ The Bennies album launch at Wooly Mammoth. Facebook event (SOLD OUT)
Josh: What was it like working with your video director Norris?
Josh: Norris is an old mate of Paul’s. He was rad to work with, super chilled and came in with a clear idea of what he was after so that made it easy. All of the ‘party’ footage in the clip is just what was going on that day so he did a pretty sweet job of catching it all and making it feel natural. The other two dudes that were filming were cool as well, but I forgot their names, because I’m a jerk.
Jodie: the filming team were super awesome and patient with us. They were worried at first because filming parties doesn’t usually work out, but everyone was super well behaved (while the filming was happening), nothing got broken and they got all the footage they needed. Norris stayed to party on with us into the night, so we can’t have pissed him off too much! We’re really pleased with the work they did for us and highly recommend Norris and his crew to anyone.
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