Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Spankmag!

Do you remember that excited feeling that you used to have as a music lover when you scored a cassette or CD compilation? Whether it was one you picked up on the counter at your local music store or one that you had to carefully peel over the cover of a music magazine, there was a genuine excitement because you knew you were about to discover some new tracks and possibly some new artists that you had never heard before.

Well, now you can re-live that excitement with the release of Spankmag Vol 1 – a compilation of the best artists the Australian punk scene offers. Recently I was able to sit down with Rue Morgue Records owner John Raptis and several of the artists featured on the album to find out a little more about Spankmag.

“I had been working on compilation albums for Rue Morgue Records and noticed that I was getting a lot of punk bands sending in their songs for inclusion,” explains John when asked how Spankmag came into existence. “Unfortunately, they didn’t fit into what are Hard Rock/Heavy Metal compilations but were amazing songs in their own right. They could not be ignored so it was at that point I decided to begin a Punk series of compilation albums and thus Spankmag was born. In terms of the name Spankmag, I know that some people don’t like it and I did have one band decline to be on it because of the name. It doesn’t mean anything. Nothing! I just love the word! My brain works in mysterious ways and the word Punk rhymes with Spunk. So Spunk became Spank which then became Spankmag which is a word, I always wanted to use it one day on some sort of project. Nothing we can do about it now, it’s here to stay! I love it! You don’t? Who cares?”

That leads us to start talking about some of the artists that feature on the album.

“Hand on heart I believe every single track on the record is just some of the best examples of Australian Punk Rock that I have ever heard,” says John. “Submissions for this record came from all over the world but we are only here to promote Australian talent. I love this album from start to finish but some of my faves are The Dark Clouds’ Educated Heathen which has the honour of opening the album. Orphix are a very young band and they continue the amazing noise with their old-school Punk track Hit & Run. And then it kicks into my fave track on the record Rumblestone by Rumblestone which is just so fucking amazing a song. Cool video too! Convict Class have a kick-ass tune called Conspiracy Theory which was so apt after all the Covid madness of a couple of years ago which seemed to have poked the tinfoil brigade to infest us with all sorts of conspiracy theory garbage! How could I not include that track? And on it goes. I feel there is a widespread mix of all sorts of versions of Punk from old school stylings, to UK-sounding punk-flavoured music delivered with bona fide Aussie attitude and vibe!”

I soon found out that being part of this album means a lot to the artists involved as well.

For SkinInc. this allowed the band to pay homage to one of the finest punk bands to ever call Australia home and that was not something lost on the band.

“We close out the album,” says Paul from the band. “We close it out with a cover of what is perhaps the greatest Australian punk track ever – (I’m) Standed by The Saints. The single was born in 1976 and The Saints were one of the first and one of the world’s most influential punk bands – so really our contribution to this album is really a homage to that classic Aussie punk rock song.

Interjects Raptis, “When Paul pitched the track, I knew instantly that this was going to be the last track on the record. It is a perfect closer for a record such as this and when I told Paul I want this to be the last track, he was fully behind the idea as well! Just a great little tribute to a very important band such as The Saints in Australina music!”

And like all great tracks, there is a classic story to go with it – something that makes this version of I’m Stranded even more special.

“On the day we went to record the drums our drummer, Matty, was in the studio over in Perth and the news came through that Chris Bailey the lead singer of The Saints had passed away,” explains Paul. “And we all kind of freaked out at the time and went ‘Holy shit.’ Chris had just passed away and here we were laying down the drums on that day – that was really strange.”

The Pingers also found a way to share something special with Spankmag – by including their first-ever track.

“This was the first ever track we wrote as a band,” says Steeno as he chats about their track Let’s Get A Bag. “We kept it pretty simple – two chords throughout the whole song. We just kept it fun. If you listen to it it is not very musically talented at all – but for some reason, people seem to love it. The track has a very special place in our heart and a bit of a fun fact when we put the video clip for the track on Instagram it raked up 1.3 million views before they took it down.”

Early on tracks in their career was a theme that was also embraced by Nasty Party who says they are also overjoyed at being part of the compilation.

“This was one of the first tracks we ever made,” says Nasty Party’s Rhys. “It’s a little bit different to our usual sound as well. Normally we are very first-wave punk sounding kinda leaning into the British sound but this one is kind of post-punk sounding because it has some electronic samples through it and such. It features some pretty current themes though because we wrote it around the time of the bushfires in Sydney and of course you had Covid going on as well.”

Through talking to the various bands on Spankmag one thing kept hitting home through the artists’ words – compilations like this are an important way for an artist’s music to live on. And that is something that also isn’t lost on John Raptis.

“Getting your music on vinyl is not an easy process for many young bands,” he says. “It is a lengthy process and a very, very expensive one. Vinyl is not disposable like digital music and is something a fan will keep forever. Compilations like this are a great way of exposing a bunch of bands on one release to a sea of people. I hope that people who buy this record and like what they hear take the time out to discover more of the band’s music and support them away from what we have done here on this album. Rue Morgue Records is here to give these bands a little nudge and help and expose them to a whole new audience. I just wish we as a label could get such love as well, but it is what it is.”

And that is why it is so important to make sure compilations like Spankmag live a happy life on collector’s shelves right around the world – because we need music like this to live on.

“I really love this album. It has been a part of me for the better part of three years which is a long time but I believe in it and I want many people to give it a go and a good solid listen. There is a wide variety of different Punk flavours from an amazing array of bands! They deserve a go! They deserve a listen! The CD version of the album is shipping now and the vinyl will be out very soon!” says Raptis.

Get Spanked!