Hoodoo Gurus Deliver Their Purity of Essence.

Dave Faulkner wants to reassure you that the Hoodoo Gurus haven’t turned into a jazz band overnight. ‘Crackin’ Up’, the first single, from the highly anticipated new album, Purity Of Essence, serves as a calling card for just that.

And not unlike Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or ‘Yesterday’ by Paul McCartney, the single arrived to him almost fully formed in a dream.

"I was listening to the radio in my dream enjoying this song, and I thought, wait a minute, you wrote that," he laughs. "I woke up and I had the melody, the chords and the title".

Their ninth studio album’s title is borrowed from the band’s collective favourite movie, Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove Or How I Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love The Bomb.

"When Rick (Grossman) auditioned for the band way back when, we played together a bit in the rehearsal room. Well, that was fine, we knew he could play, but more importantly we wanted to know ‘What’s your favourite movie?’ That was a very important thing to us. It’s one thing to play music together but you have to share some of the same sensibilities," Faulkner explains.

Films have just as much influence on the Hoodoo Gurus as music, with many references to movies and television throughout the body of their work. Stoneage Romeos takes it name from a Three Stooges short, and is dedicated to characters from F-Troop, Get Smart and Petticoat Junction, while Mars Needs Guitars is a twist on the B-Grade sci-fi flick Mars Needs Women.

And who would Dave Faulkner cast as himself if the story of the Hoodoo Gurus were made into a biopic?

"Humphrey Bogart, thank you very much," he laughs. "You may as well go with someone handsome and erudite".

And just like Humphrey Bogart, the Hoodoo Gurus are very much a cultural icon, with several of their songs and albums serving as the soundtrack to many Australian’s lives growing up in the 80s and 90s.

"You get to hear lots of stories from people, like how they played such-and-such song at their wedding and whatnot. It’s lovely. The video clip to ‘My Girl’ featured a greyhound and it became a real talking point, so much so that the song was played in between races at Wentworth Park in Sydney.

"Seeping into the real culture, and becoming a part of people’s lives is far more inspiring and important to us than appearing on any countdown show. That’s the real reason we do it, and I’m very proud to be part of a group that’s enabled that to happen," he says humbly.

Purity of Essence was conceived during a concerted burst of creativity while in the rehearsal studio last March.

"Everything we tried just ‘worked’ and all the songs ended up on the record. I tend to write songs in the same way that Joe Orton wrote plays. I’ll let an idea ferment and I’ll come back to it because you tend to be infatuated with a song when you first write it. If I’m just as excited the second time I hear it I’ll know I’m onto something; it’s like my inbuilt barometer to determine whether something is good or original."

In order to promote the album, the Gurus have created a tongue-in-cheek making-of cyber serial mockumentary entitled Must Travel on Wheels in the same vein as This Is Spinal Tap. The six-part webisode mini-series is interspersed with clips of the band performing new songs from the album and is available to view at Bigpond Music.

"Finally, after all this time, I realized my fantasy where I get to be Fellini with this rockumentary".

Here’s looking at you, Dave.

Purity Of Essence is out now through Sony Music.

Hoodoo Gurus play The Hi-Fi Bar, 29 April and Twin Towns, 30 April.

By Stephanie Bourke

ENDS