Oh, Deanna interview – Loc and Deanna : Music Interviews

For those of you who don’t know, Oh, Deanna are a Melbourne multi-instrumental four-piece. I know what you’re thinking, especially the Melbournians reading; “I’ve heard it all before”. But, friend, you will soon be eating those words, with a side of the egg from your face!

Oh, Deanna’s Lachlan McIntyre and Deanna Rumsaviche- bass and vocals/ukulele/ keys/ bongos, respectively- are, in between potato cakes and greasy chips, talking about the evolution of what is no doubt a unique force in the Aussie arena.

“It started one night, November the eighteenth, 1988…ten to twelve, and my brother had already come out of my mother’s uterus…” Rumsaviche giggles. “As a band…I think I played maybe two shows by myself; my first show solo was at the Arthouse (Melbourne), and the other one was supporting my brother’s band, Amoeba, at one of the Moonee Valley festivals. I played one song, I was on guitar. Loc was canoodling and dating a very close friend of mine, and that’s how we got to know each other. Smoko Music Festival [2007] was our first gig”

“I was dating this girl and got dragged along to a gig where Deanna was playing with a bunch of people” McIntyre explains, mid-chip. “I saw her playing and was like, “Ho-ly shit”. After the show, I spoke to her about forming a band and whatnot”

The band recorded an EP entitled Sweet Action only a year after they first formed, as Rumsaviche explains.

“It was exactly a year after we got together that we did the EP. We started gigging around and people wanted a CD, and we wanted to record something to have. We launched it at the Athenaeum!”

“Not the theatre bit, it was where they do the comedy” McIntyre interjects helpfully.

“I spent about six hours that day turning the room into a beautiful, magical garden” Rumsaviche remembers.

Are there plans for another recording?

Rumsaviche perks at this, grinning her wide, glowing smile. “One hundred percent yes! The songs that we recorded were written when I was between the ages of fifteen and eighteen, so it’s been some time. It’ll be great being in a studio with proper recording equipment and to spend time on it…have it low key. I think we were talking abut doing a ten-track LP”

“It’s always been something I did and I never thought I’d be playing music to people” says Rumsaviche, when asked where her passion lies. “Even when I was younger and writing stupid little classical piano things; I not only enjoy it, but it helps me deal with life. It’s in my blood. If I wasn’t playing music to people, I’d probably still be chilling out in my room, playing keyboard, singing songs about the world. It’s making life seem more coherent, making fun of it”

“I just do it for the chicks” McIntyre laughs.

Rumsaviche giggles and adds; “I do it for the pussy and the beer”

Those who have dipped their toe into the wide and varied metal community in Melbourne town might have already seen Lachlan McIntyre before. Fair enough, he had much longer hair then, and was screaming into a mic upfront of Guild of Destruction, but you’d recognise him nonetheless. How does this very different project compare?

“It’s not metal; it is brutal, though. I started playing music because it was to play as fast as you could and scream about Satan and other stupid things. But I just love playing tunes and having a good time”

Conversely, I ask the charming twosome to share their, er, less than favoured aspects of musicianship.

“I hate compromise” McIntyre states. “If I had a song I was writing, in any band that I’ve been in, I like to see it the way that I want it and that’s how I want it and that’s how it goes. But playing with other people, you have to allow for other ideas to come into the band as well. Working with Deanna works quite well because I just do what she says (laughs)”

“I crack a whip” Rumsaviche adds, smiling. “I dislike that it’s like…a loss of innocence? The hardest thing for me as a songwriter is being aware that people will be listening to songs, but I try not to hold back. Sometimes songs can go in different directions than I imagine them and sometimes that’s a good thing, sometimes it’s a bad thing. You know, the lamp song [The Lamp Spoke to Me, from the Sweet Action EP and live favourite], the first time we played that it was a reggae song and I had to say, “Guys, I really didn’t write this song to be like this”. But it was the first song we ever jammed out. Compromise, looking after people’s feelings…can I borrow a feeling…?”

“Can you lend me a jar of love?” McIntyre adds.

One thing that is starkly admirable about Oh, Deanna and its four curious conductors is their support for other local bands; there is little bitterness (“I can’t believe they got that gig, we’re so much better than them”, et al.) and loads of friendly interaction between other acts in the local scene. McIntyre explains this unique (as far as I have seen in my travels, anyway) perspective.

“It’s not hatred; it’s aspiration. You see a band that are doing well, that you might have played with once before and think, “Hey, look what they’re doing now, maybe we can do that”

“This isn’t meant in a pretentious way, at all, but I kinda see it us in our own game” Rumsaviche adds. “We’re not battling with them; I see our music in its own ball game. If there was a band exactly like us, I might be jealous or envious, but I feel like we’re just playing a different sort of game. There’s never any band rivalry…like, “Damn you, the… [notices street sign outside our fish and chip shop home base] Reynard Streets!”

So, as Oh, Deanna make their delightful way around the Melbourne traps, what do they want punters to get from their shows?

“It’s a magical journey. Extremely magic. Extreme portions of magic…..beware. And giggles” McIntyre offers.

“I feel great when I can tell people are having fun” Rumsaviche notes, grinning brightly. “So many times you go see bands and they’re so serious, and it’s completely alright to be serious, but music should be fun and it should make people feel good, even if it is a sad song, or about something sad or horrible, it can still make people feel good”

“So: magic, smiles, a warm fuzzy feeling inside…not caused by all the alcohol you just imbibed…” McIntyre summarises.

“A big breast hug. Like the one big old ladies give you. And you just feel safe and you feel like everything is gonna be alright” Rumsaviche laughs. “I think I would like to have a reaction…even if they’re smiling or just felt something, instead of just standing in the corner with a beer and just “…Ehh””

“Music is such an amazing, beautiful form of communication” she continues “Even if people really didn’t like it, I wouldn’t mind. It’s not about whether they like it or not, it’s just feeling something. I like people to be actively happy throughout the show…just come on a journey with the band!”

“A magical journey; rollercoaster of love. Reach out and grab the audience….and give them one of the old lady boob hugs” McIntyre interjects, picking off the last crispy chip bits off the fish shop butcher paper.

“Love, magic, arousal, boobs? I joke about jumping up and doing rhe splits over the keyboard while I’m soloing. That would be the finale of a last ever Oh, Deanna show, but I’m scared of hurting my crotch” Rumsaviche surmises.

So, any final words for your adoring audience?

McIntyre: “Keep on rocking in the free world. Free Tibet”
Rumsaviche: “Stay in school”

Check out Oh, Deanna on MySpace.

Oh, Deanna play the Empress (Melbourne) on Sunday May 16, with Skye Harbour and Aluka.