(i also love that song. a lot.)

although i haven’t seen them MANY times, i’ve seen them at an instore at Fist2Face promoting Is It Alive where they packed out the place and spent some time chatting and taking photos with people after the performance.

my first ‘real’ gig was seeing Bodyjar (and Frenzal Rhomb) at an all ages 2005 event ran by Freeza in Torquay for an incredibly affordable $15.  even their final show at the Corner Hotel in 2009 was only $22!  Bodyjar have been known to do several performances like the above, which can be seen as ‘giving-back’ to the local community by increasing accessibility to performances (especially for underagers) and enriching the public sphere with live music. and considering the Victorian live music scene adds about half a billion bucks of value to the economy, giving the community more reason to go out and seek live music is definitely a positive of Bodyjar’s attitude toward accessibility.

the main reason i’m posting this is linking back to my previous discussion on ‘scene’ and how they fit in.  featured heavily is the skateboarding culture that i believe they ideologically (but not purely musically) identify with – in the sense the opening sequence displays the culture of skating at a local level, later leading into footage from the Warped Tour with some Vans stickers and dudes skating on a much larger scale.

at 10:23 is a snippet from when they hosted Rage on 09/09/00 – this is the playlist of that night.  while Rage is a television show broadcast Australia wide, i would consider it just as relevant to individual cities as it is to a national identity.  while it would be an overstatement to say they were special because they guest hosted Rage once (something several hundred other musicians can lay claim to, and some more popular), it may be considered an aspect of their business model which allowed them to be noticed in the Australian (and thus local) music industry.

also a division of the ABC company, Bodyjar have been able have been notable on the radio station Triple J.  Not The Same (#20) and Fall To The Ground (#66) appeared in the JJJ Hottest 100 in 2000, and One In A Million (#31) and Too Drunk To Drive (#99) made the 2002 Hottest 100.  JJJ also compiled a J File on Bodyjar broadcast in 2002, which contains a bunch of interviews and a playlist of some of Bodyjar’s finest work. once again, having a J File doesn’t separate them from everyone else but like their spot on Rage, it’s a tribute to their business model and their sense of local, musical community.

i’ll state the obvious here and mention the inclusion of Not The Same in the game Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 is to do with a variety of the below factors.

Bodyjar have played on the Warped Tour many times during their major label years.  the tour has an obvious affiliation with the company Vans, a self described “skateboard/snowboard/BMX” shoe company.  a quote from their official press release calling their decision to retire called them “skate punkers” Bodyjar was in fact named after the skateboarding move, the “Body Jar” (as demonstrated by Steve Caballero):

a video from either the 2001 or 2002 Warped Tour (judging by Cam and Tom’s guitars, my guess is 2002, but unfortunately the source didn’t specify a year and going by the look of the guitars isn’t exactly proven scientific method) of the band covering “Coolidge” by Descendents (one of the worlds more influential punk rock bands) with the Descendents drummer Bill Stevenson playing.

The Descendents are more musically closer to the traditional ‘skate punk’ genres description, and with the band being from Hermosa Beach, California, their proximity in time and distance to the skate punk scene in SoCal is undeniable.  stylistically, the live performance is not all that different from the cover, and the other live/recorded performances of the song Bodyjar have done are all comparable.  regardless, playing with  SoCal bands such Pennywise, Blink 182 and Descendents have given Bodyjar a place among their community and scene.

this isn’t to discredit Bodyjar’s place within the Melbourne and Australian scene (which i described in this post) – their video for You’ve Taken Everything from No Touch Red has some dude skating around in a Descendents t-shirt. Cam manages a skate shop, and wrote and performed many songs for the 2005 Australian skater film Deck Dogz. so while Bodyjar’s music never screamed skate punk (pun extremely intended), their cultural associations within the scene are undeniable.

Bombshellzine posted interviews with Grant Relf (bass) and Shane Wakker (drums) prior to their final show.  when asked the question “What was it about The Arthouse that has made it stand out from other venues over all these years?”, two very ‘distinct’ and ‘local’ answers were provided:

GRANT: “The arty stood out from the rest because they gave every band a go. ie: THEY GAVE A SHIT!!!!!”

SHANE: “Its run by good people who know what it’s all about, and you can go to the Arthouse to see local or international bands up close and without any bull. Good times!”

it can be said that a venue such as that was The Arthouse is closely aligned with Melbourne music culture, and demonstrates how tight knit the Melbourne music scene is.

however, the music industry as a business is not always sympathetic to this culture. despite How It Works and Plastic Skies achieving gold status in Australia (their two major label releases), taking their show globally was often their own responsibility. a 1998 interview brings this to light:

Why do you do it [tour internationally, particularly in Europe] if it costs you so much money?

CAM: “Well you have to get out there and let people sort of know that you’re out there and you’re not going to be able to just go over there and fly to every city and do it straight away. You sort of have to build it up I guess.”

this is not to say their tours haven’t been successful: they can be seen as Australian melodic punk rock ambassadors, boasting fans among world famous groups such as The Ataris and Thrice.  the music industry model they chose to pursue in their earlier years was one which involves a lot of hard work, time, and collaboration with other artists.  while this hard work was rewarded with a major label deal, by 2005 the band described the painful process of “losing your drummer, record label and leaving your management for no other reason than needing to feel like a real band again.”

it is also drawn into question whether their major label exposure helped their international image.  when asked about the impact of having Not The Same on Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3, Cam mentioned:

“That was pretty much the only way people knew who we were in America. We didn’t get any radio play there, so that was pretty much the only exposure we got. That’s how we got signed to Nitro in America, and how we ended up doing the Warped Tour in the States – we got heaps of emails about it, referencing the game, it helped a lot. We got paid bugger all for it, but the exposure we got was awesome.”

receiving fans from Not The Same’s exposure was a positive from the inclusion of the song in THPS3, but it’s long term impacts to their music career can be seen as minimal. for instance, How It Works was their last album released on a US label, thereby destroying any momentum gained with their US touring (notably on the Warped Tour and with Blink 182) and airplay achieved in the US – limiting further mainstream exposure on a global scale.

while Bodyjar were able to attain a reasonable level of success on a major label in Australia, they eventually scaled back overseas tour in their later years. and while their strong ties to Melbourne and Australian music is a positive legacy to have, their only real global legacy is the influence of their music and the fans they have made.  while this is also a fantastic legacy to have, limited worldwide commercial success may see them remembered as an Australian only band.

years active: 1994-2009 (and reforming in 2011 to play two reunion shows). they however have been ‘active’ since 1990, under former names Helium and Damnation

current members: Cameron Baines (guitar/vocals), Tom Reed (guitar), Grant Relf (bass), Shane Wakker (drums)

past members: Ben Petterson (guitar), Charles Zerafa and Ross Hetherington (drums)

labels: Shagpile/Shock (independent, 94-99, four albums), EMI/Capitol (major, 2000-04, two albums and one greatest hits CD/DVD), Shock (independent, 05-09, 1 album and two live records).

most generally, Bodyjar’s early music can be considered punk rock, up until their major label signing in 2000, which steered the band in a pop-punk direction.  however, there has always been a melodic aspect to their music, regardless of the era it belongs to.  their 15 year growth as a band and subsequent maturity throughout the process is just as attributable as the gradual commercialization of their music to the overall change in their style.  their unique fusion between power pop and punk rock makes for very diverse and interesting listening.

have i actually heard of these guys?

Not The Same, from How It Works, 2000. this is one of Bodyjar’s most popular and notable songs because of the widespread commercial attention it received: it was part of a Pepsi advertising campaign and featured worldwide in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3.

Glossy Books, from Rimshot!, 1996. while not their most recognizable song, it demonstrates a particular element of melodic rock in addition to the rawness expected from punk rock.  it is considered a fan favorite, with Bodyjar often closing most live shows with this song.

Call to Arms, from Bodyjar, 2005. shot in the streets of Melbourne, this example displays the ‘power pop’ polish that eventually became a feature of their music. interestingly, this was after their time on a major label, and the self titled album was released on independent Shock. however, there is no question this sound still gels with their previous material.

other recommended listening: Is It A Lie and  One In a Million from Plastic Skies (2002), Fall to the Ground from How It Works (2000), You’ve Taken Everything and Remote Controller from No Touch Red (1998).

so what did they actually end up doing?

Bodyjar were one of the ‘unheard influences’ in Australian punk rock, even in the global community.  singer and guitarist Cameron Baines mentioned in 2011 “A few American bands, bands like Good Charlotte, definitely have little bits of Bodyjar in there, and I hear it in Kisschasy as well. It’s rad; it’s the highest form of flattery.”

Bodyjar were very active in the Australian and greater global live music scene, playing at notable Australian festivals such as Big Day Out, Meridith, Pyramid Rock, Splendour in the Grass and Homebake.  Bodyjar have also played many times on the Vans Warped Tour, in addition to touring in the United States, Canada, Korea and Japan in the late 90s/early 2000s.

then my work and uni schedule changed…i was all of a sudden home 5 times a week for neighbours, and i sadly dove back into my neighbours dependent life: sigh.

it’s got a very “complex” story line (meaning there are many moving parts), and if you miss a few episodes you can be lost.  but then you realize “well, nothing has really happened in the last 6-12 months, so it’s not like i could have missed THAT much..” – and surely this discounts it from being ‘quality TV’?

and you’re back on track in an instant! blind ignorance is far more effective than actually seeking out this information.

i could summarize the last weeks worth of episodes in as little as a sentence, or spend several hours talking about each minor detail which MAY prove to be important.  it brings in a bit of a question between episodic/serial TV and the ‘quality TV’ label that is thrown around.

Jason Mittell is a pretty hip scholar who knows a lot about TV. he has published two really big ass blog posts on the subject matter i’m discussing above. this snippet from the first one is probably the most efficient way to summarize a whack load of reading into a couple of lines:

“These two dominant modes of conventional television narrative form, episodic and serial, …  still remain the two most common ways that audiences experience television storytelling. Yet a new option has emerged in recent years that stands as a distinctive alternative to the episodic and serial conventional models. This new mode, which I term narrative complexity, is not as uniform and convention-driven as episodic or serials traditions—in fact, its most defining characteristic might be its unconventionality—but it is still useful to group together a growing number of programs that work against the conventions of episodic and serial traditions in a range of intriguing ways.” [emphasis mine]

immediately, something like How I Met Your Mother springs right to mind. hugely narratively complex, but still lax and creative enough so a new viewer can jump in and still get hooked. they may not understand the various references or segues, but it’s good enough.  despite the format of a show like Neighbours being serial in nature, it’s not nearly serial enough that you NEED to see all the episodes to at least guess what is going on.  some examples of the opposite are 24, The Wite, Lost, etc etc…

this guy named Noel Kirkpatrick wrote a paper on HIMYM and its position as an “art TV” sitcom – art is a less HBO orientated way of saying quality.  there is a lot of information to dissect, and i’d imagine would be a great reference for my final essay (which is why i’m making sure i don’t lose the link!)

the quality TV term is a little too long-form drama for my liking.  my personal opinion is that its a very segregating word and its definition excludes sitcoms, which use a lot of the same principles of narrative complexity.

but of course, there are many problems the soap opera and long form drama have to deal with.  the aforementioned wiki link describes, explains and cites the problems, but i’ll summarize here:

• people download/purchase the series and watch it all in one go. viewing experience = enhanced greatly. ratings and subsequent advertising revenue = substantially down.
• harder to pick up new viewers during a run. and making the sudden change from serial to episodic can get a reaction from the hardcore fans.
• and probably more importantly, serial programs are harder to get good ratings for in syndication. the need to show the episodes in order sucks for both the station and the viewer. however, it’s not like episodic shows don’t have these problems too: i’m sick of seeing the same episodes of Friends on 111 hits ALL THE DAMN TIME!

i’m not sure if anyone has seen Andromeda, but it’s a pretty good example of all of the above. started a good mix of serial and episodic with an overall story arc (that was very easy to catch on to), went purely episodic to the point where everything just seems to contradict itself and you have NO IDEA what the shit is going on in the greater universe, then reverts it back to a ridiculously serial format which is so rigid you still have no idea what’s going on and makes most of the episodes worthless. they also introduced a brand new enemy in the 2nd season finale, only to have them disappear for good half way through the season 3 opener. and the Magog ship was coming. then it wasn’t. then it was. i’m getting all confused thinking about it.

among various examples from commercial and cable TV, we can see the ‘quality’ label isn’t just restricted to cable dramas. granted, it takes a different format in each mode (and even network to network). but quality TV doesn’t always have to take a serial format, and non quality TV isn’t always purely episodic. however, each show really needs to be judged on its individual merit, as a whack load of factors come into play.

there is no one size fits all policy you can apply here – which is why i don’t like the term quality TV. art TV is better. slick production values doesn’t constitute quality as much as fan reception, appreciation, longevity and retention do.