MEET PAINT
Sitting in Liam Rohrlach’s car, outside the Railway Hotel in Fitzroy North, it was the quietest place we could possibly do an interview without having to fully leave the bustling pub itself. It was a hot summer Friday night in Naarm, what did we expect?
I first met the band Paint at Dan Radburn’s August Sydney show at Liberty Hall, and thank god I did. The band—made up of the aforementioned Liam (guitar), Anja Celik (vocals and guitar), Tom Egger (bass and jumping around) and Jack Mitchell (drums)—just made the leap from Perth, all the way over to Melbourne. Anja’s recent birthday was the best excuse I could’ve asked for to drive down and ask them some questions. And also party.
For those who are beginner Paint fans: the fun starts now. Their music is bright and jingly, with Anja’s beautiful voice just peeking through Liam’s melodies, layered with a puzzle of soundbites. Their music sounds like walking through the aisles of the best op shop you’ve ever been to, or flipping through the pages of an i-spy book—at least for now. We spoke about what’s next for the band and how they feel about their original sound, as well as the 3,300km cross-country move they made together.
WANDERER: Can you introduce yourselves, starting with Tom?
Tom: I'm Tom.
Anja: I'm Anja.
Liam: I'm Liam.
What do you guys do?
T: In general, I just walk around my house until I have to do something. And you?
A: Um, I pick my nose and play Bratz Passion for Fashion on my laptop until I have to do something.
L: I'm a graphic designer and I play guitar.
Ah, and what do you all have in common?
A: We are all in Paint, the band, and we're best friends.
Why does the band Paint exist?
A: Because Tom and I worked in a surf shop together—shout out Rusty Surf. When I was like 18, Tom was 19, we met, and figured out that we had the same taste in music, and then Tom introduced me to all of his friends. He moved to America for a year, and we said that when he got back, we would start a band. And when he got back, he introduced me to Shoegaze music, and then took me to Liam's house.
Is that how you met Liam, Anja?
A: I'd met Liam before.
And we didn't really hit it off initially because we didn't really talk to each other, but yeah, that's how we properly met and we became a band together. In his bedroom—which was where we recorded all the early demos.
paint at Lalala’s supporting Fool Nelson
And from there, what was your first banger that you made?
A: Our first ever song that we actually demoed was called ‘Purple’, and we listened to it again like last year when we were playing a gig down south or something, and were driving home. We listened to it and we were like, what the fuck? That was crazy.
T: We were stoked on it at the time though.
A: Yeah, we were so stoked. But I reckon ‘Wire’ was the first song that we wrote that we ever recorded and released. And then we did ‘Driving to Sloane's’, which is probably our most listened to song in terms of streams. But that was a very long time ago…
How did you know that ‘Wire’ was good? Did you celebrate?
A: We did.
T: My parents were like, I can't hear the words.
A: Every fucking person that we've ever played for is always like, you need to turn your vocals up, you know, turn your vocals up. Like, even in the recordings.
But that's the whole point. Is that the whole point?
A: I guess so. I think in the beginning it was unintentional because we just showed the dude that was mixing our song and recording us a My Bloody Valentine song, and I think he just took that as the brief.
L: When I heard it through the mixing desk, I got very excited.
T: When Jack Mitchell said it was good. He doesn’t think much of the music we think is good is good.
A: We didn't even know him at the time we wrote it.
Who is Sloane?
A: Sloane Peterson. From Ferris Bueller’s Day off.
Yes! Who are your shoegaze favourites?
A: Oh, TAGABOW. Wednesday I don't think can be categorised as shoegaze, but it’s, like, countrygaze. MBV was like the big OG. I remember when Tom showed me shoegaze, Hatchie—her EP was out.
L: She’s like Dream pop.
A: Yeah... The Drop Nineteens. And what's that band called? With um... Oh my god. Mmm. Her name's Miki Berenyi…
I'm out of the ring.
A: It’s not Blush…..
Lush!
You were so close with ‘Blush’.
T: But I don’t even know what shoegaze means anymore. Like, shoegaze is just the new word for a band that has a lot of pedals. It’s such a blanket term, like “punk.”
Yeah, it's all about the feet.
A: Yeah. Also, the Sundays were a huge influence in the beginning.
T: At the start for sure.
A: Ringo Death Star. Yea, that was another one.
T: I was into Velocity Girl back then. I think if they started their band now, we'd be friends with them. I read somewhere the guys in that band were in a hardcore band before they started Velocity Girl.
You moved from Perth to Melbourne? What made you want to do that?
A: Tom moved in September last year.
You were sad without him?
A: We were incredibly sad and lost without him because he was our better half. And we got extremely depressed and didn't see the point in continuing.
T: That’s not true… I’m really dispensable.
A: We didn't want to replace him! The band is the most important thing for us, and it wouldn't exist without Tom, and I wouldn't want to do the band without Tom, so... We'd been thinking about moving for a while, and then we were getting opportunities over here, and it was really expensive to fly back and forth from Perth. It just felt like time for a change. So that's kind of where we did it in the end. And a room became available for us.
T: And it's cheaper than Perth.
Really?
T: It is cheaper. [Perth is] the most expensive state in Australia to rent in, or at least it was for a bit.
T: So it's financial above anything else.
A: Always, every decision we make is always financial.
T: It's all about money. 100%. Yeah.
Do you guys all like each other as a band?
A: No, we don't. We don't at all, actually.
L: I like you guys.
A: Oh, I mean, yeah, we do. I do get really angry at practice sometimes, especially at Jack. Jack rage baits me very successfully most of the time. But we do really like each other. That's probably why we continue to do it.
Is there anything else that happens every time you're jamming?
A: Someone farting.
T: Jack plays the songs really fast so that we can finish quickly.
A: Yeah, like songs that we've played so many times that we don't really need a jam. He'll play them at two times speed, like TikTok edits.
You all go along with it?
A: Yeah, it's hell funny.
T: Because he has to go home and play World of Warcraft.
A: If he’s in a big rush, he'll play ‘[Driving to] Sloane's’ at 2 times speed.
T: Yeah, when we jam we're like a hardcore band.
A: Jack will usually show up late and then smoke, like, 40 cigarettes in a three hour period, and then we fuck around, and—
T: I usually bring a six pack in a backpack that normally gets the spirits up.
A: Because Liam and Jack don't really drink, it's me and Tom usually.
So, we have a tier system where the base level is Starter Pack, which is, um... a four pack of Guinness, and then Party Pack is a four pack of Guinness and a six pack of lager, and then a Loco Pack is six pack of lager, four pack of Guinness, and... a flask of brown liquor.
Holy Guacamole. What happens after you consume all that?
T: We write hell bad songs.
What's the worst song you've written?
A: Oh there's actually so many really bad ones.
T: ‘Bam’
Will we ever hear them? Well we heard ‘Bam’.
A: There's one called um... ‘Broken alarm’. That was like, I reckon hell bad. There's a whole EP called Gift Shop that was hell bad. We've written heaps of bad songs.I don't know if other people think they're bad, but I think they're bad. I think our whole set is bad besides our three new songs.
T: I get really excited when we get to play Forever and always,
A: That's really fun. It's just because. It's the funnest and easiest and best, most swag part of the whole set.
T: The goal is to get the whole set to be fun and swag.
Yeah, is that what's next for you guys?
A: Yeah, we need to do an album.
T: That's fun and swag the whole way through.
A: I want to do more angry music, but not, like, angry hardcore, but just, less fun and jingly and more like, mad, staunch.
I feel like your songs are quite playful, quite youthful.Trying to turn that down next time?
T: Yeah, we're taking the band seriously from now on.
A: Yeah. It's not that our songs were bad.
I just think what we did before doesn't necessarily resonate anymore, and I feel icky about some of our stuff because I don't feel that way anymore. But it doesn't mean it's bad.
I feel like that happens with so many creatives, no matter what they're doing. You look back on your old stuff and you see how much you've changed since then.
A: Yeah. That's a common experience, or hopefully it is.
Oh, 100%. Even Amber, with the early issues of the magazine, she can't even look at them.
A: Yeah, it was a different time. You're at a different age, you're in a different era of your life. That's kind of how I see it.
And now that you're in Melbourne, are you gonna do some recording or writing?
A: Yeah. 100%.
T: Yeah, I just cleaned out the garage this week.
A: In Perth we had Liam's garage as our studio, but we don't really have that at the moment until we can use Tom's garage, which will become the new studio.
T: And there's good energy in there, we were standing in there today. What do you reckon? You think it was good?
I was probably like—no, I was definitely like—this is one of the best sheds I've been in in my life.
A: That's what I felt as well.
T: Yeah, there's a disco ball hanging from the roof and there's like all these lights and there's all the iterations of my house that's been a share-house for so long. All their shit has built up in there. We were going through it the other day and we, as I was telling you, found all that camping gear that they probably bought to go to Meredith.
That's good Juju
A: Yeah I feel good positive energy coming from there
T: Yeah, and my housemate who just moved out, Cal, said that they would all sit around in there and they'd have campfires in the laneway and, I don't know, it just seems like there were a lot of good times had in that shed.
Now it's your turn.
A: Now it's our turn to fuck that shit up
To get angry.
T: Yeah, we'll make some angry music in there for sure.
What makes you guys angry?
A: Um... Oh, so many things. People that walk too slow, people that text while walking in front of me, slow drivers in the far right lane of the freeway. People who talk too loudly in a public setting on buses and trains, people who watch reels on trains without headphones. People who are against abortion rights for women, people who are pro-life. Oh God, what else could I say?
My favourite one is when you are stuck at the traffic lights for more than one cycle and you have to wait at the same lights more than once.That makes me want to kill a man. I don't even mind which one.
A: I don't care either. People who chew with their mouth open loudly. People who cough up their phlegm loudly.
T: People that think it's their way or the highway. That's what I don't like.
A: Really? I hate that too.
Imagine someone says to you no, you can't be called Paint anymore. What are you changing your band name to?
T: I would just add another T on the end. So it's Paint with two Ts, that would be my vote.
L: What about Painted?
T: Oh. Nah, I don't like that. Vetoed.
L: What about Body Paint?
Wait. That's a sick band name.
T: That sounds like Body Type.
But I love Body Type, so that's always a good thing.
T: Yeah, shout out Body Type.
A: Love them. They're the best.
T: When we played with them at the Rechabite, it was awesome.
A: It was fucking awesome. They let us into the green room and they were really nice. Love, love Body Type. They're tough as hell.
Since you guys moved to Melbourne, what is your favourite venue slash spot to hang out and chill out?
L: My house.
T: The railway, where we are right now.
A: I like going to the Brandon Hotel, because, A, it's around the corner from our house and B, $10 Guinnesses for three hours of the day. Happy hour from 5 to 7.
T: $8 Balters as well right now for some reason. I think the vibes are good as well.
A: The vibes are good. It's literally around the corner from my house, dude. We can walk there in 30 seconds.
T: Brandon most underrated pub in Melbourne.
Really… This is what I wanted to talk about.
A: Yeah. Brandon Hotel definitely rocks. Although there was a for sale thing and I think it's being sold, which is terrifying.
T: We're going to buy it. Paint's gonna become publicans...
A: The Paint Hotel.
Can I buy in?
A: Yeah, you can be a shareholder for sure.
Thank you. But I would love to have an active stake in the business.
A: You will have an active stake. I like the tote, but I wouldn't hang out there necessarily for an afternoon beer— it's more of a gig spot.
T: We go to the Wine Corner because it's right near Anja’s...
A: Oh, and I like the Grace Darling. I haven't been there since I've moved here, though.
T: I think that may be the oldest pub in Melbourne, the 2nd oldest. We went there when we came on a holiday here in December two years ago when we were doing a recon mission to figure out if we wanted to live here.
Do you guys like much Melbourne music?
T: Yeah, Garage Sale, Armlock, Acopia, Es Muss Sein, cutters.
You're standing in the footsteps of giants.
A: Oh, yeah, Armlock, and I love the Lip Bombs.
What about you, Liam?
L: Armlock are like my favourite band, and so is Garage Sale.
And Armlock thinks that I'm really funny as well.
A: Yeah, they do.
L: We also think you're very funny. You can add Paint to that list, if you want.
A: Um, and then who else is from here?
We were talking earlier about Folk Bitch Trio.
A: Oh, Folk Bitch Trio, they're amazing. I haven't seen them live yet, but I hope to.
T: I saw a really cool folk band at the tramway called Who Cares? My friend just told me to come, and, yeah, that band blew my mind.
What else? There’s definitely heaps. There's a million.
How do you decide what to say first?
A: Whoever means the most to us, which I think might be Armlock.
Mm. They are that band.
A: They’re amazing. They're also just wonderful people. And hopefully, when we do record our album, we'd love for Hamish from Armlock to record us.
L: We haven’t even asked him yet.
T: We're asking him now. Put that on the record. Hamish if you read this—