This is the story of a ’90s Victoria pop-punk band that got pretty huge in faraway places like Spain and Japan, and put out records on labels based in places as distant as Australia, but never really got enough respect in their hometown. Now, almost 20 years since they disbanded, Bum are back for at least one show at Rifflandia Festival, Victoria’s biggest music event of the year.
How this all happened is a bit of a behind-the-scenes, personal story but let’s just say one of Bum guitarist/vocalist Andrew Molloy’s close friends wanted to surprise him with an offer that he hoped Molloy couldn’t refuse. Get the band back together, play the outdoor stage at Rifflandia, and see what happens from there.
“We’ve been approached various times over the years by various people, but we were never in the place to do it,” says Molloy. “This time I thought, ‘Why not?’ so I sent emails to the other three guys and I wasn’t sure if they’d be gung-ho and, lo and behold, they were.”
Instant kool ayd
A curious message went out from Rifflandia headquarters during their epic campaign when they announced 100 bands in 100 hours: they were readying the reveal of band number 100 and it was promised to be something special. Amongst the many hip indie rock, electronic, and hip-hop artists, the band that ended up being singled out as number 100 was Bum, something that excited fans of Victoria’s ’90s music scene. (The band is playing at 2pm on Saturday, September 13, at Royal Athletic Park; see rifflandia.com for more information.)
But, according to vocalist/guitarist Rob Nesbitt, when Bum was releasing songs seemingly faster than they could record them in the early to mid-’90s, their fan base in Victoria left something to be desired. Strangely, it was places like Spain and Japan where they got the most attention.
“It didn’t seem like too many people around here cared back when we were doing it; it seemed like a struggle all of the time,” remembers Nesbitt. “In Spain, it was different, they were so overt in their love and appreciation of Bum that it was fairly obvious what we meant to kids there, and we still get letters all the time from Spanish people. In the pantheon of bands that they all love, Bum is the commonality, and I still find that pretty astounding.”
Definitely a time-and-a-place type of band, Bum’s music feels intrinsically linked to being young, growing up and finding that next chapter in your life. Now that the four members (Molloy, Nesbitt, bassist/vocalist Kevin Lee and drummer Graham Watson) are in their forties, getting the band back together might be considered an act of pure nostalgia, and, conveniently, the guys in Bum are embracing that feeling.
“Because time has passed and we’re all older, we’re able to appreciate things with a different set of eyes. And maybe people who even thought we sucked back in the day might say we’re pretty good now,” says Nesbitt. “It’s going to be cool to get together, and hopefully all of our friends are going to show up and say, ‘Oh, I remember ‘A Promise Is a Promise’’ or whatever. I think it has huge nostalgia associated with it, and I like sentimentality and nostalgia.”
Nesbitt and Molloy both admit there have been offers for Bum to reform the band over the years, and even as recent as two years ago they were approached to play a festival in Spain, but until now the timing and circumstances haven’t been right.
“I’m pushing 50 now and I’m feeling like things are coming full circle in my life,” says Molloy, “and you reach an age where a few years ago you’d say, ‘Oh, I’d never do that,’ which is what we all said about getting Bum back together, and not because we didn’t love doing it, or weren’t proud of the legacy, but it’s just now that we’re ready to do it.”
A promise is a promise
It’s hard to explain the feeling Bum’s music gave those who were affected by it. Starting out in the early ’90s, their aforementioned first single A Promise Is a Promise (see sidebar) was the kind of perfect pop-punk song where you’d throw the needle down on the turntable, jump around your room a lot, and then put the needle right back down and start the song again. Once you got bored of that, you’d flip the record and crank the backside, “Wedding Day,” once or twice, then right back to repeated listens of “A Promise Is a Promise” and its peppy harmonies. Or at least that’s what this ’90s-music-obsessed scribe used to do.
The band followed their debut EP with another knockout single, Debbiespeak, and then quickly became one of the most prolific underground bands in Victoria history, putting out a long line of vinyl and CD releases on labels all over the world (they even had a live album recorded in, you guessed it, Spain). Meanwhile, back at home, they played to the same crowds and sometimes felt as though the locals were sick of seeing them.
“We were playing a lot back then, and don’t get me wrong, it was always fun to play in Victoria, but it felt like people were getting burnt out on seeing us, and I totally understand that,” remembers Molloy. “It often felt like we got a better response in other places. When we came back from Spain, over there we were actually treated like a band of consequence, and then to come back and play a few days later to the usual mediocre live crowd was sobering.”
Which leads us to their upcoming second-stage performance at Rifflandia. Instead of waiting it out for the home run of some Spanish or Japanese music festival, where the band is almost guaranteed a knockout crowd of superfans, Bum chose the very place they started over two decades ago and, at times, struggled to find an audience.
Bent on being bent
Something about this whole Bum-playing-Rifflandia scenario feels like redemption time.
“In Victoria, we always felt like people never really cared about us after the first year or so,” says Nesbitt. “We felt like they were really tired of us and we’d get a lot of slags from people in the punk scene. Some of them thought Bum was lame and it was very hurtful.”
Haters be hating in the ’90s, but the band’s lovers (and not just the Spaniards) are anxiously hoping that Bum’s Rifflandia performance isn’t just a one-off performance; they’re hoping that it could be a springboard for a full-fledged reunion.
“We’re treating it with no boundaries. We’re talking to a lot of people about a lot of different things right now, but I keep saying to everyone who’s contacting us, ‘Look, we haven’t even played one note on a stage together yet. We don’t know what’s going to happen,’” says Nesbitt. “We’re not adverse to trying to do all sorts of things, but we have to see how this show goes first. And we have to give this opportunity the amount of respect it deserves, and that means focusing all of our attention on doing a good job that day. And if it goes well, then we’ll go from there. But right now we need to do a good job for Rifflandia.”
Molloy’s place in the Bum reunion is instrumental, since he and his thoughtful friend were the ones that spurned things on. So Molloy, like Nesbitt, isn’t ruling out the very good chance that Bum could roll on from Rifflandia with inspiration anew. If the band rehearsals so far are any indication, they might just pick up right where they left off.
“It’s something that we’ve talked about, but we’re going to see how this show goes first,” cautions Molloy. “I’m not going to lie to you though, I’d be pretty disappointed if it ended up just being this one show. I really hope we do more, but I can’t say for sure.”
A promise is still a promise: the best of Bum
Debbiespeak (Lance Rock Records, 1992)
How do you follow up such an amazing debut release? With a song that is beyond perfect: “Debbiespeak” has been stuck in my head for 22 years. Every day I hear this song, even when I haven’t actually listened to it in years. But I have no idea why I bother listening to other music when such a perfect song exists. B-side “Bullet” is a fun romp through a Misfits tune that is entertaining but not phenomenal, but I’m not sure anyone could have handled another perfect Bum original anyway.
Wanna Smash Sensation (PopLLama Records, 1993)
By this time they had put out four great 7” EPs and one great split 7,” and it was clear that they dominated the EP format. On their first full-length, they collect some of their previously released tunes and added new ones, creating a listening experience that was almost like a retrospective with some bonuses. A bit jarring, but we got a bunch of amazing new tunes like “Bent on Being Bent” and “When She Walked,” plus the most perfect of all perfect Bum songs: “Instant Kool Ayd.” A world where the band that wrote this song is not eternal legends is a cruel world indeed.
-Greg Pratt, managing editor