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This creative project kicked off when word-player singer-songwriter Commissar Blue Tac felt driven to tour living rooms under the dreary atmosphere of isolation during the Covid-19 lockdown. The first series of gigs were held in living rooms across the northside and southside of Brisbane often setting up in front of the family television, sometimes in the backyard. It wasn’t long before the band Blue Tac formed & started playing in public spaces.
Blue Tac’s debut self-titled album released in 2022 is a studio gem. The warm lo-fi garage sound showcases 12 upbeat energetic fun tracks striking a chord with both adults and children. Blue Tac believes in the power of a good song. Their splashy punk tune ‘Jump in the Pool’ received a 2022 Qld Music Award Nomination. The band’s 2023 version of Chinese Pop Queen Wong Faye’s 1997 track ‘You’re Happy so I’m Happy’ (‘Ni Kuaila Suoyi Wo Kuaila’) takes a sweet soothing melancholic feel and transforms it into a rockin’ anthem.
Blue Tac enjoys airplay on local Brisbane community radio station 4ZZZ 102.1 FM as well as overseas-based family radio shows where eclectic styles, eras and genres are blended. The Goober Show, Radio Active Kids, Double Dip Recess, WTUL Kids and Saturday Morning Cereal Bowl have all played Blue Tac tracks alongside artists like David Bowie, The Dandy Warhols, They Might Be Giants, Tenacious D and Dr Teeth.
Blue Tac’s shared early influences include watching TV shows Monkey Magic, Countdown,The Young Ones and sifting through parents’ vinyl and cassette collections.
The TV show ‘Countdown’ was the soundtrack in living rooms across Australia (similar to UK’s ‘Top of the Pops’). Commissar Blue Tac was inspired to jump around and dance freely as a kid (1977-1985 ABC TV Australia). This music variety show offered a weekly dose of live studio performances, interviews and film clips featuring artists like Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Kate Bush and The Divinyls. Transported to another dimension in front of parents and older siblings, Tac has felt passionately about staging powerful musical experiences full of energy, curiosity and wonder since before he could walk.
Another major cultural influence, the late 1970s, early 1980’s, production of ‘Monkey Magic’ (‘Journey to the West’ or ‘Xi You Ji’) tells the story of a holy pilgrimage between China and India. This epic tale of Asia features characters who embody supernatural forces inspired by Daoism guided by the moral teachings of Buddhism. The version broadcasted to western audiences in the 1980s featured lively delivery in the dubbed English voice work. The production elevates to a spiritual plain via the dreamy soundtrack from rock luminary Godiego. A source of unparalleled wonder, universally adored by younger and older audiences, ‘Journey to the West’ is a timeless cross-cultural work.
For the energy and identity of the music to truly crystallise though, a band was needed. Blue Tac soon formed. Two old mates, and members of the Vintage Youth Cricket Club (Brisbane Band Comp.) both liked what they heard and teamed up in the form of bassist Allan Laguna Quayes (Heavyweight Champion) and drummer Jordie Poynter.
After a string of gigs in homes and venues, the three-piece lay down Blue Tac’s self-titled debut album in West End’s Sosoap Studios. In the studio everything was thrown down in a few takes. The earworms took shape. Tac had captured the energy.
During the production phase of the album, Commissar was on playground duty when he bumped into an old colleague (he’d known two decades earlier). The conversation stumbled onto the travelling bluesman Lord Chugworthy (who Tac thought to be working overseas in Oman). But Chug was back in Brisbane. And it’d been years. Within two days Lord was recording the harmonica for the golden track ‘Thingamejig’.
There was a lot of fun to be had with engineer Peet Gardner in the studio. Commissar ventured out on school nights to capture samples and kept bringing more layers. On this, it was always envisioned that triggering live samples would enhance the live experience of box chords and groans. Enter Uncle Magz in the form of Vir Asan (Samedi Sound, Vintage Youth) whose years of experience behind the mixing desk means Tac is in steady hands. And when Magz is out of action, he shapeshifts into Frank Tollbooth (Del Toro, Kingfisha, District Dub City) whose psychedelic wayward bandleader style catches everyone’s eye. A few days before the mixdown, Claire (CC the Cat) magically appeared to lay down backing vocals on a number of tracks. It had been 20 years earlier in India the two of them last did anything musical together.
Days later, after the mixdown was done and dusted. It was the last week of school, 2021. International borders had literally just opened. Despite the global paranoia, with all eyes on a new strain of Covid (Omicron), Tac jumped on a plane and went on a 40+hr journey to Jamaica. With the Brisbane Airport a complete ghost town, and hardly any foreigners in Jamaica, December and January were a surreal run to the other side of the globe; gritty and enlightening on so many levels.
Upon arrival back in Brisbane, album drummer Jordz (Smoking Martha) needed to spend more time up the coast for his busy schedule. Enter Wolf Boi Yaycobson (Accomplice Collective) whose skills on the kit and theatrical flair features in a long list of community music projects around Brisbane. Tac is currently blessed with the services of two cats behind the kit.
It was at this point that Lord Chugworthy introduced two of Blue Tac’s most precious gemstones in the form of Cara and Katina. Both dedicated listeners, long-time punters and fans of great music. They jumped aboard with full zest in the key of Angel. The girls’ vocals and theatrical moves lift Blue Tac to the next level. And it also helps they are each other’s spirit animal.
Commissar Blue Tac (Guitar and vocals)
Allan Laguna Quayes (Bass)
Uncle Mags (Sampler and Mixer)
Katina (Vocals and Theatrics)
Cara (Vocals and Theatrics)
Wolf Boi Yaycobsen (Drummer)
Frank Tollbooth (Sampler and Mixer)
Lord Chugworthy (Harmonica)
Jordie (Debut Album Drummer)
Blue Tac is about many things
Opening things up
Doing something
Raising the bar
Human animals have that ability
To influence Self and each other
It’s not easy
Over the course of a lifetime, it’s gradual
It’s a message from one generation to the other
A journey Blue Tac wants to share
The aesthetics of “Tac” is tactical
It’s a style
And with it, we fall at the feet of the little
truthtellers
We serve the next generation
Our songs are an offering
Our mission
And what Blue Tac brings
