PHOTOS BY Connor Keighran.

OILS is a band for the writhing and disaffected.

The Sydney-based post-punk band is a blend of brooding and confidence, and are of a style that is difficult to explain to a generation of kids (you) who film shows on their phones rather than watch them. Let me use a reference point through which you will understand. OILS is as if there were three Nosferatu’s and they all fucked as hard as the one in the movie you saw last week and all four of them also make music that they want you to dance to. That is important. OILS can compile you to move. You are Lily Rose Depp. Just kidding, you wish. But my point stands. They don’t wear capes as far as I can tell, because that might undercut their stature, but if anyone could pull it off, it’d be them. They are witchy and withered and make music to be heard in black and white or vivid blood red. They are a band you should know. Campbell caught up with Tai Tate, a member of the illustrious Australian music group, which is where we begin our tale.

See OILS in Sydney on February 1st, here.

Tai: Yeah, I’m Tai Tate. I play guitar and sing in OILS, alongside drummer, programmer, singer Chris Stabback.

I did some quick digging, and it looks like you’ve all been in or are currently in other bands. How do you find balancing different projects? It seems like this one might be a bit different from your other work.

We are only slightly polyglamorous in our musical relationships - Chris and I both play in Master Leonard so we have two very dedicated outlets, scheduled dutifully. Master Leonard is cardio and weights, whereas OILS is maybe more cerebral and considered, pilates perhaps. They both take careful breath work / just at different speeds.

Where did the name OILS come from and also how best would you describe the music you guys make?

Chris finished reading Shogun by James Clavell just as our band was getting serious and in need of a name. There is a katana of note in the book named ‘Oil Seller’ that got its name when the warlord that wielded it swiftly dispatched a stubborn oil merchant that wouldn’t get out of his way on the road. It was the sword’s first kill and from then was named Oil Seller. We try to move with the same stubbornness and decisiveness in our music as seen in both the warlord and the merchant, obviously without the violence and murder.

Then we fancied a one word band name so we swiftly dispatched the ‘eller’. I felt so much dissociation as soon as the last takes were done in the studio - in a positive way - that has made it a lot more palatable to approach our music objectively.

So without fear of sounding boastful or contrived or self-indulgent - I can truthfully say OILS is a truly unique band - a rock band of sorts, at its heart but so much more. To me it’s equal parts Pixies, Melbourne Heroin bands like Crime & the City Solution vibe, Killing Joke kinda stuff, but also Trent Reznor, New Order, Echo gothy shit,  genre-fluid. It wouldn’t feel out of place being played at The Bang Bang Bar in Twin Peaks. Like remember seeing Nine Inch Nails play She’s Gone in that last season of Twin Peaks? It’s dance music.

Given that you’re all a bit ‘older’, do you feel like this project is a result of learning through trial and error in the past? The sound feels very polished.

We are all getting closer to death as every minute passes and the erroneous minutes have to be cherished as much as the successful ones. I think refined is probably where it has landed rather than polished, like a fine blade, it moves more efficiently.

Also I think the tracks are top brass simply because Wade Keighran recorded and produced them!

The visuals for your two singles stood out also. Was that something you deliberately worked on?

It was a product of us at the time. It comes across lean and unapologetic I feel, which is more honest. Over-engineering an image for us would have taken away from the music itself. It is now an artefact and a time stamp. It will evolve or decay as we do.

It also translated well into a gig poster so we’ve done a run of T’s with this show’s poster art slapped straight on them. Available at the launch.

It sounds like you want to do things on your own terms.

They are the only terms we can rely on it seems. Accountability and acceptance go a long way to being able to move with deliberate and concise action.

With the rise of social platforms, how do you navigate getting noticed in the noise of so many bands?

The only things that work are getting the rig out and being funny. So if it helps - I am not above showing some skin for people to laugh.

How did the recording process go? Was everything mapped out before going into the studio, or did you feel things out there?

These two songs were among our oldest, so they had long enough legs to run once we got to the studio. We laid down the hard bones and sinew of each song before driving to Wade’s private studio in the mountains a few weeks later to add the final layers of blood, skin and trauma.

So, you’ve got more songs in the works?

There are 2 more getting recorded straight after the show - but there are countless songs still in chrysalis. We have a remix of Defend & Preserve coming out next. We asked Anthony Anzaldo (Ceremony, Cold Cave & Anthony Family) to take it for a dance and the results are intoxicating. Like if Cronenberg directed Drive.

What have you been listening to lately?

Blood Incantation - one of the most important heavy releases for a long time. Their new album Absolute Elsewhere is a better macro dose than anything you can buy off a podcast. Whether you like death metal or not it will move you.

My toddler is also obsessed with a band called Nation of Language - they just did the tour opening for IDLES. A kind of synth pop deal, they’re really sweet and haunting at the same time. Wish we could have seen them this time but my son doesn’t like IDLES.

And can never get enough of YG TUT’s first album Preacher’s Son. The blend of southern trap and jazz gets the juices flowing.

Do you think that variety in your musical tastes impacts your songwriting?

We make soup with what is stocked in the collective larder - I think our limitations on our attempts at imitation make the songs what they are.

Is the Trocadero show going to be your first live performance?

We played a small show last year with Super American Eagle to blow some cobwebs out and see how we felt as a live entity. It felt good. This show will feel better. If you don’t play live you are not truly alive.

What can people expect from an OILS show, like at the Trocadero?

The unexpected? It is movement, but when the feet have to stop - the heart will carry on. Captivation.

How do you feel about the Sydney music scene these days?

It’s great to see people putting on shows in abandoned spaces or people’s houses. That’s where the real energy is right now. I get nihilistic about live music being saved by coked-up businessman cosplaying punk rock but there are finally some good venues being run by real people - not just ponytailed oligarchs - so there is hope.

Lastly. Looking ahead, how do you see the next year shaping up for the band?

David Lynch said “the more you suffer, the less you want to create. If you’re truly depressed, they say, you can’t even get out of bed, let alone create.” We have too much work to do with OILS, so we will avoid suffering at all costs. We will record and release as much as possible, play in every town and city possible, get to Poland if we can for a tour maybe? They like us there apparently.