Interviews and Articles
Gook, Ben, 199-? 'The Rectifiers - 6 Song ep', Soundczech online resource, downloaded 16/7/1999, http://soundczech.yourweb.com.au/recorded/rectifiers.htm

The Rectifiers are one of a few local bands to jump on the alternative country (alterna-country if you like) bandwagon. These bands generally take the noodly bits of country and mix it through with a more pop based sound and The Rectifiers do it very nicely.
    The highlight of this release is the opener, Tourmaline. This track takes some great slide guitar and throws in the barrel with some organ and it all comes out sounding an absolute treat.

Lilley, Jess, 1998, 'The Rectifiers', Beat Magazine
Y'know, if Merle Haggard were to tour now, he'd just as likely play at The Forum as The Hilton. The country music evolution sees the nineties getting friendly with the genre all over again. It's not Nashville country, or Australian outback country, that's being heralded by lovers of independent music. It's the new makers of alternative country and their outlaw heroes who seem to have both the credibility and the audiences, maintaining the soul while redefining the boundaries.
Enter Melbourne 5 piece The Rectifiers, who took their cue from the Jayhawks a few years back and have been producing their own version of bitter-sweet, indelibly melancholy music since. The Rectifiers' debut EP was recently on WayOverThere records, which suits the band immensely.
    According to Jo (lead vocals and guitar) "it's perfect for who we are because we make a lot of decisions within the band and we're not gonna change the dynamic of the band 'cause it's not often that you can be this happy playing with people with people. And the label really facilitates that internal vision stuff."
    The creatively titled, Six Song EP has alreaduy received reviews in Juice and Rolling Stone Magazine and is played repeatedly on public radio in Melbourne. It features 6 meandering, thoughtful and essentially very sad songs of lament, love, hope and doubt. Talking with The Rectifiers over a beer last week, I managed to extract the following bits of coherent thought, which go some way in explaining the music, the EP and the band.
Jo: "Country music deals with the idea of a kind of emotional terrain that's laid out for you, certainly lyrically, 'cause it's basically about blokes feeling sad expressing themselves in a societal context that doesn't really allow that. That's part of what I like about country. Not the maleness of it but that emotive kind of edge to it."
Todd (pedal steel): "(for us) it started with 'Hollywood Town Hall', the Jayhawks album. That was the first thing that we all heard and dug."
    Somehow at this point, the press stud shirt becomes the focus of conversation. I speculate as to whether the increasing visibility of said shirts is part of an era of country being hip."
Todd: "I don't know if country is actually hip."
Jo: "I don't think it's ever been hip. Country's such a subjective term as well. Like when we use it selectively. When we talk about country we're not talking about that stuff that's coming out of Nashville today, we're talking about what we associate to be country. My idea of country is probably very different to someone who listens to Australian mainstream country."
Richard (drums): "Lee Kernaghan... "
Jo: "Yeah, I have no connection to it whereas I have a lot of alternative country stuff."
Richard: "but when you say country people do automatically connect it with that (mainstream) kind of stuff and you have to pull them up and let them know there's a whole lot of little genres in it."
Todd: "We've all started with the Jayhawks and then Raven put out that Gram Parsons collection and that's where it all began, and we've gone from these people and are starting to go back to like Willie Nelson and George Jones."
Jo: "And the stuff from the fifties is fantastic because you can hear the way that they originated as well and how they put their twist on things, and the way that echoes through."
Todd: "there's so much other stuff too... like late '60s early '70s Rolling Stones records. And Gram Parsons doing Aretha Franklin covers... it's like Gram Parsons and Gene Clark have opened this idea of what country is and can be."
What about country folk, like Gene Clarke getting together with Arlo Guthrie?
Jo: "Country is a folk kind of tradition. There are kind of archetypal melodies and concepts that work through a lot of different forms of music."
Nick (bass guitar, vocals): "And it's also like taking the more tasteful aspects of folk and whatever you're drawing from... or what is appealing about folk... and using that, and not revering the form for much that you can't be swayed from it. Y'know, being able to say 'I love this aspect of folk country' or whatever and just see that, 'cause there's a lot of racism and a lot of evil stories that aren't us. "
Todd, How did you come to be playing pedal steel?
Todd: "I tried a few other things and none of them really worked..."
Richard: "And there was a market crying out for pedal steel players..."
Nick: "And it's such a mysterious instrument..."
Todd: "It was there... and I could buy it. I mean there are tapes of me playing lap steel where I kind of fade in with the volume pedal and fade out before I reach a note. Pedal steel allowed me to actually find a note." This is followed by much laughter.
The first track on the EP is called Tourmaline. What is it about?
Jo: "It's about space and time and travelling and all the themes that we sing about... and it's about a small arse little town that is restrictive and constrictive... It's sort of half about Ballarat in a way... The EP is quite dark. It came from a place which wasa little bit of a bad time, personally, in the lives of the band."
Did you ever anticipate how it would be received?
Nick: "When we first recorded the EP we had no concept of how it would be related to and the couple of initial reactions when it first came out were 'it's just too depressing'."
Todd: "It's quite surprising when anyone says, 'I've heard your EP.' It's like, 'how?' Where did it come from?"
Public Radio..?
Jo: "That stuff has really sustained us, I mean, it just keeps us going."
With the EP, did you record those tracks live?
Jo: "Yeah, then dubbed over the top."
Todd: "Dave overdubbed everything and has since become a permanent member."
Dave (piano): "And they threw a spanner in the works 'cause I was a harmonica player when I joined the band and now I'm a piano player."
Jo: "But you play like a soul player, Dave, that's what great about how to play. It's so Burrito Bros."
Speaking of Burrito Bros, how influential are they for you?
Jo: "Gram (Parsons) probably is number one for influences."
Nick: "I reckon Gene (Clarke)."
Todd agrees.
Richard: "We're gonna have to vote."
Jo: (laughing) "All the beautiful loners all over this side and all the stoned rich people over that side."
Todd: "That Raven Gram best of, 'Warm Mornings, Pale Evenings', was the first we got out of any of those guys and it was very influential."
Dave: "It seems to me that he covers a lot of territory, within a certain range, but a lot of different things come through."
Todd: "But then when it gets down to it, Gene Clarke breaks my heart more often."
There's nodded agreement.
Richard: "That's important." Incidentally Tourmaline is described in the dictionary as a 'precious mineral with a glassy lustre'... and that's pretty much how it sounds.

Colman, Alexander, 1999, 'The Rectifiers @ The Punters Club', Beat Magazine
There's something quite cozy about slow country tunes in a small pub, sitting on the floor in your rain-soaked clothes. There's also something about The Rectifiers that produces interest beyond that traditional country ballad.
    Although at times a cowboy hat was all that was missing from the traditional image, The Rectifiers find strength in atmosphere. The ability to create a mood, as distinct from a mere melody, is often overlooked by music makers, but The Rectifiers can hold you in a dream from opening chord to final chorus. Look out for them at the Corner Hotel later this month.

Giannone, D., 1999, 'The Rectifiers @ The Punters Club', Inpress Magazine
... One thing that did strike me as odd was just how early everything seemed to have kicked off. I arrived believing I was early enough to catch at least half of the first act's set (which from all reports was quite good) but much toi my dismay, I found myself walking in on The Rectifiers.
    Apparently I'd already missed several tunes of theirs and what a damn shame! A hybrid of country twang melancholy and pop sensibility, they well and truly manage to tug at the heart strings with songs seemingly performed in a nonchalant manner. But one can sense the powerful emotive tones that stir within each tune. A five piece, comprising drums, bass, guitars, dobro(?)(pedal steel), Hammond organ and even the old harp thrown in for good measure (harmonica variety that is) they are comfortable swapping instruments amongst themselves.
     The Rectifiers do wear a country-style influence on their collective sleeve, as well as their hearts, but there is enough of everything else thrown in to warrant them being referred to as so much more than just a country and western band.
     The first thing that struck me about them was the beauty portrayed in many of their songs. Many tunes had an intangible, breathless quality about them. Quite a delight.

Peters, Glenn, 1999, 'The Rectifiers - Sparkles from the wheel', Beat Magazine
There is a lot of melancholic rock around Melbourne right now. A Saturday night at the Punters Club can sometimes be quite an ordeal. Before the place is dominated by the bloke with his Beastie Boys records the vibe is killed by young bands trying ever so hard to convince us of the troubles of living in Fitzroy and having a girlfriend in Williamstown. Life can be hard. It makes it difficult for bands of warmth like the Rectifiers to be noticed.
     Sparkles from the wheel is so tasteful, ever so lovely in song writing and feel. Most of the tracks waver hypnotically. Rhythms and lyrical theme are constant throughout. The first five songs sound so similar to each other. The changes are so subtle. Additions of a string section and pedal steel guitar are light. By the seventh, "Magneto" things slow down almost to a halt. It gets uplifting, morning-like with "Dead Reckoning" with its wacky (only in the Rectifiers standards) pedal steel solo, and back to reflection with the last couple, "Entwined and Unfurled" and "Back of My Hand". This is what makes the Rectifiers debut so special.
     Their subtle melancholy drives their music forward. Its not just there so they can pick up chicks while dancing to the Beastie Boys.

and here's some more press     
    

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