What We’ve Been Listening To: Catholic Guilt

Australian punk/alt-rock band Catholic Guilt’s new music video for their single “Can You See Me?” is now out, and it is a beaut. Have a listen to the band’s new single before getting to more more about what they have been listening to.

“For me personally, that feeling was brought on by a period of intense emotional and physical upheaval caused by a variety of interpersonal issues and a few serious life and career setbacks,” Vocalist Brenton says. “All of these issues coalesced around the time of the lockdowns and ended up impacting life on the other side of it, resulting in me living life as a version of myself that felt so unfamiliar, so unconfident, so shaken, so entirely unlike ‘me’. Writing the song allowed me to process and heal and move onto the next evolution of ‘myself’. It’s our ‘feel sad hit of the summer’.”

Who is Catholic Guilt and how did your namesake come about?

Brenton: We are a five-piece punk/alt-rock band from Melbourne/Naarm. We write emotional and disarmingly honest music for the internally conflicted masses, blending elements of punk, power-pop, alt and indie to create a sound we call ‘honest music’. The band consists of Brenton Harris (Vocals), Dean Gordon (Guitar/Vocals), Megan Sidwell (Guitar/Vocals), Ben Caruana (Bass) and Michael Condello (Drums).

I grew up Catholic and while I’m definitely not a practising Catholic now, the experience left me with a lot of cultural conditioning I can’t seem to shed. The omnipresent feeling of guilt, which we call “Catholic Guilt” is one of those conditionings. When I first started writing what would become the first batch of Catholic Guilt songs, I realized that a lot of the songs had ties to that feeling of being “guilty” or perhaps more accurately, feeling like I was not “enough” at all times. The fact that it also serves as a double entendre, for the Vatican’s sins, is a very fitting bonus, given what we went to address in some of those songs.

What artists or bands are on your must-listen to list lately and why?

Brenton: Due to the nature of what I do for a living, I’m constantly listening to music, both new and nostalgic. On the newer side of things, I’ve been borderline obsessed this year with the latest releases from Teenage Wrist, Better Lovers, R.U.B, Softcult, Scowl, Svalbard, Excuse For An Exit, Spanish Love Songs, Chasing Ghosts, The Interrupters, Creeper, Teenage Joans, Trophy Eyes, Petrol Girls, Clowns, Future Static, The Dirty Nil and Blood Command.

On the nostalgic side, I’ve been on a mid-late ’90s/early ‘00s kick. I’ve been cranking records from Silverchair, Thursday, Bodyjar, The Living End, Thrice, Against Me!, Blueline Medic, Frenzal Rhomb, Jebediah, Something For Kate, After The Fall, Boysetsfire, AFI, No Doubt, Jimmy Eat World and a whole bunch of FatWreck, Epitaph and Nitro Records skatepunk acts.

Megan: It depends on how my day at work is going! If it’s stressful I’ll go for my tried and true, comfort bands. These include Jimmy Eat World, Paramore, Yellowcard, Story of the Year, and Stand Atlantic. Hot Milk brought out an excellent album which I’m excited to see them play next month, and new tracks from both Redhook and Stand Atlantic are out this month too which are going to be sick. What a time to be alive.

When you go into the recording studio to work on new material, what are your must-haves?

Brenton: I’m purely a vocalist on records, so for me, it is all about voice preservation, so lots of water, manuka honey, ginger tea, lemon, healthy, dairy-free snacks and something sugary but gluten-free for when I need that energy boost.

Megan: When I’m on vocal duty I will stick with almonds, Powerade, green tea, V, whiskey – whatever helps get the job done! Snacks are always the number one priority. Guitar-wise, a good selection of guitars and pedals are a must-have. Between Dean and I, we cover a decent range of toys that make it into the studio. We attempted to cull it down a bit for this track but failed.

Which song, or songs, of yours would you recommend to a first-time listener and why?

Brenton: For me, I’d say to get an overview of what we do as a band, you’d need to listen to at least three songs. For one of our more upbeat-sounding songs, I’d recommend they listen to ‘Live For The Rush’, that’ll get the sugar rush going, and then they can chase that with the sobering ‘Generation Rent Reality Check’ of ‘Song of the Renter’ before getting to know our more alternative emotive side with ‘Paper & Ink’ or ‘Nothing’. We often say Catholic Guilt isn’t a ‘sound’ it is a ‘feeling’ and you’ll know it when you feel it. By the end of those songs, I’d hope you’d felt it.

Megan: For a purely selfish reason, ‘Live For The Rush’ and our new track ‘Can You See Me’, because these are the first two tracks I’ve been a part of the writing and recording process with the guys. My all time fav to play live however is ‘Nothing’ from the band’s last EP ‘This is What Honesty Sounds Like’.

Which song of someone else’s (artist or band) would you have liked to feature on and why?

Brenton: Either ‘New Noise’ by Refused or ‘Flame Trees’ by Cold Chisel. ‘New Noise’ because it is the centrepiece of an album that completely changed my understanding of what heavy music could be and it has musically stood the test of time. I hear it popping up in the most unexpected places, almost daily. ‘Flame Trees’ because it’s a truly iconic piece of Australian music. It’s almost bogan poetry in the sense that it perfectly describes the experience of life in rural small-town Australia. The imagery is timelessly accurate. It is one of many songs of its era that have become a part of the fabric of our society.

Megan: ‘In the Mourning’ by Paramore has always been a favourite of mine to play live. It perfectly blends the right amount of country music in to their sound. Honestly, any song by Paramore would be fine – I’m not fussy. I did meet them once, and Hayley wore my old band’s t-shirt on stage at Soundwave (my closest claim to fame). I constantly dream of the day I get pulled on stage to sing the bridge and harmonise with Hayley on Misery Business. Just putting it out in to the universe…

What has led you into becoming a musicians and why do you keep making music?

Brenton: I’ve been obsessed with music, especially of the alternative, metal and punk variety since I was a toddler. It took me until I was a teenager to realise that it was an option to create it myself. I’ve been on a journey to try and write songs that connect with and/or help other people, the way other artists’ music connected with and helped me since playing those first tentative notes. There is nothing on this planet that can match the feeling of being in a room full of people, from all walks of life, watching or performing live music. That energy, that connectivity, that’s my ‘church’ so to speak.

Megan: I used to play a lot of sport as a teenager and then had a huge knee operation because of it when I was 18. I had played in bands before then but this really started music for me as it became the outlet I could turn to after losing sport. I then focused on a solo career over the next 12 years mostly in the Pop/Rock/Country realm before joining Catholic Guilt and coming back to the style of music that started it all for me. At the end of the day, I just love playing guitar and getting lost in the chords, and the melodies. It’s therapeutic for me, and if anyone can relate to that by listening to these songs, then that is a good day.