CULT CHOIR

Words: Keeley Thompson

Images: Lachlan Douglas (@somefx)

A tired yet sturdy velvet couch sits in the middle of the hall, surrounded by stained glass windows looking out onto a city that seems neither awake nor asleep. The scent of burnt sandalwood and clove reaches out from the walls and welcomes its guests with cannibalistic vigour.

Like falling down a drain and landing with grace, Meanjin’s Cült Choir creates music that sounds like how an old Merlot tastes, how Gustave Doré’s art looks and how (I imagine) a musty German forest smells.

A ritual to the old and the new, Cült Choir is the gothic-metal-synthy-doom-prog project of Chip (Vocals), Rohan (Drums), Tristan (Guitar) and Declan (Bass) that refuses to bend on its loyalty to the unpredictable. Shrouded in Romanticism and superstition, Cült Choir is an energetic, yet slow-motion beckoning to the abyss.

Join the ecstasy of the unknown. They’ve been waiting for you.

KEELEY: Start at the start! How did Cult Choir come about, tell me the story.

ROHAN: Tristan and I started around 2018. I was in a different band and Tristan was studying.

TRISTAN: I was studying at JMC, but I just felt a bit limited by the course and wasn’t very happy there. I knew I wanted to start a band on the side and write my own music. I knew Rohan wasn’t happy in his band at the time, so I asked him if he wanted to do something with me. We started jamming casually from there. It got real after we went to the Gold Coast

ROHAN: Yeah, we had a drunken night on the Gold Coast and were like “let’s do this”.

KEELEY: Oh man, and you stuck to the drunken promise!? Impressive! So many drunken promises have been broken

ROHAN: Every single other one, except for this one. But yeah, after that we made a post on Facebook looking for a bass player. Usually, this never ever ever works, but this time a miracle happened…

TRISTAN: We found someone that didn’t just want to join an AC/DC cover band!

CHIP: Yeah, I was living on the Sunshine Coast and was looking to do something. We messaged each other and arranged an audition. “Auditioned”. We played two songs in a basement in the middle of summer.

We knew straight away that it was going to work and so they asked me “do you want to marry me” and I said yes and then we all moved in together. We found Declan a bit after.

ROHAN: Declan and I met at work at the Princess Theatre and were at a party and bonded over the first TOOL EP. I knew he was keen to play music, so we asked him to join.

KEELEY: What’s your creative process look like?

TRISTAN: Musically, Rohan and I will come up with a riff and get together and jam it out and record it on a voice memo. I’ve got so many ideas on my phone that I come back to.

CHIP: I solely write the lyrics.

ROHAN: Yeah as Tristan mentioned, it can be quite a long process from the initial idea to the final product. The song we’re about to release is about four years old.

KEELEY: Do you have a favourite memory as a band?

TRISTAN: When we played in Sydney, Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers came to our gig. We ended up hanging out with him and having beers with him.

ROHAN: On that. Declan joined us just after that trip. He literally drove us to the airport and picked us up from it. It stings so much because RHCP is one of his favourite bands.

CHIP: Yeah, that was a big one. I remember looking at him thinking “fuck that dude looks so much like Chad Smith”. He came over to us after the gig and said our set was amazing and told us we’re on the right track which was cool.

DECLAN: I’d say mine is the first gig I played which happened to be the Stage Door Sessions at Princess Theatre. It played in the greenrooms with heaps of couches and it was such a sick experience.

KEELEY: How do you want people to feel when they listen to your music or go to your gigs?

TRISTAN: We really want to make people feel welcome. You don’t have to be a metalhead or fit a certain style to come to our shows.

ROHAN: Safe, welcomed and like they’re accepted and that it’s their space just as much as it is ours.

DECLAN: A sense of comfort hey. You don’t have to present or appear in any certain way to be there. Get in the mosh, we’ll meet you there. Just don’t be a shit person.

KEELEY: What’s your current driving/walking/public transport song?

TRISTAN: As of late, probably Us and Them by Pink Floyd.

DECLAN: For me, Can’t Stop by RHCP

ROHAN: Ummmm. The entire Morning Glory album by Oasis.

CHIP: At the moment it’s Bitter End by Placebo

KEELEY: Best and worst thing about being a musician?

TRISTAN: The worst thing is people asking when you’re going to get a real job. The best is being able to turn all the bullshit of life and turn it into art.

DECLAN: Best is playing and doing things you never imagined you’d be able to do. Worst is the hangover.

ROHAN: I’d say the hardest part is that to be a creative, you’ve gotta be a bit different. We usually feel things harder, and just experience life more intensely and it can be tough to navigate and find a place where you feel safe.

CHIP: As the lyric writer, it’s hard to be that personal and open. It’s really exposing yourself and putting your passion on paper and it’s so subject to criticism. The best thing is having a team and having somewhere to express and unleash everything.

KEELEY: What’s something you’d like changed within the music industry?

ROHAN: Streaming for suuuure. It’s awesome that we can stream anything but there needs to be some fucking rules.

TRISTAN: Yeah, it’s something like 4c per thousand streams or something like that right? God, I have such a love-hate relationship with Spotify. I think the way people access music is a big thing for me.

KEELEY: Favourite song to perform?

CHIP: I would say Hedonistic Dream. It’s coming out towards the end of the year and it’s a huge song for us.

ROHAN: Yeah, that one is awesome because Chip and I both sing in that song when we’re playing live.

DECLAN: I do love The Mouth. I feel like a lot of people gravitate towards that track and I love playing it live and seeing the crowd go nuts for it.

TRISTAN: I’d second The Mouth. That was the first song we wrote with Chip as the singer, and it’s got a special place in our memory bank.

KEELEY: Three desert island albums?

TRISTAN: The Wall by Pink Floyd, Enima by TOOL and I don’t know exactly what it’s called but the 2018 Molchat Doma album. (side note: It’s called Etazhi, btw). Also, special mention to OK Computer by Radiohead.

CHIP: Oh you couldn’t pronounce that even.

DECLAN: I hate to do it but TOOL, Ten Thousand Days and Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age and Crack the Skye by Mastodon.

ROHAN: Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age, Fear Inoculum by TOOL aaand Alive 2007 by Daft Punk.

CHIP: Oasis Live at Wembley Stadium, probably LOTR Fellowship of the Ring Soundtrack and Korn’s first album.

KEELEY: Final question! What can we expect next from Cult Choir?

TRISTAN: World domination.

ROHAN: We’ve got a single coming out on the 16th of September! Which actually marks a whole year since The Mouth came out and it’s the first song we ever wrote together. More travelling and more gigging!

DECLAN: Stream all our music. Whoever streams it most gets a prize. But yeah, stay tuned!

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