Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
What has Sarah McLeod of The SuperJesus been up to lately? OR Are diamonds a bands best friend?
Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians.
We sit down with the iconic Sarah McLeod, lead vocalist of The SuperJesus, as they release their self-titled album, the first in twenty years. Featuring the heart-stirring single "Diamonds," Sarah reveals the emotional stories wrapped within their music and how the band has evolved throughout their storied career.
The episode not only highlights the profound connection to their fans but emphasizes the importance of artist collaboration. Sarah discusses her partnership with Stuart Rudd, illustrating how mutual growth and shared creativity have shaped their songwriting. Their commitment to innovation is evident as they share experiences incorporating technology and learning through online resources, making the album relevant to today’s musical landscape.
Beyond their personal growth, The SuperJesus is paving the way for future generations of musicians by inviting local artists to open for their gigs. Sarah's urge to give back resonates throughout the conversation, inspiring listeners and encouraging budding musicians to take the leap, with personal anecdotes, reflections on recent tours, and a sincere desire to see the music community thrive.
Join us for this engaging discussion that serves as both an homage to the past and a celebration of the future. Discover how The SuperJesus has remained relevant and vital in the music scene while supporting the next wave of talent.
What has Sarah McLeod been up to lately? Let's find out!!
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
Visit: ThatRadioChick.com.au
That Radio Chick Cheryl Lee here. Welcome to the Still Rockin' it podcast where we'll have music news, reviews and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians and artists. One of my all-time favourite Australian bands, the Super Jesus, are releasing a new self-titled album right now which you can pre-order their first full album in 20 years featuring stunning new ballad Diamonds. After 30 years of crafting their sound, the songwriting partnership of Sarah McLeod and Stuart Rudd has truly found its sweet spot. This is the new Super Jesus, a more soulful, engaging version of the band we know and love, where songwriting is king. In Diamonds we hear them like never before. It's a beautiful, emotional ballad written on the piano, showcasing how far the band has come musically. Coupled with Sarah's classic rich vocals, it's a beautiful piece, and we chat to Sarah now. To catch up on podcasts from other favourite artists, simply go to that radio chick. com. au. Let's get stuck into it. I think the last time I spoke to you was at Mundi Mundi. It was yeah, how you been? Yeah good, have you recovered? Oh?
Sarah McLeod:I was pretty quick.
Cheryl Lee:I reckon it took a month to get all the dirt out of my nooks and crannies.
Sarah McLeod:Yeah, it does take a while, doesn't it? Don't bring your best things to the desert, that's for sure. No when are you at the moment? Are?
Cheryl Lee:you in Adelaide? I am yeah, 27 Club. Good, I did have that on my list of questions. Did you bring this lovely weather with you from Queensland?
Sarah McLeod:You know, I just got here and it's so nice. I was just thinking that went for a walk around the city and I was like God, I love this city Beautiful.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, we are pretty lucky. I was going to say if you were here you could have come into the studio or we could have met at the pub and had a wine or something next time. Yeah, good, I was up for wine. Just a quickie. Do you prefer phone over Zoom Sarah?
Sarah McLeod:Oh yeah, I don't like Zoom. I hate Zooms, Do you? Yeah, I hate Zooms.
Cheryl Lee:I thought it was because you didn't want to put your makeup on.
Sarah McLeod:I like to be able to wear headphones and I can't do it with Zoom. If I put headphones on, I don't have to hold the phone, I can walk around. I'm wearing headphones now. It's great.
Cheryl Lee:Uh-huh, I thought it might have been watching the video and listening to the new song this morning. Well, I bought my album and T-shirt a week ago and I bought my tickets to the Bridgeway this morning, so I'm all sorted, thank you. No worries, we'll talk about all the exciting things that are happening with the tour and the album in a minute. I have to ask you you know, being the cold chisel, tragic that I am tell me what's the goss from the? How was the cold chisel tour?
Sarah McLeod:It was fantastic. The nostalgia level was on stun and it wasn't just the band, it was everybody in the audience. It's just great crowds, really lovely crowds, everyone just there to reminisce and sing, you know. So it's not often you see people that are that happy as a general mass all singing the same songs together. It was really beautiful. It was quite tribal.
Cheryl Lee:Well, I went to three of their gigs. Yeah, it was great. I was one of the tribal people in the audience. It was so good to have you guys appearing with them as well.
Sarah McLeod:Yeah, it was great. It was really good for us, like great, to get to play in front of that audience. Really appreciated the generous crowd.
Cheryl Lee:Last time I spoke to Ruddy, I think, was just before you were about to embark, so he was pretty excited. You all had a good time.
Sarah McLeod:Yeah, we had a great time. Yeah, we had a great time. And then we came home and put all our ducks in order and got the album released together. Yeah, put your head down and your bum up and got to work. Yeah, that was a lot to do.
Cheryl Lee:One more quick question and then we'll chat about the good news. I did notice that you had a lookalike like a little mini-me doppelganger in 27 Club and I was wondering if you were coming, who's that young lady?
Sarah McLeod:Are you talking about Virginia Lilly?
Cheryl Lee:Yeah.
Sarah McLeod:Oh yeah, yeah, she plays the show. She does the same role as me when I have other shows. Yeah, she's great, isn't she?
Cheryl Lee:She is, but I'm glad you're here because you know I do like to see you. We've got our tickets for the 27 Club as well. Have you seen any good fringy stuff while you're?
Sarah McLeod:here. No, because I haven't been here yet. I came in for rehearsals last week and then I've been in WA doing some solar shows for Birds of Tokyo and I just got back Just going down there this afternoon for the first time. Have fun in the garden.
Cheryl Lee:Oh, I will. I always do Great time to be in Adelaide. How lucky are we.
Cheryl Lee:I'm not going to make you wait till the end of the interview to hear the new song. It's fabulous. And here it is now diamond. It's a very, very emotional song. Gives me goosebumps. I hope you love it as much as I do.
:And then more from sarah
Sarah McLeod:Yes, you guys have played at the Bridgeway before. Yeah once, and it was a really, really cool show. So we decided to go back there. I like it there. It's a bit out of town, but it's a vibe. It's an oldie but a goodie.
Cheryl Lee:I used to go there when I was too young to go there because I'm from that area and we used to line up literally around the street to get in every Thursday, friday and Saturday night. So it's fabulous that they're doing live music again and supporting live music, so I'll see you down the front there, as well as the 27 Club. Now this new album and the new single, diamonds absolutely love it. You knew that I would.
Sarah McLeod:A little bit of a different sound for the Super Jesus, yeah well, I wrote it for my solo album and then I played it to Ruddy and I was like, look, this is for my solo album, but I don't know, maybe just have a listen in case you like it, because I feel like it's special and I don't want, I feel like I'll be withholding information if I don't play it to the first. And he was like oh, I know I love it, let's, let's take it. And he was like oh, I know I love it, let's take it. And I was like really, oh yeah, yeah, let's take it. And the band did a number on it. They really lifted it to the next level. I was stoked.
Cheryl Lee:They sure did Good decision there.
:I was looking at the video. I'm like, oh, now I recognise that place. Where is?
Cheryl Lee:that There'd be, and then I realised it was at our Woodville Town Hall.
Sarah McLeod:Yeah, yeah, and my mum used to go to Woodville High School. She did a play she did Macbeth at Woodville Town Hall and so she was like so excited. I was like, no, we need to go there for mum. Aww. But they were very good to us and the room is just beautiful it scrubbed up pretty well in the video.
Cheryl Lee:It looked amazing, as did you, that sort of like 1940s vibe.
Sarah McLeod:Yeah, I was sort of going for that old Hollywood scene.
Cheryl Lee:You looked awesome, as did the boys. Actually, they scrubbed up pretty good too.
Sarah McLeod:Yeah, I thought we should do something different. You know like the song lends itself to be. You know a bit of its styles a little bit differently, so let's go for it just once.
Cheryl Lee:So that is the new single. Is this the fifth single for this album?
Sarah McLeod:No, hang on, there's Money, lights Out. We Won't Let Go Dancing With Myself Something Good and Diamonds, diamonds.
Cheryl Lee:Yeah, so it's actually the sixth. Yeah, I've got About Dancing With Myself. That's a great cover.
Sarah McLeod:How did you decide on that one? That was Ruddy's idea. He was like let's do something, pop punk, and I'm like, all right, he's talking my language.
Cheryl Lee:He's keen. He's pretty good to have around that Ruddy.
Sarah McLeod:Yeah, yeah, he's a good asset, the old.
Cheryl Lee:Ruddy . This is a great choice. The Super Jesus do a fabulous version of the Billy Idol hit. Dancing With Myself and we'll be back to speak to Sarah McLeod after this.
Cheryl Lee:I was reading what you guys were saying, because you guys have been together for so long, outlasted most marriages, and you must be doing something right.
Sarah McLeod:Well, yeah, we know that when there's tension, to just close our mouths and walk away and it always dies down. We never actually resolve it. We just walk away and then we come back and go now where were we? And there's always some sort of solution by then. So we don't really find that much. That's really good advice. Yeah, we're very patient and calm.
Cheryl Lee:He says that your writing partnership together has blossomed into a fantastic place to be creative.
Sarah McLeod:It has. Yeah Well, we've been writing a lot together in the last few years and we never used to. Back in the early days, I was writing with chris or tim, but ruddy's really stepped up to the plate and he created himself a recording studio at home. He bought all the equipment, he learned how to use it. He did youtube tutorials. He just sat there and and sculpted his talent until he became the main writer with me he honed his craft.
Sarah McLeod:He's done a good job and and we, we both have been um like in the release to this album. There's been a lot of admin and would you say it's sort of like techie stuff behind the scenes to get it all up and running and it's so much work and it really is like it's its own job unto itself and we're doing it all runny and I've just been doing youtube tutorials like for hours a day just going how did you do? I don't know. I'll just go to this tutorial. We'll just sit there and we learn and you know, we delegate jobs to each other. We just work out how to do it and it's just, it's really hard because we're, you know, we're old dogs, we don't know much about how this algorithm works, but we've been sitting there learning because of months.
Cheryl Lee:You've done really well and pretty much self-taught or YouTube taught.
Sarah McLeod:Yeah, yeah, that's how the kids learn these days, isn't it Exactly yeah.
Cheryl Lee:So many great singles to choose from. I'm going to play Lights Out next, because I love the fact that the guys wrote this song about Rita, one of their fans that had been with them from the very beginning, who lost her life. Just think it's amazing that they've dedicated this song to her. And then we're back to say farewell to Sarah for now.
Sarah McLeod:Yeah well, we have been going through the same channels for our whole lives, with getting support bands, which is fine. But for this one we wanted to be able to dig deep and find some local talent and also, in each city, have someone local, not have a band from Sydney who's cruising around touring with us. We want, wherever we are, we want someone who's nearby, so that way you know, we come to you and we'll put the show on and you get up and you play to our audience. So it's a good opportunity for them. It's also good for the audience because it's good for them to be able to discover new music. And we do it together. So we're going to pick, say, top three for each show and then we'll take those three finalists if you will add to the public and we'll say what do you want? And then we'll get them to choose one. So then everyone feels involved. It's more of a collective engagement. Great idea.
Cheryl Lee:Whose idea was that? It was me, and well done for artists who might be listening. They should get onto the super jesus page to enter yeah, so there's a um in the pre-save, pre-save document.
Sarah McLeod:You click pre-save and inside that it's got enter the draw into the competition for the support. Wonderful, pre-save the record and then you can enter the support.
Cheryl Lee:Really looking forward to you can pre-save the record and then you can enter the support Really looking forward to some local talent coming out of the woodwork.
Sarah McLeod:We've had a lot of entries so far, too, and they're really good. We're like, wow, okay, this is going to be great.
Cheryl Lee:What I really love is that, like you guys have been around for 30 years now, so you're almost old school now. I really love that you are sort of giving back and helping that next generation, if you like, of artists to come through and get some exposure.
Sarah McLeod:Yeah, well, I think that's really important. I think, yeah, I think you have to do that. You get to a certain point in your career where you've got to start thinking about the next wave and you've got to start giving back and you've got to start helping young bands, because you've got to keep the industry alive.
Cheryl Lee:Absolutely Well 10 out of 10. Thank you for doing that and giving back. You know, three times ARIA Award winners. SA Music Hall of Fame inductees. It is really good to see you helping the youngest artists, who've got a lot to navigate in this musical landscape these days, as you're discovering by the sounds of it.
Sarah McLeod:Yeah, it's hard out there now. It's really hard. You've got to do everything yourself. You're encouraged to do everything yourself, but you know, if you're techie and you like to work hard, then it's actually really fun.
Cheryl Lee:I know you're on a short time limit today. I don't want to hold you up for your next appointment, so I've got to get my entry in for my tambourine solo on the entry form. I look forward to catching up with you down the front at a gig very soon. What is next? Have you looked beyond this album and this tour?
Sarah McLeod:One step at a time at the moment.
Cheryl Lee:So no scoop for me.
Sarah McLeod:I'm just trying to survive this release and we'll do a bit more touring and then, when it settles down, I'll do my solo album at some point.
Cheryl Lee:Yes, Well, we're so looking forward to that. Look, all the best for the tour. We'll see you down at the Fringe and thanks for chatting with us again today. Sarah, for your time.
Sarah McLeod:Always a pleasure, honey. You're always such a bright, chirpy interviewer I like talking to you. Thanks, oh, thank you all right, I'm gonna love you and leave you.
Cheryl Lee:Okay, have a lovely day you too. To solve the problem of deciding which other single to take us out today, I've decided to play one of my favorite versions of House of the Rising Sun, and it's Sarah McLeod's live version from her live acoustic studio sessions EP. You're gonna love this.