Interview with Kim Scott from The Mark of Cain

I first heard the Mark of Cain when their song 'Tell Me' appeared on 'Eleven, A Triple J Very Loud Compilation that was released in 1994. Honestly, it scared the shit out of me but I became a fan. Recently I caught up with Kim Scott from the band to talk all things The Mark of Cain. 

How did the The Mark of Cain first form and tell us a bit about what the

Adelaide Music Scene was like at that time + the venues you performed in.

TMOC formed in 1984 after my brother John decided he wanted to form a band

playing the type of music he listened to and he would want to see live. He previously

formed a band called Spiral Collapse with three other guys, and when this band

ended, he asked me to play bass. I hadn’t played bass before, so just picked it up

along the way without lessons. I think the drummer from Spiral Collapse was our first

TMOC drummer. John always believed that bands with siblings would last longer

than other bands, given blood is thicker than water. After 40 years of TMOC I reckon

he got it right.

Back when we started, the scene was pretty vibrant with lots of venues around the

Adelaide CBD willing to have live bands play in their back-room bars. Places like The

Royal Oak, Old Queens Arms, Tivoli, Producers, British Hotel, The Austral, The

Exeter and of course the Crown and Anchor. There was no shortage of places to

play, and each show typically had three bands playing. As the 90’s started there

were also local festivals at Flinders Uni and other venues, and also a strong scene

down south. We played some shows down south, but mainly stuck to the city

venues.

When we started a lot of the bands we played with in the scene were playing either

punk, hardcore or a dirgy style of grunge. We were heavily influenced by Joy

Division, of course, so we were playing slower and darker songs, and often had

members of the crowd yelling at us “play faster”. Zero fucks were given by us. At the

start we also had a lot of bands like Exploding White Mice, Lizard Train, etc give us

shows and took us interstate with them to play in Melbourne. It was a great scene

where everyone looked after each other and treated people equally, which was really

the punk ethic. We once did a support show for Spy Vs Spy and they and their crew

treated us like absolute shit – that was the old school rock n roll way – the support

band has to help load in and set up the PA, and the lights, and only gets to use half

the PA so they don’t sound better than the headlining band. We always hated that,

and to this day treat any bands that play with us with absolute respect and give them

the whole PA and don’t make them lug in production gear.

 

The Mark of Cain recorded with Henry Rollins. How did that come about

and tell us a Rollins story that no-one else knows – Also tell us about your

association with silverchair and Chris’ obsession with your bass sound!

We had played a few shows with Rollins Band when they toured Australia, and got to

know the band and Hank pretty well. On one of the early shows we played with

them, Henry stood at the side of the stage and watched our set, saying afterwards

that he is normally backstage warming up, but in this case heard us and wanted to

check us out. We sent him a copy of the album Battlesick, and when he got back to

LA he listened to it. Three songs in, he then called his Australian tour manager, Tim

Pittman, and asked that we do more shows with Rollins Band when they toured

Australia, and he would be happy to work with us in the studio. So, when it came to

record Ill At Ease, we had Tim Pittman (who was now our manager) contact Rollins

and get him to come to Adelaide for 2 weeks and mix the album. We had already

recorded all the tracks (drums, guitar, bass and guide vocals) at Tony Nesci’s studio

in Adelaide before he arrived, and then John did the final vocals with Rollins in the

studio. Then Rollins mixed the album how he thought it should sound, and we loved

what he did. It was like being in your own private spoken word tour for 2 weeks with

Henry. He had so many stories he would tell us between mixes.

One of my jobs was to pick Henry up from his hotel each day and take him out to

Nesci’s studio. I would then drive him home at night after the sessions ended. We

spoke about a lot of things on the drive, most of which I am sworn to secrecy.

However, once we stopped at the late-night grocery in North Adelaide to get some

food for him to keep in his room. This was at a time when Henry was power-lifting

and super fit, and living the Bushido style of life (like the Samurai) – lean, healthy,

etc. Anyway, when we were in the shops, he mostly bought fresh fruit and

vegetables, and then I was surprised when he bought two bags of Fantales to take to

his hotel. He said he loved them and can only find them in Australia. Total Samurai

food …

In terms of Chris from silverchair, I am not sure he was obsessed with my bass

sound, given it was only one night at a Festival at Adelaide University, just after they

had released their Frogstomp album. We played on the same stage as them, and I

think they headlined. Although, in the early years in Sydney they used to support us,

and then had to leave the venue straight after playing at 9:00pm with their parents as

they were too young to stay out late. Anyway, at this show in Adelaide, Chris came

up after the show and asked me how I managed to get my great bass sound – my

sarcastic response was that he needed to shave his head (at the time all of

silverchair had long surfy styled hair). At some point in the future, he heeded my

advice and shaved his head. Not sure his bass sounded any better. He was at least

respectful of his elders, so you got to give him that.

 

What is the BEST show you have ever been part of. A very difficult question

seeing the sheer amount of live shows The Mark of Cain have performed

but there must be at least one or two you’ll never forget.

Probably the show that sticks out most in my mind was at the Adelaide University

Bar on 1 August 1987. We played with Big Black, Steve Albini’s band, along with

Fear and Loathing and King Snake Roost. It was the very last show Big Black were

playing in the southern hemisphere before breaking up as a band. There is a

recording of the show on the internet, and Albini mentions the show in his tour diary.

The sonic power that Big Black were able to deliver as a three piece on stage was

phenomenal, and probably had a big influence on our playing style. We even used a

drum machine for a year or so between drummers. We already had lots of stops and

starts in our music, but there was something about that show that stays with me and

John. Santiago Durango’s guitar amplifier blew up in their first song so my brother

had to run down 4 flights of stairs and bring his AC30 Vox amplifier up for Santiago

to use. Albini was very thankful and heralded the arrival of the new amp on stage by

blowing a bugle someone had given him. We spoke to him after the show for some

time, and he said anything he could do for us he would. It was then some 3 years

later that we went to Chicago and recorded with him in Chicago Recording Studio,

before he was really known as a big name producer. He had recorded Surfer Rosa

with the Pixies, but hadn’t yet done In Utero with Nirvana at that point in time. We

spent 3-4 days in the studio with him and did some tracks that we released on an EP

called Incoming. Both John and I have been impacted by his sudden passing in May

of this year – despite his abrasive reputation on stage, in real life he was such a

lovely guy, with a great sense of humour, and very down to earth. I’ve spent the last

3-4 months just listening to Big Black, Rapeman and Shellac. His passing is a tragic

loss to music – far too young for a heart attack.

 

What’s the best and worst thing about being in a band with your brother?

The best thing is that we have been able to share so much time together on the road

and playing some really memorable shows. Things that will stay with us forever, and

which is great to be able to share with your only sibling. Of course, there have also

been some not-so-great times on the road, as well, but few and far between. I am

also a huge fan of John’s creative output as a songwriter and lyricist. I love the way

he structures songs and writes such brilliant lyrics. John really is The Mark of Cain –

we have had 14 different drummers along the way, and yet John is and has always

been the principal songwriter. Because he can also play drums, he also knows what

he wants the drummer to do and can instruct him on what he is after for each song.

For example, John wrote most of the drums on Ill At Ease, telling Aaron what to play,

including our most complex song Point Man. When Stanier joined, it wasn’t

necessary for John to instruct him what to play, given the skill and ability of Stanier to

write complex beats. Same goes with Eli – such an accomplished drummer and

more of a musician than either John or I. The other positive is that no matter what,

John remains my brother, which means even if we fight in rehearsals (which we did

sometime in the old days), all is forgiven afterwards. A lot of bands struggle with

personality conflicts and break up as a result. We’ve always been able to work

through it.

There really are no bad things about being in a band with your brother. Without John

there is no TMOC, so for that I am very thankful. If he hadn’t goaded me into playing

bass, I would never have had the memories of TMOC for the last 40 years.

 

What’s next for The Mark of Cain? 

We are currently writing again, after not really having had time to write for such a

long time. It took us 10 years between This Is This and Songs of the Third and Fifth.

Life, work and family get in the way sometimes. Only now that we have finished the

28 Year Anniversary tour for Ill At Ease, have we had the time to practice every 2

weeks and start writing again. It’s the first time writing with Eli, which has been great.

We have already got a few songs in rough structure, that are being beaten into

shape. Hopefully we will have some new stuff completed in the next few months and

might even do some live shows towards the end of the year featuring the new songs.