Keeping The Wolves At Bay With KIM SALMON From BEASTS

Interview by Kris Peters
Australian blues/rock outfit Beasts Of Bourbon have been a mainstay
of the Aussie music scene for over 40 years, blending a
blues-infused swagger with sleazy rock and tonnes of attitude to
create a musical aura that is as much about the musicians who make
up the band as it is the music itself.
Originally formed with James Baker on drums (ex-Hoodoo Gurus, The
Scientists), Spencer P. Jones on guitar (The Johnnys), Tex Perkins
on vocals (Dum Dums), Kim Salmon on guitar and Boris Sujdovic on
bass guitar (both ex-The Scientists), the Beasts Of Bourbon went
through several line-up changes over the years, with Tex Perkins
and Jones being the only regular contributors.
After disbanding in 1985 following their debut album The Axeman's
Jazz it seemed the music of Beasts Of Bourbon would be lost into
the channels of Australian history but they reformed just two years
later and released a second album Sour Mash the following
year.
Several albums followed, culminating in 2007s Little Animals before
Beasts Of Bourbon disbanded once more, seemingly for good.
2013 saw a couple of select 30th anniversary shows before another
slide into the unknown until 2019 when the band re-emerged under
the shortened name of Beasts.
After a new album Still Here came out in 2019 Beasts went back into
slumber, resurfacing last year for 40th anniversary celebrations,
with the response being so overwhelmingly positive that the band
are on the cusp of undertaking a six-date nation tour with the
intention of taking their music and legacy even further than the
two shows last year allowed.
HEAVY caught up with guitarist Kim Salmon to find out more.
"It has been a while, really, since we've done any touring in
earnest with this band," he nodded. "It was just before the
pandemic, so probably four years. We did a couple of shows last
year with our original drummer James Baker, and we recorded that
and we were so excited about that recording that we thought we'd
take it out on the road. We're going to actually release some of
this stuff. This is a beauty."
We mention that HEAVY is a big fan of live albums, to which Salmon
replied, "me too. There's been some good ones over the years.
There's also been some less than good ones, but this one I think
is… we were gonna call it… Tex and I were talking about it (laughs)
and throwing titles around, and we thought how about The Best Live
Album Ever Recorded or The Best Live Album Ever, but I had this
thing… like there's Slade Alive and Kiss Alive, so I thought why
not Beasts Alive? So we're putting that out through a French label
called Beast Records. But that won't be out until September, I
think. We've got a five track 12" that will only be available at
the gig and that's some tracks taken from that recording."
In the full interview, Kim talks more about the tour and what to
expect, if he still enjoys touring after so much time on the road,
the enduring success of Beasts and why, the rocky road to success,
changing the band name from Beasts Of Bourbon to Beasts and why,
their debut album The Axeman's Jazz and his thought of it 40 years
later, future plans and more.


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