Interviews and ReviewsEffigy burn down the house It's not quite Ben Hur or anything," Peter Hardman smiles as he sets out to describe his personal oddessy, and that of his band, Effigy. He's right, but it's still a remarkable tale in the current local music environment and at its heart lies a subtext that has everything to do with Hardman's primary motivations and little to do with indie chic. While most musicians are quick to dispel the idea that they covet the bag ji gage attached to musical success, he explains he started Effigy out of "a love of music... and a desperation to get famous, I s'pose. Which hasn't happened yet. But I'm trying." Hardman's voice reflects the slight, fey tone of his on-record vocals. This sense of androgy- ny is a defining element of the Effigy sound, the package topped by a pronounced and flamboy- ant visual style and a keen commercial pop edge. After all, what's the point in being a per- sonality if your music's so exclusive you'll have no one to witness your performance? "I've always liked the cult of personality as much as the music," Hardman explains. "David Bowie, Blondie, Robert Smith ... all the people who I love listening to were as much about what they were doing offstage as what they were saying with their music. Now people want to be perceived as striving for the art of the music. But that's more peer pressure: don't try too hard, and don't appear as if you want fame. In fact, appear as if you're shunning it because it's just a by-product of your artistic expression." Formed mid-'93 in Perth, the original Effigy comprised guitarist and vocalist Hardman, bassist Annie Beckerling and a drum machine. After seeing the two-piece combo, drummer Jason Stacy approached Hardman and joined. By mid-'96 the band had refined its act and developed a following sufficient to impress Roadrunner Records' Bob Stevenson and John Saterley. They signed the band, allowing Hardman money to buy himself the trappings of the image he craved. Recording followed, resulting in Effigy's self-titled debut album. While relatively focused and brittle, Effigy is glittering bombasta-rock, a la Smashing Pumpkins, a comparison fuelled by the similarities between Hardman's vocals and those of Billy Corgan. But while Hardman owns Siamese Dream, his primary influences are Talking Heads, the Birthday Party, baroque classical music and Miles Davis, all of which are evident, if a little swamped by the aesthetic (a natural product of Hardman's exhibitionist tendencies and visual arts background). It's here, where the image meets the music, that Hardman faces his primary struggle. For the moment he's busy grappling with the reality of his fantasy. "My mental defences are strained," he says, as he re-assesses his look. "I need to believe that I'm one step ahead and I've taken the gamut of pop culture and rock music and tried to construct something that is going to work. But it's tempered with a great deal of sincerity. I'm very hurt when things don't work out. This is just the way I like to do things, a mixture of sincerity and cynicism."
- Simon Wooldridge |