The Lime Spiders | Interview | Mick Blood
Mick Blood, the frontman of Lime Spiders, is gearing up for an exciting project. In an exclusive reveal, Mick shares plans for coordinating a vinyl-only release of ten singles spanning the band’s career.
This forthcoming album, titled ‘Lime Spiders – The Singles,’ marks their seventh and final release. Additionally, Mick Blood has authored a book titled “Lime Light,” delving into the band’s captivating journey. Through its pages, readers gain insights into the highs and lows of Lime Spiders’ evolution, making it a must-read for fans and music enthusiasts alike.
“Our compelling live sound and energy simply blew people away!”
Mick, your book “Lime Light: The Definitive Story of the Lime Spiders” offers fans a comprehensive look into the band’s history. What inspired you to write this book, and what do you hope readers will take away from it?
Mick Blood: Our story needed to be told by me, as I formed the band back in 1979. As such, it’s a true portrayal of our impressive career, as opposed to the random rubbish found on any Google search. It’s the REAL story, containing plenty of interesting trivia & anecdotes.
Lime Spiders burst onto the music scene in the 1980s with a distinctive sound that blended garage rock with psychedelia. Can you walk us through the formation of the band and how your musical vision took shape?
The band actually formed in late 1979. Our powerful brand of rock ‘n’ roll was based on a simple vision… to combine my love of the more obscure and often bizarre sixties punk/psychedelia with a more robust rock sound. Between my influences, passion for vocals, and Richard Jakimysyn’s amazing guitar playing, we were off to a great start, winning an inner-city (Sydney) band comp in 1982. Further details of our early days are documented in my book.
The Lime Spiders quickly gained a reputation for their electrifying live performances. What was it like performing in those early days, and how did the energy of the live shows influence the band’s sound and ethos?
In those early days, our compelling live sound and energy simply blew people away! It wasn’t long before we progressed from small pubs to larger venues. The bigger PA’s did justice to our powerful sound, which became stronger as the Lime Spiders line-up evolved.
“The Sex Pistols on acid”
Lime Spiders’ music was heavily influenced by ’60s garage rock and psychedelia. What were some of the bands and artists that inspired you growing up, and how did they shape your musical style?
Once again, people need to read my book for a full insight into my influences… far too many to mention here. I was equally influenced by sixties pop/psychedelia with the late seventies emergence of confrontational punk rock, such as the Sex Pistols and Ramones. U.S. Rolling Stone described us as “…the Sex Pistols on acid.”
As the frontman of Lime Spiders, you became known for your dynamic stage presence and distinctive vocal delivery. How did you develop your performance style, and how do you approach connecting with audiences through your music?
I’m not sure I was dynamic on stage. I could have been more convincing if I was more athletic. Performing was often difficult when fronting a powerful rock band at the end of a long day on the road. I needed to be very close to my monitors, which were often the loudest thing on stage. I needed my monitors super loud to compete with a powerful drummer directly behind me and loud guitar amps either side of me. That was always a challenge, at times made easier by a sympathetic sound engineer. I relied on an extreme mix of mega level & a lot of top-end frequencies in my monitor mix and that was often hard to get! Stagecraft was a distant second to my sound. I felt my vocals were more important than any on-stage look. I tried to break down any barriers between the band and crowd with my persona.. involving people with a relaxed approach to a gig, not wanting to ever appear pretentious.
Over the years, Lime Spiders released several acclaimed albums and singles. Looking back, are there any particular songs or albums that hold a special place in your heart, and why?
The longevity of ‘Slave Girl’s success has been amazing! Amongst other things, it became the most successful independent release in Australian music history. It occupies an entire chapter of my book. Our debut album, ‘The Cave Comes Alive,’ went to the top of the CMJ College music charts in America and we toured U.S.A. on the strength of its success. It was also nominated for three ARIA awards in Australia. Personally, I think our third studio album, ‘Beethoven’s Fist’, was our best. England’s iconic NME music mag referred to it as, “..the greatest Australian rock ‘n’ roll album since The Saints ‘(I’m) Stranded’…” high praise indeed. For various reasons, I’m really proud of every Lime Spiders recording.
In addition to your musical career, you’ve also ventured into writing with your book “Lime Light.” How did you find the transition from musician to author, and what were some of the challenges and rewards of documenting the band’s history?
I can assure readers that it’s much harder writing a book than a short pop song! There were many challenges, so the entire project was a steep learning curve. For one thing, it was an intense refresher course in the complex English language. There was certainly no shortage of entertaining content, but word usage, grammar, and punctuation were a constant dilemma, along with the logistics involved with self-publishing. The process was all new to me and at times tedious and frustrating. It actually took quite a few years to write. Life events often delayed the process, along with needing a few sanity breaks! I’m so glad I persevered, though, as Lime Light has been well received from people all over the world. The book’s in its second edition and there are limited remaining copies, something I wanna stress to readers of this interview. Copies can be purchased via PayPal. Email me @ bloodmick4@gmail.com for payment details. Cost varies according to where copies are posted.
Your book delves into the highs and lows of Lime Spiders’ journey, including lineup changes, label dealings, and the ever-evolving music scene.
I’ve written a book which comprehensively covers the more interesting aspects of the Lime Spiders history, a career which has survived for over four decades!
Lime Spiders’ influence extends beyond Australia, with fans around the world embracing your music. What has it been like to see your music resonate with audiences across different cultures and generations?
It’s the ultimate honor that our music has had a positive impact on people all over the world. As recently as yesterday, I’ve had a request for several copies of my book from fans in Peru! And now I’m discussing the band’s history with your good self, a music journalist from Slovenia. We’ve been privileged to perform in Europe and America over the years, most recently headlining The Purple Weekend in Spain (Leon) in 2017.
“The Sydney music scene in the late seventies was a hotbed of talent”
How would you describe the local ’70s scene back then? There were quite a lot of bands in Australia…
I was lucky to have been in the right place at the right time, as discussed at length in my book. The Sydney music scene in the late seventies was a hotbed of talent. Gig-goers were spoilt for choice. There were fantastic artists in a range of genres and great venues throughout the city. It was all inspiring and infectious for me at a time when I was forming my own band!
The garage rock revival of the 1980s and 1990s brought renewed interest in bands like Lime Spiders. How do you view the band’s legacy within the context of this revival, and what do you think sets Lime Spiders apart from other acts in the genre?
The Nuggets & Pebbles compilations reignited interest in ’60s garage bands and were a big inspiration to me in the formative years of our band, including The Lime Spiders’ name. It seemed perfect for the music we were covering at the time. We became one of the biggest bands to be influenced by that stuff and remain a big part of the scene. Our style evolved as our career progressed and I developed as a songwriter. Of course, the influences were still there, but they weren’t as obvious in my own songs. I didn’t restrict myself to any one formula; no two songs I wrote were similar.
Your music often explores themes of rebellion, freedom, and self-expression. How do these themes reflect your personal beliefs and experiences, and how do you see them resonating with your audience?
I’ve always preferred imagery in lyrics, leaving songs open to individual interpretation and avoiding personal stuff. This probably gets back to my psychedelic influences. I’ve never been sure if people have embraced my lyrics, but I guess it’s cool if they did. It was important for the vocal to be either on the beat or across it, depending on the feel of the song.
Beyond Lime Spiders, you’ve been involved in various musical projects and collaborations. Are there any particular projects or experiences outside of the band that have been especially rewarding or memorable for you?
There were two notable projects outside of the Spiders that I’m very proud of. Both were completed in a very short time frame. In 1998, I recorded a single with the Swedish band The Pushtwangers. They were doing a few gigs in Sydney, and we were mutual fans. Before they left the country, we only had around a week to record anything. In this time, I wrote two songs, and they were recorded before the Pushtwangers left the country, achieving our goal.
Another, even more spontaneous project occurred many years later in Melbourne, Australia. Over the course of my career, I’d spent a lot of time creating and producing songs in the studio. On this occasion, I experimented with the concept of writing, recording, and mixing songs over the course of a weekend. I teamed up with a bunch of my favorite Melbourne musos for this ambitious project. We had one rehearsal on the Friday night, where we wrote several songs by jamming ideas. The best of these were recorded in a top-shelf studio the following day and mixed on Sunday. The whirlwind weekend was a success! Five tracks were released on CD under the moniker of Bloodgroop. The title track was ‘Revolution Blues.’
Both these projects proved to me that spontaneity with the right musos works… the polar opposite to laborious studio recordings. Check them out on YouTube or other streaming platforms.
Finally, Mick, what’s next for you? Are there any upcoming projects, musical or otherwise, that you’re excited to share with your fans?
This news is an exclusive as I haven’t yet announced it! I’ve started coordinating a vinyl-only release of ten singles from over the course of our career. The working title is simply, ‘Lime Spiders – The Singles.’ This will be our 7th and final album and should be pressed within a few months. I’ll keep fans informed of its progress through our Facebook page.
Other than that, I’m finally over the whole circus! It’s all too hard these days, especially with my health issues.
Klemen Breznikar
There are only a limited number of copies remaining of Lime Light book. Anyone interested in purchasing one should email clotman5@gmail.com for cost and payment details.
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