This article originally appeared on Noisey Australia.In August 2014, Dave Faulkner and James Baker, original members of pioneering 70s Perth punk band the Victims, took the stage of North Perth’s Rosemount Hotel to perform a set of Victims’ songs for the first time since the band ended in 1978. Going by the name of the Television Addicts (the A-side to their 1977 single and best-known track), they were joined by lifelong Victims fan Ray Ahn from the Hard Ons and proceeded to belt out a set of classic Victims tunes, including "Disco Junkies", “Out of My Head,” and of course, “Television Addict.”Forming in 1977 when drummer Baker and original bassist Rudolph V (Dave Cardwell), who had been part of local band the Geeks, teamed up with Dave “Flick” Faulkner, the Vicitms made an immediae impact with their urgent and hooky punk. Despite coming from the musically and geographically isolated Perth and recording less than ten songs in their 12 months together, the trio went on to influence a ton of other bands including the Hard-Ons, You Am I, and Eddy Current Suppression Ring.Both Baker and Faulkner later found success in the Scientists, Beasts of Bourbon, and the Hoodoo Gurus, but the buzzy and poppy punk of the Victims has earned a cult like following.With the announcement that the Television Addicts will play shows in Sydney and Melbourne in February, we caught up with Dave “Flick” Faulkner.Noisey: For a band who existed for little more than six months are you surprised by the influence and impact the Victims have had?
Dave Faulkner: Not really. I know it was 30 years ago, but even back then we made ripples that have kept resonating over time. Besides the EP and the single that we recorded there was also the video that has always circulated through private hand and is now on You Tube. Through all that stuff people still have a pretty good idea of what we were all about.The single’s B-side “I’m Flipped Out Over You” is fast even for a punk song recorded in 1977.
(Laughs) I actually double strum on some of that stuff. You can hear it at the end of "TV Freak" and some other songs where I just go double time again. It's super fast. I had just picked up guitar so what I could do was pretty simple. But I could certainly put some energy into it! The same with James, he really only knew one speed.
It was a place that we got after the band formed. It wasn’t a squat, but it wasn’t far above it (laughs). It was in a light industrial area, so it was quiet at night. Situated by the railroad marshalling yards and sandwiched between all these warehouses and factories. It was a bit of hovel, but was where we lived and partied.Did you record there?
No, but we definitely had parties there. We’d rehearse there, and it would become a gig, or a gig would become a rehearsal. It was sometimes to distinguish between rehearsal and performance and daytime party and night party (laughs).Hey, you were 19 years old. That’s how you are supposed to live. Your first show were at the Governor Broome, but Hernando’s Hideaways was an important venue for the band and the Perth punk scene at the time right?
Yes. Most bands at the time were playing Top 40 covers. An occasional band wrote their own material, but generally speaking there wasn’t much of an original music scene in Perth. Like the Ramones we wrote our own songs because they were the ones we could play. It was too hard to do covers. But we also had to work hard to find our own venues because nobody else gave a shit about us. James found a little Spanish restaurant tucked up behind a bank that you entered upstairs from the car park. It was a Wednesday night, and we took the door and they took the bar. But it became the punk headquarters, and all the bands played there.What’s it like singing a song like "High School Girls" 34 years later?
To be honest that song struck me as a bit strange even back then. It’s quite ‘quaint,’ but some other songs are not so quaint at all and are just as fiery, and I like them as much as I ever did. I don’t dislike “High School Girls,” but obviously the lyrics are a bit cornball especially coming from someone of my age now (laughs). But at the time it was meant to be a bit silly. I don’t think people realize that there was a lot of humor. Look at the Ramones and their sense of fun, humor, and intelligence. It was the same as us including our love of pop.What is the situation with original bassist Dave Cardwell? He seems quite bitter over royalties surrounding the Sleeping Dogs Lie reissue.
Regarding royalties from the 1977 Records reissue, the deal was for each of us to be paid directly by them, so I have no idea how much Dave Cardwell received. I know that James and I only received one modest payment each and nothing after that. I’m sure we’re not talking about a huge amount of money anyway as it wasn’t a platinum album!What’s it like playing with Ray Ahn?
Ray is great. He’s a long time fan of the band and knows all the songs. He used to make Victims T-shirts when he was in high school. When we asked him to play he didn’t want to take any money. He just wanted to play with us so much. We told him to shut up, ha!You are called the Television Addicts, and that is your most well known song, but there are other tracks like “Perth is a Culture Shock” that are just as awesome.
Yeah If I had one regret if would be not being able to somehow find some money to record an album when we recorded Television Addict. We were on fire, and there’s something about that recording that is amazing. If we just had another two or three days we could have made a fucking album.But isn’t part of the mystique and legend that surrounds the Victims the limited recorded output?
Yeah I guess, but I’d rather be remembered for a killer album than a killer single. Just hearing the way the single was recorded it was a perfect setting.Why did the band finish up?
Basically we all wanted to get the fuck out of Perth. We especially wanted to check out London and New York, as the bands we loved were playing there and we knew that we’d never get to see them in Perth. That was the fact of life, and there was no other answer unless we left.
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Dave Faulkner: Not really. I know it was 30 years ago, but even back then we made ripples that have kept resonating over time. Besides the EP and the single that we recorded there was also the video that has always circulated through private hand and is now on You Tube. Through all that stuff people still have a pretty good idea of what we were all about.The single’s B-side “I’m Flipped Out Over You” is fast even for a punk song recorded in 1977.
(Laughs) I actually double strum on some of that stuff. You can hear it at the end of "TV Freak" and some other songs where I just go double time again. It's super fast. I had just picked up guitar so what I could do was pretty simple. But I could certainly put some energy into it! The same with James, he really only knew one speed.
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What was Victim Manor?
It was a place that we got after the band formed. It wasn’t a squat, but it wasn’t far above it (laughs). It was in a light industrial area, so it was quiet at night. Situated by the railroad marshalling yards and sandwiched between all these warehouses and factories. It was a bit of hovel, but was where we lived and partied.Did you record there?
No, but we definitely had parties there. We’d rehearse there, and it would become a gig, or a gig would become a rehearsal. It was sometimes to distinguish between rehearsal and performance and daytime party and night party (laughs).Hey, you were 19 years old. That’s how you are supposed to live. Your first show were at the Governor Broome, but Hernando’s Hideaways was an important venue for the band and the Perth punk scene at the time right?
Yes. Most bands at the time were playing Top 40 covers. An occasional band wrote their own material, but generally speaking there wasn’t much of an original music scene in Perth. Like the Ramones we wrote our own songs because they were the ones we could play. It was too hard to do covers. But we also had to work hard to find our own venues because nobody else gave a shit about us. James found a little Spanish restaurant tucked up behind a bank that you entered upstairs from the car park. It was a Wednesday night, and we took the door and they took the bar. But it became the punk headquarters, and all the bands played there.
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To be honest that song struck me as a bit strange even back then. It’s quite ‘quaint,’ but some other songs are not so quaint at all and are just as fiery, and I like them as much as I ever did. I don’t dislike “High School Girls,” but obviously the lyrics are a bit cornball especially coming from someone of my age now (laughs). But at the time it was meant to be a bit silly. I don’t think people realize that there was a lot of humor. Look at the Ramones and their sense of fun, humor, and intelligence. It was the same as us including our love of pop.What is the situation with original bassist Dave Cardwell? He seems quite bitter over royalties surrounding the Sleeping Dogs Lie reissue.
Regarding royalties from the 1977 Records reissue, the deal was for each of us to be paid directly by them, so I have no idea how much Dave Cardwell received. I know that James and I only received one modest payment each and nothing after that. I’m sure we’re not talking about a huge amount of money anyway as it wasn’t a platinum album!What’s it like playing with Ray Ahn?
Ray is great. He’s a long time fan of the band and knows all the songs. He used to make Victims T-shirts when he was in high school. When we asked him to play he didn’t want to take any money. He just wanted to play with us so much. We told him to shut up, ha!You are called the Television Addicts, and that is your most well known song, but there are other tracks like “Perth is a Culture Shock” that are just as awesome.
Yeah If I had one regret if would be not being able to somehow find some money to record an album when we recorded Television Addict. We were on fire, and there’s something about that recording that is amazing. If we just had another two or three days we could have made a fucking album.But isn’t part of the mystique and legend that surrounds the Victims the limited recorded output?
Yeah I guess, but I’d rather be remembered for a killer album than a killer single. Just hearing the way the single was recorded it was a perfect setting.Why did the band finish up?
Basically we all wanted to get the fuck out of Perth. We especially wanted to check out London and New York, as the bands we loved were playing there and we knew that we’d never get to see them in Perth. That was the fact of life, and there was no other answer unless we left.