All The Bridges Burned - The Institutionalist (Self-released)
The media photos of Australian underground multi-instrumentalist and producer The Institutionalist (aka Ernie O) resemble a bloke auditioning for the next season of "Underbelly". Either that or he's lining up a few of the lads to tidy you away.
His biography reveals an extraordinarily busy bloke:
His audio production skills – recording, mixing, mastering, remixing, songwriting and playing – have been heard on close to a thousand releases in the Australian scene since the early 1990’s, from punk, metal, pop, indie rock and folk metal to downbeat, electronica and dance, on labels such as Grown Up Wrong!, Off The Hip, Popboomerang, I-94 Bar Records, Savage Beat, Vicious Kitten and Sound As Ever.
The "All The Bridges Burned" EP is a mixed bag; while musicians have to pander to the algorithms and the basic decencies of taste it's essentially about Ernie O. tinkering with what is permissible in "post-punk" (a term I considered redundant way back in 1980, and yet here we are, our travelling bags stuffed with history-distorting terms like "pre-punk").
Overall, it's pretty groovy. And, if this is a taster to Ernie O.'s new album, I say more, please, and more again. Before we start, I must explain that while the EP has been issued in digital and online format, it's also been issued in a physical - and at the same time, digital - format.
'What's that?', I hear you squawk. 'How can this be?' Well, if you scamper over to The Institutionalist's Bandcamp page you'll see what looks like a case with what looks like a cassette inside. But the cassette holds a USB stick, not tape. Mr O describes the contents:
The entire All The Bridges Burned EP as 44k 24 bit WAV files and high quality MP3s, along with video clips for all 4 tracks (and some from the Adjustment Disorder album), EP promo poster (ready for print) and biography with active links, all packaged onto a USB disguised as a cassette in a clear case.
I'm sure it's not the first presentation of this format, but I'm equally sure I've never seen it before, and the package is not so much product as a work of art - and, to make matters worse, it's only available within Australia, and a snip at AU$15. So get yer skates on!
Now, I'll write a bit about the EP as we go, but I thought it might be a good idea to buttonhole the enigmatic Ernie.
I-94 Bar: Ernie, I'm afraid we know next to nothing about you. I guess the first question has to be - what got you started on this journey into and through music?
The Institutionalist: Pure obstinance.
I-94 Bar: What was your first instrument, and do you still have it?
The Institutionalist: An upright piano. My parents sold it when I moved to Melbourne. Probably the right thing to do, as I've moved house around 20 times since then.
I-94 Bar: Just how many instruments do you play? Details, please.
The Institutionalist: Bass, keyboards (piano, organ, synth), drums (electronic and acoustic), guitar, hurdy-gurdy, piano accordion, violin, orchestral percussion.
I-94 Bar: I bet you have a big living-room. What was the first music you heard which made you sit up and decide: I gotta make music?
The Institutionalist: It was either a Kansas song called "The Spider" from their "Point of Know Return" LP,or Blue Oyster Cult’s "Joan Crawford (Has Risen From The Grave)" from their "Fire of Unknown Origin" LP. Both of which show the nerdy 12-year-old keyboard player who heard the call from the dark side.
I-94 Bar: First gig you ever saw?
The Institutionalist: First gig was either The Church at The Granada in 1983 or The Angels at Tasmania Uni in 1983, both in Hobart where I misspent my youth.
I-94 Bar: First beer?
The Institutionalist: A shandy at a barbie in my parents backyard, probably 14 at the time.
I-94 Bar: Seems every outfit you've played in - Suburban Urchins, Frankie Death and The Photon Belt, The Undecided by Default, Vocabularinist - has some sort of punny or linguistic twerk to it; and The Institutionalist is no exception, would you care to talk a bit about your presentation of the world as you see it?
The Institutionalist: The Institutionalist is my first solo venture, and other than Sensible Shoes, a cover band from the early 1990s, it is the first band that I have chosen the name for. I sometimes regret the choice, as I still have trouble spelling it correctly. But it is an excellent litmus test for my inevitable mental decline into dementia.
I-94 Bar: Okay, so, what was your first band? Was it Vocabularinist? And, for those folks out there saying, 'huh?', how would you describe them?
The Institutionalist: Vocabularinist was never my band, they were formed in Sydney and had a revolving line up, but I did have the honour of working through five albums with them as engineer and producer, with recordings at Apollo Sound Studios, Damian Gerard, Troy Horse and Bakehouse, as well as various bedrooms and opium dens.
My first real band would have been Arnold Layne in Hobart in 1984 with Guy Lucas (later of The Philistines and The Freeloaders), playing keys. We played mostly 1960s psych and R'n'B covers, with a few punk numbers (The Stranglers, The Jam, Stiff Little Fingers) chucked in just because.
I-94 Bar: If you could please demystify yourself a bit - what came next? And what lead you to producing rather than stalking a stage?
The Institutionalist: I played live until 1998, moving from keys to bass guitar, before moving into engineering and production. My last gigs would have been with Funkenstein, we moved from Hobart to Melbourne, and after a couple of line-up changes, decided that I needed to make some career changes. I became a live engineer at venues all across Melbourne while studying studio engineering.
I was the in-house engineer at Apollo Sound Studios, Digital Candy Factory and One-A Production Studios while recording from nearly every commercial Studio in Melbourne (and a few in Sydney too), before setting up my own gear at home. This eventually evolved into the Urban Fringe Compound, which has been my happy place for the last seven years, and has seen nearly 400 releases pass through the doors, mixing and mastering, demos to commercial releases.
I-94 Bar: What's your favourite in-studio rig?
The Institutionalist: I cut my teeth recording and mixing on 24-track reel-to-reel, and as much as I miss the adrenalin rush of mixing with all hands on the desk, I now choose to work entirely within the Reaper DAW, with a high-end mix of hardware and software that I’ve cultivated over the years, modern and vintage.
I-94 Bar: Favourite instrument?
The Institutionalist: The one that plays the brown note, my five-string bass!
I-94 Bar: Fave pedal?
The Institutionalist: I make my own from circuit diagrams I found online. I change the circuits and names just enough to get away with it, and I reckon they sound better than the original. The one that gets the most use is my TS knockoff, the "Ernie O. Tube Driver".
I-94 Bar: If you had the means to record anyone, anywhere, who and where would it be?
The Institutionalist: I would have loved to be with Brian Jones in Joujouka, Morocco in 1968 recording the Rites of Pan festival. They had the best hashish.
I-94 Bar: Which recording sessions gave you the most pleasure, and why?
The Institutionalist: The latest album I have co-produced with Chiron, "A Dark Beauty", has taken my skill-set to a whole new level! If I died tomorrow, this will be the best thing I have ever produced. Check it out.
I-94 Bar: As a performer - what were your favourite gigs?
The Institutionalist: I’ll let you in on a secret - I never really enjoyed playing gigs, was always glad when they were over. I much preferred being behind the desk, it always sounded (and looked) better from back there. And the pay was better. These days, I’m probably the world’s most chilled punter, still hanging by the mixing desk.
I-94 Bar: Five most wicked gigs you've ever seen?
The Institutionalist:
- Suicidal Tendencies at Festival Hall
- Public Enemy at Festival Hall
- Red Hot Chilli Peppers at The Palace
- Everything at Big Day Out 1999
- Chris Masuak’s Dog Soldier at Northcote Social Club with River of Snakes
I-94 Bar: Killing Joke or Gang of Four?
The Institutionalist: "Armalite Rifles" and "Damaged Goods" were the anthems of my youth. Killing Joke came later.
I-94 Bar: Best thing about Melbourne?
The Institutionalist: The record shops, the coffee.
I-94 Bar: Worst?
The Institutionalist: Everything is so fucking expensive! Especially records and coffee.
I-94 Bar: Best place in Australia?
The Institutionalist: The Urban Fringe Compound!
I-94 Bar: Worst?
The Institutionalist: Canberra. Just don’t go there.
I-94 Bar: I've always thought that a musical or literary journey as a teenager is a hugely revelatory path to walk as we come to define ourselves. What do you think were the biggest revelations to you as a teenager?
The Institutionalist: Robert Anton Wilson, The Golden Dawn, magic mushrooms.
I-94 Bar: What would the 16 year-old Ernie O. say if he could see your achievements today?
The Institutionalist: What took you so fucking long, you old cunt?!
I-94 Bar: How did you meet Garry Gray of Sacred Cowboys - and why did you choose him for "All the Bridges Burn"? Is there Reznor/Bowie-esque aspect to this song - or am I inebriated? You've certainly got Garry singing in a very different way, how did that happen?
The Institutionalist: Garry was introduced to me by Ed Garland, I offered him a collaboration on an Institutionalist track, but he didn’t like my first idea. Admittedly, it sounded a bit like Mental As Anything. He said “Could you write something that sounds like Black Sabbath?”, so I came up with the music to "All the Bridges Burn".
We bounced the lyrics and melody ideas back and forth a couple of times, he came to the Compound and nailed it in three takes. It was the perfect collaboration, we both felt comfortable with it at every step of the way. But back to your question. You are probably inebriated. Although the Thin White Duke and the insufferable Trent are two of my biggest influences, but it is a long list.
I-94 Bar: For me, "All the Bridges Burn" is the most striking song on the EP, partly because Gray's voice is big, belting and booming: very different to the kind of delivery you might be familiar with. "All the Bridges Burn" wouldn't be out of place in either a film or TV series, or in fact any decent grandeur & pomp band packing stadia. Oddly reminiscent of Ultravox!, but perhaps that's me.
Garry Gray, what are your thoughts on "All the Bridges Burn"?
Garry Gray: I saw it as the hope to make a thing that’s free where people can just come and do and record - and not have to ask “Can we have another microphone in the studio because we haven’t had a hit yet?'' - a kind of 'western communism' - We hope to achieve peace, really. You know, that’s what we're aiming at. It's a big achievement and we're just doing our best for it, you know. It's very, very positive. I mean, the fact that it stimulated other people to say that, like you said that, you know, this is the result of us doing it. You know, in other words, well, alright, let's do something positive for peace. So we started that, you see. As for "All the Bridges Burn", the more real you get, the more unreal everything else is.
I-94 Bar: [awestruck silence] Righto, moving forward. Ernie, how did you meet Ed Garland, and why did you choose him for "Ward of the State"?
The Institutionalist: Ed and I connected through mutual friends in the Sydney Scene (including a certain Barman who should remain nameless). I offered Ed a spot on the debut Institutionalist album "Adjustment Disorder" and he said "Yes!" straight up. I wrote the track and the chorus lyrics, gave Ed some scope with the verse parts and lead guitar, he recorded his bits at Rossy’s House of Rock, and viola! We have a hit on our hands. Just hit 1000 views on YouTube, which is pretty good I reckon.
I-94 Bar: "Ward of the State" makes me think of a sort of 1980s pre-Ministry; interestingly, as soon as you listen to it, you think it's either a cover of a late 1970s independent punk anthem you've forgotten, or originally maybe a later Judas Priest out-take.
I'm not too familiar with Ed's vocals so while I can't compare this with his earlier work, I can say that it's a tough, snarly thing that sounds like whoever wrote it wears Converse sneakers for the only sensible reason: they're cheap. Which leads me to ask: Ernie, are "All the Bridges Burn" and "Ward of the State" political critiques or a holdover from your punk era? Can music really influence politics?
The Institutionalist: My punk era is enduring, and flavours everything that I write. The only place left for sensible political discussion is in art and music.
I-94 Bar: What is it about Magazine which pulls you in? Now, why did you pick up the pace of "Floorboards..."?
The Institutionalist: Everything sounds better faster! I had planned to release a short album of post punk covers and call it “This Is Why We’re Here!” as a placeholder while I wrote (and co-wrote) the next album of original material, but thought I might get pigeon-holed ... So I snuck the best two versions onto the "All The Bridges Burned" EP instead.
Other choices were Joy Division's "She’s Lost Control", Gang Of Four’s "Damaged Goods", Julian Cope’s "Sunspots" and The Sound’s "Winning". You may see some of these pop up on my post-punk cabaret album.
I-94 Bar: Am I right in thinking you're a bit of a Dave Formula/Dave Greenfield fan?
The Institutionalist: Oh, you noticed the Dave Greenfield flourishes in "Floorboards..."? Well spotted.
I-94 Bar: They're a bit difficult to miss. The last song on the EP is a version of "Shivers", which first hit the Australian psyche back in 1978 by The Boys Next Door, before they went seriously aggressive and brutally angular. As the band's manager Keith Glass pointed out, the single was still in print right up to the end of vinyl (in the 1990s). It's still one of those beloved classic Australian songs.
Look, Ernie, you've made some, er, interesting decisions with "Shivers" and I cannot imagine how people are going to receive this ... it's now very much a 1982 pop thing. What's the feedback been like?
The Institutionalist: Surprisingly positive, despite my wanton act of iconoclasty. This song holds a special place in my heart, and I’m sure that most of your readers could tell us of a poignant moment when they first heard it, or listened to it through the veil of tears of a teenage breakup.
I-94 Bar: But I doubt they could put it into such a moving, Rimbaud-esque pastiche though! What’s next for The Institutionalist?
The Institutionalist: I’m glad you asked. A new album of collaborations is already six songs in, with promises of up to 10 more duets yet to be realised. No names will be dropped just yet, but all are well-known and respected masters and mistresses of their respective crafts. Expect news of the release around May 2027.
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