By Craig Mathieson
"I often find when I'm playing live I'll feel a bodily change," says Jenny McKechnie, who fronts the Melbourne punk trio Cable Ties.
"It's not like going into a trance, it's going into a section of yourself that you can't express in everyday life. Off stage you'll be smiley, but when you draw out a song and close your eyes you feel something that I can't put into words but it changes you."
Nick Brown, Shauna Boyle and Jenny McKechnie of Cable Ties, who have have recently signed to leading independent label Poison City.Credit: Danny Cohen
Cable Ties – McKechnie on vocals and guitar, drummer Shauna Boyle and bassist Nick Brown – have a transformative energy that's conveyed not just by blazing riffs but through sustained repetition. On their just-released self-titled debut album McKechnie's life-affirming howl can build alongside the instrumentation until it becomes a summoning.
"The best thing is when you feel all those bits of your brain that are running background programs like worry or concern are switching off so you can focus on this one thing. It's the most relaxed I ever feel," she says. "And with that comes clarity."
The group played their first show in April 2015 and draw their energy from their community, which is defined as much by queer identity and feminist politics as by punk rock. Based on their previous band experiences, none of the three musicians expected much to happen quickly, but now they find themselves newly signed to the leading independent label Poison City with their long player as Triple J's album of the week.
"Our community is what's given Shauna and I the confidence to get up and try something new," McKechnie says. "Stepping outside of that is very exciting, but we're not sure how it sounds to people outside it."
When McKechnie found herself in a Triple J studio recently with her bandmates, recording short explanations and vocal grabs for the national broadcaster to use alongside their songs, she was more nervous than at any gig. Some songwriters put their doubts into their music, but for McKechnie it's often the opposite.
"The songs often represent me at my most confident. They're like Big Girl Jenny talking to Regular Jenny. They tell her what the deal is," McKechnie says.
"I really hope there are teenage girls, like I was in Bendigo, who listen to Triple J and hear a song like Cut Me Down and think, 'Hey, maybe it's all right for me to be angry and that everything isn't my fault'. That would be more than enough for me."
Cable Ties play The Tote on Friday June 23.