Moon Dice Knows Suckers Pay For Succulents

Moon Dice front man Hamish O’Neill knows a lot. Whether you’re enquiring about music, the local Melbourne music scene, or how to rip off succulent plants from the hardware store, Hamish can help. Just don’t ask him when his band’s album is coming out. That he can’t be sure of. Moon Dice are playing our first Melbourne Noisey Presents party of the year, so we thought it would a be a good time to dip into his impressive general knowledge.

Noisey: Didn’t Moon Dice originally start out as a solo project?

Hamish: Yeah it did actually. I had a band called Isle Adore for a while and I just kind of disbanded that and started making stuff in my bedroom. And then I started playing live with backing tracks and stuff and people were just like, “you should get a band”. Eventually I just did and now it’s good stuff.

You sound hesitant. Were you uncertain about adding others?

It was good because I got to do whatever I wanted and didn’t have to worry about organising people. I could organise every aspect of the sound. I think I came around to the idea; it is fun to be in a band, to have a gang, have some pals to play with. Plus my friend John wanted to get involved, and I’ve always been a big admirer of his musical exploits. And then the rest of them, Monica and Georgie, they were pretty easy to get on board. I feel like everyone’s motivated to do it now, which is great.

When can we expect to hear the album?

Late March is the latest word. I’m not sure how reliable that is. It might just come out when it comes out. We might even be lucky to get a copy of the tape. I’ll probably just see it on Soundcloud one day, and be like “Ahh, I guess my tape’s released”.

I saw that US label Night People got involved, how did that happen?

I just emailed him and sent him the record. He got straight back to me and was real keen. He’s put a lot of my friend’s stuff out, he’s put heaps of Melbourne stuff out. He put Scott & Charlene’s Wedding, Peak Twins and a few more obscure tape releases from Melbourne artists out. I was stoked on that.

Are you excited to play with ESC and Snowy Nasdaq?

I am excited; it’s going to be good. Liam (Snowy Nasdaq) is good, I’ve never actually seen him play live but I’m definitely a big fan of his on the internet. He’s a funny guy. I’ve hung out with him a bit, I don’t know him super well but he’s always a bit of fun to chit-chat to at a show.

It seems like the everyone in the local Melbourne music scene looks out for each other.

Yeah they do. I think Liam really has his gang, The Osborne Street gang, that’s a really solid unit they’ve got all their bands The Ocean Party etc. And where I live is part of a gang as well. I live in the house on Glenlyon Road in Brunswick where Scott & Charlene’s Wedding and Jill from Beaches live. There’re band poster everywhere, all my favourite bands, all of these great shows that I’ve been to throughout the years.

Sounds like a pretty sweet house.

Yeah, and since I moved in we’ve bought heaps of plants and stuff and it’s just turned in to this jungle. I think if a stranger walked into that house they would think,these people are insane. You know when you see crazy peoples’ houses and they have all their stuff, like a lot of memorabilia and oversized indoor plants that probably should be outside?

I need plants. What should I get? I hear a lot of talk about succulents.

Succulents are very easy to maintain and they’re good growers, and plus you don’t have to buy succulents you can just steal them. You just break off leaves, stick them in the soil and they’ll usually grow.

Is that what you’ve been doing? Have you been lifting plants from the neighbourhood?

Yeah I’ve stolen shitloads. I reckon we have about 200 varieties of succulents at our house and I reckon I’ve probably stolen half of them either from Bunning’s or the neighbourhood.

Well they’re just leaving themselves open to it. Anyone who pays for a succulent must be a complete sucker.

Yeah that’s what I reckon. I just go in to Bunning’s and have a little look at the plants and then just break off a bit. Take a little sneaky pocket sample. You should you do that, it’s pretty easy stuff just stick it in the soil.

It sounds like succulents are the givers of the plant world, anyone who tries to make money out that are exploiting them.

Yeah well you know you’re always going to have people who want the big fancy ones, they just want the ornament straight up. I guess those people are going to keep the Bunning’s of the world going while we skim the cream off the top.

If you’re like Hamish and enjoy free things, come check out Moon Dice at our free Noisey Presents show in Melbourne. You just have to make sure you RSVP.