Love Letter To A Record: The Gooch Palms On Silverchair’s ‘Frogstomp’

June 20, 2019

Many of us can link a certain album to pivotal moments in our lives. Whether it’s the first record you bought with your own money, the chord you first learnt to play on guitar, the song that soundtracked your first kiss, the album that got you those awkward and painful pubescent years or the one that set off light bulbs in your brain and inspired you to take a big leap of faith into the unknown – music is often the catalyst for change in our lives and can even help shape who we become.

In this series, Music Feeds asks artists to reflect on their relationship with music and share with us stories about the effect music has had on their lives.

Leroy Macqueen, The Gooch Palms – Silverchair, Frogstomp

Hey Frogstomp,

I’ve loved you for so long now, but it’s time to tell you what you mean to me.

I struggled so much at school and you got me through those primary school years. I would sit in class and day dream about one day being in a band from Newcastle putting out albums and touring the world. Remember that Sony Discman? You definitely spent the most time of all my CDs in there. Remember the mirror in my bedroom and how I would spend hours practicing my stage moves and vocals with you? We were quite the team.

If it wasn’t for you I don’t know what would have become of me. Would have I ever wanted to ever be in a band? Who knows? Your massive worldwide success really inspired me and proved that kids from Newy can do anything!

You have aged so well. As I sit here right now writing this I have you turned up so loud and you sound as good as the day we met at Soundworld in the Hunter Street Mall all those years ago. I remember I ran straight home and put you on. When that opening bass line from ‘Israel’s Son’ came on I knew it was love at first listen. Even though it was dark and menacing and even scared me a bit at the time, I couldn’t get enough.

I might have only been a kid, but I knew a good album when I heard one and you are still my number one after all these years.

Thank you for everything.

Love,

Leroy Macqueen

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The Gooch Palms’ third full length album ‘III’ is out now.