Are You Gonna Be My Girl was MY song. It was the intro to my radio show and something I would crank the car stereo volume to and play often—VERY often—as I absolutely drove gently beneath the speed limit. So, when Bossman Allan Sko said an interview was on the cards ahead of their upcoming 20th Anniversary of Get Born – Extended Edition tour (coming to UC Refectory on Friday, 7 June), I wasn’t too proud to beg. Because I knew what I’d ask their guitarist and sometimes singer-songwriter, Cam Muncey.
The only thing is – he can’t remember.
Jet—comprising brothers Nic and Chris Cester, Mark Wilson and, of course, our Muncey—has a unique distinction as an Aussie band because that song (MY song) was released in the US before Australia. Get Born, the debut album from which Are You Gonna Be My Girl sprung, was recorded in Los Angeles. Impressive feats for a rock band who met in high school.
“When we went to LA, we had these songs, a sound, a vibe and a look,” Muncey recalls. “We didn’t want to be ‘Americanised’. A lot of American music was more punk and polished. Our music was rougher around the edges; a Melbourne sound with a retro tinge.
“It was like we were in a different profession,” he continues. “Bands we played with, like Three Doors Down, were quite heavy. There we were kicking around with our flares and long hair. We found an audience on the edge of mainstream and somehow broke through.”
My memory of the time—one I’ve told to anyone who will listen—is that some University or underground radio station in America somehow had a copy of the song. One day, this person (who, surely, has earned the naming rights of at least one of Jet’s future children) played AYGBMG continuously for the entirety of their shift. That, alongside the look, vibe and sound, got them noticed.
“Oh yeah!” Muncey exclaims once I finish my recollection. “I sort of remember something like that.
For once, the internet has been of no assistance, so help a girl out if you recall this anecdote, too.
While in LA recording Get Born at Sunset Sound Studios, the Jetsters found themselves surrounded by images and records from their heroes. Muncey said what happened next was surreal.
“For the video (for Are You Gonna Be My Girl), the director of photography was the guy who did Smells Like Teen Spirit. Then, we talked about getting someone like Billy Preston for the album sound. And someone else said:
‘Why not get THE Billy Preston?’
“We were like… What? WHAAAAATTT?
They were like: ‘Yeah. He’s working.’
“Music is all about mythmaking,” Muncey continues. “It feels like anything that touched The Beatles is from the Gods on Mount Olympus. But in the end, musicians work with each other, they need each other; they’re just people.
“So, we got to work with Billy Preston.”
I’m such a fan, though. When I met Robert Plant backstage and talked with him for half an hour, my brother and I kept looking at each other, thinking this was unreal. He was so cool and generous.”
Get Born has sold over four million copies worldwide. I have two of them, an heir and a spare (the latter hammered from excessive use). Yes, Jet is a rock band, but Get Born is so much more than that. Look What You’ve Done is a melancholy Beatles-esque reflective piece. Then there’s the last track, Timothy, a song Chris Cester wrote after Cam told him that he’s lost a baby brother to cot death.
“It’s like a poem and almost didn’t make it on (the album),” Muncey reveals.
“However, the idea of being open to different experiences in our music mattered to us, and we’ll be doing it at the UC.
“We get such a mix of people at gigs from our age jumping around to young uns. It makes us so excited for next year.”
Next year is the release of the new Jet album, their first in 15 years. They’ve released a teaser 7″ single, the pop rock Hurry, Hurry, with a glorious B-side nod to Wilson Pickett and to Nic, who has lived in Italy for the last 15 years.
Muncey has been focused on being a dad and loves being back on tour. I ask him where the iconic AC/DC shirt he wears in the AYGBMG clip is now.
“I’ve given it to my nine-year-old! It fits him! I was mostly bones back then. Still am. Getting back on stage is sure keeping me fit.”
Catch Jet and the 20th Anniversary of Get Born: An Extended Edition on Friday, 7 June at the UC Refectory. Tix are $79.90 via Moshtix.
