On the 15th of March, Jack Ladder and The Dreamlanders will play an 'invitational' at The Factory Theatre with Alex Cameron, meaning they will become the backing band that plays both Cameron and Ladder’s songs. Ahead of this celebration of symbiosis and songs, RUSSH spoke to the pair of artists to try to understand their intention and defiance of format.

When not writing in LA or touring Europe, Alex Cameron can be found feeding the blue groper prawn heads off the rocks in Bondi, aspirationally swimming around with his three girlfriends. He informs Jack Ladder, who is also on the call, that should the male die, one of the green girlfriends will turn blue and become the male. “It’s all pretty fluid down there,” says Cameron, leading Ladder into laughter. The shared wit and dynamism between the friends is apparent and can be heard in their music, whilst sonically different, Cameron and Ladder stay true to ‘the song’ and its longevity.

The invitational, much like The Dreamlanders, made up of Kirin J Callinan, Donny Benet, Laurence Pike and Neal Sutherland, “is really a concept”, Ladder explains. “We’re hardly a band, we don’t tour properly, we don’t do all the normal things that a band is supposed to do. It’s like a fantasy.” Cameron agrees stating “it’s so special what The Dreamlanders do and there’s a real reason why everyone that has associated with Jack Ladder has gone on, in their own right, to become a prolific artist, you know? I sort of associate with Jack Ladder just by hanging out, although we’ve toured together before.” Cameron compares Ladder to an underwater hot jet of water, that’s both poisonous and life giving, “you’re a big underwater geyser” he retorts.

“We’re hardly a band, we don’t tour properly, we don’t do all the normal things that a band is supposed to do. It’s like a fantasy."

Ladder elaborates on the band, “if we had been a proper band, we would have dissolved 10 years ago, but because we don’t do all the things that a normal band does, and we sort of exist in a fictional way, and everyone does their own thing, we are able to put everyone to use because there's a lot of skills within the band that are not available anywhere else. No one plays guitar like Kirin or plays drums like Laurence, I'm just happy to be alongside them. And now I'm bringing you [Cameron] into it, because we need more songs.”

Ladder jokes that he has put himself out of a job, in a way, asking Cameron to join the stage, but seeks to bring in adjacent artists to see how The Dreamlanders perform their music and reinterpret the songs through their unique lens. Cameron is thrilled by the prospect commenting that “there aren’t that many bands that could do the songs justice. I certainly sort of fancy myself more of a songwriter than necessarily a musician. And so a big reason for me wanting to do it was like, I wonder what would it be like to have a band like that? To be on stage with a band like that?”

Unlike some of the seven-minute songs that can be found on Ladder’s record, HURTSVILLE, Cameron explains that his songs are “quite intentionally simple,” and “mostly a bed for melody” so is keen to know what it would be like to stretch them out and experiment. Although Cameron has toured with his own players, the songs “sort of remained the same, very true to the album… so this is an opportunity to take a list of my most trusted and treasured and let some real Australian perverts have a look under the hood, you know?”

"That's what music is to me, if I hear something really good, generally I start laughing, you know? And it's not funny because it's a joke. It's funny because it was attempted, and then it's even funnier if they pull it off. It's deeply sad if they don't pull it off.”

The proficiency of the individual members of The Dreamlanders means that both Ladder and Cameron will experience the opportunity to take risks, and that all forces combined make the band greater than the sum of its parts. Modestly, both artists are looking forward to playing with a band that has “complete disregard for their limitations” and working in a trusted environment where they will be caught by the band, and their audience no doubt. However, Ladder stresses that a key contributing factor to their cohesion is their shared sense of humour to which Cameron strongly agrees. He explains, “we've been talking about things that make you laugh, that aren't funny. That's what music is to me, if I hear something really good, generally I start laughing, you know? And it's not funny because it's a joke. It's funny because it was attempted, and then it's even funnier if they pull it off. It's deeply sad if they don't pull it off.” Ladder notes all musician’s mutual love of Lou Reed, and cites his “thrill of the attempt” which is compelling even if he doesn’t necessarily land it.

The excitement and genuine love between these two long term friends and collaborators is palpable, it is quite easy to watch them reminisce about touring listening to live Dylan records and getting food poisoning from Hungry Jacks, so one can only imagine the idiosyncratic electricity that the pair will bring to the stage, supported and trusted by The Dreamlanders.

Tickets to the invitational are available at Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders' website.