The Superjesus

“I love it. I look forward to going out on stage every night. I see each night as a new challenge to get these people on our side,” she said. Once the band is a couple of songs into their set, McLeod takes a moment to talk to the crowd and answer the calls of “Where are you from?”

The Superjesus was spawned in Adelaide three years ago but they became famous on a national scale without ever hitting it big on the hometown scene. Frankly, McLeod, guitarist Chris Tennent, bassist Stuart Rudd and drummer Paul Berryman could hardly get a gig in Adelaide. When McLeod would call clubs asking if they wanted a demo tape, the answer was almost always, “No, we’re not interested.” But it wasn’t long before The Superjesus was avenged.

“We played live maybe eight times before we were suddenly on the Big Day Out tour, got played nationally on the radio and got a major record deal,” McLeod said. “We didn’t break in Adelaide.” Instead, they broke all over the country. A couple of the songs on the demo tape nobody wanted were suddenly getting heavy radio airplay and would go on to win major national awards. Their debut album, Sumo, entered the Australian charts at No. 2 and has gone well beyond platinum downunder.

Now, when The Superjesus tour in Australia, they do it their way, with a full-on production, a big PA and a light show befitting a rock band of their stature. Touring the U.S., however, is another matter. “The first time we really toured in America was earlier this year,” Mcleod said. “Some gigs we’d do with bands that were quite well known and we’d do OK, and other times, we’d do shows on our own and obviously, no one would come because no one knows who we are.”

The band’s most recent U.S. tour was a much more positive experience. They just ended a stint opening for Local H; a gig that was right up their alley. “This tour was way better because Local H is great. Their crowd is totally our type of crowd and really got into the music. There were tons of people to watch us play, so it was much easier. It was a really great tour for us to be on,” she said.

When The Superjesus returns to the States for an early 1999 tour, McLeod hopes they will be opening for another cool band. “We’re not ready to headline here. It’s still too early. Our career in America is going like we thought it would. We’re just going to stay on the road and tour.”

Don’t underestimate this band’s commitment to breaking in the U.S. The four bandmates have a house in Los Angeles and one of their managers has relocated to L.A. to better guide their Stateside career. “Our managers (Dan Hennessy and Steve Betts of Aloha Management) are totally on the ball,” said McLeod. “If we didn’t have them, we probably wouldn’t even be touring nationally in Australia. They’ve had it all sussed out from early on. Originally, they were both based in Sydney but Dan moved to L.A.”

She said the band members are equally pleased with their U.S. booking agent, David Viecelli – better known as Boche – at The Billions Corp. “Boche is really well-respected and we liked The Billions Corp. better than anyone else. People booked the band on Boche’s word even if they didn’t know anything about us.”

The bandmates themselves didn’t think twice about relocating to the States for an extended stay. “It wasn’t really a decision. From the time we signed the record contract, we knew we would come to America and do this. We have this great opportunity, so why the hell would we not do it?” McLeod even gave up her home in Australia. “I have a car there and that’s about it. I’d like to have a home but, hey, you can’t have everything.”

The Superjesus is about to return to Australia for a national tour and they’re taking some distinctly American memories with them. There was the show in Las Vegas where their set was followed by a contest where bikini-clad women rode a mechanical bull. And in Cincinnati, they played in a laundromat. “Actually, it was a half bar, half laundromat where people would put in their wash then sit back, have a beer and watch a band,” said McLeod. “I had all my stuff in the washing machine while we were doing the gig. I was joking to the crowd about how we always tell our management to get us hotels with laundry but maybe they went too far this time.”

Next year, when McLeod and company come back to the States, they’ll have to make the transition from famous rock stars to little-knowns all over again. That’s a good thing, she said. “Yeah, I like that aspect of it. It makes us have to find that thing in the music that was there from the very beginning. It’s really made us dig deeper and rediscover what really makes us want to do this.”