The Chats, who are from Brisbane, sometimes call joints of marijuana “doobs”. Lager is “piss”. In the chromium sunshine of the English capital, Eamon is wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and a denim waistcoat bearing a badge emblazoned with the words ‘I love beer’. During interviews, Josh Hardy, the group’s lightly tattooed guitarist, plays the role of the singer’s eager and friendly wingman. The pair’s delightful tendency to answer virtually any question that is asked of them is mitigated only slightly by a propensity to do so in no more than two sentences.
For example: Eamon’s response to a question as to whether drugs are difficult to come by in Australia begins a game of verbal ping-pong that is typical of many on-the-record conversations with The Chats. “It depends what you’re after, really,” he says. “Cocaine is too overpriced to even think about doing, but if you want to…”
“Meth is good, though,” interjects Josh.
Like a badly drilled rap group, in interviews Eamon and Josh interrupt each other constantly.
“Yeah, but no, you don’t want to do meth,” the singer reasons. “But if you want to get MDMA, you can get that.”
This is fun. Let’s try another one. What drugs won’t you take?
“I won’t do meth or heroin, but I’ll do the rest,” Eamon says.
“And not crack either,” Josh offers.
“Yeah, and not injecting,” says Eamon, picking up the beat. “I’m not into that. I mean, I just love, you know, acid and ’shrooms. I like MDMA and cocaine. And weed most of all. Weed’s the fucking best.”