Ravenswood reconstructive plastic surgeon and Aussie punk rocker Dr Alex Cameron and his band Bad//Dreems have just dropped a new album HOO HA!
The album hit number three on the Australian charts in its first week and 10 on the Aria chart.
Chatting to the Mail during a break during his busy day surgery schedule at Dhelkaya Health (Castlemaine Health) on Tuesday the local surgeon and muso said he feels incredibly fortunate to be able to balance both his passions.
“I grew up in a small town of around 1000 people, Minlaton, on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia watching my dad play an important role in the local community as a GP.
“I followed in his footsteps studying medicine at Melbourne University before returning to Adelaide and Darwin for my training as a plastic surgeon.”
Alex said music has also been a longtime passion.
“Our drummer Miles Wilson’s dad was the music teacher at my school and our other band members Ali Wells (rhythm guitar) and Ben Marwe (vocals) hail from the same region. Over the last decade our music has enabled us to travel the world and play with the likes of Midnight Oil, Cold Chisel and American indie rock band Pavement. It’s been an incredible journey,” he said.
“In fact, we were in the middle of an overseas tour for our third album when covid struck.
“We were forced to cancel the remaining dates and return home.”
While covid brought Alex’s music career to a standstill for a time, his surgical career has taken off.
“I was really lucky to be invited to join Dr Broughton Snell on the plastic surgery team at Bendigo Health working with public and private patients. Dr Snell has been a trailblazer here for the last five years. We have since welcomed on board two young registrars which has enabled us to support more clients right across regional Victoria and also create a bit more flexibility to pursue outside interests.
Alex specialises in complex hand surgery and breast reduction and reconstruction.
He said it is crucial for regional patients to be able to access treatment and follow up care close to home.
“Only around 20 per cent of rural breast cancer patients are currently opting to have the elective surgery so it’s vital options and choice is available. It’s also great for those with young families or elderly farmers for example to be able to access the care they need in the regions without having to travel long distances to the city for multiple follow up appointments.
Alex says moving to the country has enabled him to create an enviable work/life balance.
“Surgery and music are two very different beasts. Over the years I have pondered why I am drawn intensely to such incongruous disciplines. The answer is that both provide privileged and powerful connections with people. It is a privilege to have people entrust you with their care. It is also a privilege to have people show interest in the art that you have created. I find both of these connections fulfilling and inspiring,” Alex said.
Rising from humble origins in an Adelaide whitegoods warehouse in 2012, the latest album release sees a triumphant Bad//Dreems return post pandemic at the top of their game.
The talented guitarist pens most of the lyrics for their music says they aim to capture the experience of the everyday person but find within it with the romance of the lost highways the Never-Never, the terrifying vastness of the outback, the sordid colonial origins of Australia and the dystopian future that awaits.
The first side of ‘HOO HA!’ contains some of the most strident cultural critique the band has laid to record, as they tackle the whitewashing of Australia’s history. Nowhere is this more evident than the acerbic anthem ‘Jack’ where Cameron and Marwe take aim at their forebears for the sanitisation of Australian history.
Alex said they were fortunate to visit Arnhem Land in August/ September 2022.
“It was a really magical experience to tap into 60,000 years of First Nations culture and try and encompass some of that in our new music,” he said.
To celebrate ‘HOO HA!’ during its release week (May 19-25) Alex Cameron and bandmate Ben Marwe went into duo mode for a run of very special acoustic performances at indie music stores around Australia with events in Melbourne, Adelaide, Wollongong, Sydney, Newcastle, Byron Bay and Brisbane.
This whets the appetite for the Bad//Dreems ‘HOO HA!’ Tour which kicks off with a hometown show at Hindley Street Music Hall in Adelaide on June 23 and Melbourne’s Corner Hotel on Saturday June 24.
The band will then tour the new album in Europe and the UK in August and September.
Alex hopes to bring the show to Castlemaine later in the year.
“We have such a great live music scene here in Castlemaine with The Bridge and the Theatre Royal. I am a regular. I enjoy catching shows with my good friend local sound engineer and producer Casey Rice. I’d definitely love to perform here,” he said.
To get your hands on the new album or for tickets visit https://bad-dreems.lnk.to/hoohaalbum