goodthankyou is a guy making music in an illegal storage unit setup, late at night so he won’t be discovered and kicked out. Up until now Jason John Leigh was best known as the frontman for The Stiffys, Melbourne’s cult-favourite party band. This project is very different from that.

Can you tell us a bit about your inspiration for your single ‘Pray At Your Altar’’?

I meant to record some intellectual bass and drums thing, but when mushrooms kicked in they brought with them an urgent desire to make a sweaty tribal sex track. A song that marvels at women; how love costs them so much more. How reckless and brave it is for them to fall in love and how our species relies on them ripping their hearts, lives and bodies apart for it.

What are your influences and how do they affect your songwriting?

I love bands with badass brutal drums and bass like Queens Of The Stone Age, Viagra Boys, Death From Above 1979 and DZ Deathrays. But drums were the one instrument I couldn’t play, until I recently installed a set in a storage unit so I could sneak out and practise every night. Being able to play drums has completely reinvented how I approach songwriting.

What’s the creative process like for you?

I start late at night with the intention to finish a song or bring one of my millions of beatboxing phone memos to life. Then I’ll get distracted by a happy accident or a new idea, then get obsessed with that instead. I’ll usually end up recording a guitar loop through my amps and drumming along to it.

If you could change something about the Australian music industry what would it be?

I’d somehow make it easier for musicians to meet visual artists. A band is just a group of idiots until they make friends with a designer — then they become a cool gang with a look and feel and sick posters.

What do you think life would be like for you if you didn’t have music as an outlet?

My head is like a radio. Unrecorded songs swirl around and around until I can get them out — sort of like how Dumbledore sucks thoughts out of his head and puts them in that weird magical birdbath. If I didn’t get them out, my head would get too full of songs and explode all over the place.

Is there anyone you would like to collaborate with? Why?

My favourite band is an underground Melbourne band called ‘Ouch My Face’, an art punk trio who broke up over a decade ago. I learned the drums playing along to their recordings. Their drummer Ben Wundersitz is still the most exciting musician I’ve seen live. I’d love to make music with him. Or start a band with Bob Hawke.

What’s your advice to young people who want to make a career for themselves in the industry?

Head overseas as soon as you can.

Who’s the most interesting person you’ve worked with/met?

I spent a week in Auckland mixing this record with ARIA winning producer Steven Schram, in Neil Finn’s personal studio. Steven Schram is an incredibly talented, eccentric genius who’s seen everything and knows everyone. He’s the most interesting person I’ve worked with.

Any plans for a tour on the cards?

I spent most of my 20s on tour. For now, I just want to make awesome music and videos and put them on the internet.

A Quick Chat with goodthankyou