How James Roden and Andy Cassell Paid Tribute to Pete Lusty With a Unique Recording Project

Snakeheads (circa 1997). Pete Lusty and James Roden

Music, as we all know, is the best medicine.

James Roden and Andy Cassell harnessed the artform to heal the pain of loss.

Snakeheads’ Belconnen Highs is a long-germinating labour of love, a decades-long collaboration of Roden and Pete Lusty, the late co-founder of indie label Ivy League Records and manager of The Vines, Jet and Empire of the Sun.

And it’s the first full-length release on Cassell Records, the new Sydney-based label of Lusty’s close friend and business partner Andy Cassell who, along with Andy Kelly, co-founded Winterman and Goldstein and Ivy League Records, the label home to Youth Group, Cloud Control, The Mess Hall, Josh Pyke, Alpine, The Rubens and Teskey Brothers.

Five years after Lusty’s death, following a battle with lymphoma, Roden completed Belconnen Highs — the first and only Snakeheads album.

The result is a punk rock-infused 17-track collection, stemming from Lusty’s own 8-track recordings.

It just might be the cleanest definition of a passion project.

“What was meant to be purely for our own enjoyment, was put on hold, of course, while Pete was sick and then completely destroyed, when he died,” recounts Roden over a Zoom. “You can say the fun, the joy, the enthusiasm and the optimism drained completely from the project.”

Add to that the logistical challenges, which were many and varied. Lusty was “very capable, competent, highly intelligent, funny, an enthusiastic partner to work with,” he adds. “That’s why he and Andy were such a successful management team. He was inspiring.”

Cassell chimes in, “you can lose a fair bit of optimism and hope when you lose someone close. Friends are underestimated. Friends can sometimes be more important in some ways, they know when you’re being silly, they know you’ve been ridiculous and they’re an incredible influence on you.”

The collection got underway at Belconnen High School in Canberra, and was refined in Pete’s basement and recorded in various Sydney studios.

Snakeheads became an active project once again in 2016, when Roden and Lusty found some time in their busy schedules and returning to regular jamming. The pair were bandmates in the John Reed Club, which split in the ‘90s, just a year after signing with EMI and releasing an EP and a single, the first for Ivy League Records.

Those sessions in Lusty’s home studio weren’t just to blow off steam. The pair hatched a plan to finally finish what they had started in high school, and to have a blast doing it.

“A lot of the songs were well arranged and demoed,” Roden explains. “But they weren’t all officially signed off by each other. For whatever reason, the songs took a very long time to complete. Probably due to my own indecision and my own sort of madness about overthinking it. You put too much pressure on yourself, you worry about it too much.”

Some guesswork was required, and production master Wayne Connolly helped kick the works into sonic shape. When the time came to record at Hercules Studios, a band was assembled with Kit Warhust (Rocket Science) on drums, and Harry Roden (The City Lights and James’s brother) on bass.

Then came the shocking news. Lusty was diagnosed with high-grade Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in mid-2019. Following failed treatment in Sydney, he qualified for a new treatment in Boston, where he travelled with family and friends, including both Roden and Cassell in early 2020.

Lusty died in Boston in March of 2020, just days before the pandemic closed borders everywhere.

One year later Roden picked up the challenge of finishing the album. He began completing the Connolly sessions (six songs), and started fresh on another 11 tracks with Jay Whalley (Frenzal Rhomb) and Graeme Trewin (Sick Fizz, Peabody) on drums.

At the same time, Cassell left Ivy League to start Goldmans Music, —with the support of BMG—a publishing enterprise that continues the spirit of the friends’ glorious ’90s Goldmans clubnight at Newtown RSL.

Belconnen Highs is available on gatefold vinyl, via Impressed Recordings, and all streaming services.

“It’s our songs, his songs, songs he wrote all on his own,” says Roden. “It’s a way for his family to hold something of him.”

Cassell has the final word. “It’s very special to us.”

Belconnen Highs tracklist

Produced by James Roden

All songs Lusty / Roden except **Lusty / Roden / Connolly.

1. Smash Hits**

2. Sh*t I Don’t Have Time For**

3. Top Of The Pops

4. Sick On the Bus

5. All I Want

6. Dumb Enough

7. Sonic Manipulation

8. Temptation

9. Exocet

10.   Entropy**

11.   Kontrol

12.   Should’ve Known Better

13.   Out Of Control

14.   Cheap Thrills

15.   Dementia

16.   Savile Row

17.   Love My Friends