Alex Cameron and Roy Molloy are the rare musicians whose high-school band actually made it — or at least part of the high-school band. The two Aussies were neighbors as kids and joined a band together as teens. “We both learned instruments to be in the band,” Cameron said. That particular project dissolved, but the two started their current duo under the name Alex Cameron in 2012. Cameron sings and Molloy plays the saxophone. Molloy says, “If a cab driver asks me what it sounds like, I say rock music in the world of Bruce Springsteen. Not sure how accurate that is, but that’s my concise way of putting it.”
They’ve been busy in the last year. They’re currently touring Australia and New Zealand, and in 2019 they toured the U.S. and Canada and released an album called Miami Memory. We spoke with the duo about their idea of a perfect day, performing live, and their preferred superpowers.
What three creative people have had the most impact on you?
Alex Cameron: Greer Lankton, Alfred Hitchcock, and Flannery O’Connor.
Roy Molloy: Lou Reed. I like reading scripts and I’ve become a bit obsessed with Shane Black. And then Ken Kesey, the author, he changed everything for me in terms of the way I thought about writing people’s feelings and emotions.
What was your first experience playing a crowd as a duo like?
AC: I remember being so nervous and having heart-pounding nausea. We did a lot of learning onstage. It was extremely nerve-racking. I felt like the songs are good enough to protect me.
RM: I hadn’t played the sax onstage for anyone for six or seven years. I had to shut my eyes when I played. There were only ten people in the crowd. You didn’t let on you were nervous, Al.
AC: Playing a small crowd is much harder. You can see individual people in the crowd.
If you were running for office, what would your campaign song be?
AC: “We Built This City on Rock and Roll.” It’s the funniest song.
RM: “Heroes” by David Bowie. Something vague and inspirational like that. I’m looking to win here, not trying to pick my favorite song.
If you were an animal, what kind of animal would you be?
AC: I’d be a crocodile.
RM: Maybe a goat or a nice water bird.
AC: You would make sense with hooves.
What is something you’re excited about right now?
RM: We’ve got a studio and seven weeks to make music.
AC: Stemming off that, Roy’s got a script in the works that’s got quite a lot of people wanting to produce it. A TV script. And I’ve got a couple of new producers who want to start making music. I’m also excited to take more photos, I just got a new camera.
If you could have any superpower, which would you have?
AC: The ability to control time.
RM: If Al’s got the ability to control time, then I should just go for a burly sidekick vibe. I was thinking just superstrength. Tear a Toyota Corolla in half. Circling back to the goat thing, being able to eat anything would be really nice. I could start eating the couch right now. Actually, I’m just gonna stick with superstrength.
AC: As long as we can time travel together if we hold hands or something.
What’s your idea of a perfect day?
AC: Wake up super early and work on music until around 11 a.m. Then nap — the perfect day for me has a nap in it. Wake up, keep cranking in the studio, and at some point I would have a really delicious meal. Some sex and some kind of high, and wrap it up by watching a movie.
RM: Similar, I would love to get laid. Get a workout in would be good. Get some work done. And yeah, probably getting high in some way. I would also love to get to bed on time, before one or even around midnight.
AC: Being nice and tired at the end of the day is such a good feeling. When you get into bed you just get vacuumed into sleep. That’s why being on tour is so nice, because you earn your sleep.
RM: That’s why being on tour is so nice.
If you could master any skill that isn’t related to your current job, what would it be?
AC: I’d like to be able to fly aircrafts.
RM: I’d love to be able to be handy. I’m reasonably practical, but I’d love to be one of those guys who can fix just tinker around with cars.
Alex wears Lacoste trousers. Roy wears a Ferragamo tank, Deveaux shirt courtesy of Matches, and Marcelo Burlon County of Milan trousers.