2020 has given us a lot of time to enjoy some of the best TV shows of our time. I’ve been watching a lot of The Simpsons, and I love it. However, I’m pretty confident I don’t love it as much as Melbourne band Howlite - they’re definitely The Simpsons superfans.

I spoke to Ben and Alison from Howlite about their love of The Simpsons, which Simpsons character they most identify with and their favourite Simpsons jokes. I also spoke to them about their upcoming EP Not Here, and their latest single Stranger - and which Simpsons episode represents how they feel about their new music. After all, there’s an episode of The Simpsons for every occasion.

Ben Madden: Firstly, can you introduce yourselves and your music?

Howlite: This is Ben and Alison from Howlite, and we’ve recently released a string of singles off our upcoming EP Not Here, including our latest one Stranger which you can check out on YouTube or stream everywhere.

I hear you're huge Simpsons fans – what is it that you love so much about The Simpsons?

Ben - For me there’s never a moment in life that can’t be perfectly complemented by a Simpsons quote. I grew up watching The Simpsons in the 90’s as a kid, and it was literally the coolest thing that ever happened to Australian TV. This was pre-internet days, and the only shows available to watch were on free-to-air TV, so it felt like you were not only capturing a snapshot of American life, but also on the edge of a brand new trend and a part of something fresh. As I’ve grown older, it’s become something that allows me to hold onto those memories, and reminds me not to always take things in life so seriously. There is something so calming and nurturing when I hear that introduction music start up, and it takes me back to that safe place on the living room floor, without a care in the world, apart from not having done my homework.

Alison - My mum never let my sister and I watch The Simpsons as kids; it wasn’t until high school that we were finally allowed and we went absolutely balls to the wall to make up for lost time. We taped the episodes off the TV each night and bought all of the compilation DVDs from Coles, then watched them all until they melted. Then we got dad on board, and from there the floodgates were open to stuff like South Park and Family Guy, to the point where family dinners became one long quote-off session with poor mum sitting there in utter confusion. I guarantee there is not a day that goes by where she doesn’t deeply regret her decision. The Simpsons is a constant comfort that I can always return to, it has a really wholesome effect of bringing people together. I‘ve found as I get older that there’s also so much joy in discovering someone is a fellow Simpsons fan. We all know we’re a bit lame. But if loving a TV show is lame, then I guess I’m just a big lame! 

What's your favourite joke from The Simpsons?

Ben - Lisa the lizard queen, monkeys taking on Charles Dickens, Homer’s sugar pile, there’s so many! I would have to say though that my favourite joke is from the episode when Marge has a gambling problem, and Homer is at his wits end so confronts Marge and says “You promised Lisa to help her with her costume. You made her cry. Then I cried. Then Maggie laughed - she’s such a little trooper!”. It takes such an emotional moment and humanises it. Come to think of it, that episode is full of so many great jokes and might have contributed to my fear of the boogeyman or boogeymen.

Alison - I think the little vignette where Homer is trying to build his barbeque just resonates with so much of my life. “That’s one fine looking barbeque pit. WHY DOESN’T MINE LOOK LIKE THAT?!” And then just breaking down into rage about his sub-par masonry skills and unintelligible French instructions (le grille??), and then the final scream while lancing it with an umbrella. Magnificent. 

Which Simpsons character do you most identify with?

Ben - I’d have to say Milhouse ... faithful Milhouse. Equal parts dependable, equal parts nerd and always a little left of kilter. I also happen to have a tattoo of him trying to act cool to impress Lisa.

Alison - Growing up I was definitely Lisa; precocious, goody-two-shoes, obsessed with horses. As I’ve gotten older, I am quickly becoming Edna Krabappel - soup for one, salad for one, wine for three.  

Which Simpsons episode... Sums up your 2020 and why?

Ben - The episode where Homer gets a helper monkey comes to mind, showing how something with so much potential quickly dissolves into a complete disaster. On a deeper level though I’d have to say ‘Bart of Darkness’, the episode where the Simpsons get a pool is the perfect summation of this year for me. I think for many people, including us, 2020 held a lot of hope and excitement, but quickly became something far less. The way the episode depicts Bart’s isolation and his slow decline into madness after he breaks his leg and has to stay inside all summer perfectly encapsulates the isolation of lockdown.

Alison - I’m gonna say ‘My Sister, My Sitter’. It starts out with Lisa feeling so capable and mature and in control, and Bart just defies her and is such a shit all night, to the point where he knocks himself unconscious - and then before she knows it she is locking her caffeinated baby sister in a cat carrier and wheeling them all down the highway in a Yard King to Doctor Nick. Should have gone to bread. 

Which Simpsons episode... describes how you felt when you released Stranger and why?

Ben - It felt very different releasing Stranger in the middle of lock down, and especially so with a lot of the other states around Australia looking to ease restrictions. It felt a lot like the episode ‘Sunday, Cruddy Sunday’ where everyone is off on an adventure at the Super Bowl, while Lisa and Marge are stuck at home painting ‘Vincent Price’s Egg Magic’. Much like the episode though, we quickly realised just how much fun it actually still was to be releasing music, and although it was a whole lot different and pretty weird, we’re still so glad we did it.

Alison - For me, it was a bit ‘A Tale of Two Springfields’, where the town gets two area phone codes and Homer builds a wall to split Old Springfield and New Springfield. As someone on the cruddy New Springfield side aka Melbourne during the pandemic, it did feel a bit like we were The Who playing our concert for just Marge in her deck chair. But it was also like the moment in Make Room for Lisa, where Homer and Lisa use the sensory deprivation tanks and Homer’s just in there happily singing Witch Doctor to himself. Making the best out of every situation!  

Which Simpsons episode... describes how you feel when you listen to your upcoming music and why?

Ben - So many pockets of episodes help describe how I feel about our latest music and upcoming releases. That inner feeling of freedom that recording brings, like when Homer becomes a hippie, the mixed emotions after you’ve put all your energy into a new release, like when Lisa makes her Oliver Twist diorama, the anticipation and pure joy of finally releasing music, like when Homer gets hair, and wanting to tell everyone about it with a megaphone. I think the perfect episode to sum it all up though would have to be ‘Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?’. It’s the sequel to Homer’s failed car design episode, where his half brother Herb comes back to invent a baby translator. It perfectly depicts the process of creating something from scratch, and truly believing in it but not knowing how others will respond. It also encapsulates that success and riches are not always the true end goal to creativity, instead that feeling of acceptance and being able to connect with others is all that really matters ... plus getting that damn vibrating chair!

Alison - This one was really hard, there are a few episode moments that kind of fit for me - like when Marge hears their new doorbell play Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear for the first time, or when Lisa makes her Lisa Lionheart doll and is so proud even if just one girl chooses her doll (particularly if that girl pays $46,000 for it). But! I think my answer is also my fave episode, Summer of 4 ft 2. Lisa tries so hard throughout to be someone she thinks people will like, changing herself and trying her best to fit in, but in the end it’s her kind heartedness and good character that won the respect and love from the teens at Little Pwagmattasquarmsettport (don’t worry, I had to google that). Also, upon completing recording: “Sweet merciful crap! My bank account!”  

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Which Simpsons episode... shows where you want to be in 12 months?

Ben - ‘Bart Sells His Soul’ is the episode that always comes to mind when I think of this. There’s a moment in that episode where Bart finally gets his soul back, after selling it to Milhouse for $5 from Milhouse, and is able to really feel like himself again. This is actually a pretty heart tugging moment, and again perfectly rounded out with vintage Simpsons humour. Either that or a month off at Rancho Relaxo and a bottle of tequila!

Alison - Ideally, we’ll be living in a post-Globex world, having escaped the west-coast takeover, and returning home to find that Hank Scorpio has bought us the Denver Broncos. It’s not the Dallas Cowboys, but it’s a start. 

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