Rob Hirst knows he’s dying, but he doesn’t let it get in the way of kicking back. Hirst – for five decades the co-founder, drummer and driving force of Midnight Oil – is enjoying a sunny afternoon in Sydney, relaxing on an old-school banana lounge, soaking in Vitamin D. But even when he’s putting his […]
Rob Hirst: Feeling good, for 100 years or more Read More »
During 2021 and 2022, Australian singer-songwriter Liz Stringer played to the sort of crowds some would say she had always deserved. Arenas of loud, passionate fans, 10,000 or more at a time, baying every last line back at her. Unfortunately, they weren’t her words: Stringer had been employed as a backing singer for Midnight Oil,
Liz Stringer: The Second High Read More »
When a band that calls itself Regurgitator has managed to stay together for 30 years, you can’t really complain when they return to their own vomit. That’s just nominative determinism in action. So, a warning: their 11th full-length recording, Invader, may contain traces of their earlier work, especially Unit, their classic album from 1997. Of
Regurgitator: Invader Read More »
Fifty years after their formation in Sydney, the vastly influential punk band Radio Birdman are preparing to call it a day, with a final series of Australian shows over winter culminating with a farewell gig in their home town. But is this really goodbye? Songwriter and guitarist Deniz Tek isn’t making promises. “The rationale is
Radio Birdman: Reign in Blood Read More »
Not many people would find John Farnham’s You’re The Voice a difficult song to understand. Borrowing from the chorus for a moment, it makes a noise and makes it clear: we all have a role to play in civil society. From its opening line, it’s an imperviously optimistic appeal to human nature’s better angels: “We
You’re the voice. Vote yes Read More »
In his memoir Big Blue Sky, Peter Garrett cites an iron law of rock (and Regurgitator): fans will always tell you that they like your old stuff better than your new stuff. That’s because, for any band that has a long career, songs are associated with the memories that we attach to them when we were
Midnight Oil: sorted Read More »