Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] Playing On

Jane R bunge91@hotmail.com
Sat, 14 Jun 2003 14:50:30 +1000


<html><div style='background-color:'><DIV>This article was in my local paper last weekend. With the recent discussion on list about the guys continuing to play, and the speculation about of&nbsp;in what format, thought everyone would find it interesting. Ive done some editing, but most if it is there.</DIV>
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<DIV>Read on.</DIV>
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<DIV>Jane</DIV>
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<P>Those Oils ain't Oils</P></B>
<P><FONT size=2>Oils ain't Oils…. goes the old ad. And Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst couldn’t agree more. Without fiery frontman Peter Garrett, he says, the Oils won't be the Oils.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>But he is quick to add that he, guitarists Jim Mogine and Martin Rotsey and bassist Dwayne 'Bones' Hillman are quite capable of continuing as a group, it just couldn’t be called Midnight Oil.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Whats more, it might not even need a new lead singer. "We have got enough vocal power left between us" says Hirst who with Hillman, provided plenty of vocal support even when Garrett was still there.</FONT></P><I>
<P><FONT size=2>Snip- excerpt from Willies about possible replacement lead singers</FONT></P></I>
<P><FONT size=2>The thing is, the Oils, as many have claimed, are not finished. They are simply finished as 'the Oils'.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>"We'll continue playing together" Hirst said. "The chemistry is still there, even with Peter. I don’t know what format we will take - we might have a totally different sound. But one way or another, we will still record together"</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>There is no reason to suppose, either, that a Garrett-less Oils will deviate from the pronounced stand the group has taken on political and environmental issues during the past 25 years. After all, as Hirst points out, he and Moginie have always been the key songwriters 'and we will still be there'.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Hirst plays down the notion that Garrett has 'gone to ground' since his surprise announcement late last year that he was 'resigning from the band to take up challenges outside music.' Garrett president of the ACF has had anti-war and pro-environment letters and articles published in the past few months, including on in the Canberra Times on Budget day. But he has twice turned down requests for interviews with the Times since quitting Midnight Oil.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Hirst said he and other band members remained in regular contact with Garrett who was maintaining a high profile on environmental and other matters close to his heart. </FONT></P><I>
<P><FONT size=2>Snip - Statement about Pete leaving</FONT></P></I>
<P><FONT size=2>Hirst said that, given the long and arduous time the band had spent to the road in the year leading up to Garrett's decision, his call to stand down a few weeks before the Oils 25<SUP>th</SUP> anniversary was understandable. "We were all pretty tired and emotional by that stage".</FONT></P><I>
<P><FONT size=2>Snip - excerpt from Willies about the final gig and an overall picture of the book</FONT></P></I>
<P><FONT size=2>'It's a diary, its anecdotes and hopefully it illustrates some of the humor of the Oils" says Hirst. 'I suppose I'm the unofficial archivist of the Oils, from right back to the Jurassic days of the band. Sometimes I might have sat up till 3am writing. I had to have self-discipline and use jet lag in my favour, to sit at my computer tapping away with two fingers and a thumb. I wanted to get it all down properly"</FONT></P></FONT></DIV></div><br clear=all><hr>Hotmail now available on Australian mobile phones. <a href="http://g.msn.com/8HMTENAU/2752??PS="> Click here for more.</a> </html>