[j p niven]

See magazine (Edmonton) #441 May 9-15, 2002

(photo caption) AROUND MIDNIGHT  Australia's Midnight Oil have 
developed a reputation for political activism and writing politically 
charged dance-floor anthems. How did that happen?

Oil burns on
Aussie firebrands flare up anew
MIDNIGHT OIL
Wednesday, May 15
At Red's

THEY'RE BACK--BUT DID MIDNIGHT Oil ever really go away?
    Back in the late '80s, the airwaves were filled with the 
Australian band's signature anthems like _The Power and the Passion_. 
The fact that the songs were dance-floor friendly hardly undercut the 
urgency of the political beliefs that informed the lyrics and the 
band's activism. It was their political engagement, in fact, that 
caused them to step back from the international stage and focus on 
matters closer to home.
    "Certainly what was happening at home was more than enough to get 
our teeth into in the sense of a swing to the right, and strong 
national debates about issues that we'd always been a part of," 
explains spokesman/singer Peter Garrett. "We didn't agonize about it, 
but I think we did deliberately make a decision that the band would 
stay vital, even if less visible, if it stayed connected to its roots 
at home."
    The band's absence from radio and video play belies the amount of 
activity they've undertaken Down Under. Garrett has kept his profile 
flying in the face of a shifting current political climate in 
Australia, which foreshadowed the sweeping dark cloud hovering over 
Europe and North America.
    "To the country's credit, in some ways we've gotten through that 
and even though there was that and even though there was some 
acceptance of policy initiatives by the mainstream right which I have 
disagreed with, at the same time the National Front-type parties have 
faded away. I'm not sure we enjoyed the process of taking on the 
right wing, but I think it's one of the things we do."
    The Oil haven't remained silent on issues concerning the rest of 
the Earth. In 1990 they performed in front of Exxon's Manhattan 
headquarters to protest the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and Garrett was 
in B.C. during the Clayoquot Sound clearcut protests.
    Now Midnight Oil are returning with a new album, _Capricornia,_ 
which should once again raise their North American profile. It 
carries on the sound they introduced almost two decades ago. And 
Garrett denies the music is just a vehicle for the band's messages of 
social justice, environmentalism and equality.
    "People quite often see the band as a means of expressing a 
particular viewpoint. It's not that important--the band is making 
music which collects among itself some words that have meanings which 
can be political. We've never seen the band as creating a manifesto. 
We're creating noises that stimulate interest and then entertain 
people."
    WARREN FOOTZ