[Tari, Vince]

http://www.undercover.com.au/news/2003/20031210_robhirst.html

2003 may have been the year that Midnight Oil broke up but for drummer /
historian Rob Hirst there is still a lot of oil to burn. Next year will be
busy for Rob with both new and old music taking up most of his time. 

Includes will be never before scene Midnight Oil on DVD . "The DVD will have
the full collection of songs from a Capitol Theatre show that we played in
1982" Rob tells Undercover News. "I think we did five shows. Dave Bradbury
was the cinematographer who captured it. It is really strong and we thought
that with the Triple J Goat Island show (where fans were not told where they
we going, they were just put on a boat and we were the act), those two put
together plus a bit of extra chat from me and Pete and some photos might be
a good DVD for mid next year". 

Rob also plans on getting back in the studio with a few old friends. "I
really want to drag Martin (Rotsey) and Jim (Moginie) from Midnight Oil into
a studio and make some music of some kind" Rob says. "Jim has been doing a
bit of recording on his own and Martin has been doing some recording on his
own and would like to do some recording under some name. It should be a
really good year musically for us". 

That project is yet to be named. "We are calling ourselves The Remainder Men
at the moment" he laughs. 

But wait, there's more. "I've made an album with Paul Green, athlete turned
musician" he says. "It is quite a different album from The Backsliders. It
is a poppy / fold kind of album with double vocals through all the songs and
a lot of melody and harmony. That has been a pleasurable process. We have
done it together over the last 18 months and pieced it together. We have
been recording it live and worked it up on Pro-Tools. That album is ready to
go for next year".

Rob also became a successful author this year and he is up for a sequel.
"Pan McMillan have asked for another book for next year but I've told them
not to hold their breath because I'm a slow writer" he says. "Willie went
well. It went into a third print run. People keep turning up after shows and
asking me to sign it so it must be out there". 

And if that's not enough, Rob, now a permanent member of The Backsliders,
also features on the just released The Backsliders Live at the Basement DVD.


The Backsliders will also play at the Melbourne International Blues and
Music Festival in February.