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Rob Hirst has pancreatic cancer. He’s handling it with all the soul you’d expect from one of the songwriters who made radical 80s politics into mainstream pub rock. Find out more about The Front podcast here. You can read about this story and more on The Australian's website or on The Australian’s app. This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced and edited by Jasper Leak, who also composed our theme.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In Pt 1 of Rick Grossman's “How's That? – The Podcast” episode, the Oz music legend talks to the boys about : Growing up in Sydney's east to immigrant parents from the UK, his first bass guitar, seeing Led Zeppelin live in Sydney, playing with Matt Finish, good mate Rob Hirst, Midnight Oil, living with Paul Kelly in Melbourne, Iva Davies, touring with Aerosmith and meeting Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, drugs, Shannon Noll, Dave Faulkner, Jim Mogine, Eric Grothe Snr, and much more…. This is one cracking episode!
In this not-to-be-missed episode of Triple M Nights, Gleeso sits down with the legendary Rob Hirst, a musician with an unyielding passion for raw and powerful rock compositions. Journey through the intimate corridors of the new collaborative musical venture, "Hirst, Moginie & Stuart," as they unveil their heart-throbbing EP, "Red Continent." Dive deep as Rob Hirst, a cornerstone of Midnight Oil, unravels his fresh endeavour post their 2022 finale tour, taking listeners on a soulful odyssey that encapsulates half a century of songwriting prowess. Accompanied by the prodigious Jim Moginie, renowned for his unparalleled production skills, and Australia's leading studio drummer, Hamish Stuart, this trio crafts tracks that resonate with the heartbeat of the Australian rock scene. Recorded at Sydney's famed Oceanic studio, the "Red Continent" EP narrates a more personal yet fiercely compelling perspective on the passage of time, interwoven with themes of justice, history, and solidarity. Featuring contributions from industry stalwarts like Warne Livesey and Jack Howard, plus the vigorous vocals of William Crighton, this EP promises a rich auditory experience that echoes the essence of true Australian rock spirit. Be prepared to immerse yourself in the poetic verses of "Little Bits of Wire," a touching tribute to Hirst's father, and experience the uplifting energies of "No Longer Shadows" and "The Strongest Memory," tracks that stand as a testament to Australia's vibrant history and the indomitable spirits who tell its stories. Join us on Triple M Nights for an episode that transcends mere entertainment, venturing into the realms of heartfelt storytelling and rock heritage.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This month Graham talks to our very own Rob Hirst about Establishing the research priorities of emergency medicine trainees, patients and carers across the UK and Ireland: the TERN Delphi study. Then Susie Roy discusses Cervical spine movements during laryngoscopy and orotracheal intubation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Vic Simms, Jen Cloher, Vika and Linda Bull, Rob Hirst, Elena Kats-Chernin, William Barton with stories from their formative years
Vic Simms, Jen Cloher, Vika and Linda Bull, Rob Hirst, Elena Kats-Chernin, William Barton with stories from their formative years
There are few Australian bands that are internationally famous, and only one that is so famous as to end up in a book I love reading (Ready Player One, Ernest Cline) highlighting the song everyone knows - though their catalogue has a lot of bangin' hits. For more than 40 years, Midnight Oil has been screaming about climate change and other political movements. Join Holly and Matthew as they look at Midnight Oil, Peter Garrett, and the journey both have taken since 1976."As we sing the songs night after night, there are lines that pop out which were written 35, 40, maybe even longer, which have more relevance now than when they were written. Even though we don't have any new material that we're playing at the moment, it's interesting how applicable a lot of the old songs are to what's happening in 2017." ~ Rob Hirst
We all remember how huge Sheppard's 'Geronimo' was, in fact it was so big it almost became a meme of itself. The song took Sheppard around the world 5 times over and a tour run that simply exhausted them. Amy Sheppard has gone it alone for a new project, her EP 'Nothing but wild' - which is out now. No doubt you have heard her song 'Blue Guitar' already, recorded in Nashville. We talk to Amy to find out how scary this step has been and what was it like playing her hometown Brisbane at the famous 'EKKA'. This is Amy Sheppard, on The Rider with Becko. (Also stick around to hear a bonus interview with Rob Hirst from Midnight Oil as they wrap up their farewell world tour this week in Sydney).
Drummer to Drummer! Drum roll pleassssssssssse.Rob Hirst joins Matty from New Zealand, just before they touched down in Melbourne as they gear up to perform for the very last time!What an incredible Journey it's been over all the years, we find out what the moods like inside the band, how the idea came about to play 10-1 in it's entirety AND what he'll miss the most about his band mates....And what does Frank Sinatra have to do with all of this??See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Drummer to Drummer! Drum roll pleassssssssssse.Rob Hirst joins Matty from New Zealand, just before they touched down in Melbourne as they gear up to perform for the very last time!What an incredible Journey it's been over all the years, we find out what the moods like inside the band, how the idea came about to play 10-1 in it's entirety AND what he'll miss the most about his band mates....And what does Frank Sinatra have to do with all of this??See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Stompem Ground is back after more than 20 years, in Broome on September 17. The headline act? Midnight Oil!! Dave caught up with Oils' drummer Rob Hirst.... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We are joined on the phone by drummer, vocalist and founding member of Midnight Oil, Rob Hirst. Midnight Oil have released their new album, Resist, and are bringing their tour to New Zealand in September this year. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The big day is here and Elly the Fitness Instructor holds her first class at Jetts! Hear how it went down!Plus, drumming royalty Rob Hirst from Midnight Oil joins the guys ahead of their Sunny Coast show this weekend.Models are too hot for online dating? Well I never.Also, your Friday favourites Magic Mike and Feck Up Fridays are back!Enjoy!
The best bits from Mark and Caroline for Breakfast on 92.7 MIX FM
Midnight Oil's new album Resist is out now, to find out more Tracey was joined by their drummer Rob Hirst why their shows in May aren't part of a farewell tour, their mate Bones, Rob's other band The Break and whether he's writing another book this year.
Midnight Oil's new album Resist is out now, to find out more Tracey was joined by their drummer Rob Hirst why their shows in May aren't part of a farewell tour, their mate Bones, Rob's other band The Break and whether he's writing another book this year.
Rob Hirst Reminisces Midnight Oil's BIGGEST Moments See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Midnight Oil's 13th and final album is out, Resist and the band is ready to say farewell to their fans with one massive final tour. This is a special album, recorded after going into the studio after the massive 'Great Circle' tour - 20 tracks were recorded and these ended up being the last with Bones Hillman. They released the Makarrata Project as a mini album and now Resist, their first full-length album in 20 years and their last. Rob Hirst joins The Rider with Becko, only a few days after the release of the album to talk about how special these songs are and why it's important to still have a voice and stay angry. Also, wait till you hear the Paul Hester prank - it's a classic. This is Rob Hirst from Midnight Oil, on The Rider with Becko
Acknowledgement of Country// Headlines// Last week we spoke with Dimity Hawkins about the Raucous Anti-AUKUS Caucus, held on 7 October 2021. Organised by Renegade Activists, the webinar featured a panel discussion on concerns around the AUKUS alliance between Australia, the UK and the US. This morning we hear a segment of the event featuring speakers Talei Mangioni and Scott Ludlam.// Samantha Floreani, Program Lead at Digital Rights Watch (DRW), joins us to speak about the Basic Online Safety Expectations, which fall under the Online Safety Act and provide the Minister with broad discretion to define the parameters for digital safety and content restrictions on social media and other online services. Public consultation on the draft expectations closes 12 November 2021- have your say here. If you're not sure how to get started, DRW and Electronic Frontiers Australia recently ran a workshop on how to write a policy submission which you can view here.// We speak with Ian Rintoul, spokesperson from the Refugee Action Coalition Sydney, about safety concerns for people currently detained at the Melbourne Immigration Transit Accommodation detention centre in Broadmeadows as guards continue to test positive for COVID-19.// While nation states are currently setting targets for biodiversity protection that may or may not be met at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Kunming, China, this week we wanted to turn our attention to the knowledge of First Nations people in protecting the lands and waters across this continent. We are joined today by Bunna Lawrie, a Mirning Elder and whale songman from the Nullabor, to talk about protecting Country and why it's important to learn and think about the animals and plants we're talking about when we say biodiversity. Bunna is a founding member of the band Coloured Stone, and has spent many years fighting to protect his Country.// Songs// King Brown - Barkaa// Surrender - Tseba (feat. PRICIE)//Jeedara (White Whale Song) - Bunna Lawrie with Rob Hirst and Neil Morris//
Episode 41 of The Blank Canvas Podcast with Sean Sennett. Sean Sennett is one of talented and curious characters you find in the music business. He studied history and literature at university but spent most of his time poring over every issue of American Rolling Stones magazine penning gig reviews for Brisbane music mag, Time Off. He bought the magazine a few years later, taking it out if receivership. Ran it for twenty years and published over 1000 issues. Today Sean is one of the go-to music writers for many of the biggest acts in the world; Springsteen, U2, Bowie, McCartney…literally 1000’s of interviews. As a singer/songwriter Sean’s released three indie solo records. He’s written songs with the likes of Ross Wilson, Mark Seymour and Sean joined Midnight Oil co-founder Rob Hirst to create the indie-rock album Crashing The Same Car Twice. In 2020 Sean teamed up with iconic musicians Kate Ceberano and Steve Kilbey and released one of the most acclaimed albums of the year The Dangerous Age, achieving Album of Week in The Australian, The Herald Sun, The Music and more. Sean is wonderful story-teller with a turn of phrase that reels you in and has you gagging to hear more. Enjoy. The Dangerous Age - Listen/Download: https://usm.lnk.to/ThDaAg Time To Talk: https://tinyurl.com/t6p29jc2 IG: https://www.instagram.com/seansennett/ W: https://theblankcanvaspodcast.com.au/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/leerogers12/ SOCIALS Insta: @theblankcanvaspodcast FB - The Blank Canvas Podcast Twitter: @blankcanvaspod THE BLANK CANVAS TEAM Produced by Lee Rogers & Rien MacDonald. Audio support by Jason Murphy/GASinc Music by Rodrigo Enrique Bustos.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Vic Simms, Jen Cloher, Vika and Linda Bull, Rob Hirst, Elena Kats-Chernin, William Barton with stories from their formative years
Vic Simms, Jen Cloher, Vika and Linda Bull, Rob Hirst, Elena Kats-Chernin, William Barton with stories from their formative years
There are many fans of The Music with extensive knowledge of the catalog, concerts, demos and more, but none to the level of this week's guest. On this episode of Music and More Adam and Pete welcome The Music historian and pied piper, Robert Hirst. Rob not only has all the information, but he brought along his bag full of rare memorabilia and impossible to find demos. Enjoy!
Their first nomination in 20 years, Midnight Oil's Rob Hirst joined Triple M's Becko to talk about their nomination, latest project and tour. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Uma música com uma das aberturas mais famosas de todos os tempos, mas composta de partes estranhas, falando de lugares desconhecidos para a maioria das pessoas que não moravam na Austrália, mas que tinha um propósito e público-alvo muito claros: expor para as populações urbanas as mazelas e o descaso que o governo tinha com as comunidades aborígenes do deserto australiano. Nesta edição do Resumo do Som eu conto a história de Beds are Burning, do Midnight Oil. Capa do compacto de Beds Are Burning (da esquerda para a direita) Peter GIfford, Peter Garrett, Rob Hirst, Martin Rotsey, Jim Moginie (circa 1987) Beds Are Burning está disponível em: Beds Are Burning foi escrita por Midnight Oil ℗ 1987 Midnight Oil / © 1987 CBS Inc. Músicas utilizadas nesta edição: Midnight Oil - The Dead Heart Fankum - Tecno-pop-base-and-guitar (YouTube Music Library) Agradecimentos aos produtores virtuais pelo apoio: Fabiano F. M. Cordeiro Ricardo Bunnyman (AutoRadio Podcast) Marcos Coluci Marcelo Machado (Podcast de Garagem) Danilo de Almeida (Doublecast, Já Ouviu Esse Disco) Gostaria de apoiar o 80 WATTS? É só escolher a plataforma de sua preferência. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Background vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com
Wohlers, Andy Parisi from La Trattoria, Rowey, Phil Coorey, Chelsea Carey, Blakey, Tony Battaglene, Rob Hirst from Midnight Oil, Behind Closed Doors See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On this episode, Juice 107.3 brekky hosts Chloe & Elerrina interview founding member and drummer of Australian band Midnight Oil, Rob Hirst! 11/02/2021 You can visit our website at www.juice1073.com.au Breaker: https://www.breaker.audio/good-taste-brekky-with-chloe-and-elerrina-on-juice-107-dot-3-1 Google Podcasts: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy8xNDFjOTI2MC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw== Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1518864498/good-taste-brekky-with-chloe-and-elerrina-on-juice-107-3-gold-coast PocketCast:https://pca.st/omi391ca RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/good-taste-brekky-with-chloe-and-6BoonM Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Lv1qJEjaLhINBtILn59mw
Triple M Aussie with Becko See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Rob Hirst with Becko See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Surfers Paradise Sexy Beach Police Cops Whats the unsexiest thing your partner does? Rob Hirst with a special Midnight Oil announcement!! Stand up against Domestic Violence tomorrow See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In celebration of Midnight Oil's new album 'The Makarrata Project', we chat to drummer Rob Hirst! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Midnight Oil’s Rob Hirst is our guest this week on Time To Talk. Chatting with Sean Sennett, Rob discusses in depth Midnight Oil’s first studio work in almost twenty years, The Makarrata Project. The themed mini album is a collaboration between the band and a number of First Nation performers including Jessica Mauboy, Troy Cassar-Daley, Dan Sultan, Bunna Lawrie and more.
Triple M Aussie with Becko See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Triple M Aussie with Becko See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Triple M Aussie with Becko See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Triple M Aussie with Becko See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Triple M Aussie See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Triple M Aussie with Becko See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.
Triple M Aussie with Becko See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.
A SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE OF SOMETHING THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN...A sad and pathetic Tom manages to get in touch with an Australian rock hero; Rob Hirst - songwriter and drummer from Midnight Oil, The Backsliders, and more. JH fans out, and talks drums for a whole hour, but the real question is... what's it like to make rock music that matters? And what next?Novak eats pasta. || Visit Rob Hirst's website to check out all the content discussed in this episode, and follow updates for Midnight Oil's 2020 release(s) on their website.
The RGM Cutting edge Podcast investigates the music industry and the challenges we all face at grassroots level. On this show, we have guest Rob Hirst owner of record label These Bloody thieves and Fans for bands. Enjoy and please leave us five star review. Ta! Follow the Cutting Edge Podcast Spotify Playlist HERE Please Visit www.rgm.press --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
Digital, especially Spotify, should be used as a marketing tool not as your main focus for generating revenue. – Rob HirstThis week's guest is Rob Hirst from Fans for Bands, a PR, playlist pitching and social media company and These Bloody Thieves an independent record label based in Sheffield. I came across Fans for Bands when looking for playlisting support for a band I'm working with. Rob came recommended by a friend of the artist. But we first got talking when Rob reached out to another artist I'm working with after recognising him as the bass player from one of his oldest favourite bands.Rob also does some marketing work for Frank Wilkes from the artist development platform Kycker who was interviewed on Episode 2. Show notesThe Murder Capital (Band)Sammy Andrew's pinned tweetFalse Heads (Band)The Howlers (Band)The Unsigned GuideLinks Ask anything at the Amplifyr.co.uk community IndieMusicMarketing.co.uk Indie Music Marketing on Instagram Indie Music Marketing on Twitter Rich Hearn is on Twitter: @richarddhearn ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Triple M Aussie with Becko
Triple M Aussie with Becko
Midnight Oil's drummer Rob Hirst drops by the studio, it's Fight For Your Flashback time, and we take a look back at the week with Jimbo's Jibba Jabba.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Midnight Oil is one of Australia's most successful and well-known music acts of all time, but for 36 years the band's drummer Rob Hirst kept a secret not even his wife knew about.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jay O'Shea of country group O'Shea joins Jett Tattersall in the Women In Pop studio it discuss the creation of her new album 'The Lost and the Found' which she created with her biological father Rob Hirst.
Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst has teamed up with his daughter Jay O’Shea to make a new album – ‘The Lost and the Found’. Rob talks to David Barr about the project, his daughter and about the Oils and the Backsliders. [...]Read More... from Interview with Rob Hirst – The Lost and The Found, The Oils and Backsliders
Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst has teamed up with his daughter Jay O’Shea to make a new album – ‘The Lost and the Found’. Rob talks to David Barr about the project, his daughter and about the Oils and the Backsliders.
Mike Galvin from Surry Hills Creative Precinct caught up with Luke Dobrovic on Wednesday Drive and talks with us about the picnic happening this Sunday at Ward Park in Surry Hills. Galvin talks about the food, music, and different booths that will be setup around the are. He also speaks on the light rail system […]
The Guild Theatre opens their dynamic 2020 Season with the Australian Premiere of ‘Looped’ by Matthew Lombardo. For The Guild Theatre’s Australian Premiere, Sydney community theatre stalwart Glenda Kenyon brings the complex star to life. She joins Gemma Purves on Thursday Drive to discuss the original bad girl of the golden age of Hollywood, Tallulah […]
Hooray, it is episode 90 and all is well. This week we walk like Egyptians, question the cloud, and applaud Francis Coppola. But first up, have you got your tickets for Supanova Brisbane? Not long to go now. We are excited for it and are looking forward to watching all the awesome cosplayers and other amazing antics happening on the Saturday. Stop by and say hi if you are there.Now first up we have news about the most incredible discovery of Egyptian sarcophagi of this millennium, the best in the last century also. Now, we have to say that it is due to a very sneaky priest who hid them to avoid the thieving grave robbers. So, thank you wise priest with your cunning plan. Because of you these remains are safe and will be protected at the new museum being built at Gaza. There were males, females, and children in these sarcophagi, if you want to know more listen in.Next up we talk about a cloud. Not the soft fluffy kind you see floating through the sky, no, this is an xcloud. What is an xcloud you ask? It is a cloud that is brought to you by xbox and is intended to support mobile gaming with a cross platform goal in the long term. Sounds awesome right, you will finally be able to see the xbox tribe battle against the Playstation civilisation. Not that I’m biased mind you (Playstation rules). If you want to really get a grasp of the situation the Professor has a lot to say about it. So listen in and see what is happening.Now, for the movie Nerds we have had Francis Coppola slamming Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy as being kind of boring and pointless. To which James Gunn has taken umbrage, and spoken out claiming all sorts of nonsense. Buck takes great offense and gives a passionate response which is worthy of an Oscar Hall of Fame speech. Truly he seems to struggle to remain calm at times. Truly this could be one of his better grumpy old man moments, especially as it gets Professor to become passionate on the subject. If nothing else this is worthy of a listen.As normal we have the shout out’s, remembrances, birthdays and special events of interest for the week. Also we would like to say good luck to all those undertaking exams at this time, study hard, and do well. Remember, fear is the mind killer, and stress is a by-product of fear, so relax, just think of the Frodo waking up in Rivendell at the end of the Lord of the Rings. That is the joy when you finish your last exam. Until next week, take care of yourselves, look out for each other, and stay hydrated.EPISODE NOTES:Egyptian discovery- https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/30-perfectly-preserved-ancient-egyptian-coffins-unearthed/news-story/fb3984d1247b0102520aed7621b4ff94- https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/egyptian-coffins-mummies-nile-luxor-antiquities-archeology-a9163776.htmlProject Xcloud - https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/10/project-xcloud-preview-serves-as-a-passable-portable-xbox-one/Francis Coppola’s anti marvel remarks and James Gunn’s response - https://deadline.com/2019/10/james-gunn-marvel-francis-ford-coppola-martin-scorsese-guardians-of-the-galaxy-1202764709/Games currently playingBuck- World of Tanks - https://worldoftanks.asia/Rating : 4/5Professor- Battletech - https://store.steampowered.com/app/637090/BATTLETECH/Rating : 7/10DJ- Magic The Gathering : Arena - https://magic.wizards.com/en/mtgarenaRating : 4/5Other topic discussedMidnight Oil ((known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard), Martin Rotsey (guitar) and Bones Hillman (bass guitar)).- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_OilThe Beatles (English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With a line-up comprising John Lennon,Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they are regarded as the most influential band of all time.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_BeatlesLuxor (is a city in Upper (southern) Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Waset, known to the Greeks as Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-air museum", as the ruins of the temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor stand within the modern city.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LuxorKing Tutankhamun’s “curse” also know as "curse of the pharaohs" (probably fuelled by newspapers seeking sales at the time of the discovery)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tutankhamun#Rumored_curseCurse of the Pharaohs and their deaths (alleged curse believed by some to be cast upon any person who disturbs the mummy of an Ancient Egyptian person, especially a pharaoh)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_the_pharaohs#Deaths_popularly_attributed_to_Tutankhamun%27s_curse“Cursed” gems- https://mentalfloss.com/article/68465/8-supposedly-cursed-gemsStar of India (a 563.35-carat star sapphire, one of the largest such gems in the world)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_India_(gem)Koh-I-Noor (one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing 105.6 carats (21.12 g).[a] It is part of the British Crown Jewels.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh-i-NoorAfrican sacred ibis also known as Bin Chicken (A species of ibis, it is especially known for its role in the religion of the Ancient Egyptians, where it was linked to the god Thoth, hence the ibis's name.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_sacred_ibisCats in ancient Egypt (Several Ancient Egyptian deities were depicted and sculptured with cat-like heads such as Mafdet, Bastet and Sekhmet, representing justice, fertility and power)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cats_in_ancient_EgyptMixer (Seattle-based video game live streaming platform owned by Microsoft.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixer_(service)Google Stadia (upcoming cloud gaming service operated by Google.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_StadiaPlaystation Now (cloud gaming subscription service developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_NowGoogle stadia recent disappointment- https://www.cnet.com/news/google-stadias-latest-disappointment-founders-may-not-even-get-it-at-launch/Ninja moves to Mixer from Twitch- https://www.businessinsider.com.au/ninja-brought-more-streamers-to-mixer-not-more-viewers-2019-10?r=US&IR=TSteam Link (hardware and software applications that enable streaming of Steam content from a personal computer or a Steam Machine wirelessly to a television set.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_LinkTimeline of Scorcese’s hot take on marvel movies and their responses- https://deadline.com/2019/10/martin-scorsese-dismisses-marvel-movies-not-cinema-theme-park-james-gunn-the-irishman-1202752509/- https://deadline.com/2019/10/robert-downey-says-martin-scorsese-stance-on-marvel-makes-no-sense-1202755148/- https://deadline.com/2019/10/jon-favreau-marvel-films-martin-scorsese-francis-ford-coppolas-comic-book-movies-iron-man-1202766208/- https://www.indiewire.com/2019/10/kevin-smith-martin-scorsese-marvel-movies-emotional-attachment-1202180734/- https://deadline.com/2019/10/francis-ford-coppola-backs-scorseses-marvel-superhero-movies-analysis-1202764668/- https://deadline.com/2019/10/james-gunn-marvel-francis-ford-coppola-martin-scorsese-guardians-of-the-galaxy-1202764709/Logan (2017 American superhero film starring Hugh Jackman as the titular character.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_(film)Francis Coppola (American film director,producer,screenwriter,film composer, and vintner. He was a central figure in the New Hollywood film making movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Ford_CoppolaBram Stoker's Dracula (1992 American gothic horror film directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker%27s_DraculaHow Would You Carry a Jaeger From Pacific Rim?- https://www.wired.com/2013/07/how-would-you-carry-a-jaeger-from-pacific-rim/The Power of Friendship (Trope)- https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThePowerOfFriendshipThe Rainmaker (1995 novel by John Grisham)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rainmaker_(novel)The Rainmaker (1997 American legal drama film based on John Grisham's 1995 novel of the same name, and written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rainmaker_(1997_film)Sergio Leone (Italian film director, producer and screenwriter, credited as the inventor of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cinema.)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_LeoneLord of the Rings (film series)- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_(film_series)Wacław Sierpiński and his works- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li59EitdJUkStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Final Trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qn_spdM5ZgEverybody wants to be a Cat (TNC Podcast)- https://thatsnotcanon.com/ewtbacpodcastFloof and Pupper (TNC Podcast)- https://thatsnotcanon.com/floofandpupperpodcastShoutouts20 Oct 2019 – Borderlands turn 10. Borderlands was a textbook case of being the right game at the right time. It was unique, irreverent, and so full of guns that spending time in its wasteland meant a carefree and cathartic shooting gallery, with plenty to find and collect. - https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/01/30/37-of-the-biggest-video-game-anniversaries-in-201921 Oct 1959 - In New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opens to the public. The museum was a work of art in itself. Inside, a long ramp spiraled upwards for a total of a quarter-mile around a large central rotunda, topped by a domed glass ceiling. Reflecting Wright’s love of nature, the 50,000-meter space resembled a giant seashell, with each room opening fluidly into the next. - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/guggenheim-museum-opens-in-new-york-city21 October 1973 - 16-year-old John Paul Getty III’s ear is cut off by his kidnappers and sent to a newspaper in Rome. Because of a postal strike the ear does not arrive until November 8. It is starting to rot. - https://flashbak.com/news-in-photos-john-paul-getty-iiis-ear-is-hacked-off-by-mafia-kidnappers-16309/Remembrances21 Oct 1805 - Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, British flag officer in the Royal Navy. He was noted for his inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics, which together resulted in a number of decisive British naval victories, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was wounded several times in combat, losing the sight in one eye in Corsica at the age of 36, as well as most of one arm in the unsuccessful attempt to conquer Santa Cruz de Tenerife. On 21 October 1805, the Franco-Spanish fleet came out of port, and Nelson's fleet engaged them at the Battle of Trafalgar. The battle was Britain's greatest naval victory but during the action Nelson, aboard HMS Victory, was fatally wounded by a French sharpshooter. His body was brought back to England where he was accorded a state funeral. Nelson's death at Trafalgar secured his position as one of Britain's most heroic figures. The significance of the victory and his death during the battle led to his signal, "England expects that every man will do his duty", being regularly quoted, paraphrased and referenced up to the modern day. Numerous monuments, including Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London, and the Nelson Monument in Edinburgh, have been created in his memory and his legacy remains highly influential. He died at the age of 47 in HMS Victory, off Cape Trafalgar - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Nelson,_1st_Viscount_Nelson21 Oct 1969 - Wacław Sierpiński, Polish mathematician. He was known for contributions to set theory (research on the axiom of choice and the continuum hypothesis), number theory, theory of functions and topology. He published over 700 papers and 50 books. Three well-known fractals are named after him (the Sierpinski triangle, the Sierpinski carpet and the Sierpinski curve), as are Sierpinski numbers and the associated Sierpiński problem. He died at the age of 87 in Warsaw - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wac%C5%82aw_Sierpi%C5%84ski21 Oct 2014 - Edward Gough Whitlam, 21st Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. He won the 1974 election before being controversially dismissed by the Governor-General of Australia, Sir John Kerr, at the climax of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis. Whitlam remains the only Australian prime minister to have his commission terminated in that manner. The Whitlam Government implemented a large number of new programs and policy changes, including the termination of military conscription, institution of universal health care and free university education, and the implementation of legal aid programs. The propriety and circumstances of his dismissal and the legacy of his government have been frequently debated in the decades after he left office. Some say he deposed as part of a CIA plot. He was the longest-lived Australian Prime Minister. He died at age of 98 in Elizabeth Bay, New South Wales - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gough_Whitlam21 Oct 2015 - Norman W. Moore, British conservationist and author who worked extensively on studies of dragonflies and their habitats and was one of the first people to observe and warn of the adverse effects of DDT and other organochlorine pesticides on wildlife. His pioneering work on nature conservation and his pesticide research led to requests for advice from governmental and other scientific organisations in Europe, India, Australia and the United States. It was his work on dragonflies and conservation that led to him coining the term "the birdwatcher's insect", aiming to raise public interest in the role of insect monitoring in ecosystem conservation. The Independent described him in his obituary as one of the most influential figures in nature conservation in the second half of the 20th century. The British Dragonfly Society administers an award in Moore's honour, called the 'Norman Moore Award Fund'. In addition to this, several species of dragonflies and damselflies are named after Moore. He died at the age of 92 in Swavesey - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_W._MooreFamous Birthdays21 Oct 1883 - Alfred Bernhard Nobel, Swedish businessman, chemist, engineer, inventor, and philanthropist. Nobel held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. The synthetic element nobelium was named after him. Known for inventing dynamite, Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments. After reading a premature obituary which condemned him for profiting from the sales of arms, he bequeathed his fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes. His name also survives in modern-day companies such as Dynamit Nobel and AkzoNobel, which are descendants of mergers with companies Nobel himself established. He was born in Stockholm - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel21 Oct 1929 - Ursula Kroeber Le Guin, American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the Earthsea fantasy series. She was first published in 1959, and her literary career spanned nearly sixty years, yielding more than twenty novels and over a hundred short stories, in addition to poetry, literary criticism, translations, and children's books. Frequently described as an author of science fiction, Le Guin has also been called a "major voice in American Letters", and herself said she would prefer to be known as an "American novelist". Le Guin's writing was enormously influential in the field of speculative fiction and has been the subject of intense critical attention. She received numerous accolades, including eight Hugos, six Nebulas, and twenty-two Locus Awards, and in 2003 became the second woman honored as a Grand Master of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The U.S. Library of Congress named her a Living Legend in 2000, and in 2014, she won the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Le Guin influenced many other authors, including Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie, David Mitchell, Neil Gaiman, and Iain Banks. She was born in Berkeley, California - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin21 Oct 1956 - Carrie Frances Fisher, American actress, writer, and comedian. Fisher is best known for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars films, a role for which she was nominated for four Saturn Awards. Her other film credits include Shampoo,The Blues Brothers, Hannah and Her Sisters, The 'Burbs and When Harry Met Sally... She was nominated twice for the Prime time Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her performances on the television series 30 Rock and Catastrophe. She was posthumously made a Disney Legend in 2017, and in 2018 she was awarded a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. She also worked on other writers' screenplays as a script doctor, including tightening the scripts for Hook,Sister Act,The Wedding Singer, and many of the films from the Star Wars franchise, among others. In later years, she earned praise for speaking publicly about her experiences with bipolar disorder and drug addiction. She was born in Burbank, California - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrie_FisherEvents of Interest21 Oct 1940 - The first edition of the Ernest Hemingway novel For Whom the Bell Tolls was published. It was priced at $2.75 for 75,000 copies. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned to blow up a bridge during an attack on the city of Segovia. The novel is regarded as one of Hemingway's best works, along with The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, and The Old Man and the Sea. - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Whom_the_Bell_Tolls21 Oct 1944 - HMAS Australia struck in first kamikaze attack during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The plane was carrying a 441-pound bomb, but it did not explode. Still, it inflicted serious damage to the ship and its crew. The Australia survived the attack and was repaired in 1945-46. It returned to the water after the war and was retired in August 1954. - http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/September-October-08/On-this-Day--Japanese-Pilots-Begin-Kamikaze-Campaign.html21 Oct 1983 – The metre is defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. This definition only makes sense because the speed of light in vacuum is measured to have the same value by all observers; a fact which is subject to experimental verification. Experiments are still needed to measure the speed of light in media such as air and water. - http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/Relativity/SpeedOfLight/measure_c.htmlIntroArtist – Goblins from MarsSong Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJFollow us onFacebook- Page - https://www.facebook.com/NerdsAmalgamated/- Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/440485136816406/Twitter - https://twitter.com/NAmalgamatedSpotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6Nux69rftdBeeEXwD8GXrSiTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/top-shelf-nerds/id1347661094RSS - http://www.thatsnotcanonproductions.com/topshelfnerdspodcast?format=rssGeneral EnquiriesEmail - Nerds.Amalgamated@gmail.com
Chasing the back beat and adventures in wide open spaces, Rob remains essentially the same as the boy he was (R)
Legendary drummer Rob Hirst from Midnight Oil drops in to chat about their classic hits, influences and connections with Indigenous bands and communities.
Rob joins Amber for tea and biscuits at Babworth House in Sydney for a reflective look at his career; as a founding member of one of the most successful and famous Aussie bands of all time, Midnight Oil. Rob reveals why growing up in the 60s was a "great time for drummers" Rob's intense fascination with Ringo Starr enabled him to block out the sounds of screaming girls when he went to see The Beatles movie, A Hard Day's Night. Rob's love affair with the drums began early when his parents gave him his first drumsticks; a decision they instantly regretted. They weren't to know, however, just how far these two sticks of wood would take him. Instrumental is created and hosted by Amber Petty - sponsored by Yamaha Music Australia.
As part of one of Australia's most iconic music acts, Ron Hirst has had an incredible and well-documented career. What may surprise some is Rob's experience with panic attacks. Ahead of World Mental Health Day, Rob opens up to Pip about the struggle of Aussie musicians with mental health and why he's now an Ambassador for an organisation called 'Support Act' and their Wellbeing Hotline.
Segments Include:- Magnificent Seven- Jalmanac - 'You Get What You Give' by New Radicals - Fight For Your Flashback: French songs- Amanda breaks down the Kardashian family tree- JAMaction Line: Would you rather deal with B.O or strong perfume and deodorant on public transport?- We chat to Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst about the amazing new documentary about the band called 'Midnight Oil: 1984'- Jonesy's Goolie: Gibson Guitars have gone bankrupt- Jimbo's Jibba Jabba- GooliesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Director Ray Argall is in to discuss his new film about one of the most important bands to come out of Australia, Midnight Oil. A discussion on the real-time American documentary-series The Circus, and Simon Baker's directorial debut.
Director Ray Argall is in to discuss his new film about one of the most important bands to come out of Australia, Midnight Oil. A discussion on the real-time American documentary-series The Circus, and Simon Baker's directorial debut.
Rob Hirst - The Sun Becomes The Sea album release feature 2014First published ABC Radio Australia18 November, 2014 12:07PM AEDTRob Hirst - a new solo album and the Midnight Oil 'anti-plan'By Carol DuncanRob Hirst has a new solo album out - released under his own name instead of one of the innumerable musical units that he's part of. The Midnight Oil drummer and songwriter celebrates his new songs with an unexpected collaboration with his artist daughter, Gabriella Hirst.10Rob Hirst oozes 'proud dad' as he talks about the achievements of the offspring of some of his bandmates."We've all got very talented sons and daughters now, all very grown up, and my daughter Gabriella is now in Berlin after finishing her courses at COFA in Sydney and the National Art School. She did very well, got a travelling scholarship and went to Berlin."Gabriella Hirst's art is, indeed, striking and beautiful. And perhaps unsurprisingly, her work seems to share her father's social and environmental concerns."She was looking out over a wasteland where she was in north-west Berlin, went for a walk in the afternoon and asked one of the locals why it was so deserted. He told her that until recently there had been a poplar forest full of birds but that despite the protests of locals the little forest that had acted as a buffer between quite an industrial area and the local residences had been levelled to put in a department store or factory.""But he also told Ella that he'd gone for a walk on the day they cut the trees down and found 24 birds' nests. He sent them to Ella and she painted them as part of her Berlin projects in watercolours on silk flags, which the man then attached to bamboo poles and put back where the forest once was as a symbolic gesture to remind people of what was lost. Being ephemeral artworks, she expected them to be souvenired, which they quickly were, but they fly now from the balconies of neighbouring apartments overlooking this area."Rob's album, 'The Sun Becomes The Sea', features 24 of his daughter's bird artworks in the hardcover booklet version of the album, which he had made to protect Gabriella's artwork but there are a few of them online."I was just finishing a bunch of songs that I'd been doing over a couple of years down at Jim's (Moginie) studio and I thought for the first time that I'd put it out under my own name rather than under the Ghostwriters or whatever. It's just one of those lovely synchronicities where she was finishing her artwork at the same time and agreed that I could use these beautiful watercolour birds for the sleeve of the book and for the new website which finally links the Oils, the Backsliders, The Break, Angry Tradesmen, Hirst and Greene, Willies Bar and Grill, etc."Unusually, Rob made the decision to make all of the songs on the album available online for free."I just thought it would be a nice gesture and I had such fun making these songs."I point out that a similar 'nice gesture' recently backfired somewhat for U2."I would never be so presumptuous as to upload these 11 songs on people's iTunes!" Rob laughs, "It's available for those that seek it out and like it and there's the option for people to go to a few of those old-fashioned record stores that still exist, and which we really want to support, and get the hardcover booklet with all of Gabriella's birds and other information on it."The exhibition of Midnight Oil's incredible place in the Australian music industry was a huge success at the Sydney exhibition hosted by the Manly Art Gallery and Museum and will be hosted by Newcastle Museum early 2015. How does Rob Hirst feel about his life's work being treated as a museum piece?"We had so many people come through and they were pleasantly surprised. I think they thought, 'Oh Rob's dug out a few old posters and stuck them on the wall with blu-tack' or something. In fact, we spent about two years working on it; this is me, curator Ross Heathcote, Virginia Buckingham, Wendy Osmond who did the art direction on it.""We've got a special film which runs an hour and fifteen minutes made by Rob Hambling about the making of '10 to 1' with Nick Launay producing back in London all those years ago, and we've sourced all this film from 1984 of the band backstage in South Australia at Memorial Drive, and at Main Beach on the Gold Coast. There's a lot of home movie footage, the Exxon banner from New York City, a full stage set-up of the band with the exact drums, guitars, amps, backdrop, lights and even the PA to be authentic from 1987 to 1989 which we toured on the back of the Diesel and Dust album.""There lots of little early recordings that have never been heard, a song we've never released before, and the piece de resistance is a replication in a box which has sticky carpet, three screens when you walk in and a curtain you pull behind you. It has footage of the band playing at the Tanelorn Festival in 1981 and there's two sets of headphones you can choose from - one is loud, the other is really loud - and you can stick to the carpet. There's elbows that come out from the side of the box so that you can be elbowed in the ribs. What I was trying to do was replicate what it was like coming to see Midnight Oil back then at the Mawson Hotel, the 16 Footers or the Ambassador or whatever."I enquire as to whether the box also has the special scent that some of our more notorious venues had. Rob Hirst assures me it does."I've poured so much Tooheys New into that carpet, you've got no idea, and I've ground some lemon chicken and sweet and sour rat or whatever into it. Remember in NSW in those days the liquor laws stated that the pubs had to pretend to provide a meal if they were serving liquor late. No-one would ever touch those meals but they'd be knocked off the bar and into the carpet. So after three months in Manly it's getting quite fruity in there!""It's funny, one of the last surviving venues down here (Sydney), The Annandale, has just ripped up there carpet. The carpet was legendary. It was despicable. They could have scraped it for a new form of penicillin! But they shouldn't have thrown it out. I'd have taken a square metre of it and put it in what became known as 'Rob's Folly', but is now known as 'The Royal Antler Room' which is the Narrabeen pub that Midnight Oil first started playing all those years ago.""The curator, Ross Heathcote, named it 'Rob's Folly' because he was bemused by the idea. He didn't think I'd ever build it, but over six months with a couple of hard-working, underpaid friends we actually made it. It looks like a giant road case but it's big enough for two or three people to cram in and get blasted by Midnight Oil at the Tanelorn Festival."Rob describes the opening of the Midnight Oil exhibition at the Manly gallery with great affection and it's obvious that he still finds great joy in every tiny connection that his career has afforded him - from those with names to the 'unknown' members of road crews. Indeed for just a moment he sounds a bit misty when reminiscing about the night of the opening and the loyalty of the huge crowds who were not only Midnight Oil fans but turned out in droves to see the exhibition. I gently accuse him of getting mellow and soft in his dotage as he describes this 'gathering of the tribes'. This quickly turns his thoughts to Newcastle."Newcastle will be the same. After all, Newcastle meant so much to the band. We went time and time again until we finally did a huge gig on Redhead Beach. We expected to find maybe a couple of thousand people, but there must have been 25,000 or 30,000 people on the beach. That kind of paid us back for all the hard work. We'd spoken to The Angels and (Cold) Chisel who'd just preceded us a little bit, and they said, 'If you get places like Newcastle you'll get the most loyal audiences on earth', and that's what happened. And of course a few years later was the earthquake benefit and we were lucky enough to be on that bill as well, and that gig goes down as one of the great shows we've ever played."Midnight Oil, of course, achieved success with not just a lot of hard work, but what Rob Hirst describes as an 'anti-plan'."We'd heard all these terrible stories of bands that we'd loved that ended much too early, before their time, through no fault of their own. They were brilliant musicians, songwriters, performers, but through management or lousy agency deals or record company stuff-ups they hadn't fulfilled their potential. So we looked at them and because Pete and I had done law - Pete finished law, I didn't - but we knew our way around a contract a little bit. So when we signed with an independent label, even though we were being chased by the majors at the time - that made us too anxious, so we signed with an independent label which we called 'Powderworks' after the first song on the first album and gradually eased ourselves in.""I think that stood us in good stead because we were able to build this very loyal live crowd - initially in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong and then interstate. But because we took it softly, softly, I don't think we made the horrendous mistakes that some of the other great Australian bands had done."I point out the obvious that Midnight Oil weren't trying to seduce an audience with songs of sex and drugs and rock & roll like every other band, but were insisting we have a look at contemporary Australian issues.Again, Rob is amused, "Yeah, we were decidedly unsexy and we didn't take anywhere near enough drugs although I was on ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for about 15 years.""Probably two of the most maligned rock managers of the time were Gary Morris who looked after us, and Chris Murphy who looked after INXS, although Gary also looked after INXS initially but then just us once he realised we were more than a handful.""Those managers were much feared and not very liked in the industry, but they were fiercely loyal to their bands and Gary not only was a real strong-arm, Rottweiler kind of manager which you need to protect a young band that has big ideas but no money in the bank, but he also threw all these crazy ideas at us all the time. One in every 100 of his crazy ideas was brilliant and we'd actually do it.""The best bands seemed to have been the most unlikely bunch of people - and I include their management in that - all thrown together and all providing different talents to an end that make the sum much stronger than the individual.""With Midnight Oil and Cold Chisel, for example, the songwriters weren't the singer. In the case of Chisel it was Don Walker writing for Jimmy (Barnes), and with the Oils it was Jim (Moginie) and myself writing for Pete (Garrett). There were others in the band that were great performers - Pete was this extraordinarily charismatic singer, Jim was a whiz in the studio, Martin (Rotsey) was great with arrangements ... and everyone kind of had their place.""Back in those days you actually sold albums, they weren't all pirated or downloaded for free so we could quickly pay back that poor bank manager in Chatswood and get going and make our own career even thought we didn't play Countdown and we didn't play the industry game."They most certainly didn't. And I suggest that to a then-young and female Australian music-goer, Midnight Oil could appear a bit intimidating. A bit cranky."We were a bloody-minded bunch of bastards back then and, yeah, we were cranky all the time. If you look at photos from that time we look really cranky. A lot of bands want to look cranky but we were actually cranky because we were tired and probably hungry and pissed off about something."Yes, I detect Rob Hirst pulling my leg a bit, but only a bit. He admits that if you were anywhere near the front of the stage during a Midnight Oil gig, or The Angels, or Rose Tattoo, Cold Chisel, whatever, you were a member of a fairly tough breed. I assure him I was happy at the back of the room but I suspect the safest place may have been behind the drum kit.False rumours have just done the rounds that Robert Plant had knocked back $500-$800 million to reform Led Zeppelin. Big numbers. What would it take for Midnight Oil to perform together again?"Robert Plant. I really admire the man, he keeps reinventing himself. It's long not been about the money for people like that. But it's one thing cruising around the pubs and just playing a medley of your greatest hits and a lot of bands fall for that trap. But I think Midnight Oil is among that bunch of bands that would be much too musically curious to have ever done that.""If we were ever to get back together, it would almost certainly be with new material and we'd have to feel we were contributing something rather than just some nostalgic act in sparkly jackets doing the clubs. Whether that will happen I have no idea."Rob Hirst's new album, 'The Sun Becomes The Sea', is a beautiful personal work recorded in memory of his later mother, Robin, who ended her life a few years ago after decades of living with depression. In a recent interview Rob pointed out that it's important we talk about depression, that we acknowledge the importance of mental health in order to help people."It's not just my mum, there are other members of the family who have suffered from it and it is as strong as any other inherited disease. And possibly more lethal because we don't talk about it and don't address it."Rob and his daughters sang 'Someone Scared' at his late mother's funeral and he suggests that this song was the catalyst for the full album.It's a terrible thing to admit, but as a high school work experience kid I spent a week at Powderworks when Midnight Oil's 'Bird Noises' EP was being pressed on to gooey black vinyl. I simply wanted to know how music worked.I wish I hadn't been such a good kid and actually nicked one.And frankly, I'd have pinched one of Gabriella Hirst's beautiful silk birds from the poplar forest, too.
Rob Hirst - The Sun Becomes The Sea album release feature 2014First published ABC Radio Australia18 November, 2014 12:07PM AEDTRob Hirst - a new solo album and the Midnight Oil 'anti-plan'By Carol DuncanRob Hirst has a new solo album out - released under his own name instead of one of the innumerable musical units that he's part of. The Midnight Oil drummer and songwriter celebrates his new songs with an unexpected collaboration with his artist daughter, Gabriella Hirst.10Rob Hirst oozes 'proud dad' as he talks about the achievements of the offspring of some of his bandmates."We've all got very talented sons and daughters now, all very grown up, and my daughter Gabriella is now in Berlin after finishing her courses at COFA in Sydney and the National Art School. She did very well, got a travelling scholarship and went to Berlin."Gabriella Hirst's art is, indeed, striking and beautiful. And perhaps unsurprisingly, her work seems to share her father's social and environmental concerns."She was looking out over a wasteland where she was in north-west Berlin, went for a walk in the afternoon and asked one of the locals why it was so deserted. He told her that until recently there had been a poplar forest full of birds but that despite the protests of locals the little forest that had acted as a buffer between quite an industrial area and the local residences had been levelled to put in a department store or factory.""But he also told Ella that he'd gone for a walk on the day they cut the trees down and found 24 birds' nests. He sent them to Ella and she painted them as part of her Berlin projects in watercolours on silk flags, which the man then attached to bamboo poles and put back where the forest once was as a symbolic gesture to remind people of what was lost. Being ephemeral artworks, she expected them to be souvenired, which they quickly were, but they fly now from the balconies of neighbouring apartments overlooking this area."Rob's album, 'The Sun Becomes The Sea', features 24 of his daughter's bird artworks in the hardcover booklet version of the album, which he had made to protect Gabriella's artwork but there are a few of them online."I was just finishing a bunch of songs that I'd been doing over a couple of years down at Jim's (Moginie) studio and I thought for the first time that I'd put it out under my own name rather than under the Ghostwriters or whatever. It's just one of those lovely synchronicities where she was finishing her artwork at the same time and agreed that I could use these beautiful watercolour birds for the sleeve of the book and for the new website which finally links the Oils, the Backsliders, The Break, Angry Tradesmen, Hirst and Greene, Willies Bar and Grill, etc."Unusually, Rob made the decision to make all of the songs on the album available online for free."I just thought it would be a nice gesture and I had such fun making these songs."I point out that a similar 'nice gesture' recently backfired somewhat for U2."I would never be so presumptuous as to upload these 11 songs on people's iTunes!" Rob laughs, "It's available for those that seek it out and like it and there's the option for people to go to a few of those old-fashioned record stores that still exist, and which we really want to support, and get the hardcover booklet with all of Gabriella's birds and other information on it."The exhibition of Midnight Oil's incredible place in the Australian music industry was a huge success at the Sydney exhibition hosted by the Manly Art Gallery and Museum and will be hosted by Newcastle Museum early 2015. How does Rob Hirst feel about his life's work being treated as a museum piece?"We had so many people come through and they were pleasantly surprised. I think they thought, 'Oh Rob's dug out a few old posters and stuck them on the wall with blu-tack' or something. In fact, we spent about two years working on it; this is me, curator Ross Heathcote, Virginia Buckingham, Wendy Osmond who did the art direction on it.""We've got a special film which runs an hour and fifteen minutes made by Rob Hambling about the making of '10 to 1' with Nick Launay producing back in London all those years ago, and we've sourced all this film from 1984 of the band backstage in South Australia at Memorial Drive, and at Main Beach on the Gold Coast. There's a lot of home movie footage, the Exxon banner from New York City, a full stage set-up of the band with the exact drums, guitars, amps, backdrop, lights and even the PA to be authentic from 1987 to 1989 which we toured on the back of the Diesel and Dust album.""There lots of little early recordings that have never been heard, a song we've never released before, and the piece de resistance is a replication in a box which has sticky carpet, three screens when you walk in and a curtain you pull behind you. It has footage of the band playing at the Tanelorn Festival in 1981 and there's two sets of headphones you can choose from - one is loud, the other is really loud - and you can stick to the carpet. There's elbows that come out from the side of the box so that you can be elbowed in the ribs. What I was trying to do was replicate what it was like coming to see Midnight Oil back then at the Mawson Hotel, the 16 Footers or the Ambassador or whatever."I enquire as to whether the box also has the special scent that some of our more notorious venues had. Rob Hirst assures me it does."I've poured so much Tooheys New into that carpet, you've got no idea, and I've ground some lemon chicken and sweet and sour rat or whatever into it. Remember in NSW in those days the liquor laws stated that the pubs had to pretend to provide a meal if they were serving liquor late. No-one would ever touch those meals but they'd be knocked off the bar and into the carpet. So after three months in Manly it's getting quite fruity in there!""It's funny, one of the last surviving venues down here (Sydney), The Annandale, has just ripped up there carpet. The carpet was legendary. It was despicable. They could have scraped it for a new form of penicillin! But they shouldn't have thrown it out. I'd have taken a square metre of it and put it in what became known as 'Rob's Folly', but is now known as 'The Royal Antler Room' which is the Narrabeen pub that Midnight Oil first started playing all those years ago.""The curator, Ross Heathcote, named it 'Rob's Folly' because he was bemused by the idea. He didn't think I'd ever build it, but over six months with a couple of hard-working, underpaid friends we actually made it. It looks like a giant road case but it's big enough for two or three people to cram in and get blasted by Midnight Oil at the Tanelorn Festival."Rob describes the opening of the Midnight Oil exhibition at the Manly gallery with great affection and it's obvious that he still finds great joy in every tiny connection that his career has afforded him - from those with names to the 'unknown' members of road crews. Indeed for just a moment he sounds a bit misty when reminiscing about the night of the opening and the loyalty of the huge crowds who were not only Midnight Oil fans but turned out in droves to see the exhibition. I gently accuse him of getting mellow and soft in his dotage as he describes this 'gathering of the tribes'. This quickly turns his thoughts to Newcastle."Newcastle will be the same. After all, Newcastle meant so much to the band. We went time and time again until we finally did a huge gig on Redhead Beach. We expected to find maybe a couple of thousand people, but there must have been 25,000 or 30,000 people on the beach. That kind of paid us back for all the hard work. We'd spoken to The Angels and (Cold) Chisel who'd just preceded us a little bit, and they said, 'If you get places like Newcastle you'll get the most loyal audiences on earth', and that's what happened. And of course a few years later was the earthquake benefit and we were lucky enough to be on that bill as well, and that gig goes down as one of the great shows we've ever played."Midnight Oil, of course, achieved success with not just a lot of hard work, but what Rob Hirst describes as an 'anti-plan'."We'd heard all these terrible stories of bands that we'd loved that ended much too early, before their time, through no fault of their own. They were brilliant musicians, songwriters, performers, but through management or lousy agency deals or record company stuff-ups they hadn't fulfilled their potential. So we looked at them and because Pete and I had done law - Pete finished law, I didn't - but we knew our way around a contract a little bit. So when we signed with an independent label, even though we were being chased by the majors at the time - that made us too anxious, so we signed with an independent label which we called 'Powderworks' after the first song on the first album and gradually eased ourselves in.""I think that stood us in good stead because we were able to build this very loyal live crowd - initially in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong and then interstate. But because we took it softly, softly, I don't think we made the horrendous mistakes that some of the other great Australian bands had done."I point out the obvious that Midnight Oil weren't trying to seduce an audience with songs of sex and drugs and rock & roll like every other band, but were insisting we have a look at contemporary Australian issues.Again, Rob is amused, "Yeah, we were decidedly unsexy and we didn't take anywhere near enough drugs although I was on ascorbic acid (vitamin C) for about 15 years.""Probably two of the most maligned rock managers of the time were Gary Morris who looked after us, and Chris Murphy who looked after INXS, although Gary also looked after INXS initially but then just us once he realised we were more than a handful.""Those managers were much feared and not very liked in the industry, but they were fiercely loyal to their bands and Gary not only was a real strong-arm, Rottweiler kind of manager which you need to protect a young band that has big ideas but no money in the bank, but he also threw all these crazy ideas at us all the time. One in every 100 of his crazy ideas was brilliant and we'd actually do it.""The best bands seemed to have been the most unlikely bunch of people - and I include their management in that - all thrown together and all providing different talents to an end that make the sum much stronger than the individual.""With Midnight Oil and Cold Chisel, for example, the songwriters weren't the singer. In the case of Chisel it was Don Walker writing for Jimmy (Barnes), and with the Oils it was Jim (Moginie) and myself writing for Pete (Garrett). There were others in the band that were great performers - Pete was this extraordinarily charismatic singer, Jim was a whiz in the studio, Martin (Rotsey) was great with arrangements ... and everyone kind of had their place.""Back in those days you actually sold albums, they weren't all pirated or downloaded for free so we could quickly pay back that poor bank manager in Chatswood and get going and make our own career even thought we didn't play Countdown and we didn't play the industry game."They most certainly didn't. And I suggest that to a then-young and female Australian music-goer, Midnight Oil could appear a bit intimidating. A bit cranky."We were a bloody-minded bunch of bastards back then and, yeah, we were cranky all the time. If you look at photos from that time we look really cranky. A lot of bands want to look cranky but we were actually cranky because we were tired and probably hungry and pissed off about something."Yes, I detect Rob Hirst pulling my leg a bit, but only a bit. He admits that if you were anywhere near the front of the stage during a Midnight Oil gig, or The Angels, or Rose Tattoo, Cold Chisel, whatever, you were a member of a fairly tough breed. I assure him I was happy at the back of the room but I suspect the safest place may have been behind the drum kit.False rumours have just done the rounds that Robert Plant had knocked back $500-$800 million to reform Led Zeppelin. Big numbers. What would it take for Midnight Oil to perform together again?"Robert Plant. I really admire the man, he keeps reinventing himself. It's long not been about the money for people like that. But it's one thing cruising around the pubs and just playing a medley of your greatest hits and a lot of bands fall for that trap. But I think Midnight Oil is among that bunch of bands that would be much too musically curious to have ever done that.""If we were ever to get back together, it would almost certainly be with new material and we'd have to feel we were contributing something rather than just some nostalgic act in sparkly jackets doing the clubs. Whether that will happen I have no idea."Rob Hirst's new album, 'The Sun Becomes The Sea', is a beautiful personal work recorded in memory of his later mother, Robin, who ended her life a few years ago after decades of living with depression. In a recent interview Rob pointed out that it's important we talk about depression, that we acknowledge the importance of mental health in order to help people."It's not just my mum, there are other members of the family who have suffered from it and it is as strong as any other inherited disease. And possibly more lethal because we don't talk about it and don't address it."Rob and his daughters sang 'Someone Scared' at his late mother's funeral and he suggests that this song was the catalyst for the full album.It's a terrible thing to admit, but as a high school work experience kid I spent a week at Powderworks when Midnight Oil's 'Bird Noises' EP was being pressed on to gooey black vinyl. I simply wanted to know how music worked.I wish I hadn't been such a good kid and actually nicked one.And frankly, I'd have pinched one of Gabriella Hirst's beautiful silk birds from the poplar forest, too.
In this episode Christo plays: Beautiful Girl (She Sleeps On Her Breath) by Rob Hirst and Sean Sennet (https://soundcloud.com/rob-hirst-sean-sennett) If I Stay by Germany Germany feat. Kotomi (https://soundcloud.com/germanygermany) Top Down by Nate'$avage (https://soundcloud.com/rippa_diggz) Last Summer by nebula (https://soundcloud.com/business-casual) Holy Holy by Owen Rabbit Enjoy!
For over twenty-five years Rob Hirst was the drumming powerhouse and founding member of successful iconic Aussie band Midnight Oil. Rob has also worked on numerous other musical projects including his other bands Ghostwriters and The Backsliders. Rob has even written a book- Willie's Bar & Grill- A tale of Midnight Oil's progress through North America shortly after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. In this interview Rob tells the story about how Midnight Oil achieved fame and fortune. He also gives some practical advice for aspiring musicians and music business people on how to approach their music businesses and careers.