Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett joins Kev Carmody for Twilight at Taronga
IN A wideranging interview, Peter Garrett talks about his upcoming gig with Kev Carmody, life after politics and the question on every fan’s lips — the Midnight Oil reunion.
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PETER Garrett and Kev Carmody have been crossing paths for more than 20 years.
As two of the most influential figures in Australian music, their creative work shares a strong political edge.
But they have never shared the same bill, until now.
This Friday night they will perform at Twilight at Taronga before heading to Melbourne Zoo for a second show.
“I think Kev needs to be discovered and known by lots more people,” Garrett said.
“He’s a bit of a poet laureate of folk music.
“He’d blanch if he heard me use this expression, but the fact of the matter is the bloke’s a national treasure.”
The pair have known each other since the early ’90s and Carmody remembers Midnight Oil turning up to the Building Bridges concerts at Bondi.
He also has memories of Garrett jumping up on stage with him over the years.
“Midnight Oil were a group that really supported what we were on about with the struggle,” Carmody said.
Fans can look forward to the pair sharing a song or two on stage on Friday — but they are both keeping the plans a surprise.
Garrett returned to his first love last year with a solo album after walking away from federal politics in 2013.
He didn’t expect to return to music so quickly and having never viewed himself as a solo performer, he didn’t expect to make his own record either.
He found that the songs just happened to come and he teamed up with some of the best musicians in Australia, who formed The Alter Egos.
After a lifetime on and off of stage one thing he hasn’t lost is living in the moment of the performance — a feeling that he will take with him when the Oils get back on the road.
“It’s about spontaneity, it’s about shaking off the shackles, it’s about seeing where the moment takes you,” he said.
“Kind of closing your eyes, letting go of the steering wheel and just hanging on and seeing where you end up. That’s really the kernel of creating performances.”
Getting back to entertainment wasn’t a difficult transition for him to make but a political animal doesn’t lose its stripes.
He keeps an eye on developments on Capital Hill and when he sees people trying to pull apart his achievements he occasionally wants to throw the TV set out the window.
And unlike many former politicians he resists the urge to make that late night phone call to his former colleagues.
“Once you walk off the hill, you walk off once and for all,” he said.
“I continue to watch what’s happening like any other former pollie probably does, but try to not pick up the phone and provide unsolicited advice to my colleagues at 10 o’clock at night.
“You certainly get a few phone calls like that when you are in there.”
Midnight Oil is preparing to go back on the road and the band members are currently sorting through the “final details” before announcing dates.
The band is already back playing together and he promised that it won’t be too long before they let everyone know what’s happening.
The Oils have a catalogue of more than 100 songs to choose from and if new music emerges it could be on the set lists.
“It’s been a massive kind of sound that’s descended upon us,” Garrett said.
“It’s been a real charge-up to hear that sound.”
Peter Garrett and The Alter Egos, and Kev Carmody will play at Taronga Zoo on Friday.
Tickets are available from twilightattaronga.org.au.
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