Still Delivering The Good Oil

Newcastle Herald

Thursday October 17, 2002

Chad Watson

JIM Moginie describes himself as the `seamstress' of Midnight Oil.

The unassuming guitarist and keyboardist is the one who sonically sews together the talents and agendas of bandmates Peter Garrett (vocals), Rob Hirst (drums), Dwayne `Bones' Hillman (bass) and Martin Rotsey (guitar).

Moginie and Hirst were 15-year-olds when they started making music as The Farm 31 years ago.

Linking with Garrett then Rotsey, they changed their name to Midnight Oil in 1976 (New Zealand-born Hillman didn't come aboard until the late 1980s).

While not many fans would recognise Moginie if they bumped into him in the street, industry types refer to him as `Mo-genius'.

Indeed, the Oils' latest album was largely his idea. Well, his and author Xavier Herbert's.

Capricornia is a recording inspired by the epic Herbert novel of the same title.

`Because it's based on the book, the album has some very widescreen ideas,' Moginie says.

`There's some very strong Australian themes, from race relations to harsh farming practices and people dying out in the middle of the bush.'

His low public profile doesn't bother Moginie. If anything, he prefers to take a back seat in what is arguably Australia's most enduring and influential rock band.

`I would describe Pete as the shopfront of the band,' he says.

`He takes on all that stuff and he does it so well. He's such an articulate person, it would almost be remiss to have anyone else do it.

`I'm more the seamstress out the back in the sweat shop, probably pedalling away on a bicycle at the same time as I do my needlework.

`But I'm quite happy to do that. Some people want to do it all but I think it's better to delineate because we all have our strengths and weaknesses in various areas.

Moginie readily acknowledges that Garrett has become `something much bigger than a rock performer'.

And he's not just referring to the bald one's towering frame, Inspector Gadget-like limbs and funnel-web-in-a-frying-pan dancing style.

Garrett joined the international board of Greenpeace in 1993, is the long-serving president of the Australian Conservation Foundation and acts as an adviser to various other cultural and community organisations, including the Australian Human Rights Foundation.

He features on the National Trust's list of `living treasures', was the 2000 recipient of the Australian Humanitarian Foundation environmental award and has run for Senate election on the Nuclear Disarmament Party ticket.

`I'm blessed in a way because I can walk around and observe life without anyone really giving a s..t about me,' Moginie said.

`That's a real luxury because I can write about what I see. But all bands need a frontperson ? a recognisable face people love because of their charisma and whatever else.

`People always come up to Pete, but he's very approachable and he always has a yarn. Of course, he's got that political dimension to what he does, so he's an interesting package.

`Pete has become something much bigger than a rock performer. He's become a figurehead of the green movement.

`That has been a great thing for the band because it's allowed us to do some actions, be involved in some protests and meet some people that we probably never would have otherwise.'

A CLOSE look at the album credits reveals that Moginie wrote or co-wrote every track on Capricornia.

He has been `kicking around ideas' for a musical translation since coming across a copy of the novel about a decade ago.

Having picked up Capricornia on tour while `feeling a bit homesick', he was so impressed that he declared it `compulsory reading' for his bandmates.

`We were inspired by Xavier Herbert's book, or I was particularly, and I always wanted to make some kind of nod to it with the Oils,' he says.

The multi-instrumentalist also co-penned several songs on Neil Finn's most recent disc, Try Whistling This, and can be heard playing on Silverchair's last two efforts, Neon Ballroom and Diorama.

Moginie was introduced to Silverchair by producer Nick Launay, who twiddled the knobs on the seminal Oils albums 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 (1982) and Red Sails In The Sunset ('84).

`I've really enjoyed Silverchair,' he says. `But I must admit I didn't understand them until Nick asked me to come into the studio to provide some textures and atmospheric elements to Neon Ballroom.'

Moginie, who has a science degree and post-graduate qualifications in acoustic engineering, appreciates the `brave' nature of Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns' studio approach.

`Daniel is a very sensitive but very intelligent musician,' he says.

`For a young guy, he knows how to say no. A lot of people in his position would probably want to be nice and polite to someone like me or deferential but I like the fact that he's quite upfront about what he wants.

`Everyone in the band is very clear about their roles and it's a very healthy situation. They say that the triangle speaks loudest in music and I think with them it's undeniable.'

THE Oils have championed everything from indigenous issues (who could forget their `Sorry' uniform at the Sydney Olympics closing ceremony?) to coastal protection while venting their frustration with everything from youth homelessness to economic rationalism.

As Moginie points out, their environmental and social justice campaigns have exposed the Oils to an `amazing cross-section' of music listeners.

Their eclectic appeal has never been more evident than on their Capricornia tour, which has seen them travel from their base in Sydney to the Outback to New York, then back again. In the same week, they went from playing at a rodeo in far north Queensland to headlining the huge M-One festival at Brisbane's ANZ Stadium with Billy Idol and Garbage.

`We don't feel the need to change our colours,' Moginie says.

`I mean it's not like we wear our Akubras one day and our leathers the next. We try to remain consistent throughout.

`But I must say those M-Ones were rock with a capital R. They had these rock 'n' roll wrestlers come on to finish the night after we came off. It was not without its ironies, that's for sure.'

MOGINIE initially envisaged a Pink Floyd-type album more closely aligned to Herbert's 500-page Capricornia.

There was talk of dingo howling vocals and a film accompaniment.

`My idea was to do a song on each of the characters in the book,' he reveals.

`Each chapter and landscape was going to have its own sound but it all became too unwieldy very quickly, so we chopped it down and peeled the best bits off ? like good cannibal musicians do.'

So we were almost delivered Midnight Oil the Musical?

`Gee, I never thought of it like that,' he laughs.

`I can see a musical more about the band's career . . . you know, the Oils are like the giant redwoods of the Australian music scene. We stand there and keep growing as everything else goes on around us.'

If the Oils are redwoods, then Capricornia is a return to their powerful roots. Despite the grand concept, it's rather simple musically. It sounds like vintage Oils.

`We wanted to make a record without too much augmentation,' Moginie offers. `It's got the feel of a band playing together in a room.'

And, of course, it's brimming with the sort of strong Australian imagery for which the Oils are renowned.

`It's a thing that we're very stubborn about. We're incapable of letting go of our Australianism. A lot of bands have done it to chase the dollar or whatever the illusion might be of the day. But we've never wanted to do that. We're proud to be an Australian export.'

TE readers can catch the Oils at Panthers ClubNova Newcastle on Friday, October 25, or the Mingara Recreation Club on Sunday, October 27.

`We made a conscious decision to go back to the pubs and clubs in about 1995 in order to re-grow our audience,' Moginie says.

`We wanted to play to younger people and connect with them. That has kept the band going in terms of our creative flow but we're very much conscious of the fact that people like to hear the old and the new.

`There's an acoustic part in the middle of our set . . . but it's not mellow by any means. It's real stand and deliver acoustic. I suppose you could call it rambunctious folk.

`We've been on the road for about a year so we're pretty hot to trot.'