For over three decades the Hoodoo Gurus have consistently been one of the most inventive, lyrically smart and goddamn exciting rock’n’roll bands Australia has ever produced. Along the way they’ve influenced an entire generation of bands including the likes of You Am I, The Living End, Dallas Crane, Grinspoon and many others. Hoodoo Gurus, by any measure, are one of Australia’s greatest, best loved and most enduring rock bands. The band are set to perform at Under The Southern Stars in January 2019 alongside You Am I as well as Eskimo Joe, The Superjesus, British India, The Getaway Plan and Scott Darlow so we caught up with guitarist Brad Shepherd to discuss the shows and the longevity of Hoodoo Gurus.
Mel: Hi Brad.
Brad: Hey, How you doing?
Mel: I am well, how are you?
Brad: I’m doing ok, I’m just doing Dad stuff this morning.
Mel: Oh yes like we all have to do {Laughs}
Brad: Yeah doing the washing up, doing a bit of driving about and a trip to the supermarket, that kind of stuff {Laughs}.
Mel: Ah, so musicians do lead normal lives.
Brad: You’d be surprised how normal it is around here, it’s just embarrassing.
Mel: Well thank you so much for talking to the Rockpit today Brad.
Brad: My pleasure.
Mel: The Hoodoo Gurus are headlining the Under the Southern Stars Festival, along with some other great bands like You am I, Eskimo Joe and The Superjesus. I mean what a line up! How did the Hoodoo Gurus gets involved?
Brad: I honestly have no idea. The promotor Andrew McManus asked us and [Laughs} made us an offer too good to refuse.
Mel: How could you refuse with Eskimo Joe and The Superjesus.
Brad: Well it seems like a good deal. We’ve played with all those bands throughout the years, we are particularly good mates with the jokers in You am I. I suspect that if you come along to the event you will witness a kind of level of healthy competition between the bands. Nobody wants to leave the stage feeling like they’ve disgraced themselves, we all tend to bring our ‘A’ game and hopefully the act that is on after you will not be the conquering hero’s of the day {Laughs}. Unless you are You am I then the Hoodoo Guru’s will be the conquering hero at the end of the day of course. It’s something of a domino effect, we’re all competitive, everyone tries to play the best show because they know that there is someone on after them that is also pretty bloody good so then, the energy tends to increase throughout the day.
Mel: So the punters are in for an awesome day of music.
Brad: It seems like if you’re gonna drop some hard earned cash on something like this, you’re gonna get some bang for your buck at least.
Mel: Yeah absolutely, I mean, with you guys and then Sarah McLeod trying to one up everyone as well, its going to be amazing.
Brad: Yeah I don’t know who’s on first, The Superjesus or Eskimo Joe but I know You am I aren’t going to cut them any slack anyway.
Mel: No.
Brad: So we just have to…well I am preparing myself now frankly {Laughs}. Yes, I’m getting ready now just so we are on fire.
Mel: It sounds like it’s going to be great! So The Hoodoo Guru’s have been successfully performing for decades now and have been inducted to the ARIA hall of fame. How has the band been going for so long, like what keeps you motivated?
Brad: I honestly believe our greatest skill beyond being, having some sort of musical talent or song writing or even as season performers. I think our greatest talent is our enthusiasm for music, I still get a huge thrill from plugging a Les Paul into my Fender Tone Master amp and every show is different even though superficially it may look like we play many of the same songs every night because if you’ve been around long even folks are familiar with a handful of songs that they have heard on the radio since time immortal. But that’s kinda superficial for me, every show is different, every song of every performance is different and I just get a huge thrill from stepping on stage with those 3 other blokes and being in the very rare position of having been a professional musician for, dare I say it, 40 years. That in itself is kind of a unique verified ether you get to experience that is something a kin to telepathy in some regards, it’s not, I don’t believe in that, but we can anticipate what each other is going to do and after 40 years we are a well oiled machine.
Mel: Yes well you would have to be these days to keep successfully performing, especially with the days of the down and dirty pub rock scene are gone and you don’t get to see many new and upcoming bands probably as much as you would have before.
Brad: I feel privileged to have been able to be in a band that was able to ride that wave of pub rock. That we could play 4 or 5 nights a week and pay our rent from performing before we even had a record contract. We were just out there playing a lot! And we got good, because we had the opportunity to perform kind of at the core face if you will, like in front of an audience who were expecting something from us. Each performance is a rehearsal…we played a lot. And that environment of classic Aussie pub rock environment afforded us that opportunity. I know there are opportunities for musicians to play still but I think it’s fair to say the terrain has shifted certainly in regards to being a professional musician. You have to be extraordinarily creative, that’s a whole other side to creativity is actually finding places to play and how you reach your audience. Its more about social media these days. But there was a kind of infrastructure there we could just tap in to and as I say, we feel absolutely privileged to have been able to do that.
Mel: Absolutely, I think it was one of the best times in Australian music. You know, you could go down your local pub and see some amazing musicians.
Brad: It was a fertile environment in that pre-digital age. There wasn’t a whole lot else to do on a Friday night if you didn’t want to sit in front of the television and you wanted to blow off a bit of steam after a hard week of work going to a local pub and seeing live music was one of the few options available to you. Certainly because it was so fertile, a lot of great artists emerged.
Mel: Yes absolutely. What would you like to see happen to better promote Australian music now?
Brad: In many regards I suspect, that the tools are already in the hands of musicians to do that.
Mel: I guess with social media and all that it is easier to promote yourself but not so easy to promote the music.
Brad: I am probably unqualified to answer that question, we do it very much the old fashioned way {Laughs}. Whilst we have a Facebook page, we also have a very good record company that also very supportive of us. I am unqualified on some regards. It really seems like a combination of networking and who you know, if you fling enough mud see what sticks.
Mel: I am sure there are young fans out there just starting out. What advice would you give those young musicians?
Brad: I don’t know that I would encourage anyone to be a musician [Laughs}. But as a musician in the 21st century it seem foolish of me to even attempt that in the late 70’s and I was young enough to not understand the consequences of what that may be. I had a plan ‘A’ and that’s all that mattered to me and there is still no plan ‘B’ for me {laughs}. I would be hesitant to actually encourage any one to try to make a living out of being a musician in this day and age because it does seem to be a bit like a lottery. There are some Australian acts that have had a good degree of success both here and internationally, but there are plenty of other amazing bands that are secret in many regards. But by all means go right ahead {Laughs}. I don’t know, if it were me I’d be lowering my expectations {laughs} and you know, that’s sad, that’s sad as a musician. It’s unfortunate, but the scene is now much tougher to get established yourself as a professional musician these days. But there are certainly many talented individuals still out there making music. So, I don’t know, I’m lost for words.
Mel: I maybe gave you the wrong question {laugh}.
Brad: {Laughs}.
Mel: More these days you’re making music on the side, it’s your hobby while working full time and if you make it, you make it really.
Brad: Very much, that is what it seems to be. From my perspective here and yeah, I’m kinda out of touch of what that may be like. As I said when the Guru’s started we could play all week long if we wanted too.We would play, certainly long weekends, you know, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday that kind of thing, well before we even had a record deal and we were playing in legitimate venues in pubs with PA’s. Like a proper backstage area that kind of scenario, typical Aussie pub rock kind of thing, I know a lot of performers, gifted performers are playing in front of people’s porches and that kind of thing or in bookstores, basically any environment, any little environment that will have them. Sometimes in living rooms, they would have a party in someone’s living room, to them that’s a gig so it’s really shifted a lot. It seems you have much further to go establish yourself, many times you don’t have a choice and it defies logic, you have to express yourself in some capacity and if the self expression and performance is enough for you then great and as you say, anything else is gravy.
Mel: I’m always interested in asking what my favourite musicians are currently listening to, is there anything that you are listening to that stands out at the moment?
Brad: I don’t listen to any contemporary music what so ever.
Mel: Really?
Brad: I stopped listening at the end of the 20th Century.
Mel: {Laughs}.
Brad: I reached a point of diminishing returns where everything I heard just seemed like it was a diluted version of something else I already knew.
Mel: Yes, I whole heartedly agree with you there {laughs}.
Brad: Call me irresponsible {Laughs}. I just go, ‘Nah that sounds like Joy Division. Or that sounds like Uriah Heap’. Or whatever…Pink Floyd. I can be influenced in some ways, by contemporary artists. My advice to musicians is also to go and listen to a few more records {laughs} with a multi-million dollar deal and just seems like they listen to one record {laugh}, copy that record and then they can have a career off that. Because they discovered one Uriah Heap record in their Dads collection or they stumbled on “Our House” or something like that and they just decide to be a contemporary version of that. I love it, by all means I love “Our House” and Joy Division but go listen to some Hank Williams as well and then through the synthesis of listening to a couple of different things you will perhaps arrive at something unique and that’s exciting to me. I’m desperate to hear something truly unique and new but nothing has ever, never impacted me like when I heard the new Suicide album or discovering The Stooges or The Blue Oyster Cult or The Gun Club and The Cramps. These things seemed really unique and interesting to me and nothing has grabbed me like that in too long I’m afraid.
Mel: Well thank you for talking to The Rockpit today Brad.
Brad: Thanks Melisa.
Mel: Good luck with the Under The Southern Stars tour and all the best for the future.
Brad: No, thank you, that was great.
UNDER THE SOUTHERN STARS 2019
Saturday 12th January
Hastings Foreshore Reserve VIC
Tickets available from: www.ticketmaster.com.au OR www.underthesouthernstars.com.au
Lineup: Hoodoo Gurus, You Am I, Eskimo Joe, The Superjesus, British India, The Getaway Plan & Scott Darlow
Saturday 19th January
Broadwater Parklands, Gold Coast QLD
Tickets available from: www.ticketmaster.com.au OR www.underthesouthernstars.com.au
Lineup: Hoodoo Gurus, You Am I, The Superjesus, British India, The Getaway Plan & Scott Darlow
** Plus chart topping special guests to be announced on 2nd October **
Sunday 20th January
Sunshine Coast Stadium, QLD
Tickets available from: www.ticketmaster.com.au OR www.underthesouthernstars.com.au
Lineup: Hoodoo Gurus, You Am I, The Superjesus, British India, The Getaway Plan & Scott Darlow
** Plus chart topping special guests to be announced on 2nd October **
Friday 25th January
Harts Mill, Port Adelaide, SA
Tickets available from: www.ticketmaster.com.au OR www.underthesouthernstars.com.au
Lineup: Hoodoo Gurus, You Am I, Eskimo Joe, The Superjesus, British India, The Getaway Plan & Scott Darlow
Saturday 26th January
Shoalhaven Turf Club, Nowra, NSW
Tickets available from: www.ticketmaster.com.au OR www.underthesouthernstars.com.au
Lineup: Hoodoo Gurus, You Am I, Eskimo Joe, The Superjesus, British India, The Getaway Plan & Scott Darlow
Sunday 27th January
Westport Park, Port Macquarie, NSW
Tickets available from: www.ticketmaster.com.au OR www.underthesouthernstars.com.au
Lineup: Hoodoo Gurus, You Am I, Eskimo Joe, The Superjesus, British India, The Getaway Plan & Scott Darlow
Tickets on sale now from:
www.ticketmaster.com.au Ph: 136100 OR www.underthesouthernstars.com.au
