Uploaded April 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Incendiary Australian rock band Midnight Oil return to Europe this summer, with a barrel-load of thought-provoking and anthemic songs, like 'Truganini', 'When the Generals Talk' and 'The Dead Heart'. This includes two UK shows at Manchester O2 Apollo on Sunday 9 and London O2 Academy Brixton on Thursday 13 June 2019.
Andy Rawll spoke to drummer Rob Hirst and guitarist Jim Moginie, bandmates since 1971 and Oils co-founders in 1976, about the history of the band, the success of their 2017 reunion 'Great Circle' tour, the associated 'Armistice Day' DVD release and their renewed plans for the future.
Interview with Rob Hirst - youtube.com/watch?v=HlQpdNonkCc (THIS VIDEO)
Interview with Jim Moginie - youtube.com/watch?v=7sQxRxU5Qgg (NEXT VIDEO)
INTERVIEW TIMELINE:
00:00 - Intro
00:30 - What we can expect. We have 160-170 songs to choose from. Expect to pick our some wildcards that haven't been played live before
01:26 - It took 4 months to prepare for 2017 tour, but we did end up playing every song (of the 100+ that we rehearsed) at least once. We're now well prepared with plenty of material to play 25-30 songs every night. They've even been working on demos of new material at Jim's studios and will continue to do so on tour, but won't play any of these live, until they've first been formally released.
03:10 - Do the band members socialised when they're not on tour ? As with many bands, not so much, but Jim, Martin and Rob play in band called 'The Break' - instrumental, surf-punk-spaghetti western-SciFi band. Rob also sees Jim, as he does engineering work on other projects like Rob's blues band 'The Backsliders'. Hirst-Sennett 'Crashing the same car twice' EP. Recording with long-lost daughter Jay, who lives in Tennessee. When Peter Garrett become a politician, it spurred the other band members onto other musical projects, many of which still continue and ultimately influence the new material for Midnight Oil
05:56 - From your first Beatles cover-band (Schwampy Moose) did you image that you'd achieve wordlwide success with an original band ? Lucky to have found the right band combination and chemistry very early on.
06:54 - Surprisingly common bond and purpose in approach to lyrics and personal politics: the environment, renewable energy, treatment of indigenous population, lagging education, terrible drought (Darling River especially). Australia's a magnificent country, but still has a long way to go.
08:51 - Getting the balance between music and message right. (e.g. Truganini)
It's a fair response to the avalanche of American culture coming the other way.
10:15 - 'Armistice Day' DVD release background. Jim's leg injury didn't impede his performance. Recorded over two hometown shows at The Domain in Sydney. Only regret is that they weren't able to fit more songs from recent albums like 'Capricornia'
12:06 - Preview of the tour, including European festivals, usually in great locations with excellent facilities
13:12 - Close
13:28 - End
#MidnightOil
#ArmisticeDay
#RobHirst
@midnightoilofficial
midnightoil.com
In an online message to fans the five original members of Midnight Oil explained:
"We really enjoyed making music together again on The Great Circle tour and the reaction
from everyone was so positive that we’ve decided to do a bit more of it in 2019. There won’t
be anywhere near as many shows this time around but we’re keen to keep performing while
there are still new places to play and new things to say. It’s as simple as that really.”
Despite a 15 year break while frontman, Peter Garrett , became a minister in the Australian
Government, last year’s world tour saw the Oils in the same incendiary form which made
them one of the world's most captivating live experiences during the 1980s and 1990s.
Intensely political songs like “Beds Are Burning”, “Blue Sky Mining” and “Power & The
Passion” took on even greater urgency in the age of Trump and Brexit leaving critics gushing
across five continents.
With an extensive back-catalogue consisting of 11 studio albums, the band earned global
critical and commercial acclaim in a career and has seen them sell over 10 million albums.
During ‘The Great Circle 2017’ tour the band had rehearsed their entire catalogue playing a
different show every night, including ‘Diesel and Dust’ , the bands seminal album, from start
to finish in its entirety on the second Hammersmith show.
The news of these new dates coincides with the release of a double live album and concert
film called “Armistice Day: Live At The Domain Sydney”. The recordings capture the band in
full flight at the climax of their 2017 World Tour Earlier this month the DVD debuted at #1
and the album debuted in the top 5 in their homeland.
Incendiary Australian rock band Midnight Oil return to Europe this summer, with a barrel-load of thought-provoking and anthemic songs, like 'Truganini', 'When the Generals Talk' and 'The Dead Heart'. This includes two UK shows at Manchester O2 Apollo on Sunday 9 and London O2 Academy Brixton on Thursday 13 June 2019.
Andy Rawll spoke to drummer Rob Hirst and guitarist Jim Moginie, bandmates since 1971 and Oils co-founders in 1976, about the history of the band, the success of their 2017 reunion 'Great Circle' tour, the associated 'Armistice Day' DVD release and their renewed plans for the future.
Interview with Rob Hirst - youtube.com/watch?v=HlQpdNonkCc (THIS VIDEO)
Interview with Jim Moginie - youtube.com/watch?v=7sQxRxU5Qgg (NEXT VIDEO)
INTERVIEW TIMELINE:
00:00 - Intro
00:30 - What we can expect. We have 160-170 songs to choose from. Expect to pick our some wildcards that haven't been played live before
01:26 - It took 4 months to prepare for 2017 tour, but we did end up playing every song (of the 100+ that we rehearsed) at least once. We're now well prepared with plenty of material to play 25-30 songs every night. They've even been working on demos of new material at Jim's studios and will continue to do so on tour, but won't play any of these live, until they've first been formally released.
03:10 - Do the band members socialised when they're not on tour ? As with many bands, not so much, but Jim, Martin and Rob play in band called 'The Break' - instrumental, surf-punk-spaghetti western-SciFi band. Rob also sees Jim, as he does engineering work on other projects like Rob's blues band 'The Backsliders'. Hirst-Sennett 'Crashing the same car twice' EP. Recording with long-lost daughter Jay, who lives in Tennessee. When Peter Garrett become a politician, it spurred the other band members onto other musical projects, many of which still continue and ultimately influence the new material for Midnight Oil
05:56 - From your first Beatles cover-band (Schwampy Moose) did you image that you'd achieve wordlwide success with an original band ? Lucky to have found the right band combination and chemistry very early on.
06:54 - Surprisingly common bond and purpose in approach to lyrics and personal politics: the environment, renewable energy, treatment of indigenous population, lagging education, terrible drought (Darling River especially). Australia's a magnificent country, but still has a long way to go.
08:51 - Getting the balance between music and message right. (e.g. Truganini)
It's a fair response to the avalanche of American culture coming the other way.
10:15 - 'Armistice Day' DVD release background. Jim's leg injury didn't impede his performance. Recorded over two hometown shows at The Domain in Sydney. Only regret is that they weren't able to fit more songs from recent albums like 'Capricornia'
12:06 - Preview of the tour, including European festivals, usually in great locations with excellent facilities
13:12 - Close
13:28 - End
#MidnightOil
#ArmisticeDay
#RobHirst
@midnightoilofficial
midnightoil.com
In an online message to fans the five original members of Midnight Oil explained:
"We really enjoyed making music together again on The Great Circle tour and the reaction
from everyone was so positive that we’ve decided to do a bit more of it in 2019. There won’t
be anywhere near as many shows this time around but we’re keen to keep performing while
there are still new places to play and new things to say. It’s as simple as that really.”
Despite a 15 year break while frontman, Peter Garrett , became a minister in the Australian
Government, last year’s world tour saw the Oils in the same incendiary form which made
them one of the world's most captivating live experiences during the 1980s and 1990s.
Intensely political songs like “Beds Are Burning”, “Blue Sky Mining” and “Power & The
Passion” took on even greater urgency in the age of Trump and Brexit leaving critics gushing
across five continents.
With an extensive back-catalogue consisting of 11 studio albums, the band earned global
critical and commercial acclaim in a career and has seen them sell over 10 million albums.
During ‘The Great Circle 2017’ tour the band had rehearsed their entire catalogue playing a
different show every night, including ‘Diesel and Dust’ , the bands seminal album, from start
to finish in its entirety on the second Hammersmith show.
The news of these new dates coincides with the release of a double live album and concert
film called “Armistice Day: Live At The Domain Sydney”. The recordings capture the band in
full flight at the climax of their 2017 World Tour Earlier this month the DVD debuted at #1
and the album debuted in the top 5 in their homeland.
