“I realised a couple of months after Stevie died that it was a new challenge and it was really exciting. Plunder’s death shattered the band and left fans wondering if it had a future, but Freedman says he never considered folding The Whitlams. The Canberra guitarist, who played rock-dog foil to Freedman’s tidy jazz influences, committed suicide in 1996. So, with the nice meats and Reschs, we’re thoroughly enjoying ourselves.įor all that plently, there’s an emptiness, too: The Whitlams’ co-founder Stevie Plunder is not around to enjoy it. We walk into a band room now and there’s manufactured meat, on a plate. “We were given Reschs onstage in Canberra, which was very exciting. “It has brought with it the trappings of fame,” Freedman deadpans. “Our records have always sold really slowly….they’ve never really sold 15,000 in a month like this one.” Nor, until Eternal Nightcap, had The Whitlams consistently played to sell-out crowds around the country. “We’ve never charted, ever, until now,” Freedman explains. “I think it’s a testament to Tim’s songwriting ability and also to his perseverance.” “It just goes to show that once people get the chance to hear a band through a good single, things really start happening,” says Rolling Stone editor Andrew Humphreys. Spearheaded by the elegant, semi-comical ballad ‘No Aphrodisiac’, the piano-pop album is number 14 on the ARIA chart. If Freedman, 31, were to choose one album for Nick Whitlam to hear, it would probably be his band’s latest, Eternal Nightcap. He probably wouldn’t know a Whitlams album either…I should send him one so he can actually get educated.” “Nick Whitlam,” Freedman finally offers, “wouldn’t know a Dead Kennedys album if it got up and bit him on the arse. Reclining on a chair in the backyard of his rented terrace in Sydney’s Newtown, the gangly pianist sips a bloody mary and considers a fitting rebuttal. I think they may be more talented than The Whitlams, I regret.” A year on, this dismissive appraisal draws a smile from Tim Freedman, singer-songwriter and founder of the Sydney band that boldly borrowed Australia’s most recognisable political name. “I guess it’s better than being called the Dead Kennedys. “There’s a band called The Whitlams, yes,” acknowledged Nicholas Whitlam, son of famed former PM Gough, in an interview last year.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |