A founding member of the legendary Australian band Midnight Oil, Jim Moginie branched out with a solo career almost 20 years ago.
Midnight Oil performed in Canberra many times between the 1970s and the 2000s. The band’s frontman, Peter Garrett, lived in the capital for a period, later working in the capital as a politician.
Moginie, on guitar, keys and vocals, and Rob Hirst, on drums and vocals, started making music together at school in 1972.
They gradually evolved into Midnight Oil with Garrett joining as a singer in 1975 and Martin Rotsey on guitar joining the following year. Several other people have played in the band over the years.
Since the band’s final tour in 2022, Moginie has been busy launching his solo guitar album Murmurations, as well as a memoir, The Silver River – and now this new album.
Moginie will return to Canberra on 6 December to launch the piano-focused release, Everything’s Gonna Be Fine, at Smith’s Alternative. The album was released in November.
Tickets are available at smithsalternative.com/events/jim-moginie-solo-88142.
1. Tell me about the process of putting your latest album, Everything’s Gonna Be
Fine, together, including where you drew inspiration from.
In the beginning, I wanted to make an album of songs connected thematically and based around the piano in a simple band setting. The songs concern today’s world, and serious subjects face us indeed, but there are many ways to write about it.
So, if laughter helps, then let it be a tool. I wanted to make an album that would deal with the funnier side of despair, as (Irish novelist) Samuel Beckett said ‘There’s nothing funnier than unhappiness’.
Like The Wiggles driving their big red car into the jaws of death, the title song Everything’s Gonna Be Fine deals with denial but it’s a jaunty song that takes an ironic look at the big picture. I wanted it to summon the idea of The Wiggles driving their big red car into the black heart of the jaws of death.
During the pandemic, Hamish Stuart would come over to my studio to do remote sessions and we’d jam for hours as the world had stopped. I met him through Hirst and the three of us also worked on the Red Continent EP.
One day I said, ‘I have a few ditties, would you like to play on them?’ So, I’d play and sing with a Fender Rhodes piano, and he’d play drums in the other room. We’d do a couple a day and everything else was added afterwards. It sounded fantastic and it is a really engaging record for me.
2. Midnight Oil has performed in Canberra several times over the years. What kept the band coming back for more? What are your fondest memories of performing here?
The ANU Refectory is what I remember the most, with its low ceiling.
In the early days, Midnight Oil would repeatedly support bands like Captain Matchbox, The Sports or Cold Chisel there.
We played the Harmonie German Club, all the way to the Bruce Stadium (GIO Stadium) via (Commonwealth Park’s) Stage 88 and the Royal Theatre (at the National Convention Centre). I even played at the Irish Club with my Irish band Shameless Seamus on St. Patrick’s Day once so there’s a lot of playing history.
Pete Garrett lived there for many years, and I have a lot of friends and now my new-found birth siblings are there.
3. What are you most excited about your return to Canberra?
I really like Smith’s Alternative as a venue. The owners seem obsessed with pianos, which suits me as they have a few there that will work for this album debut. It’s a place that’s popular with the locals too, and it’s the first show of the Everything’s Gonna Be Fine tour so it will be fresh.
Hamish is going to join me on drums, and we’ve been rehearsing a lot to get our story straight.
Apart from the record, we’ll play some Midnight Oil music, play some covers, improvise a bit and take the odd request.
4. What was going through your mind as Resist: The Final Tour concluded on 3 October 2022 at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney knowing that could potentially be the last time Midnight Oil may play together? How did you all celebrate afterwards?
It was sad of course, but there was also a sense of relief that this beautiful thing ended when it was at its white-hot peak. To go beyond that is the usual story and I would never judge a band that continued on because playing music keeps you alive spiritually and probably financially, but for us, there was no choice really.
We had some champagne in the fridge to drink afterwards but somehow Prime Minister Anthony Albanese got it instead – so we stole it back.
5. What have you enjoyed the most about pursuing a solo career after playing alongside a band for so many decades?
Well, I started in 2005 when Pete went into politics, so I have had a lot of practice doing it. I’ve done many projects in that time, but for me, actually playing ‘solo’ gives a sense of freedom to change the songs around every night, extemporise on the fly and get a chance to stretch out in a different way with the songs, change keys or expand them really.
I feel a deep sense of ownership of some of the Midnight Oil material that gives me the confidence to perform them in my own way, as well as doing my other material.
I like playing in Australia in December for some reason, so watch this space every year.
6. When not playing music, what are you doing in your downtime?
Life with my partner Christabel and with the grandchildren is a great new chapter.
I wrote a book called The Silver River which came out in February and has done really well. I do enjoy writing a lot and would like to do more.
I also own a recording studio in Sydney called Oceanic which I built in 2008, and other people use it, from Sarah Blasko, Lime Cordiale, Cold Chisel, The Middle Kids and The Living End all the way to jazz recordings. It’s fun to run and it’s like a clubhouse.
I use it myself when there’s downtime.
A life in music: it’s busy a lot of the time and I like to keep it creative that way.
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