Powderfinger - Sunsets tour

As Powderfinger’s last ever tour begins, their frontman offers some candid reflections on his 21 years in Australia’s biggest band. By Andrew P Street.

Do you feel like there's any extra pressure with this final tour?
I suppose there's a little bit but it just feels really exciting, actually. We've been rehearsing for a couple of weeks, going through old songs. There's a lot more people coming to see us on this tour than ever before and so we've got to kind of step up. Everyone's pretty excited.

Seems almost a shame to be calling it quits, then.
Well, I think that's the way to do it though, isn't it? Do your best stuff when you're about to finish instead of just kind of laming out on everyone.

So the band saw [2009's] Golden Rule as a good album to go out on?
Yeah, absolutely. We all agreed that it was up there with the strongest work we've done, if not the best. I think every album you make takes a couple of years to digest so maybe next year we'll start thinking that Golden Rule is a piece of shit, but I don't think so.

Actually, the band seemed pretty burnt out after [2007's] Dream Days at the Hotel Existence.
Well, I don't think it worked out the way everyone had planned with that record. There was a bit of tension in the group... [pause] I think the roles in the band changed a bit and that took a bit of getting used to.

Was that tension because of the huge success of [Fanning's 2005 solo album] Tea and Sympathy?
Yeah, that had something to do with it. [Sighs] I think there was a deliberate effort to steer away from songs that came from me [for Dream Days], and I think that was probably a mistake because we didn't end up with our strongest material. It's frustrating to have songs sitting there that have the potential to be really good but just don't get worked on just out of principle. It's not a very adult way to approach things.

So how did the conversation to call time on the band happen?
In the middle of last year Cogs [drummer Jon Coghill] was saying "What does everyone want to do?" and I suppose in my mind I had decided I didn't want to keep making records. I mean, there was the option to be a band that plays our old music but that didn't really appeal to most of us. Haugy [guitarist Ian Haug] was pretty keen to keep going; he just wanted us to have an extended break.

And that wasn't an option?
No. Powderfinger's been a machine for a long time and you're beholden to that because there's five of us in the band and you've got to work around everybody. And now that there are eight kids between us and just lots of different things in our lives, I was just ready to move onto other things and I think pretty much everyone is. That's in context with having made Golden Rule and our being happy with it, though: I certainly wouldn't have been happy going out on Dream Days. There're a couple of really great songs on that record, but it's not our best album.

So are you jumping straight back into the solo career?
I'm going to take a little bit of time off, a couple of months at least. Then I'm going to go overseas next year, then start writing a record for myself and just see what happens.

There's been some pressure on you to consider politics....
Yeah, and no: that's really not on the dance card. Given the way the political system is here I don't think I'd be very interested in that. I also don't have the conviction or the self-belief to do it either; you know, to be able to lie to someone's face.

So you don't aspire to do a Peter Garrett?
I still think there's a big future for Peter somewhere: I just don't think it's right now. I mean I wish there were more people like him in the political scene, but I think he's probably found that he's had to make a lot of compromises.

Well, if you found working around five people was frustrating, then working around an entire party...
That's right mate! That's a pretty good reason not to do it. I mean, once people join a political party they're bound by things they don't necessary like and to a small extent that's one of the many reasons why I think Powderfinger thought it was time to pull up stumps. We are all starting to have different ideas about what we want out of the band and what kind of things we were prepared to say yes to.

So I'm assuming you mean there's climate change denial going on within the band, fundamental differences over fiscal policy...
Yeah, exactly! You know, there are some rampant capitalists in the band and a couple of reds just coming out from under the bed. [Laughs] But good luck to the politicians out there. It would be great if they come up with some ideas that kind of make the country better, instead of just fucking rehashing the same old shit about asylum seekers...

Powderfinger Sunsets Tour Sydney Entertainment Centre, 18–19 Sep; Acer Arena, Sat 6 Nov