This year marks the 40th anniversary of Goanna’s seminal debut Spirit of Place. Led by the single, Solid Rock, the first commercial song to feature didgeridoo, the album was a massive success and reached four times platinum status, while also raising indigenous affairs to mainstream Australia’s consciousness. To commemorate the landmark album, Goanna have embarked on an extensive tour of the country which includes a performance alongside fellow Aussie icons Midnight Oil at Nikola Estate on Sunday, September 25 and their own headline show at Freo.Social on Monday, September 26. MICHAEL HOLLICK caught up with band leader Shane Howard to find out more.
Was this 40th Anniversary tour something that you had planned for a while?
Not at all, I’m not one to think to hang on to past glories or be stuck in the past. But it was music promoter Brian “BT” Taranto who approached us and he really helped me understand how important a tour like this could be. It’s because he was coming at it as a fan, not just a promoter. When we first got the band together to rehearse in Geelong, BT pulled out this letter that he had written to our fan club when he was a teenager back in the day, and he had our reply to it too. And that to me just indicates what it was all about. It is not us celebrating as much as it us giving back to the people who have supported us along the way.
The album was a real game changer in the raising of indigenous affairs to the Australian public as whole. How did those causes come to be important to you?
It really began to hit home for me when I first started travelling. I planned to get to Sydney and ended up making it all the way to Queensland. And as I travelled, each place I would stay gave me a chance to talk to the local indigenous people. We would share stories and tales, and I began to learn about their culture and their ancestry.
I think I was able to connect to (the plight of First Nations’ people) because growing up in an Irish family we were considered second-class citizens. But also, growing up where I did in the south-west of Victoria, there had been a lot of cross over between those of Irish descent and the First Nations, Gunditjmara, people.
It doesn’t get much bigger than performing at the AFL Grand Final. What were your thoughts when you were asked to be in this year’s half time entertainment?
My first thoughts weren’t actually about the music to be honest. I’m a footy tragic, and am a Richmond fan through and through. It goes all the way back to my grandfather who played for them. So when I was first asked to perform, the Tigers were still in with a sniff of making the Grand Final and so I had the scenario of us and the Tigers both being there on the day. But regardless, it’s going to be a great day and I’m really looking forward to it.
