Garrett to play music from solo album

Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett will rock into Geraldton next month to perform songs from his first solo album.

The 63-year-old will be pushing his new release, A Version of Now, with his band The Alter Egos when he kicks off a national tour of intimate shows.

These gigs are the first time Garrett has played small venues since Midnight Oil’s gritty pub-rock era.

“Getting up close and physical is what live performance is all about,” Garrett said.

“Being back on stage and playing these new songs will be a blast.”

As the singer, songwriter, and former politician says, the upcoming solo release is a particularly personal project and one which initially happened by accident.

“As I was finishing my memoir, melodies and lines kept dropping into my head and, big surprise, I ended up writing a few songs,” he said.

“Once these tunes were out in the sunlight I decided I might as well jump into a studio and record what I had, along with a few other bits and pieces I’d always liked.”

In true Garrett style the nine songs on A Version of Now are an uncompromisingly direct set of tunes.

They were tracked over just a few weeks last January at Rancom Street studios in Botany with Canadian-born musician and acclaimed producer Burke Reid (Courtney Barnett, The Drones, Sarah Blasko).

Mixing happened at Harry Vanda’s Hercules Studios shortly thereafter, making for a raw collection of frank and fearless songs.

“I wanted to capture my version of now,” he said.

“The songs are reflections of turbulent decades on the rack, and the people and things that meant the most to me.”

The core band involved in making the album was Martin Rotsey (Midnight Oil) on guitar with Pete Luscombe (RockWiz, Paul Kelly) on drums and Mark Wilson (Jet) on bass.

Heather Shannon (The Jezabels) and Jamie Hutchings (Bluebottle Kiss) joined in too, as did all three of Peter’s daughters — Emily, May and Grace — who sang and played on some of the tracks.

Peter Garrett and The Alter Egos play Queens Park Theatre on Saturday, July 23.

Peter Garrett and The Alter Egos

Saturday, July 23

Queens Park Theatre