'Viva' Lastdrager - Rob Lastdrager Interview ...by Tim Barbon

'Viva' Lastdrager

...by Tim Barbon

Drummer Rob Lastdrager has done it all in music performance: since the 80s he’s been at it in the Oz pub scene playing rock/alternative/country/punk bands, recording and promoting vinyl LPs, radio interviews, European tours, a gig at famed punk venue CBGB’s in New York. Rob Lastdrager plays drums with Melbourne’s surf slack-o-billy trio The Tommys, gets film extra work and become a daddy. He’s honest and speaks his mind to FLY about music and his life in Australia in increasingly perturbed times.

TB: Where did it all begin?
RL: I was brought up in Brisbane, Australia and Amsterdam/Groningen, Holland during the seventies. Two completely different planets in all manner of…popular music bound them together. Luckily for me two older uncles who played drums got together and sorted me out with a beautiful old 4 piece smoky white mother of pearl ‘Coral’ kit. I got home from school on my birthday to find the kit in the centre of the living room and a whole cluster of family listening to my uncles whip those drums into shape. I was frozen with fear, "Go On!", came the chant, so I gave 'em a whack here and there and rushed 'em up to my room and just marveled. At the time I was listening to The Sweet, Blondie, Gary Glitter,Tubular Bells...on it goes, they all had fabulous drummers, drummers with energy. All those drummers taught me, I've always been a feel player, that's what drumming is all about for me.

TB: Do you have any advice for younger musos and bands?
RL: Go and see The Ramones flick End of the Century. It pretty much sums up the reality of playing in a R&R band and the ramifications. Originality, individuality are the hardest ingredients to find and maintain, followed by stamina, self-belief and luck! And don't ever forget it's a business. I think if anyone can create and release original music, not go into debt and retain their integrity/dignity whilst having a good time they've pretty much conquered the R&R concept.

TB: What do you make of the state of punk?
RL: Firstly, there is no state of punk and if there is it's stuck on an old boot in between the sole and an old piece of chewing gum somewhere down the back of some old english bloke’s bedroom cupboard in Reservoir. Melbourne though still has one of the most vibrant live music scenes in the world, no s**t, it rocks, and I think a lot of people under estimate the power and energy that it brings to the city. Friends and bands from overseas freak out over the number of acts, venues etc in the EG, they can check out live music seven nights a week. But punk? It's a tag I don't get. I did, but not anymore.

TB: I have to ask Rob to talk about embarrassments. What is it to Rob and does he have a memorable story?
RL: Strangely I've never felt embarrassed about anything, although on a number of occasions I have felt embarrassed at the behavior of others. (Laughs) Years ago a Fitzroy publican and my band came to an agreement of $200 and a slab of beer for an evening's performance. The evening was a huge success however after much debate we were only paid a slab of beer and told by the bouncers to vacate the premises pronto! I had my drums and cases in the kitchen which I proceeded to fill with about 10 frying pans and assorted utensils. That was the heaviest bass drum I ever had to lug out of a gig.

TB: The Stiff Kittens England and Scotland tour with Irish punk legends The Stiff Little Fingers must have been the highlight of your career. What was the vibe like in the industry then and what are some your recollections?
RL: It was great fun touring with the Fingers around the UK and particularly on their annual St Patrick’s Day gig in Barrowlands, Glasgow 1995.The town was smashed by lunchtime and the show kicked off about 9.00 pm…Sleet, snow and wind and a volatile drunken mass singing, "FINGERS! FINGERS!" greeted us in unison as we walked onto the stage [amongst the, "F**K OFFs"] would have to be one of the most memorable gigs I've played. The Fingers had original member Jake Burns, guitar vocals, and ex Jam bass player Bruce Foxton on bass along with two ring-ins from Belfast. It was a blast to play all those beautiful old English venues like The Forum in London, Mayfair Suite in Newcastle and Rock City in Nottingham to full houses in support of such a class act. We played a lot of gigs on our own all over England before and after the tour and that was a different kettle of fish, tasty and not so tasty.The Industry vibe in the UK then was, as I'm sure it still is, "Business and more business". It was amazing to open up the street press and see 75% of all the R&R acts you've ever heard of playing in London that month...brilliant!

TB: What's the background to The Tommy’s single Chastity Melts?
RL: Not long ago I released a ‘live’ track which was recorded at the Old Bar in Fitzroy on Mini Disc. The track’s sound and production was loose, rough and green...an unpolishable turd if you will, and there lay it's charm to me anyway. I'm really tired of all the same production values etc, guitar sounds, drum sounds, vocal sounds, effects, so it was good fun to put this track out to radio and see where it got played. It's good to know DJs on community radio around the planet have broad musical tastes.

TB: Of all the songs you’ve recorded over the years do you ever wish one of them were a bigger hit?
RL: I've never had anything close to a hit just airplay on Australian television, Rage and MTV Europe, and a good amount of community, college radio action in Australia and the US.

TB: Do you have any releases planned?
RL: The Tommys have contributed a track on a forthcoming Deep Eddy Records Surf Compilation CD "Big Wave Riders" out of Austin,Texas due for release this American summer, and we also have a European release with a split 7 inch single with German surf'n'fuzz meisters Pozor Vlak. I'm always excited about an overseas release.

TB: What do you love doin’?
RL: Changing nappies and bathing my daughter, Caledonia Pearl.

TB:. I have often wondered how many people actually like themselves for who they are? It’s hard to do these days with the saturation of the perfect image, the perfect identity.
RL: The perfect image is a myth and 99% of us come to terms with that during childhood, I think the other 1% figure it out at around 40 years of age. Personally I believe travel, to the milk bar or the pyramids, is what shapes us. Our life experiences give us perspective in an otherwise shallow culture. The easiest person to be is yourself, the hardest is someone you're not, spending all that energy fakin' it.

TB: Has anything really pissed you off lately?
RL: Nah, just the usual..the same ol’ s**t everyone's tired of but… just haven't got around to thinking about…that's it! APATHY. It annoys me no end that Australians love to romanticize this notion that we're all larrikins and piss takers and anti establishment, however the reality is these days we've become the exact opposite…also I was out bid on a Big Muff on eBay last week.

TB: What’s your next move? What's next?
RL: Promoting and pitching artists on my label FryUp Records to predominantly US based record labels and radio stations…next? Hanging out down the beach alot more this summer.

TB: What do you think of the state of the world?
RL: I think it's in pretty good bloody shape.

TB: If the world order is decaying, what is there left to cling to?
RL: The Commonwealth Games. I'm serious!!