Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
What has Peter 'Blackie' Black from The Hard Ons been up to lately? OR Four Decades of Punk Passion
Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians.
How did a kid from a religious family end up in one of Australia's most iconic punk rock bands?
Join us as we sit down with Peter Black, affectionately known as Blackie, from the Hard Ons. Blackie shares his incredible journey from learning the cornet to discovering the rebellious allure of punk rock after seeing the Sex Pistols on TV.
Listen to tales of the early days, the camaraderie formed in high school, and how he juggled his music career with day jobs like personal training and taxi driving. Blackie's story is a testament to the power of pursuing your passion against all odds.
This episode also features an exciting discussion about the Hard Ons' latest projects. We talk about their new album available in unique formats like limited edition colored vinyls, CDs, and cassettes, and hear about their upcoming 40th-anniversary Australian and international tours.
Blackie gives us a sneak peek into "The Most Australian Band Ever," a feature-length documentary celebrating their storied history.
From Blackie's eclectic music tastes to his laid-back tour rider demands, you'll get a comprehensive look at what makes the Hard Ons enduring icons in the rock scene.
Tune in for a chat filled with nostalgia, insights, and the thrilling anticipation of the band's future ventures.
What has Blackie been up to lately? Let's find out!!
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
Visit: ThatRadioChick.com.au
That Radio Cheek Cheryl Lee here. Welcome to the Still Rocking it podcast where we'll have music news, reviews and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians and artists. The Hard Ons are an Australian rock band formed in 82 in Punchbowl, new South Wales. They are still working as hard as ever. See what I did there. We were lucky enough to catch up with Peter Black or Blackie, founding member, guitarist and sometimes reluctant vocalist. Hope you enjoyed the chat with him as much as I did. To catch up on podcasts from other favourite artists, simply go to that radioochickcomau. You're with Cheryl Leith and I'd like to welcome into the Zoom room today from the hard-ons Mr Peter Black or Blackie. Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Always a pleasure. We've got some great news to talk about, some music news and some tour news. But if you don't mind, if we can take a little step back before we go forward. So you're a founding member of the Hard Ons. Just a little bit about you. So you started on guitar, you went to vocals, you're back on guitar.
Speaker 2:I've always been on guitar. I've never been without the guitar. Yeah, I sang, god, I'm really terrible with times. Yeah, for a good chunk of it, also singing. You know, obviously, when I do solo work and with Nunchuck or Superfly, but singing is definitely not a strong point of mine and it was only out of necessity than anything else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, is music in your DNA, peter. Are you from a musical family in your DNA, peter? Are you from a musical family?
Speaker 2:Not really. I'm from a very religious family. I do know that a lot of my uncles and such used to play piano accordion stuff at the church, so I guess it's there. But when I was really young my parents put me into a police youth club and I learned the cornet. So I learned how to read and write music and you know patuk in solo recitals in marching. You know we used to do the Anzac Day March as a brass marching band, yeah. Then I discovered punk rock and threw all that in a bin.
Speaker 1:So when did you realise that music was your passion, your destiny? When did you pick up a guitar?
Speaker 2:I think I was 13 at the time, possibly 12. Look, I've always loved guitar music. At my age 58, when I grew up, music was incredible because, you know, on the radio there was Bowie, deep Purple, acdc you know it was just beginning to end stupendous. There was, you know, even the pop stuff like ELO and stuff like that. I loved it all. But it wasn't until I saw the Sex Pistols on TV in 19 I think was the end of 1979 that I decided I'm getting a guitar and I'm gonna do my best to emulate Steve Jones did you ever have a plan b, like if this music thing hadn't panned out?
Speaker 2:no, no. But I mean, you know I'm from Australia, so you know people think, oh, you know the hard-ons, you know they're successful and you know maybe we are in some, you know, in very underground way, but all of us have day jobs. My plan B is I'm a personal trainer as well. I see I'm a personal trainer and I take a couple of group classes a week at the gym. So yeah, and for a decade I drove a taxi as well.
Speaker 1:So you do what you've got to do, so that you can also do your passion.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 3:You are listening to Still Rocking it. The podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1:We'll have a quick break and listen to some Bowie. I reckon China Girl from Changes Bowie, I'm back to speak to Blackie very shortly. Right back when, how did you likely lads all meet and get together and become the hard-ons?
Speaker 2:I all went to the same school so it was just from that know, just a bunch of infantile grommets yacking together. And yeah, when I did discover punk rock, I foisted my enthusiasm on everyone around me and eventually a few people joined in with me. And you know, also getting an instrument and having a bash just came from there.
Speaker 1:It seems to be a fairly common theme talking to bands and band members that they meet in the schoolyard, sort of thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's very common because you know, they're your formative years in high school, because it was year seven when we started. Yeah, I mean, there's almost nothing about the hard-ons that isn't you know. You know because a lot of people say, oh, you should, you should write. A lot of people say, oh, you should, you should write a book, you should do this, you should do that, and it's like man, I don't know anyone more boring than me. I play music and I read comic books.
Speaker 1:I don't really do much else it is sort of in the schoolyard where we often find our tribe, isn't it? We find our like-minded comrades yeah, I think also.
Speaker 2:You know, as you said, it's very common, but it's also common to meet. You know a lot of lifelong friends in high school as well.
Speaker 1:So yeah, that's right. Just for the uninitiated, peter, how would you describe the hard-ons genre or type of music?
Speaker 2:like most Aussies, we don't really like to call ourselves punk rock. You know we're just a rock and roll band, but I do think we're very pop influenced as well. There's a lot of pop in our music especially the new one oh, that's.
Speaker 2:That's insanely twee. Yeah, yeah, I know we. We've never shied away from that at all, you know, from day one. We've always. You know, when people say guilty pleasure, I don't have any, I like something or I don't like something. You know, if I say to someone, oh I think that band is really good and they're like a bit of guilty pleasure, it's like what am I guilty of? The only thing you could ever say guilty pleasure, like say, if I liked something, I know let's not get into it I was gonna going to be mean, that's not my style.
Speaker 1:Not Taylor Swift.
Speaker 2:My nieces will kill me if I said anything about Taylor Swift. And you know what? I don't know her music enough to even make a comment, let alone like that fucking idiot Trump did, which is just beyond stupid.
Speaker 1:Let's move to the current, shall we? You've got a new front man, Tim Rogers from UMI. How long has he been playing with you guys?
Speaker 2:This is the third album with him.
Speaker 1:Yes, he's not the work experience kid anymore.
Speaker 2:No, and our drummer's been with us, I think, for God, maybe six albums, if not more. You know I'd have to sit down and look at shit. You know you said before let's look back first. I never do, it's just not something. That's in my DNA actually. Yeah, and he always says I'm the forever new guy, you know, even though he's been with us for over 10 years.
Speaker 1:Exactly, I just got back from seeing Tim at Mundy Mundy oh fantastic, yeah. Always love seeing him perform Still rocking the podcast with that radio chick, Cheryl Lee. Before we come back and speak again to Peter Black or Blackie from the Hard Ons, let's have another one from one of those early influences Deep Purple, Black Knight, Black Knight, Black Knight. Everybody probably knows this, but me. Where did the name come from?
Speaker 2:Remember when I said when we were little, infantile grommets it came from back then and you know being from a boys' school as well, so being absolutely petrified of women. You know, being from a boys' school as well, so being absolutely petrified of women, you know. You just sort of think God, what's the most punk rock name out there?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know we had a whole bunch of names, like you know Psychotic Pineapples, the Plebs, the Dead Rats, and in the end, you know, we just sort of came up with hard-ons as the most offensive, I guess.
Speaker 1:Well, it grabs attention, doesn't it?
Speaker 2:I guess it does. And yeah, it's just a little bit weird that 40 years later it's like what's your band called the Hard-Ons.
Speaker 1:Did you ever think of changing it, or no way?
Speaker 2:Almost from day one. It was too late. You know, for some reason I guess we came. The style of music that we played seemed to resonate quite well when we first started. You know it just seems silly to change it when you know people identified us. You know, I hope it's. You know now. You know people don't hard ons. You know it's more, it's just a name. You know, it's just something you say like. You know when. I think you know, if I want to go play a butthole surfers record, I don't think butthole surfers, you know, I just think it's just a name that I identify some pretty amazing records with.
Speaker 1:So I hope people do the same so you're not thinking like a naughty little school boy anymore.
Speaker 2:We're all grown up no, and you know obviously the other thing. You know, we really love music. We just wanted to play like I always thought I was going to play forever, but I didn't think. Obviously we weren't aiming for any commercial success or anything like that.
Speaker 1:You know, it's not something that entered our minds, so well, you've sold over a quarter of a million albums congratulations. And just released a ride to the station, a ripper second single from the new album, which is called I like you a lot, getting older. What does that mean?
Speaker 2:that is actually the names of two songs put together that start, side one and side two. Uh-huh again, that was ray's idea. I quite like it. It just I guess. And also you know the getting older bit and you know the cover that he drew for the album is like a reverse time, like our first 12 inch record was Smell my Finger and I had a granny on front holding up a finger. And now our new album, 40 years later, is the same woman, but in reverse. She's now like a young lady very clever.
Speaker 1:I didn't realize that he'd done the artwork you've got.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah pretty talented bunch there, not just musically yeah, he's done all the artwork from day one. Occasionally we have, you know he likes letting some of his friends help out occasionally, just for something different. But yeah, raise our resident artist that's handy.
Speaker 1:Keep him then.
Speaker 2:Keep him a bit longer well, he is my brother, so imagine if you're I suppose you've got to.
Speaker 1:Then who's the oldest?
Speaker 2:he is by a year and a month or so so he's your big brother, you'll have to keep him exactly the first single buzz, buzz.
Speaker 1:I'll quote you on this one. Oh boy, this one it's twee. I could feel the guy's giggle as I was showing it to him. You said and thankfully they let you pester him enough, because you do love your bubblegum pop and you reckon it's everybody's favourite. I think you're right. I think it is going to be a favourite.
Speaker 2:Fingers crossed, let's see what happens.
Speaker 3:You are listening to Still Rocking it. The podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1:Okay, let's have some Hard On's music. The single Buzz Buzz Buzz from I Like you A Lot, getting Older and back to speak to Blackie after this Made a wish on a falling star. Getting older and back to speak to Blackie after this. You write a lot of the songs. Where do you get the inspiration for a song from?
Speaker 2:I don't know. That's like one of those great questions that's never really easy to answer because it's like, as I said before, obsessed with music and I've always wanted to learn as much as I can about songwriting. You know, I always have and I always keep my mind open to let ideas and inspirations drop in there. So, yeah, with that particular song, hey Tay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, look, I don't know, it's way too hard to explain. Sometimes you get a fragment of a melody and a line drop into your head and if it gets your attention, you sort of sit up and go, oh fucking hell, something's happening. And then you're, you're hammered. I hammered on my dictaphone and then I come back to it the next day see if I still get above, and if I do, then I start working on it.
Speaker 1:That's how that happened do the other guys in the band write as well? Uh?
Speaker 2:yeah, well, tim contributes a lot. There's a lot of co-writes with Tim. Yeah, ray's written quite a few beauties as well, so yeah so everybody's pulling their weight then everyone always pulls their weight.
Speaker 2:and you know the other thing, yeah, if, even though I'm, I guess, the the major songwriter, you have to have a good band to make your songs sound decent, you know I can sit here all day long and go blah, blah, blah. Yeah, this is great. But you know it takes a great bunch of guys that you connect with on a musical level to make you know what in here should sound good, sound even better.
Speaker 1:Well, it's good that you took your little twee song to them and they created magic from it exactly and backed you in. I Like you A Lot. Getting Older is out early next month. Available now, though, for pre-order. Third album with the current line-up, and it's on vinyl. We do like a little bit of vinyl. This vinyl's actually quite special. Whose idea was it to go with the clear vinyl, with orange smoke or blue smoke or pink smoke?
Speaker 2:That's not something I ever think about, like I love vinyl and I couldn't give a shit if it was green, purple, black, but I guess a lot of people do these days. I mean, I just bought a motorhead record that I didn't even know when I opened it was on silver swirl. I barely even glanced. It's like oh yeah, whatever. And then you know, just put it on and played it. But I know a lot of people do like that sort of thing. You'll have to ask them that question. I kind of don't get it to me in my mind whether I'm right or wrong. Black still seems to sound better I'll test that theory out.
Speaker 1:It is actually also available on black vinyl and cd and digital formats, also on cassette tape yes 100 cassettes, so a very limited edition 100 pink smoke vinyls, 100 blue and 100 orange. So the punters, if you do like a little bit of colored vinyl, like as a collector, you better get in quick. There's also 250 limited edition green. The color just adds a little bit of something special to me, over and above the music. I like to own my music. I like to read the covers.
Speaker 2:Trust me, I'm the same. I've been buying records since I was, you know, 10 years old and, yeah, I love everything about it, even the smell of them. So, yeah, you don't have to tell me, yeah, they're beautiful things.
Speaker 1:Still rocking the podcast with that radio chick, cheryl lee. We might have another one of those earlier influences, akadaka, given the dog a bone from back in black from 1980 and then back to speak to blackie. Shortly you are announcing a 40th anniversary austral Australian tour on top of the album and also a 40th anniversary you of Poon Tour, so you boys are going to be pretty busy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally. That's why it's a hectic this week, because I leave Wednesday week and, yeah, I want to catch up with family and put the house in order, obviously with my job, you know, give my clients workouts to do while I'm away and, yeah, make sure everything's up and ready there is a feature-length documentary as well, called the most Australian band ever.
Speaker 1:Hey, where can we get the album? Should we go? Is there a website we should go to?
Speaker 2:and also for the tour dates as well oh yeah, well, I guess you know you could like go to our official page on uh social media. Obviously, cheer squad records have their site. I know we also do mail order with citadel records. Citadel mail order, yeah, anywhere. Just type in I want to buy a bloody hard-ons record and I'm sure you'll find a way to us.
Speaker 1:Just Google it.
Speaker 2:Totally.
Speaker 1:Do get onto the website and see when the hard-ons are coming to a town near you. For us here in Adelaide, pop this in your diary Saturday, the 9th of November, at the Froth and Freery Hearts Mill at Port Adelaide. So get onto it, don't be slack. Get on and get onto it. Don't be slack. Get on and get your tickets, don't leave it till the last minute. I also wanted to ask you, peter, do you have like a non-negotiable on your rider, something you've got to have in the green room?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:Pretty easygoing.
Speaker 2:Extremely easygoing, although I'm not going to say no. If you put some vegan dark chocolate there either, I'm not going to say no so what is on your playlist at the moment?
Speaker 1:it's like if you're driving in your car or in your shower or working out. What do you like to listen to when you're all by yourself?
Speaker 2:oh, it's, it veers from anything and everything. Okay, in the last week in the car I've played a mixtape that I made myself of the band. Yes, I also played a mixed cd of see how I say tape because I yeah, I'm that age, I still say mixtape of um us garage. I also brought a early 70s I've been up for it for ages early folk, psychedelic folk band called the Let me get it. They call themselves Time Peace, but they come out of a phenomenal Australian 60s punk band called the Black Diamonds, who one of the greatest songs ever written called I Want I Need I, written called I Want I Need I Love. I Want I Need you, God. I can't remember the name, even though I just said it's the greatest song ever. But yeah, that was when they became more folky. So, getting into that, as I said, I also played Motorhead and I also played another sort of like a post-punk African thing called African Head Charge. I've been obsessed with that for a couple of weeks as well.
Speaker 1:So quite eclectic really.
Speaker 2:Yeah, as I said before, I love good music. There's heaps of good. I like more than I dislike. Let's put it that way.
Speaker 1:After 40 years. I guess the word retirement not in your vocabulary.
Speaker 2:No, not yet. I've still got a bit of hearing left. My fingers still seem to work. I personally, anyway, think my ideas are still good. So, yeah, I'm gonna keep going as long as I can you mentioned your children.
Speaker 1:Are any of them musical? Are they following in the family business?
Speaker 2:family business not the right word for being in a band. Well, my son, yeah, he plays drums. He hasn't jammed in a while because he he became a electrician, really dived hard into his work and, uh, it went crazy. I mean, unlike his father, he already owns his, he already owns his home, which is like bloody hell. How'd that happen? Wow, yeah, and I did see my niece, my youngest niece, perform at sydneytown hall two weeks ago playing violin in an orchestra lovely so yeah, the answer to that question yes you are listening to still rocking it the podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1:Well, blackie mentioned Motorhead and he's listening to them at the moment. Let's have their Hellraiser. And then back to say farewell to Peter Black from the Hardons Hellraiser, as I said, the full-length feature documentary, the most Australia Band Ever. How did that all come about? When's that coming out?
Speaker 2:The first screening is going to be God, I'm going to be jet lagged because the day I land from Europe I get a little bit of sleep and then I've got to go to the Q&A. But it's going to be October. The 16th, I think, will be its first airing. That just came about by the gentleman. Jonathan Sequeira approached us and said I'd like to make a documentary on you. He's not the first guy that's asked. We've had a few and it's never eventuated. So normally I roll my eyes and go yeah, whatever, and go on about my business. But Jonathan did make the incredible documentary on Radio Birdman. So I thought, man, this might actually happen. So, yeah, we said yes and yes, and I'll see it when everyone else sees it as well. I haven't seen it yet. So it's his baby and yeah it'll be quite interesting.
Speaker 1:Well, I've heard that it contains quite a lot of sort of historical footage, so it should be great following the growth and the journey of the band from then to now yeah, let's see, I'll see when you see well, I think that's pretty brave actually. So you've just given him can't blanch, you haven't insisted on any.
Speaker 2:You know, you know artistic control no, you know what one thing about our band is. We demand, and we can, at our level, 100% artistic control. You know, and I know how important it is, because whenever you're, whenever you compromise, you come up with shit. It's just inevitable. It just happens. If your music or if your art, I should say, isn't pure, it's not going to be good. So then why would I impose on Jonathan, who's made you know, documentaries before? I want to be like this, I want to be like that. You know, don't film me on that side, you know, get my good side.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that just wouldn't you know. I can't see how that would work. So you know, if he wanted to do it and we said yes, then that's the way it goes.
Speaker 1:Well, that's awesome. You obviously, you know, trust him and trust his process.
Speaker 2:So I'm sure it's going to be great. Let's get the popcorn. As I said before, I think I'm really boring. So how the hell can he fill up a whole docker? Good luck, mate.
Speaker 1:I look forward to seeing that as well. We wish you all the best on the release of the new album, all the best for not just the Australian tour but the European tour, and we'll see you here in Adelaide. I'll see you down the front.
Speaker 2:Awesome, no worries, you come up and say hello.
Speaker 1:Thanks for spending some time with us today. Peter, Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Likewise Thank you.
Speaker 1:Lovely to meet you, ta-ta. See ya Still off in the podcast with that radio chick, cheryl Lee Gonna. Leave you now with the other single from I Like you A Lot Getting Older. Ride To the Station.
Speaker 3:You're with Cheryl Lee, that radio chick. Love you there and back each day Love you there and back.
Speaker 1:Each day You're with Cheryl Lee, that radio chick. Thank you so much for joining me on the Still Rocking it podcast. Hope to catch you again next time. Get out when you can support Aussie music and I'll see you down the front.