To grow up a little boy dreaming of being a rock star is quite normal; all little boys do it. But to eventually grow up and have that become reality is a dream come true. Now imagine you've been doing the rock star thing for a decade and your life is spent traveling, playing music and well, being a rock star. Now imagine you're that same rock star and you're sitting at the fountain behind Vancouver's Art Gallery surrounded by teenagers on skateboards who have no idea who you are, no one does for that matter.

Congratulations. You're now a member of Australia's biggest band Powderfinger. Seller of millions of albums, award winning, and adored through out the world, except here in North America. Now don't get me wrong, the boys in Powderfinger have a very loyal fan base here but if you go to one of their shows you'll notice something about that fan base. They're all from Australia. But this has become life for them. To crack the North American market is a very lucrative achievement. So bands like Powderfinger, who have achieved such success at home, need to make the logical next step. Sitting at the above mentioned fountain, guitarist Darren Middleton explained the transition.

"We've been playing around Australia for 12 years and we've done a few tours over here but when you try and cover as much ground as there is in the states and North America and everywhere else, you've got to play all the club shows and aside from that you've got to get a song on the radio and we've never sort of aimed ourselves at the radio, we've just done what we've done and its always fit into the radio at home and you know we had a song called "My Happiness" [never heard of it] that was played over here a while ago and, yeah it's different, maybe it's a bit like the Tragically Hip over here you know, they're huge but you don't hear of them anywhere else, certainly not Australia."

With the comparison to the Tragically Hip comes the stereotype of Canadiana rock, or in their case Australasian rock which comes with die hard fans singing along with every word where ever you are in the world. Here in North America Powderfinger has a certain reputation that comes along with their shows. A Powderfinger show is one big Aussie reunion. "It's always that way when we first come to a new country, all the Aussies come out of the wood work and they bring some of their friends and it is kind of bizarre for us you know, we find it good but a little bit odd as well... especially when they start chanting, we don't really get behind that Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi sort of chant. But when we come back here five or six times there's more local people who come along."

A little while ago there was a rumour that Powderfinger decided they no longer wanted Aussies at their concert here. That the whole reunion thing was getting a bit too much for them every time they took the stage. Middleton looked a little guilty when I asked him of this. "Well you know, someone else was kind of saying that and it was kind of a knee jerk reaction that was said right after a big Aussie chant so we said, 'Fuck I wish the Aussie's would all stay home.' But when it sort of comes down to it it's not a bad thing to have people there that are excited to see you because it kind of makes the whole vibe in the room good."

Trying to move along and let the awkward moment pass I for some strange reason suggested to him that the whole rumour mill that goes on with Australian bands stems from their country's British background and its obsession with anything that slightly resembles gossip. "Nowhere near to the degree it happens in the UK or in the states." Middleton quickly responded. "I mean people in Australia just don't put stars or people in bands up on huge pedestals and worship them so it's a whole different mind set. People will walk up to you in the street and say g'day and walk off, you know there's not much in the way of stalking and shit like that. Not like here either. Here, I think it's pretty pathetic. I mean when an industry is based on worship and idolizing you have to wonder how much substance exists, especially with the pop music and whole pop industry. It's kind of soulless to a degree."

Then how does a band that's been around for as long as they have keep their souls intact and keep their music fresh? "We'll probably take a bit of time off later on this year but we plan to get back together after. We just need a bit of a holiday, plus we don't do millions and millions of interviews anymore because we've kind of said what we've said. It's different over here though, we have to do interviews over here because people don't know us that well, but at home we don't do that much." As the Tragically Hip know cracking market abroad takes a little more effort than it does to succeed at home. Middleton knows this as well. "You can't really expect people to just to love you based on your past laurels." Powderfinger have lasted for twelve years, not by changing their style or compromising their sound or integrity, but by playing to the fans that love them and staying humble despite their achievements, they also do one very important thing; don't believe their hype. "I try not to read it to often, to tell you the truth. If you get caught into the trap of reading about yourself you go insane."

Elsewhere

By Jack Libby
Photos : Andy Scheffler
Published : April 22, 2004.