Very early on in their career, Hunters and Collectors agreed to operate as a collective, with everything from the drinks rider to the song-writing credits shared equally, and important decisions made by vote of all members. And in the end, tension with the former was solved by the latter, with the group voting in 1998 in favour of disbanding.
Please note that this episode contains strong language.
Listen Now - 04092008 | Download Audio - 04092008
The band is on the road again - they've got to pay for that thirteen tonne PA somehow! That means long boring days of travel with all eight blokes crammed into a Tarago, gigs in the back of beyond, hangovers and greasy fried breakfasts. Today, though, something special happens.
Please note that this episode contains strong language.
Listen Now - 03092008 | Download Audio - 03092008
Hunters and Collectors got together in 1980, and by the late '80s had gained some commercial radio success. That's seen them hitting the road, playing to ever larger audiences across Australia. Today, Mark tells us just how big that can be.
Please note that this episode contains strong language.
Listen Now - 02092008 | Download Audio - 02092008
In 1989, after nine years of hard slog, the band 'broke through' in music industry parlance with the album Ghost Nation. Commercial radio put it on high rotation, and Hunters and Collectors were signed by Atlantic Records for world markets. Part of this deal included supporting Midnight Oil on a three month tour across western Europe, Britain and North America.
Please note that this episode contains strong language plus drug and sexual references.
Listen Now - 01092008 | Download Audio - 01092008
Mark talks about the process of song writing.
Please note that this episode contains strong language.
Listen Now - 29082008 | Download Audio - 29082008
The band has arrived in London with a style of music they describe as 'reggae punk fusion with rock roots and a tinge of New York underground in the guitars' to sign a deal with Virgin Records. But they have strong philosophical and political views on their music and their internal processes, and don't want to compromise them.
Please note that this episode contains strong language.
Listen Now - 28082008 | Download Audio - 28082008
Hunters and Collectors acquires three new band members, who all play instruments not traditionally associated with rock'n'roll but who come to give a distinctive style to the band's music.
Please note that this episode contains strong language.
Listen Now - 27082008 | Download Audio - 27082008
The innards of a hot water cylinder prove 'instrumental' to the band.
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Listen Now - 26082008 | Download Audio - 26082008
Mark continues his account of the early days of Hunters and Collectors.
Please note that this episode contains strong language.
Listen Now - 25082008 | Download Audio - 25082008
Mark Seymour was born into a musical family in country Victoria. They moved to Melbourne when he was young, and it was at the University of Melbourne he met the other musicians with whom he came to form Hunters and Collectors, in 1981. Over the course of the band's life they released nine studio albums, three live ones, and a number of EPs, and played to ever growing audiences both in Australia and overseas. The music continued to evolve throughout the band's eighteen year long career, eventually making the 'crossover' from edgy alternative to commercial radio hits. And all the while, the joys and difficulties of working in a democracy of blokes kept things interesting.
Please note that this episode contains strong language.
Lisa St Aubin de Terán's final train journey in this reading takes her back to England, and there's probably not much doubt that it will prove to be an eventful one.
For copyright reasons this reading is not available as a podcast.
A reflection on train travel in the modern world, the generation gap, and the notion of architecture as vandalism: all part of the tapestry of Lisa's philosophy of life.
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The time is 1987 and, still in Italy, Lisa is searching for a new home for herself and her new love. Exploring slightly further afield than her customary route, her sense of security is, once again, about to be acutely challenged.
For copyright reasons this reading is not available as a podcast.
Lisa is starting to receive public recognition of her writing in her home country of England, but is still at the mercy of a bad case of Italianitis. This is the time of her life when she feels that although it is a period she is spending physically on the rails, she emotionally feels close to going off them.
For copyright reasons this reading is not available as a podcast.
Lisa is embarking on a new life for herself in Italy, leaving two husbands in her wake. She's to find herself in a place where she can truly indulge her passion for travel by train, and after a rocky start will find time for reflection and creativity.
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Having left her first husband in Venezuela, Lisa returns to England and embarks on a new relationship. However, a new son and new interests are overwhelmed by the deteriorating health of her mother, Joanna, and then herself, and her wanderlust returns with a vengeance.
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Lisa, a prolific writer and inveterate wanderer, describes her marriage at the tender age of sixteen, which results in her first lengthy encounter with exotic locations.
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Lisa gives some insight into the less-than-harmonious family circumstances which helped form her desire for escape from her dreary life in Clapham, and her first major train journey - which was to cement her fascination with travelling the rails.
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The most exciting thing in Lisa's life just now is a new school and a brand new uniform, "unworn by any sister".
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Lisa describes her early childhood in London, her somewhat eccentric family, and their enforced move to "the wrong side of the tracks" due to financial pressures. These hard times in some ways led to her restlessness, and the early discovery of a means of escape from the mundane and sad aspects of her young life: the railway.
For copyright reasons this reading is not available as a podcast.
