Peter Garrett: ‘I’m a serious political artist who loves his country, mourns apathy and the running down of a beautiful world’
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23.01.2025

Peter Garrett: ‘I’m a serious political artist who loves his country, mourns apathy and the running down of a beautiful world’

Peter Garrett
Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos are performing at St Kilda Festival for free on February 16.
Words by Andrew Handley

As one of Australia’s most prolific musicians, it may be surprising that Peter Garrett only had one solo album before The True North.

Fronting Midnight Oil, one of Australia’s most beloved and important bands, since the early ’70s no doubt kept Peter Garrett busy. On top of his environmentalism, activism and former, near decade-long political career. 

Released last year, The True North continues Garrett’s impassioned activism while demonstrating deeper personal reflection. His love for Australia remains, too. “I was guided by love and the land – the Milky Way illuminating the breathing country, which is still very powerful north of the Tropic of Capricorn,” he answers in a typically poetic fashion. 

Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos at St Kilda Festival

  • Stage: Main Stage
  • Time: 1:45 pm
  • Festival Day: Sunday 16 Feb

Keep up with the latest music news, features, festivals, interviews and reviews here.

 

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Coming eight years after his solo debut, A Version of Now, the timing was right for another album. “The Oils had come off a major world tour and were going into hibernation,” recalls Garrett. “I was still quivering, had things to say with a few songs lying around, and more waiting to be written.”

Compared to the stripped-back compositions on A Version of Now, The True North has a richer, more complex sound. The songwriting is daring, too. On the seven-minute opus Innocence Parts 1 & 2, the thumping Oils-like track nimbly shifts to evocative spoken word. 

With his band, The Alter Egos, the inclusion of cello and pedal steel further the album’s depth. “Following different sound paths means things are less predictable, and the music stays fresh,” postures Garrett. “Diversity is at the centre of healthy experience wherever you live, whatever you’re doing.”

On the album, Garrett continues his almost half-century collaboration with Midnight Oil guitarist Martin Rotsey. “Martin and I don’t have to speak much in the studio, which must make it a bit mysterious to everyone else,” he says. “But with good musicians, you find the sweet spot and grab the moment.” 

Rounding out the core band is Heather Shannon on keys and piano, Evan Mannell on drums and Rowan Lane on bass. “Everyone who played brought something special to the record,” praises Garrett. “We’re not trying to accumulate likes, just heading deeper into the music and words.”  

St Kilda Festival 2025 Lineup

  • Troy Cassar-Daley
  • Jem Cassar-Daley
  • Charlie Needs Braces
  • Kiwat Kennell
  • Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos
  • Cub Sport
  • Young Franco
  • Sycco
  • Sarah Blasko
  • Thatboykwame
  • Painters and Dockers
  • Phantastic Ferniture
  • Private Function
  • The Vovos
  • Playlunch
  • Velvet Trip
  • Allysha Joy
  • + plenty more!

 

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Also contributing are two of Garrett’s daughters, May and Grace, as backup vocalists. “It’s precious, plus the blood connection means you don’t have to explain,” he says of sharing the studio and stage with them. “We probably couldn’t have done it back in the day. They are solid musicians in their own right now, and have their own band, so it worked out better than I could have hoped.”

Garrett says he finds writing solo material liberating. “You don’t have to please four other people, just yourself,” he explains. “Sometimes the songs might not reach their potential, so it’s harder without the Oils collaboration which was a great resource. You can’t rely on others to make it work; you have to do that yourself.”

On the True North, the track Meltdown is a fiery call to action to address the climate crisis. Despite looming disaster, Garrett remains hopeful. “I’m an optimist by nature and a pragmatist in daily life,” he says. “We know what can be done when people unite in a common cause for change for the better. Despite some unresolved wrongs – what a brilliant country we have in Australia.”

Meltdown also references “right-wing clowns” – a foe Garrett went up against throughout his political career. “We have to organise and be active, deal with the gaping sores in our own backyard,” he poses. “Not pontificate, but be compassionate and face down envy, fear, aggression and exclusivity. The right have nothing to offer us other than toxic radioactivity, in all meaning of those words.”

Garrett is as reflective as ever on the album closer Everybody. Sombrely, he sings, “I find myself asking, ‘Could I have done more?… Should I have done more?’” Discussing the lyrics, he references his now 71 years of age. “I’ve reached the point where every second counts because I’m well over halfway,” he says. “I feel as strongly about issues – climate, Indigenous, artistic freedom – and [the need to be] involved as I ever have.”

“I’m only too aware of what should, and can, be done when we forego self-satisfaction for the common good. [It] might sound ridiculous or lofty, but [it] is the stuff of progress,” he continues. “I’m a serious political artist who loves his country, mourns apathy and the running down of a beautiful world. But I believe in the limitless capacity for positive change that humans still possess.”

Having toured The True North nationally upon its release last year, Garrett is excited to return to the stage, describing it as “a place of fun and wild abandon.” He says the free and all-ages St Kilda Festival perfectly fits the band. “When we first came to Melbourne back in the day, St Kilda was our second home, and the pizzas we had for breakfast tasted fine.” 

St Kilda Festival’s free 2025 festival features First Peoples First on February 15 and Big Festival Sunday on February 16. For more information, head here. 

This article was made in partnership with City of Port Phillip.