There are two RocKwiz-associated events coming up that draw on this deeper level of the show’s place in the world; RocKwiz Goes Mental, and Brian Nankervis and members of the RocKwiz Orchestra presenting Dr. John’s classic Gris-Gris album & New Orleans ‘60s Classics Live. With the former, all proceeds will go towards world-leading youth mental health research led by 2010 Australian of the Year, Professor Patrick McGorry AO.
“This is a cause that we all feel pretty strongly about for all the obvious reasons,” Nankervis says. “We’ve had friends and colleagues and sons and daughters who have either suffered a mental health issue or could… We did a show for Orygen last year and it was really wonderful.
“The statistics are horrendous,” Nankervis continues. “One in four young people will suffer some sort of anxiety or mental health issue, and if they’re not addressed – and they often aren’t – it just gets worse. I suppose in a way, in the rock’n’roll industry, there’s probably a little bit of self-medication that goes on. We all lost a very good friend, Paul Hester, a number of years ago, and I think probably there were a few issues that ‘Hessie’ was struggling with for a while and he just couldn’t get on top of them. You’d like to think that if there’d been some sort of intervention at an early age there might have been a different outcome. You don’t know, but we’ve just got to get our young people healthy, or maybe give them the option. That’s what Orygen is all about.”
Ding Dong Lounge is hosting Nankervis and members of the RocKwiz Orchestra for a Sunday residency in October featuring good food and good music (including the band playing Dr. John’s 1969 album Gris-Gris in full). “It’s something right out of left of centre,” Nankervis says. “It’s not the full RocKwiz cast; I have to be very clear about that. It’s Mark Ferrie and Peter Luscombe from the band, and myself – I’m sort of the host. Mark and Pete are at the core but then we’ve got Ross Hannaford, Ray Pereira, Vika and Linda Bull, Bruce Haymes on the keys, and a guy called Garry Gray who used to sing with the Sacred Cowboys, who Mark played with, and he’s sort of playing the Dr. John role. It’s quite theatrical. The night is in two halves. The first half is Gris-Gris, which is pretty trippy, experimental but basically a New Orleans groove, and then the second is more, ‘Let’s push the tables back and dance,’ so lots of New Orleans songs.”
Ross Hannaford is the perfect choice to participate in such an event. The former Daddy Cool guitarist is a walking encyclopaedia of late ‘60s rhythmically-inspired guitar styles, bringing together influences like blues and reggae filtered through his own unique sound. “We’re all massive Ross Hannaford fans, so when this came up we thought when this came up, ‘Let’s get Hanna!’ I used to go see Diana Kiss, which was this outfit that Ross ran, and they played every Monday night at the Espy in the front room for many, many years,” Nankervis says. “There’s no quizzing and they’re guaranteed to be great nights. We’re big on community and getting people together, and we also respect great music. There’s probably a fine line between rock enthusiast and rock snob, and that’s us. Sometimes we fall over into the rock snob line but that’s only because we’re so passionate about good music. And these nights will be incredible.”
BY PETER HODGSON
