Powderfinger 'Will Never Reform'

Powderfinger guitarist Ian Haug promised the band will never “do a Farnesy” and re-form, speaking at his BIGSOUND keynote panel, hosted by Courier-Mail music writer Noel Mengel. The only member of the group who did not want the band to split, Haug believed they should have taken a long break rather than pulling the plug. But he said he was glad they went their separate ways before there was an on-stage fist-fight, and that he has enjoyed his year off.

Responding to an audience question, he said he has booked a gig for his other band, The Predators, for later in 2012 and will be releasing new music from them early next year. He said he had met “a couple of people” at BIGSOUND he was keen to work with.

Haug spoke fondly of his friendship with the late Grant McLennan, which he said was like a “boyfriend relationship without the sex”.

The hour-long panel touched on Powderfinger's poorly received debut album Parables For Wooden Ears, which the band at the time thought was “a great leap forward”. He said there were far too many ideas on the record: “Parables was more an album for musicians than normal people”.

He spoke of how 9/11 stalled the band's progress in the US, and that with their Vulture Street album they were prepared to have another crack at the States. Their long-time producer Nick DiDia believed the album would work on US radio, but “it didn't happen”. “I think we're a better band than shitloads of bands” on US radio, Haug said.

He spoke of a couple of bad experiences following staff changes at their label Universal, mentioning “one particular guy [who] thought These Days was a piece of shit”. The song topped the Triple J Hottest 100 in 1999 and was awarded Song Of The Year at the 2000 Music Critic's Awards.

Haug believes the democratic nature of the band made them more commercial as some of their ideas inevitably became diluted. He said he always found it odd when people said Powderfinger were filling a hole left by Cold Chisel, as he “always thought we were more like Australian Crawl”.

Earlier in the day Sean Sennett hosted a keynote with musician David Bridie. Bridie praised Melbourne artist Eden Mulholland, who showcased last night, saying the singer reminded him of The Durutti Column's Vini Reilly.

Bridie performed a song from his new solo record, admitting he had not yet worked out how to end the tune. He said the record “means the most to me out of all the things I do, and I do a lot of things”.

He also imparted some invaluable advice: “The problem with having a conga player in the band means even the songs that don't need congas end up getting congas”.