Back In The Gang

Alongside Down Under and Great Southern Land, GANGgajang's signature song, Sounds Of Then (This Is Australia), will go down as one of the great contemporary alternatives to our national anthem. Mark Callaghan still gets a kick out of it. 

“It's long enough ago that I'm almost as amazed as everybody else – there's enough distance from it, but I'm sort of surprised by it as well,” Callaghan admits. “The other thing is, I love playing. I've always loved the physical aspect of performing; working up a sweat and being in touch with people – that's my favourite thing to do. But by the same token I think it's random; I certainly don't have any tickets on myself. I think that song is terrific and I can say that without any false modesty – it found a great connection with people. There are lots of songs that are really good and they don't connect, so you have to stay humble and realise you got a bit of a lucky break there. I always feel very blessed to have had that tune connect with people but I never take myself too seriously.”

Callaghan fondly regales stories from the band's intriguing history – the many other musical projects of the members, not least Riptides and The Angels, their meteoric rise to fame in Brazil due to soundtracking the cult 1987 surf film, Mad Wax, and appearances at national sporting events. A new chapter begins with their first shows without founding member Chris Bailey.

“We were all very close to Chris – I certainly was – and I still miss him terribly, so it's a weird thing. Chris was really insistent in that he spoke to all of us and said that he wanted us to keep playing, so we're gonna do that. I'm feeling very excited but slightly apprehensive as well. We've got a fabulous bass player who's coming in by the name of Rebecca Johnson, who's an amazing player, so I'm really looking forward to playing with her, but also, I just dunno how it's gonna feel. I played with Chris for 30 years – it's just gonna be strange to turn around and not see him there.”

Though it's sure to be bittersweet, Woodford seems like just the right place for GANGgajang to kick off their thirtieth year.

“I'm looking forward very much so to playing at Woodford; it's always a lovely scene up there and it's such a great thing to do. I think the people that do the Woodford Folk Festival have done an incredible job over the last couple of decades it must be now. We've done it once before, many years ago, and that was terrific, so I'm looking forward to it. When you look at the program [they have everything] from clowns to kids stuff, artists and artisans, workshops – it's just a real happening scene so it's always just great to immerse yourself.”