Dipping A Toe Into Fleetwood Mac Territory

Unlike some of their contemporaries, there's always goodwill and reverence when Died Pretty reconvene.

"Maybe it's because we weren't all that successful back then," jokes Brett Myers, ignoring the ongoing affection and respect for their '90s works such as the classic Doughboy Hollow album.   

Getting a little more serious, Myers accepts the name still holds some sway. "We are lucky we can get back together when we feel like it — or when someone offers something that is going to be fun. If we did play every six months or so, we'd probably just dilute what we were, and what we are."

"It's pretty weird to put a band back together after 20 years, and make a new record."

The main reason for this go-round is joining similarly vintaged and similarly respected Hoodoo Gurus, Sunnyboys, and 'honorary Australians' The Violent Femmes for a series of Day On The Green winery shows — although the guitarist isn't quite how it's happened.

"I honestly don't know how it all came together — but I do know [Gurus leader] Dave Faulkner can be very pro-active about what bands he thinks should be involved — happily, we're one of them." 

Myers actually has a bit of trepidation about playing to audiences on a lawn with picnic hampers and nice bottles of Sauv Blanc. "Perhaps we have reached the point where it's about the comfort of our audience. But maybe I've just never seen us as in this Fleetwood Mac territory." It is a long way from the grimy surrounds of Max's Petersham Inn in 1989, certainly — but Myers can find some positives: "We have kids now. Mine can now come and see what Dad does — or used to do," he laughs.

By way of balance and warm-up, Died Pretty are also doing a couple of their own dates. "We have to do some brushing up," Myers admits. "There is a core of songs people want to hear, but there's a difference between doing 45 minutes 'greatest non-hits' set, and the over an hour we can have on our own — I know something like Desperate Hours is not really the thing for watching the sunset."

Equally, the band doesn't see the need to make it a more permanent arrangement: "It's pretty weird to put a band back together after 20 years, and make a new record — that really doesn't work very often." Both Myers and Died Pretty's other mainstay, the singular presence of singer Ron Peno — "Yes, there's only one Ron," Myers agrees — have current bands. Myers' Joeys Coop have an album about to come out, while Peno alternates between his Superstitions for the rock element, and the Appalachian country of The Darling Downs with Kim Salmon.

"Maybe not becoming the biggest band in the world worked for us," Myers muses. "There's no real disagreements — no one member has ended up with the big car at the expense of everyone else. And doing a run like this for a couple of weeks — we don't even get time to get annoyed with each other."