TISMIt doesn't matter whether you're a casual listener, a voracious fan, or even a humble journalist who falls into that second category, anyone's relationship with TISM is built upon a solid foundation of difficulty.
Ever since they first appeared on the scene over 40 years ago, TISM's approach to their craft – spanning the creation, release, and performance of music – has been almost designed to baffle, alienate, or simply captivate.
Whether it's releasing a 7" record in a 12" sleeve with all sides glued shut as their debut single in 1986, whether it's dubbing that song Defecate On My Face, or whether it's performing multiple versions of that song alongside multiple versions of the band on stage at Melbourne's PICA in May, TISM have spent decades mesmerising and mystifying in equal measure.
A TISM fan for the vast majority of my life, I've had the chance to interview the group on numerous occasions now.
To say that each time was something of an ordeal is probably putting it lightly. After all, can you say you've really made it as a journalist without being eviscerated by TISM? Even being suitably prepared will never be preparation enough for a tête-à-tête with the group.
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However, between the last time I interviewed TISM (ahead of 2024's Death To Art tour) and now, I had published the first-ever book written about the iconic Melbourne group.
Having academically, respectfully, and loving discussed the creation, impact, and legacy of their 1995 album Machiavelli And The Four Seasons for the 33 ⅓ Oceania series, surely this time, our conversation would be a measured one? Perhaps one which sees the members' musical personae set aside as they eschew any sort of artifice in favour of earnestness and authenticity?
No, even I'm not that naïve.
"Tyler, we read your book," says the acid-tongued Ron as our call connects. "There's nothing about the plane crash, there's nothing about the paternity suit, and there's nothing about the rocket ship. It's people like you that's taking our nation down.
"If you had just done a little bit of research…" he offers. "That book was written before AI, and it still reads like it's AI, Tyler. I mean, I highly doubt AI could have made it any better than it was. It makes as much sense as James Joyce's goddamn Finnegans Wake: 'riverrun, past Eve and Adam's,' that's how it should have started!"
Joyce's lofty bibliography notwithstanding (a far less manageable one than any James Hird could ever produce, many TISM fans would agree), Ron is reluctant to keep up his glowing praise, instead allowing bandmate and fellow TISM co-founder Humphrey B Flaubert to jump in.
"We always like to give feedback," Humphrey offers wryly. "It's important to lean into feedback. I learned that from [controversial South Australian Liberal senator] Alex Antic."
"Seriously though, Tyler, we'd like to congratulate you on the book, which has been extremely successful," Ron adds, continuing his uncharacteristic streak of praise. "It's been a cultural moment, the book on Machiavelli And The Four Seasons. Tyler, how many of these books have you still got stored under your bed?"
That's not really a topic that's pertinent to the conversation, nor is it something worthy of me sheepishly expounding on. What is, however, is the band's recent excursion to the world of high art, whereby they made their debut at the Sydney Opera House.
Fittingly, the group descended upon the Harbour City in April for a two-night affair at the iconic venue, offering fans a full performance of their Machiavelli And The Four Seasons album, alongside B-sides, and lesser-known cuts from their discography.
An unforgettable performance by every possible metric of the band's storied history, TISM's first night at the Opera House was punctuated by the aftermath of their chaotic behaviour at the venue, which notably resulted in a broken seat after band member Les Miserables stood on it during one of his frequent and foolhardy ventures into the audience.
When the metaphorical smoke had cleared and the literal dust had settled, TISM's April 10th performance saw the band hit with a bill for myriad damages.
A spokesperson for the Opera House confirmed to the ABC that "some damage occurred to a number of seats and sections of timber flooring in the Concert Hall," after members of both the group and audience "walked and stood" on seats and armrests in the venue.
An itemised bill was released to the public, outlining damage to non-retracting seats and armchairs, including split veneers, a scratched number plate on the back of a seat, chipped surfaces, an out-of-alignment chair, multiple damaged armrests, stained chairs, backrest cracking, and more.
All told, TISM were hit with a demand for $18,488.80, swiftly announcing their No Mistakes Tour soon after, and fittingly adopting the intentionally-misspelled moniker of TSIM to drive home the irony of the tour's name.
"TSIM would like to strenuously deny responsibility for any damage to the Sydney Opera House after their shows on Friday April 10 and Sunday April 12," the group said in a statement at the time.
"TSIM do not know who is to blame, but we note that on Saturday April 11 Sir Donald Runnicles led the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in a dramatic performance of Mahler’s Sixth Symphony in the Concert Hall, featuring the legendary, pounding 'hammer blows of fate'.
"Enough said."
The outrage surrounding the damage was enough for Opera House chief executive Louise Herron to speak to The Financial Review about the incident, ruminating on TISM's booking, and wondering whether the venue's latest strategy document – titled Everyone's House – has an appropriate title.
“We probably should have realised that this was not the best venue for them to come to,” Herron admitted. “It’s not everyone’s house if you’re wrecking it.”
Herron also pointed to one unreported part of the damage saga was the fact that Opera House have been running "quite low" on the white birch that the seats are made of. "It’s not like we can constantly keep replenishing it,” she added.
But where, then, do TISM's views on the incident fit in? Regrettable incident or badge of honour?
"Well we made the Fin Review, Tyler, and really there's nowhere left for us to go," admits Humphrey, "because that was the reason we got together in the first place."
"I'll just say, Louise Herron, the CEO of Sydney Opera House has really put her finger on the crux of the matter, which was the shortage," Humphrey noted. "And in the interest of replenishing it, I think Louise should go out with a team of bulldozers and raze the rainforest in search of that beautiful white birch. That's what we're hoping she'll do.
"It is hard to get white birch though, Humphrey," Ron points out. "I mean, it doesn't grow on trees, you know?"
"They used a lot of it to whip me at the Catholic school I attended," adds Humphrey. "Instead of turning my buttocks into a bloody mess, they could have given it to the Opera House."
"And you have to start asking, why only white birch?" Ron muses. "We're a multicultural society. I think Louise should start thinking about her cultural blindness.
"We're back to the theme of feedback here, I think. It is interesting that Louise prefers the white birch to the other types of birches that are out there..."
It is indeed interesting to return to the theme of feedback, given our earlier discussion. After all, as TISM took to the Opera House stage on the night of April 10th, Ron himself jumped into the crowd during their rendition of (He'll Never Be An) Ol' Man River.
Moments later, he kicked me in the face with a precision that can only be described as both impressive and suspiciously accurate. The question needs to be asked, then: targeted attack or literary criticism?
"I would take the white birch to your skinny literate bottom at any point, I'm afraid, Tyler," Ron explains. "It wasn't even us that did the damage. It was, of course, as I think people know – and you won't hear this in the mainstream media – the audience after that performance that caused most of the damage.
"We all know what Mahler fans are like, we all know what Sir Donald Runnicles is like. Not only did he create the damage to the Opera House, but – and I said this to Humphrey during the performance – he introduced his oboe too soon in the 174th bar of the third movement.
"It's not something we'd like to publicly release about Sir Donald, but he often introduces his oboe early – especially towards the climax."
"I think that Sir Donald has a reputation for leaning into situations where that's not appropriate," offers Humphrey. "Introduction of the oboe on public transport is just not on."
Ron points out, however, that despite his proclivity for arriving with the oboe sooner than expected when in the heat of the moment, Runnicles was actually an accomplished cricketer, having gone so far as to score 300 runs after lunch while playing grade cricket in South Australia.
Of course, Humphrey also notes that The Don (as he's certainly referred to in operatic circles) was "reputedly part of the Catholic mafia" which famously only allowed Christians to perform the works of Mahler – himself a strong Christian himself with connections to Turning Point.
There's probably no need to fact check any of that, is there?
"I secretly admire him, really," Humphrey says of Runnicles. "People talk about Iggy Pop, but for me, it's The Don. The Don's Raw Power is one of the great albums really in the pantheon of–"
"We do apologise for the seats, goddammit, Tyler," Ron interrupts. "It's a rocking show, and let's face it, the scene wasn't like Dresden at the end of the performance. There was one seat which was broken in half, hands up. Same as your nose, right? Broken at a TISM gig. You're not on your own, and there it is, hands up.
"But the other seats had little minute cracks and if the people that go to classical music concerts went out and did some exercise and didn't put their fat arses on these things, the seats would've been perfectly fine.
"We offered our roadies to gaffer a few of them up, but no," he states. "Oh no, not good enough for the Opera House. What's wrong with a bit of gaffer tape?"
Perhaps, then, this disproportionate bill is the inspiration for TISM's upcoming No Mistakes tour?
After all, a press release promised “a RADICALLY DIFFERENT selection of fan favourites each night” alongside “all the other weird shit that goes on at a TSIM show” as part of an admitted attempt to lure fans to attend every gig “because TSIM wants all your money”.
$18k in the hole, this tour is indeed a great way to recoup some losses, but maybe that's only been the focus since the bill landed on the desk of manager and tour promoter David Williams?
"Our youngest children are still at private schools, all right?" admits Ron. "So that's where the tour comes from, okay? It's not like we're doing this because we love rock and roll. God knows we wouldn't have been at the performance of Mahler's Sixth on the Saturday if we loved rock and roll that much, right?
"So that's where the tour comes from. If David Williams cut down on his coke habit, we'd make that $18,000 bucks back before halftime of the first show."
When TISM played their first gig back in December of 1983, the bluntly-titled 'Get Fucked Concert' was deemed an "artistic and commercial failure" to the point where the band split immediately, and every show since has been a reunion gig.
That's possibly why, when the band went radio silent after playing the Earthcore festival in November 2004, many fans were unsure whether they had actually broken up or not.
Notwithstanding, 2022 brought with it news of their first gigs in 18 years, with TISM playing the Good Things festival, and numerous other secret shows, limited engagements, and one-off affairs following in the years since.
Is it a little bit strange, then, that 2026 is when TISM chose to play their first national tour since 1996. After all, wouldn't it have been more fitting to do so alongside the release of their 2024 album Death To Art? In simple terms, why now? Why are TISM – or TSIM, as the poster says – heading out on the road this year?
"The answer to that question is very buried deep, deep within the subtext of Mahler," Humphrey explains, "and that's why we were there, watching the Don introduce the oboe.
"I suspect actually that Ron and I, in our excitement, broke the seats that evening; it wasn't really TISM. But you know, we're suckers for early introduction of the oboe, and Runnicles' work in the early proto-rap era – with tracks like My Adidas – in his combo Runnicles–D.M.C. can't be ignored.
"That's really what we're thinking when we fail to answer this question."
"And Tyler, you're missing the real story," Ron interjects. "TSIM, the reason we've changed our name – it's Totally Support Immigration Mitigation – is because we've taken a right-wing turn, Tyler. It's time for us to get on board with the orange wave. If it's good enough for Barnaby Joyce, it's good enough for us.
"Who can't trust Barnaby Joyce, Tyler? Well, I'll tell you a few people that can't trust Barnaby Joyce. It's his coalition partners, the leaders of his political party, his wife, and whoever stands in front of him and a pot of gold. So there's a few, but we trust him, Tyler.
"That's why when Barnaby Joyce started shtupping the staffers, we all started shtupping the staffers. He's a sexy man; we weren't as successful as him. TSIM [stands for] Totally Support Immigration Mitigation because we're on with Pauline [Hanson] and the One Nation juggernaut.
"That's the message to our fans," he continues. "When you turn up at the tour, we would like you to wear orange.
"The other important thing about the tour is that Mahler's Sixth Symphony has only got four movements. We've added a couple of movements to it on Barnaby's recommendation. They're bowel movements. Actually, strike that last one, we're not a poo band – not anymore."
TISM (or TSIM, who really knows anymore?) launched their current tour earlier this month, headlining the opening night of the Adelaide Beer & BBQ Festival.
A raucous affair, it was the first of a series of shows that will see the band performing around the country.
Alongside three nights at The Forum in Melbourne in October, two nights at Sydney's Enmore Theatre, and additional single nights in Adelaide and Brisbane, they'll be visiting Perth for the first time since 2004 and Canberra for the first time since 2002.
Additionally, they'll also make their second-ever trek to Darwin, performing at the Darwin Festival in August – their first trip to the Northern Territory since June 1996.
So how will these long-starved fans be dealing with the TISM return? Wide open arms, or a case of mothers, lock up your… opera houses?
"We're going to Orange, of course," Humphrey explains of their plans. "That's not on the tour dates, but we're going there. It is a Mecca for One Nation."
"I don't know if you know, Tyler, but people outside of the cities are the hardest-working, most patriotic people in Australia," explains Ron. "The only people more patriotic than them are people who send their children to private schools, because they're not a drain on the taxpayer by sending them to the state school down the road.
"And also self-funded retirees. They didn't want to be self-funded retirees, as everyone knows. They forced themselves into self-funding their retirements so they wouldn't be a drain on the taxpayer.
"So when we do the Orange Tsunami Wave Tour, this is where we'll be expecting our main support, from people with kids in private schools and self-funded retirees. Because you know why, Tyler? Those people are on stage as well. I think those people can see themselves in us."
Has there ever been a band more dedicated to the working class than TISM? Unlikely. Which is exactly why they also tease some gigs in outer suburban districts that fans… probably shouldn't hold their breath for.
"They're gonna lose money, but the thing is, we're gonna negatively gear those shows," Ron explains. "We're going to offset the losses from their shows to reduce our tax bill on the more successful shows, and it's the socialists in the Albanese government that's stopping us doing that.
"As Angus Taylor says, 'Let's go full speed ahead with coal.' That's Totally Support Immigration Mitigation's new T-shirt design."
"When we play Orange, Pam Bondi will be there," offers Humphrey, before ruminating on proper pronunciations. "I'm not sure, is it Bond-eye or Bond-ie? I think it should be Bond-eye. I like the sort of harsh tone of Bond-eye.
"It's like 'ind-eye''; 'We're an 'ind-eye' [indie] band'. Or Gunsynd, the 'Goond-eye-wind-eye Grey' [Goondiwindi Grey]. But Pam Bondi, she'll be there. I have the 2026 Hot Fascists calendar and she is on there.
"Candace Owens, I've torn that page out, though," he adds. "I feel that Candace is ripping off the Australian public by purporting to tour here and selling tickets and then just not turning up. So that's a bit of a disappointment."
"And Gina Rinehart, we tore that page out," offers Ron. "Not so much 'cause of her views, but, you know…"
Regardless of whether or not TISM's 2026 Hot Fascists calendar is in pristine condition or not, the band's upcoming tour setlist is set to be an interesting one.
They've promised a "radically different" setlist, and given that their self-deprecating song TISM Are Shit received its first proper airing in 22 years at their recent Adelaide show (a brief, drowned-out rendition was offered by one of the band's at their PICA performance in May), it appears that they're already planning on resurrecting some of the classics.
After all, the Sydney Opera House performance saw classics like The Last Soviet Star and Give Up For Australia added into the mix, so maybe it's time to venture even deeper into the archives for something that fits the brief.
Perhaps they can belt out Gerard Manly Hopkins ("the least climatic [sic] song in the history of rock music") for the first time since 1986?
So, in simple terms, what makes for a "radically different" setlist for the band?
"I think the radical difference is in the levels of the white blood cells that signify prostate cancer," Humphrey explains. "Each night, our levels will be higher and higher and that will cause a radically different sound to songs.
"I mean, we're planning to play the same song 20 times. But the audience being, of course, aficionados of TISM, the sort of people who know better than anyone else what TISM wants – and that's, you know, come along and boo us – those people will understand that it's not the same song 20 times.
"Rather, it's performed by a gentleman whose prostate cancer percentage has radically changed."
"The other thing, Humphrey, that we need to mention is that the setlists will be in different fonts every night, radically different fonts," Ron interjects. "We're going to do Times New Roman, we'll do Arial, the setlist in Wingdings is our more jazz-based set. I think you know that I'm looking forward to the Wingdings setlist.
"So we're true to our word, Tyler. Totally Support Immigration Mitigation will be doing a setlist of not just different fonts but different font sizes. We'll bold, we'll italicise, we'll underline – it's the full gamut for us in terms of setlists."
The most effective addition to the TISM setlist, however, won't be font sizes, styles, or anything of that ilk, rather, it will be Caribbean liquor Curaçao. No follow-up questions are asked, but answers are provided nonetheless.
"Our backstage rider is composed 100% of Curaçao," Humphrey explains. "We will be gorging on Curaçao before the show, and this could have really quite startling results. I mean, we could go anywhere as we play Defecate On My Face 20 times because of the high levels of Curaçao.
"That is the sort of thing that you expect from a rock band. It's just crazy, anarchic behaviour and, of course, we will be touring [the island of] Curaçao after these shows.
"Curaçao is the scourge of youth today," he adds. "All those children who are going around attacking nightclubs in Melbourne are high on Curaçao. Their skin colour is changing and they're gradually going gray. That's the effect of too much Curaçao; it turns you into a character from Bizarro World with a sort of slightly grey skin."
The topic of Bizarro World is a fitting one to end on, because, for many nascent fans of TISM, it might be a little bit strange to see a performance from a group who has a large proportion of their fanbase responding to songs with booing.
A fixture of their live sets for some time, and intended to be subversive in the same way that US band Primus embraced the phrase "Primus sucks!" (before later growing tired of it), it's largely something that has grown tiresome by most – perpetuated only by those who feel such behaviour is expected of them as a member of the audience.
Absent from their early shows and only adopted later on, it's a jarring and unnecessary addition to the live spectacle – something the band seemingly agree with from behind their thin veil of sarcasm.
"We think it's fantastic," Humphrey sardonically gushes. "We wish we'd thought of it. It just shows that our fans are one step ahead of us. They really do understand what TISM is about more than we do.
"They pay good money and they deign to support us by booing. It's clearly an intelligent, one-step-ahead-of-TISM way to act, so I fully support it."
"We’re seven pensioners tottering out on stage with high prostate cancer readings, off our arses on Curaçao – it's not like booing's a natural response," Ron adds.
"That's actually the sound of wind evacuating their bottom," offers Humphrey. "It's not actually booing."
As Ron and Humphrey take their leave from the conversation (presumably to go stock up on Curaçao ahead of a lengthy evening spent listening through Mahler's Sixth Symphony), the former promises that more touching feedback on my book will be forthcoming, threatening it's set to be dispensed in the front row of their next show.
Perhaps while they seek out more Curaçao, I should go buy a mouth guard. I'd hate to feel the brunt of their critique after they read this interview.
Tickets to all of TISM’s (or TSIM, even) upcoming tour dates are on sale now.
TSIM – No Mistakes Tour
Saturday, August 22nd – Darwin Festival, Darwin, NT
Wednesday, October 7th – Forum, Melbourne, VIC
Thursday, October 8th – Forum, Melbourne, VIC (Sold Out)
Saturday, October 10th – Forum, Melbourne, VIC
Friday, October 16th – Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide, SA
Saturday, October 17th – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane, QLD
Wednesday, October 21st – Canberra Theatre, Canberra, ACT
Saturday, October 24th – Metro City, Perth, WA
Friday, October 30th – Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Saturday, October 31st – Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
