Radio Birdman: The Eyes Have It.

Radio Birdman play the Arena on Saturday.

Radio Birdman have left such an indelible mark on the rock and roll landscape it’s difficult to paraphrase their historical relevance. The short version finds guitarist Deniz Tek and vocalist Rob Younger hitting it off in Sydney back in 1974. A couple of evolutionary line up changes found them joined by keyboardist Pip Hoyle, drummer Ron Keeley, bassist Warwick Jones and guitarist Chris Masuak. Never a band to take it easy, Birdman’s live performances became the stuff of legend, screaming down that fine line between total brilliance and total disaster. Their on stage fireworks resulted in the incendiary Radio’s Appear album in 1977 and it’s follow up Living Eyes before the band imploded following a tour of the UK in 1979.

The band did get back together for a series of gigs in the mid nineties, resulting in the Ritualism live album, and now is your chance to catch them once more. A quarter century since the release of Radio’s Appear seems as good a reason to get back together as any…

“That sounds like a good excuse,” Chris laughs. “That’s along time, isn’t it? We’re a bit perplexed by how we actually get together to do these things, because it’s a logistical nightmare. I think it more comes from the Sub Pop release at the beginning of the year in the States, the Essential Radio Birdman, a compilation of the first two releases. That was enough for our manager to convince us we should be playing, and after a year of emails from him we kind of succumbed to the pressure.”

“We’re kind of like a big dysfunctional family. We resist getting together, but when we actually do it, it’s great. It’s always been a bit of a campaign to get going, and I think it just appeals to our sense of the ridiculous.”

Do you find it unusual that people are still interested in the band, and that people are still discovering Radio Birdman for the first time?

“I don’t know how I feel about it. Every musician, at some level, wants to be remembered for their music, and here we are being remembered for our music, so I guess we’ve made somewhat of a mark. I don’t quite understand it, but we’re very honoured and very pleased that people still like us. It’s good that things can stand the test of time, but it makes it hard because when we do play, we have to play really hard, and we’re getting’ on… It’s peculiar, but at some level it appeals to our little egos.”

Radio’s Appear and Living Eyes are being re-released to coincide with the tour, are these new remasters?

“Certain record companies have had the catalogue at different times, and we’ve got control of our own tapes, finally. It’s always been with various companies that have had their own selfish reasons for having it, but it’s had little to do with us. Now we have it again, and there’s some interest so it’s being released, but there’s more info and booklets. It’s not just here we go again kind of stuff. We trying to give people more this time around. The records have been deleted until now. I generally find it fascinating that it keeps going.”

“Music is very different now. Attitudes are different; it’s a new generation. Let’s face it; if you liked your parent’s music when you were a teenager, you’d be a very odd person indeed. That’s what’s happening. People who are our kid’s age are listening to our music. It’s kind of jarring.”

Do you think Birdman was really a product of its time?

“Birdman was like an alchemical formula. All the members could have done something, but not with the same impact of everyone together. We all had different influences, attitudes, and it all came together in a big happy accident. It was a product of its time certainly, because at the time there were bands like Hush and Sherbet that were just Count Down fodder. We changed the way music was presented and perceived. Now people go to a gig because it’s a good place to hang out. When we started, there was nowhere to play, so we took the gig with us. Wherever we went, our fans went, and that became the event. Australia has a great rock heritage, but that had sort of gone by the wayside since bands like The Aztecs. We were helping open up the vista, so to speak. It was a product of the times certainly, but a happy accident at the same time.”

The chemistry the band had together also made the Birdman situation quite volatile…

“When you talk about alchemy, it’s all these disparate elements in a crucible being heated to intolerable levels. And most people in that situation just have to get out. They just fracture and explode. Birdman was like that reaction. It was inevitable that it was going to bugger up. And it did. We screwed up fantastically. I always think there’s that residual friction about us. When we get back together it’s always uncomfortable at first, then we just click again. Until someone gets drunk and throws up on the carpet,” he jokes.

“Birdman was a very honest band. Things were recorded pretty much live with the odd overdub here and there. We were playing hard at the time, and we always played that way. We just did what we did. The past has just kind of overtaken us.”