On Why David McComb's Legacy Is Such A Strong Force

The Triffids ceased being a full-time band in 1989 although they may not have announced it, or even been aware at the time.

There may not have been any new recorded material for the Perth outfit since then, but their legend has continued to grow. Whilst they have not been an ongoing concern for some time (apart from the spectacular one-off gig now and again), the band members carry the honour of being a Triffid with them at all times.

“It is with you the whole time as we are pretty much a family band as much as anything,” says guitarist, Rob McComb of the notion of being in a band despite their rare appearances. “I have known Alsy (MacDonald - drums) since he was a baby, and Jill (Birt – keyboards) and Alsy now have their own family. Graham Lee and Marty Casey were friends before we were all in a band. The other side to the band always being with you is that it keeps cropping up and you keep coming across people whose lives have been affected by the music. It is something that I am always happy to be a part of and to have in my life. I am very grateful for Dave’s (McComb) creative force. There are documentaries floating around and there is even talk of there being a theatre musical.”

David McComb will go down as one of Australia’s most highly regarded songwriters, already being inducted into the ARIA Hall Of Fame. A decade after the Triffids disbanded, McComb passed away as the result of a car accident and the acute rejection of his 1996 heart transplant. The five remaining band members have since taken to the stage sporadically with carefully selected special guest vocalists to celebrate the life of David McComb and the legacy of an adored Australian band. all five remaining members take to the stage with carefully selected special guest vocalists to celebrate the life of David McComb and the legacy of an adored Australian band

“He introduced me to so much music,” says McComb of his younger brother. “He was very learned. I am actually reading some of the art history essays that he was writing shortly before his death. They are really interesting reading. He speaks of the role of black culture in modern music as well as various painters of bygone eras. I often wonder what interesting role he would have had, if he was to have lived longer. He might have replaced Margaret and David on the ABC as a critic.”

Since the idea of the reformation/tribute events, The Triffids have never really wanted to do an extensive run of shows, only playing to remember Dave. Having not played for some years, it was when Rob McComb was back in Perth last year that the talk of doing some shows came up again. Once word got out the offer of the Perth Festival came out of the blue.

“We have no agenda or barrow to push and don’t have to worry about it as a career. It’s great to have so many songs now that evoke certain times and places. It’s good when we get back together to be able to play the songs and there be so much appreciation of Dave’s work.”

“Our principle after the three-hour cast of thousands show last time - which was fantastic and we did enjoy it immensely - was to pare it down a little bit to just the band and one or two other singers. We tried to do that, but there is a few musicians we couldn’t leave out like JP Shilo who does a lot of work with the Blackeyed Susans and Chris Abrahams who played a lot of the piano on most of our records when we were in London. We are doing a rawer show with less emphasis on elaborate performances and guests.” 

Originally published in X-Press Magazine