Lindsay Bjerre was riding the first wave of tripped-out surf music back in the 1970s with his band Tamam Shud. Their timeless tracks contributed to Aussie surf classics such as Evolution, Hot Generation and the seminal Morning of the Earth. The band have evolved over the years, and are now living in Avalon Beach. Bjerre is still as enthused as ever to get on the road and play.
‘I never stopped writing songs, and the boys were always quick to put up their hand and say let’s do it. We got together in 95 and had a hit record, Stay, that got picked up on Triple J. We played a big crowd at the Northern. What happened was I became friends with John Cobbin, who has now joined the band, and he owns Moonlight studios in Brookvale not far from all the heavy surfboard manufacturing.
Over eight years I started putting down a lot of music, so we brought out an album last year called Eight Years of Moonlight.
The band reckoned they haven’t changed. There’s still some weird shit going on in the songs they write.
‘Originally we got back together just to play Eight Years of Moonlight and a few other tracks. We are not a band to go backwards and do old stuff; we did a couple of shows down here, and people come along and ask for old stuff. It’s about 70 or 80 per cent the old stuff. We are here for the people. It’s funny – some of the young people come along and they are in their 20s and they want to hear the old stuff; others are really into the new stuff.’
But when you started out in the 70s and you’re still gigging more than 40 years later, getting a set list that doesn’t go for two weeks is a challenge.
‘We rehearsed the other night and it was two hours… we had to get it down to one and 15. So I thought forget your egos, what you are doing and what you are trying to promote; just entertain, and give them what they want!’ And thats exactly what Tamam Shud will be doing Thursday at the Hotel Great Northern.
