Blowing the trumpet at Mullum Roots
The last time I saw Reg Mombassa, we were on the Condamine River – he was sketching Ash Grunwald while he surfed the frack bubbling water, as neighbouring farmers fired threats, and a shot or two, over our heads. Ahhh those were the days…
Last week we were in the comfort of our respective lounge rooms chatting about Reg and brother Peter O’Doherty’s band Dog Trumpet in the lead up to their Mullum Roots Festival show in July.
Reg, why are you so loyal to that battered old guitar?
Oh – probably because I can’t be bothered getting another one – haha, no, I actually like it because it suits the way I play – I play a bit of slide guitar and to do that you need a slightly higher action. And, I just like the sound of it, and the feel of it. I play other guitars too sometimes, but it’s just convenient.
When I bought it, it was a sunburst, and we had it sprayed blue, that was 30-odd years ago. So all those years of sweating on it, and wear and tear, left it looking pretty tattered. I should eventually, I suppose, get it resprayed, but I probably won’t get around to it.
Do you see yourself as a muso who does art, or, like Joni Mitchell, are you an artist who does music?
Is that what she says? She’s done a fair bit of music!
Well, I’d have to say, both really, because I started out as an artist when I was a kid – I had piano lessons for three months when I was 12, so I tinkered around on keyboards. I didn’t get an acoustic guitar till I was about 15. I had already been painting since I was about 13. So in a way, I was probably an artist before I was a musician, but it kind of goes backwards and forwards. In the first years of the Mentals [Monbassa was a founding member of Mental As Anything], I’d already had my first big art show, but then once the Mentals got up and running, for the first few years, I didn’t have that many art shows. I’d still be doing art all the time, but not as full on. Later on I started having more regular exhibitions again.
Yeah, do you still think people are ‘Fucking Idiots’ (2022)
Well, some people are. I don’t think everyone is. I mean, that song was kind of written from the point of view of an alien looking at the world and saying, ‘What the fuck are you doing now? You fucking idiot!’ The lines about marching around in stupid uniforms, I’m thinking more of countries that have armies which they use to bully their neighbours or bully their own people with, whereas I don’t think Australia does. Some of the insults in the song are really targeted at certain people or certain countries.
What inspires you – what’s the thing that pushes you forward each day?
Just getting up in the morning. You have to work to make a living, partially, but also, you’re working to deadlines – you’ve got an album coming out, or you’ve got a tour coming up, or you’ve got an art show coming up.
What’s your current ear worm?
I’ve been listening to some Karen Dalton songs, she was really a great, great singer. She wasn’t hugely well known. She recorded a few albums in the sort of mid- to late-‘60s, and then I think maybe in the early ‘70s. She didn’t have a great deal of success. But a lot of a lot of musicians cite her as an influence. She was an interesting woman.
What’s great about coming to the Mullum Roots Festival?
I like that part of the world. I like the country around there. I’ve done quite a few drawings and paintings of the country up around the coast, and then into the hinterland.
Do you think it’s important for small towns to have festivals?
Yeah, I think it is. The good thing about any sort of festival is that it’s good for a small town, just to bring people in and provide a bit of activity for the local businesses. I like playing at festivals because you’ve pretty much got a guaranteed audience and you get to see other bands that are on the bill – you run into other musicians, that’s about the only time you really do.
Do you want to live forever?
Are you referring to our song? Yeah. It’s a cloak. It’s kind of an ambiguous lyric, really, because it says, ‘Would you want to live forever?’ And I probably wouldn’t want to live forever if my body and mind stayed sound, and the world hasn’t turned into some sort of horrid, apocalyptic, dystopian, fascist kind of meritocracy nightmare, which is what people like Elon Musk’s would seem to like.
Are you having enough fun?
I’m still enjoying playing. We’ve got a bit of a break now until our album comes out, then we’ll be getting around a bit. I really still enjoy playing live. I don’t so much enjoy the traveling and lugging amps and stuff around anymore, but I certainly enjoy, and I enjoyed songwriting and recording as well.
Mullum Roost Festival is on the weekend of July 12 and 13.
To find out more visit mullumrootsfest.com.
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