John Schumann – Redgum : Music Interview
January 2, 2010 by Lisa Dib
Filed under Interviews, Music
The word ‘hero’ gets bandied around a lot. To some, it is a person of strong moral code and ethical fortitude. To others, it is a fireman who rescues a kitty from a tree. To Cameron Frye, it is Ferris Bueller.Regardless, heroism is more than a flight of fancy of fairytales and fables. John Schumann, better known to many as frontman for socio-political folk rock band (a genre of one, as far as this writer can tell) Redgum, is often considered a hero.
Having disbanded in 1990, with Schumann leaving the group in 1986, Redgum remain one of Australia’s most-loved (and, more importantly, respected- another tricky ideal) groups. Even those not familiar with Redgum’s vast and integral output will know the seminal work I Was Only Nineteen (A Walk in the Light Green), famed for its startling imagery of the atrocities of the Vietnam War. But the puppeteer at the end of millions of heartstrings always has something else in the works…
“[I am] sitting in my office, to be perfectly frank, trying to disable something from the Windows mothership on my computer…something’s gone wrong…” Schumann admits. He is currently working with ex-Redgum violinist Hugh McDonald, though he is quiet on the details of said project.”We had a good look at the socio-economic environment and who would be interested in the music we play and the songs we write…we’ve got a number of observations that we’d like to make about the world in which we find ourselves in 2010″.
John Schumann still maintains that fiery passion he use to have in the days of Redgum.
Well, it would be unbecoming to ignore one of the standout contributions of Schumann’s thirty-odd year career; I Was Only Nineteen sat at number one for two weeks, while the album [Caught in the Act; an undeniably brilliant live album if one does say so, and one does) was number one of the albums chart for four months.
"When I wrote it [I Was Only Nineteen], I didn’t really have any idea it would be a legacy or that we’d still be speaking of it now. I didn’t write the song with an understanding and deep sympathy for the plight of the veterans; “there but for the grace of God go I”. [There was] a sense of injustice, but I also understood, and had enough faith in, the Australian people, that they would understand how these people were treated; I was hoping to actually touch that nerve of decency and fair-play that I know is in the Australian people. Programs were put in place and everything, but there was a general understanding of the population that these boys were sent away to fight in an unpopular war…the embracing of it by the nation was a significant one; it was really about Aussies saying sorry to the vets”
In 2005, Aussie hip-hop band The Herd covered the classic; butchery, you may say, but the man behind the music gave his big tick of approval from the get-go. “I’ve had people ask me to do it, or send it up, and, unless it’s serious for the veterans, I refuse. The Herd did their version of Nineteen for a Triple J Like A Version and I didn’t hear it for a while, but they came to Adelaide, tracked me down and wanted to meet me. We went out to dinner. I just love them, they remind me in a lot of ways of Redgum in the early days. It was clear that they were respectful; they went about it in the right way. They’re musicians with a social conscience and a deep understanding of the issues. They brought it into this generation living and breathing, while still keeping respect”
Don’t assume the politically-minded wordsmith has softened in age, either. Schumann is ever the morally just sword-swinger; “War is the ultimate failure of politics, an unspeakable aspect of human nature and history, my very fervent wish is that no human being would raise a weapon to another human being…[it's] never gonna happen, but it’s our own responsibility to ensure our political masters understand that we don’t want wars fought in our name with our young men and women”
“There’s a lot more to the Iraq war than we will ever know about” Schumann continues, his Aussie burr hardening with passion. “[It was] unjustified, a war of American imperialism, a war about resources. While I always oppose Aussies [in the] war of Iraq, I am very able to support the soldiers that the government sends to war. You hear pious BS from [Alexander] Downer and [John] Howard about liberating the Iraqis; where were we in Rwanda and Zimbabwe? Good and moral reasons to protect those people from the evils of their rulers, [but] we don’t do that because there’s no oil under their ground. We let these people get killed and massacred and homes burnt and their lives upended and we sit by and watch that, but if there’s half a barrel of oil under the ground- send in the a cavalry. So many doors have been slammed in my face by the opposition by my willingness to be heard”
“I am as angry” Schumann admits with a laugh. “I am facintated…at the age of fifty-six, I haven’t mellowed all that much. I do have more patience and understanding; when I was younger I could not be dissuaded, but as you get older, the more you understand how slow human tides are, coming in and going out and you have a bit more patience and tolerance”
