Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians
When Australian music royalty speaks, we listen. Drummer Lindy Morrison joins us for a captivating conversation that spans her remarkable five-decade journey through music, activism, and community service.
From her unexpected introduction to drumming in a Brisbane share house alongside future Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush to her pivotal role in iconic indie band The Go-Betweens, Lindy's story is one of serendipity and dedication. "I was very lucky," she reflects on finding that first drum kit, which led to her joining the Go-Betweens in 1980 after a string of previous drummers. The band would go on to create Australian classics like "Cattle and Cane" and "Streets of Your Town," both recognized among Australia's greatest songs.
Beyond the drum kit, Lindy's contributions to music run deep. With a background in social work, she spent 25 years helping develop Support Act, Australia's music industry charity that provides crisis relief to music professionals experiencing hardship. Her community work extended to organizing music events across Australia and working with an intellectually disabled band for over two decades. These contributions earned her the Order of Australia Medal in 2013 and numerous industry accolades.
Now, at a stage when most would rest on their laurels, Lindy is embarking on perhaps her most personal musical journey yet. With the Snarky Circus Lindy Band, she's recording her own compositions for the first time. Their debut album "What's Said and What's Left Unsaid" features co-written songs with Rob Snarsky that showcase her songwriting talents with titles as intriguing as "Since I Slept With You, Everybody Wants to Sleep With Me."
Subscribe to hear more conversations with iconic Australian musicians who continue to shape our cultural landscape. Support local music and catch Lindy's new band on tour – her journey from the backbeat to the spotlight is not to be missed.
What has The Go-Betweens Lindy Morrison been up to lately? Let's find out!
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
Visit: ThatRadioChick.com.au
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Cheryl Lee (00:00):
That Radio Chick, cheryl Lee, here.
Welcome to the Still Rockin ItPodcast where we'll have music
news, reviews and interviewswith some of our favourite
Australian musicians and artists.
Today I spoke with one of themost amazing women I think I've
ever chatted to.
I must confess to being alittle bit starstruck, a little
(00:20):
bit tongue-tied.
This lady is absolutely amazing, not just in music but in every
other aspect of her life, andshe has put back into the
community and not just themusical community her entire
life.
I'm talking about theGo-Betweens drummer, Lindy
(00:40):
Morrison, and we're chattingtoday about her latest band
snarky circus lindy band, andher songwriting collaboration
with Rob Snarky of the Blackeyed susans.
After two lovingly receivedmini albums, everybody's
favorite indie all-star ensembleis set to release its debut
(01:03):
album.
Let's find out everything thatthis amazing woman is up to.
To catch up on podcasts fromother favourite artists, simply
go to thatradiochick.
com.
au.
You're with Cheryl Lee thatRadio Chick and I'd like to
welcome into the Zoom room todaylegendary Lindy Morrison.
(01:24):
It is so lovely to meet you,lindy.
Thank you for spending sometime with us today.
Thank you, cheryl.
Thanks, I'm exhausted.
I've read through your body ofwork and everything that you've
done and everything that you'veachieved in your wonderful life
and I need a nap-a-nap.
Lindy Morrison (01:41):
I'm pretty old.
I'm not young, so I've had thecapacity to do a lot, a lot more
than most people, because I'mone of the oldest seniors now in
the music industry.
Cheryl Lee (01:52):
Well, you sure have done a lot and still doing a lot
.
We've got some exciting newthings to talk about, but I was
hoping we could just step back atiny little bit first before we
go forward, because I waswondering why drumming At that
time?
I can't imagine it being likeon the top of the list of
instruments for young girls toplay.
Lindy Morrison (02:13):
I wasn't a young girl so I'd already left school
because, you know, a young girlwouldn't have moved on to a
drum kit at that stage notunless they're very familiar
with Karen Carpenter.
But I was in a share house as ayoung adult and in that share
house were people like GeoffreyRush and another actor called
Billy Brown and a whole bunch ofmusicians and there was a music
(02:34):
room.
In that music room was a drumkit and I moved to the drum kit.
So I was very lucky.
Then I started taking lessonsfrom the Leblers in Brisbane,
which are, you know, everybodywho played drums in Brisbane
worked with the Leblers.
And then, of course, I was inan all-girl punk band called
Zero and then moved from thatinto the Go-Betweens by 1980.
(02:57):
Lucky, you moved into that housethen.
Yeah, it was really great.
It was such a great so that was73 and 74 that I moved into
that house and it was just themost creative house.
You know people were putting onshows in the house all the time
.
There was always music beingplayed.
You know we really had a really, really great time.
Cheryl Lee (03:17):
How did it come about that you were lucky enough
, because that could have setyou on the whole path of your
career.
Lindy Morrison (03:25):
Well, I was just at university and I was acting
in university reviews, like thearchitecture review, you know,
they were just silly satiricalpieces and I met people there,
people who were creative.
They invited me to go and stayin that house.
So that's how it happened andof course, everybody was in
those large share houses inBrisbane in the early 70s.
Cheryl Lee (03:48):
And also it was social work.
Lindy Morrison (03:50):
I did a Bachelor of Social Work at the
University of Queensland andthen worked for two years in the
Aboriginal and Islander LegalService.
Well, in fact, one year in theAboriginal and Islander Legal
Service and another year withthe Department of Children's
Services, just dealing withIndigenous families.
Then I left social work anddidn't take it up again, really
till I got involved with SupportAct.
Cheryl Lee (04:12):
And we'll chat about that as well, because I loved
it.
When I read about that, I wantto know all about it.
I was wondering perhaps you mayhave come from a musical family
and that's how you no no, no,not at all.
Lindy Morrison (04:24):
I did not come from a musical family.
Cheryl Lee (04:26):
My family was not musical Well, it must have been
meant to be that you met theright people in the house, and
the rest is history.
Lindy Morrison (04:34):
It was very lucky because I then travelled
to London with Geoffrey and hewent to the De Crewe Mime School
.
Over in Paris, billy Brown wentto the Royal Shakespeare
Company.
I had all sorts of differentjobs, including being the nanny
to Sir George Schulte in Italy,his children and he was a very
famous conductor.
(04:55):
So I had some very interestingexperiences.
Cheryl Lee (04:59):
How diverse, how exciting.
More amazing stuff about you.
Lindy, the Go-Betweens,performed in 77.
You joined in 80.
Lindy Morrison (05:10):
There was a number of drummers before me.
I think someone might havecounted them up.
There might have been abouteight drummers before me, but
most of them only did one or twogigs.
There were a couple of onesthat stayed for a while, a guy
called Tim and Bruce Anton.
Yeah, I was the lucky one too,because I was really committed
when I joined the Go-Betweens.
I wanted to stay with theGo-Betweens.
(05:30):
Yeah, you know, I really,really loved their music, I
loved their attitude and I lovedbeing in the band.
Also, we were leaving Brisbaneand that, to me, was a very
important part of the story,guys that came before you.
Cheryl Lee (05:44):
Were they all male?
Any other drummers?
Lindy Morrison (05:46):
No, there was two women, oh wow.
There was one called Lisa andthere was one called Claire.
Both of them did one gig eachyeah, is that like the interview
?
Cheryl Lee (05:56):
and they failed the interview.
Lindy Morrison (05:58):
I think that they might have rejected the men
.
Cheryl Lee (06:01):
Oh righto, yeah, yeah, well, it's lucky.
I think it must have been likedestiny they were waiting for
you.
Lindy Morrison (06:10):
Well, they were definitely looking for a woman
drummer and I suppose I was themost visual in town.
I certainly covered a lot ofterritory.
You know, I was playing in thegirl punk band called Zero and I
had been acting before that intwo theatre companies called the
Popular Theatre Troupe and Gridand Tonic.
(06:31):
They were kind of politicaltheatre companies but I'd made a
decision to move andconcentrate on playing.
Cheryl Lee (06:38):
Yeah, and as I said earlier, the body of work over
all these years is so immense wehaven't got time to talk about
them all, so we might just picka couple of things.
In 2001, cattle and Cane, whichis arguably one of the most
popular of the band's works, wasselected by APRA in the top 30
(06:59):
Australian songs of all time.
So that's a big tick from thepeers.
Lindy Morrison (07:05):
Yes, and it made I think it was like it made the
second hundred of the Triple Jtop 200.
Cheryl Lee (07:13):
Yeah.
Lindy Morrison (07:14):
And Streets of your Town made the top hundred.
I was really pleased thatCatelyn Cain made the second 200
because I thought that thesongs that made the top 100 all
had very high production values.
You know.
So the alternate indie, kind ofsound like Cattle and Cane,
which is very alternate indie,was never going to cut it Like
the Triffids' Wide Open Road,didn't?
(07:34):
None of the Saints made it in.
You know those kind of actsbecause you know their
production values weren't asgood.
You know, obviously productionvalues have changed now with the
kind of quantising of all theinstruments so that they're all
in metronomic time.
Cheryl Lee (07:49):
Yeah, Speaking of streets of your town.
A great song, you know, it'slasted the test of time.
Lindy Morrison (07:56):
Yes, perhaps that's one of the very good
points about it.
Cheryl Lee (08:01):
You have got one daughter.
Is she following you into yourmusical journey or is she off on
a different trajectory?
Lindy Morrison (08:08):
No, no, she's a completely different trajectory
altogether.
In fact, she's the Director ofFundraising for the Federal
Labour Party.
Probably can't get muchdifferent.
Well, you know, I worked withSupport Act to develop Support
Act and worked with Support Actpart-time, I must admit for like
25 years and that was when Iwas raising her.
(08:28):
So I suspect that she saw a lotof the work I was doing and the
value in fundraising forSupport Act so that Support Act
could help people who worked inthe music industry.
Cheryl Lee (08:41):
Absolutely so.
She was like a chip off the oldblock.
She absorbed it via osmosis.
Lindy Morrison (08:47):
Yeah, I think that she absorbed it, that's
right.
Cheryl Lee (08:49):
Let's talk about your journey with Support Act,
because you and I bothdefinitely agree it is, you know
, an absolutely amazing charityFor those that don't know.
It helps artists not justartists, but sound guys,
lighting technicians, roadies,everybody in the music industry
who falls on hard times.
Lindy Morrison (09:09):
Yeah, yeah, so it provides help in the payment
of bills.
So if people are having troublepaying their bills then they
can apply to Support Act.
If they've worked in theindustry in some capacity, A
supporter will pay your bills upto a certain amount per year.
Maybe it just depends on thesituation now.
(09:29):
Yeah, and how did you getinvolved?
I was on the PPCA board.
Ppca is the Collection Societyfor the fees paid for the use of
the sound recording.
It's like the opera of thesound recording I had, like the
APRA of the sound recording.
I had been elected onto thatboard to represent artists, and
the other people on the boardare the major record companies
and independent record companies.
(09:50):
Now they had all got togetherwith APRA to set up Support Act
and they knew I had a socialwork degree.
So they asked would I work forthree hours a week, which I did
for about 10 years?
Would I work for three hours aweek, which I did for about 10
years?
Work for about three hours aweek before it was extended to
maybe 12 hours a week?
It was very hard work getting asupport act established.
Cheryl Lee (10:11):
I take my hat off to you.
We do a fundraising luncheononce a month, so 12 luncheons a
year, and send all our moneyover and know that you guys will
, you know, appropriate it tothose that need it.
Lindy Morrison (10:25):
Yeah it's so great that you do that.
Yes, now I retired from SupportAct after COVID.
Cheryl Lee (10:31):
Yeah.
Lindy Morrison (10:32):
You know it was time to move on.
I'd been there for a very longtime.
Cheryl Lee (10:35):
On behalf of all the not just, as I say, the artists
, but all the workers in themusic industry for all those
years of hard work anddedication to that cause.
I thank you on all of theirbehalf.
You deserve a gold watch and amedal.
Thanks.
Lindy Morrison (10:50):
Thank you so much.
Yeah, I really wanted to getback into music.
I got a gig with Alex theAstronaut and I was working with
her for a year.
I was her first drummer.
Of course, she's now got ayoung band and then Rob Snarsky
came and asked me to join withhim, and it was when I was with
Alex.
I was going I just want to getback into music.
(11:11):
Now my daughter's left, I don'tneed to be looking after her.
So I joined what Rob called theSnarsky Circus Lindy Band and
I've been on the road with themfor the last four years.
Yeah, we've actually played inAdelaide a number of times.
We love playing Adelaide and,in particular, we really love
playing at the Wee Chief.
Cheryl Lee (11:32):
Yeah, great little venue isn't it?
Lindy Morrison (11:34):
It's the best venue.
It's honestly the best venue.
I love it.
Yes, we're playing there onSunday, the 19th of October.
So the great thing about it isyou can do afternoon gigs, so
we're doing two shows in theafternoon.
That's what I really love, likepeople can come and sit and eat
food from those vans that parkoutside and sit in a kind of
(11:55):
it's almost an open courtyard.
It's a lovely place to play.
Cheryl Lee (11:58):
We've got some good little spots in Adelaide,
haven't we?
And that's definitely one ofthem.
We'll get on to the brand newmusic and we're going to play
before we run out of time in aminute.
I just wanted to touch on acouple of your achievements,
which again is many and vast andlong list, but you were awarded
the Order of Australia Medal in2013 for services as both a
(12:23):
performer and an advocate.
Congratulations on that, thankyou.
Thanks very much.
The Ted Albert Award forOutstanding Services to Music
again well-deserved.
And the Queensland LifetimeAchievement Award the list goes
on and on and on.
Lindy, you've been such anamazing part of the Australian
music landscape and you'vecreated songs that became the
(12:46):
soundtrack to our lives.
Lindy Morrison (12:48):
I think some of those awards were also given
because whilst I was workingwith Support Acton, I was also
running community music eventsall the time.
They were all over Australia.
In fact I did one down atBeachport which was fabulous.
I had to organise all theprimary schools to march in a
parade.
It was a really big job.
(13:09):
But I did lots of work likethat.
And in particular I worked withan internationally disabled
band called the Junction HouseBand and we did theatre.
We did many recordings and wedid theatre.
We did many recordings the samepeople for like 25 years, yeah.
And there was a lot of otherwork I did in places like Mackay
, knockhampton, mount Isa,fremantle you know where I
(13:32):
worked with communities todevelop shows or to develop drum
pageants.
Cheryl Lee (13:37):
That's what I mean.
Your achievements and yourinput has been immense and
almost immeasurable.
We want to talk about the brandnew things as well, because
it's continuing on Snarky CircusLindy Band.
Who made up that name?
It's a bit hard for anannouncer to say very fast, I
know.
Lindy Morrison (13:56):
I didn't, Robert did and frankly, if I'd had, I
was so kind of flattered that heasked me to join the band that
I failed to stand up to him atthe time and say that name is a
little bit of a mouthful, Rob,and also, to be honest, it
should have been Snarsky CircusMorrison Band.
(14:17):
You know that would have beenbetter.
I did bring that up and he said,oh, it didn't have the same
rhythm, but in fact, now I thinkabout it, it does.
But anyway, I didn't have thenows at that stage to stand up
to him.
Of course, you know, as timehas gone on I'm much more
relaxed.
Cheryl Lee (14:37):
I reckon it should be called the Lindy Bams Narsky
Circus.
How about that?
But yes, it is a little bit ofa mouthful.
But when I read this I couldhardly believe it that this is
the first time that you haverecorded your own compositions.
Can that be true?
Lindy Morrison (14:54):
That is true, that's right.
So Rob really encouraged me towrite and of course, you know,
I've been writing on all thosecommunity music programs that
I'd worked on.
But I was always working to getother people to write and also
because I wasn't recording,there seemed for me to be no
point in, you know, writing allthe time.
So when Rob said let's writetogether, let's co-write, I
(15:17):
began to really take itseriously and we worked together
a lot to get you know songstogether just about 10, maybe
nine of them, I think.
There might be one that'stotally his and one that's
totally mine on the album, butmostly they're co-writes.
You always work very welltogether.
Yes, he's a lovely person.
Rob Sarsky's a lovely person,he really is, yeah, and the
(15:40):
band's great.
Shane O'Mara is the producerand he plays guitar, dan Kelly
plays bass and Evil Graham Leeplays pedal steel.
You know we've all been around.
Cheryl Lee (15:52):
Yeah, we're all very experienced musicians.
That is wonderful that you'restarting to write and record
your own compositions as well.
Lindy Morrison (16:02):
You've got one to play, haven't you?
You're so adorable.
Cheryl Lee (16:05):
Yes, that's right.
I'll get you to introduce thatin a minute.
How are we going?
A couple more minutes.
Let's talk about it then, shallwe?
The debut album for the SnarkyCircus Lindy Band, and it's
called what's Said and what'sLeft Unsaid.
I must say the names of thesongs and the names of the
albums.
They're all so quirky andinteresting.
(16:26):
There's no sort of like genericlove songs in there.
Lindy Morrison (16:31):
That's true.
Cheryl Lee (16:32):
Probably because we're older, you can get away
with it Like on the side B,since I slept with you,
everybody wants to sleep with me.
Yeah, I wrote that.
Lindy Morrison (16:43):
That's amazing.
I wrote that.
Cheryl Lee (16:46):
We'll play that as well, but we'll go out with your
so Adorable and what's theother one that I liked?
I don't think I'll ever sleepwith you again.
Lindy Morrison (16:56):
That one is completely Rob, I think.
I don't think I'll writeanything on that one, yeah.
Cheryl Lee (17:02):
It's fantastic that you have had such a long career.
What would you have done, Linda, if this whole music thing
hadn't worked out for you?
Would you have stayed in thehealth sector?
Did you have another plan B?
Lindy Morrison (17:15):
No, I've always had a great capacity to live in
the present.
I think that served me well.
I didn't worry about the future.
Of course, as soon as you havea child, things change, so I
suppose I even then, though Imean I made sure I was always
working.
That's why I moved into SupportAct and into community music
and obviously I couldn't be onthe road.
(17:37):
I think I've had a capacity tothink a lot in the present and
that's served me very, very well.
Cheryl Lee (17:45):
We'll extend to you an open invitation, lindy, if
ever you are in Adelaide on thethird Thursday of every month,
because that's when we have ourSupport.
So, fundraising luncheon you'rewelcome to join us at the
committee table anytime, I'dlove that.
Lindy Morrison (18:03):
I would actually love that.
That would be so fun.
Cheryl Lee (18:06):
Okay.
Lindy Morrison (18:09):
Very pinpoint time though, isn't it?
I know I'd have to be lucky toland there at that time, but
it's a good idea.
Cheryl Lee (18:16):
It works out sometimes.
Recently we had Brian Caddluckily up here at Trinity
Sessions at the same time as ourlunch, and gee, I'm so glad we
had him, because shortly afterhe became quite unwell and is
still hovering.
He's a lovely man, isn't he?
Yes, he is, so you would havebeen fairly reasonably involved
(18:38):
with him earlier on in theSupport Act story.
Lindy Morrison (18:41):
Yes, because he was involved.
Yeah, I mean he was on theboard, I think, and the board
was a hand's length from mereally, because I was a worker.
You know, in the way thosethings are.
Cheryl Lee (18:53):
Yeah, that's right.
The new album has launchesbooked for Adelaide and
Melbourne and more dates to come.
As you mentioned our date herein Adelaide, get onto the Google
on it it's on October the 19th.
You've got two shows to choosefrom at the Wheatie at
Featherton.
Get onto that.
(19:13):
And if you're a Victorian,yours is on Saturday, the 25th
at Memo Music Hall.
Get onto the website and getthose booked.
Was there anything else thatyou would like to touch on,
Lindy, before we go?
Lindy Morrison (19:28):
No, it's been lovely to meet you, Cheryl, and
really, really lovely.
It's been a lovely interview.
Cheryl Lee (19:35):
I've loved chatting with you and I've loved doing a
little bit of research andfinding out more about your
amazing life and career andachievements.
It's been great and I reallyhope that one day we can catch
up at a Support Act lunch.
And in the meantime, would youlike to introduce side A track
(19:56):
one from the new album?
Lindy Morrison (19:58):
All right.
So you're going to listen to asong that I wrote with Rob.
I wrote the lyrics to this andthe melody, but not to the
middle bit.
He wrote the lyrics and themelody to the middle bit, but I
wrote the verses.
It's what you'd call a Liz song.
It's called You're so Adorableand it's featuring a young woman
singer called Lily.
Cheryl Lee (20:19):
Alaska, beautiful.
So also get onto theGoogleometer and you can
pre-order what's said and what'sleft unsaid.
Thanks, cheryl.
I know you've got someone elsecoming on after me, so I really
appreciate you spending sometime in the Zoom room with me.
I'm going to be in the US whenyou're in Adelaide, all right?
Lindy Morrison (20:38):
Oh, what a shame I was going to bring that up.
What a shame, but going to theUS would be fabulous.
Cheryl Lee (20:42):
Hubby and I are taking our five kids on our sort
of you know trip of a lifetime.
You've got five kids, yeah,five kids.
Five kids, yeah, five kids.
No kidding.
Lindy Morrison (20:53):
No kidding, wow, that's superb.
Cheryl Lee (20:56):
Thank you, good for you.
We will definitely keep intouch and I'll look out for you
next time that you're in ourbeautiful town.
And all the best for thelaunches and the tour and the
album.
All right, see you later.
Thanks very much.
Thank you, bye for now.
You're with Cheryl Lee thatradio chick.
Thank you, bye for now.
You're with Cheryl Lee thatradio chick.
Thank you so much for joiningme on the Still Rocking it
podcast.
Hope to catch you again nexttime.
(21:17):
Get out when you can supportAussie music and I'll see you
down the front.
That Radio Chick, cheryl Lee, here.
Welcome to the Still Rockin ItPodcast where we'll have music
news, reviews and interviewswith some of our favourite
Australian musicians and artists.
Today I spoke with one of themost amazing women I think I've
ever chatted to.
I must confess to being alittle bit starstruck, a little
(00:20):
bit tongue-tied.
This lady is absolutely amazing, not just in music but in every
other aspect of her life, andshe has put back into the
community and not just themusical community her entire
life.
I'm talking about theGo-Betweens drummer, Lindy
(00:40):
Morrison, and we're chattingtoday about her latest band
snarky circus lindy band, andher songwriting collaboration
with Rob Snarky of the Blackeyed susans.
After two lovingly receivedmini albums, everybody's
favorite indie all-star ensembleis set to release its debut
(01:03):
album.
Let's find out everything thatthis amazing woman is up to.
To catch up on podcasts fromother favourite artists, simply
go to thatradiochick.
com.
au.
You're with Cheryl Lee thatRadio Chick and I'd like to
welcome into the Zoom room todaylegendary Lindy Morrison.
(01:24):
It is so lovely to meet you,lindy.
Thank you for spending sometime with us today.
Thank you, cheryl.
Thanks, I'm exhausted.
I've read through your body ofwork and everything that you've
done and everything that you'veachieved in your wonderful life
and I need a nap-a-nap.
Lindy Morrison (01:41):
I'm pretty old.
I'm not young, so I've had thecapacity to do a lot, a lot more
than most people, because I'mone of the oldest seniors now in
the music industry.
Cheryl Lee (01:52):
Well, you sure have done a lot and still doing a lot
.
We've got some exciting newthings to talk about, but I was
hoping we could just step back atiny little bit first before we
go forward, because I waswondering why drumming At that
time?
I can't imagine it being likeon the top of the list of
instruments for young girls toplay.
Lindy Morrison (02:13):
I wasn't a young girl so I'd already left school
because, you know, a young girlwouldn't have moved on to a
drum kit at that stage notunless they're very familiar
with Karen Carpenter.
But I was in a share house as ayoung adult and in that share
house were people like GeoffreyRush and another actor called
Billy Brown and a whole bunch ofmusicians and there was a music
(02:34):
room.
In that music room was a drumkit and I moved to the drum kit.
So I was very lucky.
Then I started taking lessonsfrom the Leblers in Brisbane,
which are, you know, everybodywho played drums in Brisbane
worked with the Leblers.
And then, of course, I was inan all-girl punk band called
Zero and then moved from thatinto the Go-Betweens by 1980.
(02:57):
Lucky, you moved into that housethen.
Yeah, it was really great.
It was such a great so that was73 and 74 that I moved into
that house and it was just themost creative house.
You know people were putting onshows in the house all the time
.
There was always music beingplayed.
You know we really had a really, really great time.
Cheryl Lee (03:17):
How did it come about that you were lucky enough
, because that could have setyou on the whole path of your
career.
Lindy Morrison (03:25):
Well, I was just at university and I was acting
in university reviews, like thearchitecture review, you know,
they were just silly satiricalpieces and I met people there,
people who were creative.
They invited me to go and stayin that house.
So that's how it happened andof course, everybody was in
those large share houses inBrisbane in the early 70s.
Cheryl Lee (03:48):
And also it was social work.
Lindy Morrison (03:50):
I did a Bachelor of Social Work at the
University of Queensland andthen worked for two years in the
Aboriginal and Islander LegalService.
Well, in fact, one year in theAboriginal and Islander Legal
Service and another year withthe Department of Children's
Services, just dealing withIndigenous families.
Then I left social work anddidn't take it up again, really
till I got involved with SupportAct.
Cheryl Lee (04:12):
And we'll chat about that as well, because I loved
it.
When I read about that, I wantto know all about it.
I was wondering perhaps you mayhave come from a musical family
and that's how you no no, no,not at all.
Lindy Morrison (04:24):
I did not come from a musical family.
Cheryl Lee (04:26):
My family was not musical Well, it must have been
meant to be that you met theright people in the house, and
the rest is history.
Lindy Morrison (04:34):
It was very lucky because I then travelled
to London with Geoffrey and hewent to the De Crewe Mime School
.
Over in Paris, billy Brown wentto the Royal Shakespeare
Company.
I had all sorts of differentjobs, including being the nanny
to Sir George Schulte in Italy,his children and he was a very
famous conductor.
(04:55):
So I had some very interestingexperiences.
Cheryl Lee (04:59):
How diverse, how exciting.
More amazing stuff about you.
Lindy, the Go-Betweens,performed in 77.
You joined in 80.
Lindy Morrison (05:10):
There was a number of drummers before me.
I think someone might havecounted them up.
There might have been abouteight drummers before me, but
most of them only did one or twogigs.
There were a couple of onesthat stayed for a while, a guy
called Tim and Bruce Anton.
Yeah, I was the lucky one too,because I was really committed
when I joined the Go-Betweens.
I wanted to stay with theGo-Betweens.
(05:30):
Yeah, you know, I really,really loved their music, I
loved their attitude and I lovedbeing in the band.
Also, we were leaving Brisbaneand that, to me, was a very
important part of the story,guys that came before you.
Cheryl Lee (05:44):
Were they all male?
Any other drummers?
Lindy Morrison (05:46):
No, there was two women, oh wow.
There was one called Lisa andthere was one called Claire.
Both of them did one gig eachyeah, is that like the interview
?
Cheryl Lee (05:56):
and they failed the interview.
Lindy Morrison (05:58):
I think that they might have rejected the men
.
Cheryl Lee (06:01):
Oh righto, yeah, yeah, well, it's lucky.
I think it must have been likedestiny they were waiting for
you.
Lindy Morrison (06:10):
Well, they were definitely looking for a woman
drummer and I suppose I was themost visual in town.
I certainly covered a lot ofterritory.
You know, I was playing in thegirl punk band called Zero and I
had been acting before that intwo theatre companies called the
Popular Theatre Troupe and Gridand Tonic.
(06:31):
They were kind of politicaltheatre companies but I'd made a
decision to move andconcentrate on playing.
Cheryl Lee (06:38):
Yeah, and as I said earlier, the body of work over
all these years is so immense wehaven't got time to talk about
them all, so we might just picka couple of things.
In 2001, cattle and Cane, whichis arguably one of the most
popular of the band's works, wasselected by APRA in the top 30
(06:59):
Australian songs of all time.
So that's a big tick from thepeers.
Lindy Morrison (07:05):
Yes, and it made I think it was like it made the
second hundred of the Triple Jtop 200.
Cheryl Lee (07:13):
Yeah.
Lindy Morrison (07:14):
And Streets of your Town made the top hundred.
I was really pleased thatCatelyn Cain made the second 200
because I thought that thesongs that made the top 100 all
had very high production values.
You know.
So the alternate indie, kind ofsound like Cattle and Cane,
which is very alternate indie,was never going to cut it Like
the Triffids' Wide Open Road,didn't?
(07:34):
None of the Saints made it in.
You know those kind of actsbecause you know their
production values weren't asgood.
You know, obviously productionvalues have changed now with the
kind of quantising of all theinstruments so that they're all
in metronomic time.
Cheryl Lee (07:49):
Yeah, Speaking of streets of your town.
A great song, you know, it'slasted the test of time.
Lindy Morrison (07:56):
Yes, perhaps that's one of the very good
points about it.
Cheryl Lee (08:01):
You have got one daughter.
Is she following you into yourmusical journey or is she off on
a different trajectory?
Lindy Morrison (08:08):
No, no, she's a completely different trajectory
altogether.
In fact, she's the Director ofFundraising for the Federal
Labour Party.
Probably can't get muchdifferent.
Well, you know, I worked withSupport Act to develop Support
Act and worked with Support Actpart-time, I must admit for like
25 years and that was when Iwas raising her.
(08:28):
So I suspect that she saw a lotof the work I was doing and the
value in fundraising forSupport Act so that Support Act
could help people who worked inthe music industry.
Cheryl Lee (08:41):
Absolutely so.
She was like a chip off the oldblock.
She absorbed it via osmosis.
Lindy Morrison (08:47):
Yeah, I think that she absorbed it, that's
right.
Cheryl Lee (08:49):
Let's talk about your journey with Support Act,
because you and I bothdefinitely agree it is, you know
, an absolutely amazing charityFor those that don't know.
It helps artists not justartists, but sound guys,
lighting technicians, roadies,everybody in the music industry
who falls on hard times.
Lindy Morrison (09:09):
Yeah, yeah, so it provides help in the payment
of bills.
So if people are having troublepaying their bills then they
can apply to Support Act.
If they've worked in theindustry in some capacity, A
supporter will pay your bills upto a certain amount per year.
Maybe it just depends on thesituation now.
(09:29):
Yeah, and how did you getinvolved?
I was on the PPCA board.
Ppca is the Collection Societyfor the fees paid for the use of
the sound recording.
It's like the opera of thesound recording I had, like the
APRA of the sound recording.
I had been elected onto thatboard to represent artists, and
the other people on the boardare the major record companies
and independent record companies.
(09:50):
Now they had all got togetherwith APRA to set up Support Act
and they knew I had a socialwork degree.
So they asked would I work forthree hours a week, which I did
for about 10 years?
Would I work for three hours aweek, which I did for about 10
years?
Work for about three hours aweek before it was extended to
maybe 12 hours a week?
It was very hard work getting asupport act established.
Cheryl Lee (10:11):
I take my hat off to you.
We do a fundraising luncheononce a month, so 12 luncheons a
year, and send all our moneyover and know that you guys will
, you know, appropriate it tothose that need it.
Lindy Morrison (10:25):
Yeah it's so great that you do that.
Yes, now I retired from SupportAct after COVID.
Cheryl Lee (10:31):
Yeah.
Lindy Morrison (10:32):
You know it was time to move on.
I'd been there for a very longtime.
Cheryl Lee (10:35):
On behalf of all the not just, as I say, the artists
, but all the workers in themusic industry for all those
years of hard work anddedication to that cause.
I thank you on all of theirbehalf.
You deserve a gold watch and amedal.
Thanks.
Lindy Morrison (10:50):
Thank you so much.
Yeah, I really wanted to getback into music.
I got a gig with Alex theAstronaut and I was working with
her for a year.
I was her first drummer.
Of course, she's now got ayoung band and then Rob Snarsky
came and asked me to join withhim, and it was when I was with
Alex.
I was going I just want to getback into music.
(11:11):
Now my daughter's left, I don'tneed to be looking after her.
So I joined what Rob called theSnarsky Circus Lindy Band and
I've been on the road with themfor the last four years.
Yeah, we've actually played inAdelaide a number of times.
We love playing Adelaide and,in particular, we really love
playing at the Wee Chief.
Cheryl Lee (11:32):
Yeah, great little venue isn't it?
Lindy Morrison (11:34):
It's the best venue.
It's honestly the best venue.
I love it.
Yes, we're playing there onSunday, the 19th of October.
So the great thing about it isyou can do afternoon gigs, so
we're doing two shows in theafternoon.
That's what I really love, likepeople can come and sit and eat
food from those vans that parkoutside and sit in a kind of
(11:55):
it's almost an open courtyard.
It's a lovely place to play.
Cheryl Lee (11:58):
We've got some good little spots in Adelaide,
haven't we?
And that's definitely one ofthem.
We'll get on to the brand newmusic and we're going to play
before we run out of time in aminute.
I just wanted to touch on acouple of your achievements,
which again is many and vast andlong list, but you were awarded
the Order of Australia Medal in2013 for services as both a
(12:23):
performer and an advocate.
Congratulations on that, thankyou.
Thanks very much.
The Ted Albert Award forOutstanding Services to Music
again well-deserved.
And the Queensland LifetimeAchievement Award the list goes
on and on and on.
Lindy, you've been such anamazing part of the Australian
music landscape and you'vecreated songs that became the
(12:46):
soundtrack to our lives.
Lindy Morrison (12:48):
I think some of those awards were also given
because whilst I was workingwith Support Acton, I was also
running community music eventsall the time.
They were all over Australia.
In fact I did one down atBeachport which was fabulous.
I had to organise all theprimary schools to march in a
parade.
It was a really big job.
(13:09):
But I did lots of work likethat.
And in particular I worked withan internationally disabled
band called the Junction HouseBand and we did theatre.
We did many recordings and wedid theatre.
We did many recordings the samepeople for like 25 years, yeah.
And there was a lot of otherwork I did in places like Mackay
, knockhampton, mount Isa,fremantle you know where I
(13:32):
worked with communities todevelop shows or to develop drum
pageants.
Cheryl Lee (13:37):
That's what I mean.
Your achievements and yourinput has been immense and
almost immeasurable.
We want to talk about the brandnew things as well, because
it's continuing on Snarky CircusLindy Band.
Who made up that name?
It's a bit hard for anannouncer to say very fast, I
know.
Lindy Morrison (13:56):
I didn't, Robert did and frankly, if I'd had, I
was so kind of flattered that heasked me to join the band that
I failed to stand up to him atthe time and say that name is a
little bit of a mouthful, Rob,and also, to be honest, it
should have been Snarsky CircusMorrison Band.
(14:17):
You know that would have beenbetter.
I did bring that up and he said,oh, it didn't have the same
rhythm, but in fact, now I thinkabout it, it does.
But anyway, I didn't have thenows at that stage to stand up
to him.
Of course, you know, as timehas gone on I'm much more
relaxed.
Cheryl Lee (14:37):
I reckon it should be called the Lindy Bams Narsky
Circus.
How about that?
But yes, it is a little bit ofa mouthful.
But when I read this I couldhardly believe it that this is
the first time that you haverecorded your own compositions.
Can that be true?
Lindy Morrison (14:54):
That is true, that's right.
So Rob really encouraged me towrite and of course, you know,
I've been writing on all thosecommunity music programs that
I'd worked on.
But I was always working to getother people to write and also
because I wasn't recording,there seemed for me to be no
point in, you know, writing allthe time.
So when Rob said let's writetogether, let's co-write, I
(15:17):
began to really take itseriously and we worked together
a lot to get you know songstogether just about 10, maybe
nine of them, I think.
There might be one that'stotally his and one that's
totally mine on the album, butmostly they're co-writes.
You always work very welltogether.
Yes, he's a lovely person.
Rob Sarsky's a lovely person,he really is, yeah, and the
(15:40):
band's great.
Shane O'Mara is the producerand he plays guitar, dan Kelly
plays bass and Evil Graham Leeplays pedal steel.
You know we've all been around.
Cheryl Lee (15:52):
Yeah, we're all very experienced musicians.
That is wonderful that you'restarting to write and record
your own compositions as well.
Lindy Morrison (16:02):
You've got one to play, haven't you?
You're so adorable.
Cheryl Lee (16:05):
Yes, that's right.
I'll get you to introduce thatin a minute.
How are we going?
A couple more minutes.
Let's talk about it then, shallwe?
The debut album for the SnarkyCircus Lindy Band, and it's
called what's Said and what'sLeft Unsaid.
I must say the names of thesongs and the names of the
albums.
They're all so quirky andinteresting.
(16:26):
There's no sort of like genericlove songs in there.
Lindy Morrison (16:31):
That's true.
Cheryl Lee (16:32):
Probably because we're older, you can get away
with it Like on the side B,since I slept with you,
everybody wants to sleep with me.
Yeah, I wrote that.
Lindy Morrison (16:43):
That's amazing.
I wrote that.
Cheryl Lee (16:46):
We'll play that as well, but we'll go out with your
so Adorable and what's theother one that I liked?
I don't think I'll ever sleepwith you again.
Lindy Morrison (16:56):
That one is completely Rob, I think.
I don't think I'll writeanything on that one, yeah.
Cheryl Lee (17:02):
It's fantastic that you have had such a long career.
What would you have done, Linda, if this whole music thing
hadn't worked out for you?
Would you have stayed in thehealth sector?
Did you have another plan B?
Lindy Morrison (17:15):
No, I've always had a great capacity to live in
the present.
I think that served me well.
I didn't worry about the future.
Of course, as soon as you havea child, things change, so I
suppose I even then, though Imean I made sure I was always
working.
That's why I moved into SupportAct and into community music
and obviously I couldn't be onthe road.
(17:37):
I think I've had a capacity tothink a lot in the present and
that's served me very, very well.
Cheryl Lee (17:45):
We'll extend to you an open invitation, lindy, if
ever you are in Adelaide on thethird Thursday of every month,
because that's when we have ourSupport.
So, fundraising luncheon you'rewelcome to join us at the
committee table anytime, I'dlove that.
Lindy Morrison (18:03):
I would actually love that.
That would be so fun.
Cheryl Lee (18:06):
Okay.
Lindy Morrison (18:09):
Very pinpoint time though, isn't it?
I know I'd have to be lucky toland there at that time, but
it's a good idea.
Cheryl Lee (18:16):
It works out sometimes.
Recently we had Brian Caddluckily up here at Trinity
Sessions at the same time as ourlunch, and gee, I'm so glad we
had him, because shortly afterhe became quite unwell and is
still hovering.
He's a lovely man, isn't he?
Yes, he is, so you would havebeen fairly reasonably involved
(18:38):
with him earlier on in theSupport Act story.
Lindy Morrison (18:41):
Yes, because he was involved.
Yeah, I mean he was on theboard, I think, and the board
was a hand's length from mereally, because I was a worker.
You know, in the way thosethings are.
Cheryl Lee (18:53):
Yeah, that's right.
The new album has launchesbooked for Adelaide and
Melbourne and more dates to come.
As you mentioned our date herein Adelaide, get onto the Google
on it it's on October the 19th.
You've got two shows to choosefrom at the Wheatie at
Featherton.
Get onto that.
(19:13):
And if you're a Victorian,yours is on Saturday, the 25th
at Memo Music Hall.
Get onto the website and getthose booked.
Was there anything else thatyou would like to touch on,
Lindy, before we go?
Lindy Morrison (19:28):
No, it's been lovely to meet you, Cheryl, and
really, really lovely.
It's been a lovely interview.
Cheryl Lee (19:35):
I've loved chatting with you and I've loved doing a
little bit of research andfinding out more about your
amazing life and career andachievements.
It's been great and I reallyhope that one day we can catch
up at a Support Act lunch.
And in the meantime, would youlike to introduce side A track
(19:56):
one from the new album?
Lindy Morrison (19:58):
All right.
So you're going to listen to asong that I wrote with Rob.
I wrote the lyrics to this andthe melody, but not to the
middle bit.
He wrote the lyrics and themelody to the middle bit, but I
wrote the verses.
It's what you'd call a Liz song.
It's called You're so Adorableand it's featuring a young woman
singer called Lily.
Cheryl Lee (20:19):
Alaska, beautiful.
So also get onto theGoogleometer and you can
pre-order what's said and what'sleft unsaid.
Thanks, cheryl.
I know you've got someone elsecoming on after me, so I really
appreciate you spending sometime in the Zoom room with me.
I'm going to be in the US whenyou're in Adelaide, all right?
Lindy Morrison (20:38):
Oh, what a shame I was going to bring that up.
What a shame, but going to theUS would be fabulous.
Cheryl Lee (20:42):
Hubby and I are taking our five kids on our sort
of you know trip of a lifetime.
You've got five kids, yeah,five kids.
Five kids, yeah, five kids.
No kidding.
Lindy Morrison (20:53):
No kidding, wow, that's superb.
Cheryl Lee (20:56):
Thank you, good for you.
We will definitely keep intouch and I'll look out for you
next time that you're in ourbeautiful town.
And all the best for thelaunches and the tour and the
album.
All right, see you later.
Thanks very much.
Thank you, bye for now.
You're with Cheryl Lee thatradio chick.
Thank you, bye for now.
You're with Cheryl Lee thatradio chick.
Thank you so much for joiningme on the Still Rocking it
podcast.
Hope to catch you again nexttime.
(21:17):
Get out when you can supportAussie music and I'll see you
down the front.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.