Life As A CHOIRBOY With MARK GABLE

Interview by Kris Peters
One song can tell a dozen stories and stir even more memories, but
there's only so much that can be told in a four-minute
window.
The real stories, the ones that were happening while the public
story was being written, generally remain in the hearts and minds
of only those directly involved - and usually with good
reason.
But now, in an unprecedented move and one which would have possibly
drawn consternation a mere 15 or so years ago, Aussie rock legends
Choirboys are opening the vault of secrecy with a stunning new live
performance combining music and tales.
Forming in 1978, Choirboys rose to prominence on the back of songs
such as Run To Paradise, Boys Will Be Boys and Struggle Town, songs
that reflected their surroundings told in an uncompromising and
honest fashion to great effect.
They remain the honest toilers of the Australian music scene,
traveling far and wide to play a show with their humour intact and
their passion for music unwavering.
So it is fitting that a band like Choirboys have elected to tell
their story through a mixing of live songs and behind the scenes
stories titled Run To Paradise, The Stories Of Australian Rock
& Roll. It is a live-action event unlike any seen before in
this country as told by frontman and one of the most down-to-earth
guys in the business, Mark Gable.
Gable joined HEAVY recently to chat about the show and life as a
Choirboy. We started by pointing out the sheer magnitude of touring
the band has committed to over the next 12 months.
"I think considering the condition of the Australian music industry
at the moment and how I feel about doing pubs and all the rest of
it…," he trailed off, "and it was Tim Freedman I spoke to at the
ARIA Awards and I went 'Tim, you've inspired me' and he said how
come, and I said you know, Blow Up The Pokies because I just don't
wanna do pubs anymore because all they do is have people go in and
gamble. Of course, Blow Up The Pokies was about The Whitlams bass
player who ended his own life because he gambled, and he couldn't
deal with it anymore, and that's why the song was written. Tim
goes, 'that's a bit extreme isn't it Mark?' (laughs). I was just
thinking, I'd rather do interesting things, so hence we're doing
lots of festivals. And the theatre show is part and parcel of that
because… I think rather than just re-iterate the same old, same
old, I would rather make it interesting, and the theatre shows are
the beginning of that. The stories and the stuff that we've seen on
the road and the stuff that's happened - the legendary stuff - I
talk about that in the theatre show and also celebrate the music
that we've seen which still exists, but a lot of the bands have
come and gone. It's a different world out there now so we have to
celebrate the way it was. Actually, I'm enjoying the new world; the
internet world of new Australian bands who are breaking all over
the world because of what we have now."
In the full interview, Mark talks more about the theatre show and
what to expect, how Choirboys have survived so many years in the
industry, using other people's music to tell a story, the early
days of the band and their initial vision, having to research and
relive old memories and more.