Zoom interview with Reg Mombassa and Peter O'Doherty, part 1 Earlier in the year, Reg Mombassa and Peter O'Doherty very kindly took the time to do email interviews for this forum. Reg interview - Mental As Anything: Album by Album | Page 39 | Steve Hoffman Music Forums Peter interview - Mental As Anything: Album by Album | Page 39 | Steve Hoffman Music Forums A few days ago, November 24 to be precise, Reg and Peter very kindly took the time to do an extensive Zoom interview for this forum. It was truly a transglobal interview, with them being in Sydney and me being in Vallentuna, Sweden. The interview started at 2 p.m. Sydney time which for meant getting up very early - it was 4 a.m. here! Huge thanks to Reg and Peter for taking the time to do this interview! Due to Zoom having time limits, the interview had to be done in two parts. Part 1 of the interview is here:
Zoom interview with Reg Mombassa and Peter O'Doherty, part 2 ...and here is part 2 of the Zoom interview with Reg and Peter:
Today it is the birthday of Martin Cilia, who joined Mental As Anything in January 2014. Happy Birthday, Martin! Martin, who played on the Mental As Anything records 5 Track EP and the live album At Play, has recently released a new solo record, 6 Track EP, which features an instrumental version of "Live It Up": Live It Up, by Martin Cilia (Here's the interview that Martin did for this forum back in February: Mental As Anything: Album by Album)
Just saw this article with Reg in "The Age" (Melbourne Newspaper). Reg Mombassa has drawn our landscape in paint and song for five decades. p.s. Interesting comment on F***ing Idiots in the article!
For those interested, the version 1 video was filmed in both Sydney and Hobart. The video opens with the boys driving down Dolphin St Coogee (Sydney). They spot the girl and turn right into Powell St to follow her. They then appear at the beach side of Clovelly Surf Life Saving Club (Sydney). All the scenes where Martin is wearing sunglasses are filmed around Clovelly.
And just to finish the locations for version 1, the Hobart scenes can be identified as those where Martin is wearing a singlet. The house the girl leaves from at 1:03 in the clip is 52 Wellesley Street South Hobart. The house has been lifted and changed a bit in the last 40+ years but fortunately still recognisable. At 1:49 the chasing party can be seen descending Kelly's steps off Salamanca place Hobart. At 1:51 they follow her near Victoria Dock bridge, beside where is now the "Footsteps" sculpture. At 2:03 they follow the girl in Salamanca Place, just near Woobys Lane. At 3:01 the girl descends Red Chapel Avenue Sandy Bay (outside number 43) with Sandy Bay in the background (great shot that one). The boys follow her soon after with Greedy looking somewhat reluctant.
Offical biography about Mental As Anything to be published soon! The Australian publishing house Puncher & Wattman will soon release a book about Mental As Anything. The author is Stu Lloyd and band members, both founding members and members who joined later, have been interviewed for this book. Announcement! - Puncher & Wattmann On his FB page, Stu Lloyd has commented: "Excited to finally make this announcement with a passionate publisher behind it... they were the soundtrack to my misspent youth and it's been a buzz to wallow in the nostalgia of this project." Further details to follow as soon as possible.
This is tremendously exciting! Do you have any further news on the possible documentary - which I thought I heard about in one of the interviews you posted? Is it possible it wasn't a documentary and is actually this book?
As I understand it, they are two separate things - Stu Lloyd's book, to be published soon, and a visual documentary (not sure if this means DVD/Blu-Ray or perhaps cinema/TV). I had some contact with Stu Lloyd in February when he wrote that the book would be published around July this year. The link above at the publishing house's web page only says "later this year", but no specific date just yet. Regarding the visual documentary, I have no further information at the moment. Now all we need as well is that elusive Super Deluxe Mental As Anything box set, crammed with B-sides, demos and outtakes etc...
Many thanks Stefan for clearing that up. I'm super excited about all these developments. I'm going to guess that the book will not be released internationally but will wait to see. I will put my sister on high alert! And agreed, if the Mentals wanted to seriously cash in on all this publicity (and they should) they should release a super deluxe box set. I would buy it as would anyone else who would watch the documentary.
On a Mental As Anything page on FB, Stewart Smith (Greedy's brother) posted the below clip of the group Dave Warner's From The Suburbs' song "Lonely Sailor" from their album When (2016). The track features Greedy Smith on harmonica and vocals and Martin Cilia on guitar and the video clip features some of Greedy's artwork as well:
Thank you very much, Brandon! I hadn't heard this cover before. It's from an album released in 1999 titled Duets - A Family Celebration (Various - Duets - A Family Celebration ), featuring various Australian artists singing duets with their children. I think it must be Martin's daughter who sings with him here - from memory I think it says in the book The Mind and Times of Reg Mombassa that Martin's daughter was born in circa 1989.
No problem Stefan! It is indeed Martin's daughter, Rosemary. Btw I also just uploaded the 3 tracks Martin sung on the 2nd Stetsons album, so feel free to check those out!
Hey guys. Just found out that the new Mentals book is releasing on the 1st of November! You can preorder it here. https://www.mightyape.com.au/product/started-out-just-drinking-beer/37908331
Stu Lloyd just posted the following on Mental As Anything's FB page: "STARTED OUT JUST DRINKING BEER, The official Mentals biography, will be on the shelves November 1, and we're having a launch event that evening to give it a rollicking send-off... If you're in Sydney, jump in here and join us for a fun evening and be one of the first people in the world to read the riotous rollercoaster ride of one of Australia's greatest bands: https://www.betterreadevents.com/events/started-out-just-drinking-beer-launch-with-stuart-lloyd (Will also be doing launch-type things soon in Bega, Albury, Melbourne, Canberra, Kiama/Gerringong, Orange, Bathurst, Dubbo, Brisbane - ping me if you're in those places and want to get involved people)" In addition to Stuart Lloyd being at the launch event, former Mental As Anything members Reg Mombassa, Peter O'Doherty and David "Bird" Twohill will also be present for a Q&A and book signing.
This is pretty exciting! Stefan I can't quite believe that both the Mentals book and the Guy McDonough (Australian Crawl) book launch on the same day!
Some updates regarding the launches for Stuart Lloyds upcoming book about Mental As Anything, Started Out Just Drinking Beer... In addition to the book launch in Newton, Sydney on November 1, at which Reg Mombassa, Peter O'Doherty and David "Bird" Twohill will be present for a Q&A and book signing there will also be book launches combined with Dog Trumpet gigs (playing both Dog Trumpet and Mental As Anything songs) in the following cities: November 4 - Brunswick Ballroom, Brunswick, Victoria November 5 - The Archies Creek Hotel, Archies Creek, Victoria (with special guest Jonnie Goes To Church) November 24 - The Polo, Turner, Australian Capital Territory November 25 - The Milton Theatre, Milton, New South Wales November 26 - Murrah Hall, Murrah, New South Wales For further details about these gigs, as well as upcoming gigs before the book launches, check out the below link: Gigs
