Join us as we explore the transformative years of Australian rock with Peter ‘Rossi’ Ross, a legendary road manager who worked with iconic bands like Screaming Tribesmen, The Hitmen, and Lime Spiders.
Hey there everyone and welcome to episode 57 of the Unfiltered and Undiscovered podcast. It has been a big week, so we’re going to get straight into it. As always, I’ve got my co-host Tave Bragg down there from Adelaide. We’ve got Braggy, and we’ve also got a special guest today. Let’s welcome our guest first up. This guy, during the transformative years of Australian rock, was a road manager, stage manager, production manager, and tour manager for the likes of Screaming Tribesmen, The Hitmen, Lime Spiders, Kings of the Sun, Psychotic Turnbuckles, The Johnnys, and more. He also helped out with international supports like The Damned and The Cult. I’m so excited to have Peter ‘Rossi’ Ross with us. How are you Rossi?
Rossi: Really good to be here, fellas. Really good to be here. Lovely to talk to my Queensland friends.
Host: So, you’re originally a Queenslander?
Rossi: No, I’m a Sydney boy, but I’ve got a lot of Queensland friends up there. I spent so much time up there I thought I’d lived there for a while.
Host: Well, there are worse places to be. Braggy is actually a Queenslander.
Braggy: Yes, fundamentally from Far North Queensland. I was born in New South Wales but moved to Queensland when I was eight, so I’m a Queenslander.
Host: What about state of origin?
Braggy: I didn’t realize you were born in New South Wales. That’s your state of mind.
Host: My dad was a rugby league fanatic. When we got to Queensland and lived in this little house on the Maroochy River, we’d sit there in the sunroom listening to those interstate games before State of Origin. Dad was cheering for Queensland, and I said, ‘Okay.’ He said, ‘Well, we’re living here now, mate, we’re Queenslanders.’ So, that’s always stuck with me.
Host: Fair enough. Born in Windsor, Sydney, and spent all his life in New South Wales until we moved. Hey, we’ve had a big week of news. Let’s first talk about Taylor Hawkins. That was just a shock out of the blue, wasn’t it?
Rossi: You know, I went back and watched him because he started with Alanis Morissette. If you go on YouTube, there’s a great clip of Alanis Morissette on the Letterman show. Man, he’s so solid behind those drums. He was a force of nature and a positive one. What a great player. It shocked everyone. I’ve got a couple of young blokes who are really big Foo Fighters fans and are just devastated.
Host: Poor old Dave Grohl, that’s the second band. What’s he going to do now?
Rossi: They’ve canceled the tour, haven’t they? They were coming to Australia.
Host: Do you think bands talk about this? Like with the Stones, they’re so old they surely would have had conversations about what to do if one of them goes.
Rossi: Foo Fighters are much younger. I don’t think they would have thought of that. I’d be surprised if they kept going.
Host: It’s a strange one for me, Braggy, because I’ve never been a big Foo Fighters fan. I know their music, but I wasn’t as emotionally attached to it.
Host: And of course, the other big news is the Shane Warne memorial. One billion people tuned into that.
Rossi: Yeah, 300 million viewers in India alone.
Host: It was a who’s who of the rock world. Elton John, Robbie Williams, Ed Sheeran, Chris Martin from Coldplay.
Rossi: He had big star power. He must have been a cool guy to hang with. I just remember watching him play cricket. They’d toss him the ball, and something would always happen.
Host: Now, in other news, the Ritzy Kids were looking forward to doing a live show in Newcastle, but it’s been called off because of COVID. Sean and the boys are devastated. We’ll get a chance to chat with Sean next week.
Host: And the last bit of news is on Saturday at Platform Five, my girl Sharon and I went to see Mick and Ursula. It’s such a good little venue. There were maybe 30-40 people there. Everyone’s got their own story. Ursula has so much fun on stage, and the keyboards create this pace through the music. Mick played a couple of songs from their upcoming album, and I’m really looking forward to it.
Rossi: Mick is a survivor. We used to call him ‘Tenacious Roadbeast.’
Host: Why?
Rossi: Nothing could stop him. We toured for like 45 weeks a year. He’s like a Keith Richards guitar player with a blood-curdling scream.
Host: So, Rossi, you’ve been a roadie, stage manager, and more. Can you talk us through the different roles in a road crew?
Rossi: In the glory days of pub rock, you always had a front-of-house guy who’s the sound mixer in the main room. Lighting guys would sit out with the front-of-house guy. Backstage, you’d have a stage guy, which I did a lot of, and a drum tech. I was like a rock and roll butler.
Host: And you guys are the first ones there and the last ones to leave.
Rossi: Yeah, back to the hotel, have a couple of hours of sleep, or drive. We used to do overnight drives from Melbourne to Sydney.
Host: Let’s talk about some of the bands you toured with. The Johnnys, Mick said they could drink a bit.
Rossi: They are Australia’s drunkest band. They carried a bar fridge on stage with them. They still go pretty hard.
Host: What about Joe Walsh?
Rossi: I was doing guitars for Joe. He was lovely but brought Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter from the Doobie Brothers with him. Skunk was like a minder for Joe. Joe loved his vodka and orange juice. He gave us both a brass Zippo at the end of the tour.
Host: Back to venues, let’s talk about Sydney. Which were the best ones?
Rossi: Sydney was a rock and roll town. The Tivoli was one of my favorites. We did the Bones and Flowers album launch there. David Bowie’s crew set up our stage for us.
Host: What about the Trade Union Club?
Rossi: The Sydney Trade Union Club was the center of counter-culture in Sydney. Bands on three floors every night. It was an education.
Host: What’s your most Australian rock treasured memory from touring?
Rossi: There are lots, but one of my favorites was doing the Azkena Rock Festival in Spain with the Screaming Tribesmen. Another was working with DJ Fontana, Elvis’s original drummer.
Host: What’s on the horizon for you, Rossi?
Rossi: I’m stage managing my son’s band this weekend. Jupiter 5 is finishing off our album. I’ve got shoulder surgery coming up, but there are lots of shows on the horizon.
Host: Thanks for joining us, Rossi. It’s been awesome.
Rossi: Thanks for having me, guys.