Review:
"Shirts
and Skins" solo retrospective collection.
(released
March 2003)
By John
Frame for Queensland Pride’s "SoundOut"
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“My name is Rob. I’m 34
now, but between the ages of 20 and 28 I was a solo
“singer-songwriter-performer”. They’re awful words to read in the cold light
of day, aren’t they? But strangely enough, it can be a lot of fun to actually
be one.” The new CD set “Shirts
and Skins” gives you a chance to hear just how much fun Rob had as a solo
artist between 1990 and ’96. He enjoyed nation-wide airplay and found himself
feted and supported as he traveled around the country. He’s very easy to like
- with a bright, slightly fem voice and an admirably sharp and up-beat ironic
lyrical style that quickly wins both heart and mind. Rob Clarkson was born and raised in Rob says he purposely writes of experiences and perspectives
that are not necessarily his own - “If
it was just about my life, it would be about watching tele,
making toast and doing shit jobs to pay the bills”. However he says that
revisiting his earlier material for this project made him aware that it was a
lot more personal than he’d thought. I first paid attention to Rob’s music because of the gay and
lesbian reference in his 1993 hit “Beautiful Girls and Beautiful Boys”. I found
I could read gay sensibility into several of his other songs such as “Pick Up
Situation” and “Subtly Blatant” and now on this retrospective collection,
there’s a bonus live CD with the stand out track “Only With Boys Now” – which
pretty much speaks for itself, but does it speak for Rob? “Well, no – it’s a
very clichéd expression, but ‘many of my friends are’, John, and of course
growing up in Tassie, many of my gay friends were
living illegal lives. It struck me as absolutely ludicrous – homophobia is
something that always made me really angry, and still does. I didn’t set out
to mislead but at the same time, some of those songs haven’t got gender at
all really. You know, I don’t like to think that they’re necessarily for boys
about boys, or for girls about girls – and every other combination. I try to
make them general and non-specific.” Rob says enough people have assumed he’s gay and he takes a very
Ian Thorpe attitude to that compliment, “If
a lyric’s half decent, it’s just flattering that people want to interpret it.
Anyone can take anything they like out of my songs, absolutely. I really only
don’t want to write for dick-heads!” For several years now Rob Clarkson has enjoyed sharing the happy-family
band life with Rob will promote “Shirts and Skins” when he does a rare solo
support for The Lucksmiths
in (Visit www.candlerecords.com.au for all details of
Rob Clarkson and Ruck Rover) |
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