For Greedy Smith, writing songs more than 40 years after his first gig isn’t as different as you might expect.
“You’ve just got to stick to the basic stuff – girls, cars and drinking,” he laughs.
Ahead of their Bunbury gig, The Mail caught up with the Mental as Anything member who’s bringing the band to Bunbury for the APIA Good Times fifth annual tour on May 21.
Smith says audiences can expect to go mental at their set with some crowd favourites lined up including The Nips Are Getting Bigger, Live It Up and If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too? as well as some new tracks from the band’s EP, set to be released before the start of the tour.
Mental as Anything was originally founded in 1977 as a hobby for some university mates to fill in time while at art school in Sydney. They were inducted into the ARIA’s Hall of Fame in 2009 following 25 Top 40 hits in Australia and have been recording and touring non-stop for nearly 40 years.
The keyboardist, lead vocalist and founding member said the band was still performing about 120 shows a year.
“I keep performing because I love it, it’s very heartwarming” Smith said.
“I’ve got the chance now to look back on it and just be amazed that people like the songs that we’ve written.”
Mental as Anything will be accompanied by other iconic Australian artists including the Black Sorrows with Vika and Linda Bull, Men at Work front-man Colin Hay and Deborah Conway.
Smith said he was most excited about the grand finale of the tour when all the artists will share the stage in an epic Australian music collaboration.
“It’s the first time I’ve done something like this. It’s going to be a real bit of fun,” he said.
“I go back a long way with these people. We supported Men at Work on their really big tours in America in ‘87 for the launch of their big albums … and Deborah Conway, we used to play with her a lot when she was in the band Do Re Mi way back, so there’s a bit of history there and we’re hoping to have a bit of a sing with the Black Sorrows. We can’t wait.”
The Tour starts in Darwin on May 17 and finishes up in Hobart a month later.
For more information about the concert, or to buy tickets go to apiagoodtimes.com.au
