As happy as the members of Midnight Oil are to voice their feelings about One Notion, the title actually originated from some graffiti by the River Yarra. A map of Australia was adorned with the tad 'Redneck Wonderland'. Underneath read: "Will the forests that survived the ice age survive the Howard Government? Save Coolengook Forest."

The environmental message obviously struck a chord, but those two words - 'Redneck Wonderland' - stuck in the band's claw.

Oil's bassist Bones Hillman says he's more than pleased that Redneck Wonderland will be interpreted in many different ways. Even better that it all stems from some graffiti.

"A lot of people are spinning out about that," Bones says of the title's origin. "They had preconceptions that we'd sat down and come up with this concept. It was like 'No, No, no, it was just a bit of graffiti'. We liked it and we took it. I think it's great when you find out it's a bit of graffiti. It makes it even more intriguing and better.

"I guess we're going to be open to a lot of flack (over its interpretations). In time, I guess we will learn how to answer those questions. People will always interpret things in different ways, especially with this band. We have been quite hard hitting and a bit of an issue related thing. So yeah, we are going to face the music."

As the conversation turns to possible other interpretations, I remark that some of Midnight Oil's fanbase could be accused of being rednecks.

"Yeah, sure," he answers. "And probably even members of the band. Everyone's got a bit of redneck in them, haven't they? We're not all perfect, are we? There's rednecks in FNQ and there's rednecks in George St wearing suits with mobile phones and the stock exchange. That's the way I see it."

Of equal interest to the title is Midnight Oil's new found musical direction. From what Joe Public has heard of the album - namely the singles 'Redneck Wonderland' and 'White Skin Black Heart' - there's some startling changes. After listening to Redneck Wonderland, the album, the listener is left totally flabbergasted.

Midnight Oil have reinvented themselves. Their unmistakable sound is still there, but inventive arrangements, the use of effects, samples, drums loops, strings, and super-slick production has produced the freshest album in years. Bones says in many ways its a natural reaction to 1996's Breathe, which was a much different affair.

"Every record we make tends to be slightly different, so you take that risk of running a gauntlet where some fans might think 'Oh God, we didn't like that one but we like this one', and visa-versa. I think at the end of the day as long as we're satisfied ourselves and happy with the record we've made, than that's all that matters - if the artist is happy. Once they hit the market, they do what they do. If radio plays it, all the better. If people like it, all the better and they buy it, even better again. But there's no guarantee of that."

When did you get into the studio?

"We started in about last April, actually," Bones recalls. "We did in about four blocks. We'd go down to Melbourne for a month or so and then come back to Sydney and go on the road for a while and think about it and then go back down again. It's been unusual in that respect, rather than just starting from day one and just going till you finish it.

"It gave us options on doing things. Initially, all the first stuff was done with Magoo and we came back and we went 'Yep, that's fine'. Some of that has remained intact and hasn't been touched but we got Warne Livesey (Diesel and Dust, Blue Sky Mining) over from London and re-recorded a few and he remixed a couple. I guess it's just because we had the time to think about it. If we'd just done the one session with Magoo and put the record out, that would have been it. But because we kept coming back and listening to it, and sort of talking about like, 'Should we try this? Did we really take this idea far enough?'. We'd keep going back and trying things. I think it was a good way of doing things, although it's a year later and we've been doing it for a year - and it's just coming out now.

"In some instances, some songs get more time spent on them than others. And I guess you begin to question why. But some of them don't make the record at all in the end. I guess it's a process you just go through. If you've only got a certain budget to work to, then you have to do it that way. You know, you record very quickly and put it out.

"A lot of the material we were playing live prior to recording them, anyway. It wasn't like we had these alien pieces we had to come to terms with and understand what they were before committing them to tape. We were a bit experienced with them, anyway. Initially we'd go and do that same version as we were playing live and then come back and go 'Okay, let's change it a bit'. We're basically just trying to push the envelope a bit further every time."

From Time Off Magazine, by None

(Note: this article has not been approved for reproduction.)