Their music is loud, angry, passionate, unmistakably Australian and instantly recognisable. After eight studio albums, two EPs, a live album and a compilation CD, they have achieved true legend status in the local music industry and attracted a legion of die hard fans, all the while performing with an energy level that makes them the envy of bands people half their age.

Next week Wagga will have the chance to experience the intensity of the Oils live performance as they continue their Redneck Wonderland national tour.

A new political era ushered in by the howard government and the rise of a former fish and chip shop owner from Ipswitch has lent a furious edge to most of the songs on their album, which was released in June and debuted in the national top ten.

Commercial sucess, however, means little to the five members of the band, according to bass player Bones Hillman.

Speaking to the Daily Advertiser from his motel room in Melbourne, more than half way through the two month tour, Bones said he was happy with the quality of the album and the positive reception it had received.

"We're very pleased with the album, he said The best reward of all is for the artist to walk away and go hey, thats good."

"Whatever happens commercially after that is the icing on the cake really."

The tour has taken in an array of venues from Toowoomba to Perth and besides two high energy sets from the Oils, features the talents of comedian Steady Eddy, who is the MC, the music of the Pale Riders, a Tasmanian swamp blues band, and incredible footage from the Australias leading cinematographer Tim Bonython, who captured surfers battling 50 foot waves off the coast of Hawaii.

"The tour as been going really well. At the moment everyone is getting over the flu and all that communal living stuff that you get when you are a bunch of travelling feral hippies" Bones said.

It's the bands first concert in Wagga for a number of years, and the local punters can expect "five blokes, one of them tall and bald, lights, volume and sweat" according to Bones.

The title for the album and single was taken from a peice of graffiti they spotted in Melbourne, and he admits it is one that is open to many interpretations from various audiences, evoking a personal reaction from almost everyone.

"When we get to the midwest of America as well, whats going to happen then? The audience will think the song is about them.

"So I guess its a universal thing. We've all got a Torana somewhere in the garage."

Compared to the last few albums from the band, Breathe and Earth and Sun and Moon, the new release is experimental, playing with samples and looping and taking advantage of new technology, which Bones said was a conscious effort for the band to stay fresh.

"You take a risk when you do a thing like that. Some people might think youve missed the mark, while other people think youve hit the nail on the head." he said "Weve pushed the envelope a bit with this effort but as long as you please yourself, thats the most important thing."

Midnight Oil, and in particular lead singer Peter Garrett, have also been actively involved with the Jabiluka anti-uranium mine protest in Kakadu for some months, and Bones believes the protest is picking up speed and momentum.

"The main concern now is that the wet season is coming up and whether the actual camp site will exist during it" he said. The band has been dissapointed with the media coverage of the protest, but, he said, they realise it is because there are so many things happening in the Country at the moment.

"I mean there was the wharfie dispute going on and the Hanson thing, so we will have to wait and see how the protest goes. Its not far off election time. I saw on the news a few weeks ago that when pauline hanson was asked whether she liked MO, she said she had never heard of us. So what goes around comes around. We got some coverage out of her rather than the other way around, and at least we are better looking. I think if theres one positive thing about the whole Hanson debate, its that young people are getting involved. She raises the hair on the back of their necks."

Midnight Oil will play at Charles Sturt University in the auitorium on Wednesday night. Tickets are available from the Rivcol Union shop for $25, or $20 for students.

From Wagga Daily Advertiser, by Lisa Miller

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