Rob Hirst

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Rob Hirst is an Australian musician. He is a founding member of rock band Midnight Oil with whom he played Drums from the 1970s until the band's break up in 2002.

[edit] Early History and The Midnight Oil Days

In 1976, Hirst formed a band called Farm (not to be confused with the British '90s band of the same name) while attending university for a botany degree. Farm evolved into Midnight Oil (nicknamed "the Oils" by Australian fans). They first developed a following of listeners in the Sydney beach suburb of Narrabeen, and later became famous on Australia's "pub circuit" as a blistering live act. While Midnight Oil's musicianship was often overshadowed by their frankly political lyrics, reviewers and fans often singled Rob out for his intense style of drumming. This intensity carried over into his live performances - after some gigs in tightly packed clubs of the 1970s, Hirst (along with other Oils) was administered oxygen.

Although lead singer Peter Garrett was perhaps more famous, by virtue of his status as frontman and also his political activities, the gregarious Hirst was often called upon as a spokesperson, and considered the most "camera-friendly" of the band. Hirst and guitarist Jim Moginie were also the primary songwriters for the band. While Hirst's voice could often be heard as a backing vocalist, he sometimes handled lead singing duties as well - notably on the Midnight Oil songs "When the Generals Talk" and "Kosciusko". In the mid-1990s, he developed a side project, Ghostwriters (with Rick Grossman of Hoodoo Gurus fame), in which a number of anonymous singles ("Someone's Singing New York New York", "World Is Almost At Peace") were released with Hirst singing lead.

[edit] Post-Oils

In 2002 he teamed up with actor, director, sexpert and academic Dr Patricia Petersen. Since then several performances of the Vagina Monologues, produced by Petersen, have featured music from his Ghostwriter's album.

In 2003 he published a book, Willie's Bar and Grill, documenting life on the road with Midnight Oil during a post 9/11 tour of the U.S. promoting the band's final album Capricornia.

Hirst continues to play drums for The Backsliders, an Australian Blues group. In 2005 he joined forces with former Olympic athlete Paul Greene to release Hirst & Greene's first album. In this same year he also teamed with Dom Turner, of the Backsliders, to create The Angry Tradesmen, with a focus on a re-creating a vintage 80's sound.

Rob Hirst has claimed (during his 2003 interview with Andrew Denton, on ABC's Enough Rope) that he began drumming when, during childhood, he broke his foot. While he was recovering he was given a drumset, and did little else during his recovery. As a result, his foot healed slightly misshapen, better formed for the bass drum pedal than for walking.