The Go Set - Ready Go-Set Go!
» The Go Set announce new album and national tour - September 16, 2008
» The Go Set - Batman Fawkner, Tas - May 20, 2006
» Apollo Bay Music Festival 2006 - Apollo Bay, VIC - April 23, 2006
» The Go Set – Punk. Rock. Anyway You Look At It. - February 13, 2006
On any given night, a gig from the Go-Set may result in a stage-diving bagpipist sans underpants and perhaps a blow-up doll hurled onstage. It’s no wonder that they have gained such a massive live following.
“We have a really hardcore growing fan-base…Its always growing, and the crowds on this tour have been the biggest yet” says Justin “Keeno” Keenan, the Go-Set’s guitarist and vocalist.
Originally forming in 2003 Keenan, along with bass player, Mark Moran, set out to emulate the Australian culture of music.
“Most bands try really hard to stick as closely as possible to American or English popular culture.” Keenan says in reference to the fact: “that if there is one thing that The Go Set is becoming known for, it’s being proudly and uniquely Australian”.
The band’s third album release, Journey for a Nation reveals the band’s angst over the current zeitgeist, as Keenan explains “All of the tracks on this new album are either songs about life, or songs about social and political issues that we feel strongly about.”
Keenan’s ability to use music as a political platform came naturally “I picked up a pen and just started letting out all of this passion for certain issues.”
The political echo heard in the Go-Set’s tunes have obviously appealed to others with similar views, as crowds continue to grow in support of the band. “People don’t like to go to gigs to get a lecture”, Keenan believes, “so the key is to put the messages into a context that people will take it out the door and home with them in their heads.”
If this sounds like the possible reverberation of iconic Aussie band,Midnight Oil, then that’s of little surprise. “Midnight Oil are one of our biggest influences” Keenan explains. “Most people don’t realize the global phenomenon, and the impact that that band had on the whole world.”
As to whether the Go-Set harbour such aspirations, Keenan is enthusiastic about the reverberation Midnight Oil left with generation-X bands “I think that its time more bands start to try and fill the legacy that they left. I can’t think of an artist that actually used their music to affect so many people, and support so many causes.”
And so the legacy does continue, but in a decidedly eclectic manner: the instrumental ensemble that make-up The Go-Set, as well as Keenan and Moran is made up of: Dave Folley on the drums; Mark McCartney , who plays the guitar and mandolin; and Johnny “Rotten” McHaggis on the bagpipes.
“When we formed The Go Set, we made a pact that we would just make the music that came naturally and never follow music fashions.” Explains Keenan “Really, who the fuck in their right mind would put bagpipes in a band to be cool?”
And so, the determinedly uncool Go-Set continue on their national tour, they also have further plans of touring across the Tasman and even Europe is on the cards as the band release the album with their European label.
If you haven’t made it to a gig as of yet and are wondering whether you fulfill the criteria as a potential Go-Set fan, Keenan gives an idea “Anyone who thinks that they can make a difference, anyone that loves to share a drink, and anyone who we can make smile as they walk out the door after the show”
But, the question still remains: does Johnny McHaggis respect the traditions of kilt-wearing and perform commando?
“Yep. When he stage dives and his kilt flies up, it looks like a couple of eggs in a hairy handkerchief”
