Rudely Interrupted
Don't diss their ability
Rudely Interrupted
Although they were only added to the bill late in the game, Melbourne four-piece Rudely Interrupted have emerged as one of the most anticipated bands to play Laneway Festival. They stand apart from their peers – not because of the intellectual disabilities from which they all suffer, but because their music is some of the most energetic and genuine to emerge from the Australian rock ‘n’ roll underground in recent times. Their songs lift the band above the realm of novelty and give them a cultural cache in the image-obsessed world of indie rock.
Lead singer Rory Burnside, who is blind and has Asperger’s Syndrome, is quick to praise the group’s musical director, Rohan Brooks, who keeps the group organised and motivated. “He’s really good at explaining certain situations to me so I have a better idea of what’s actually happening,” says Burnside. “If I have a situation explained to me, that helps. For example, if he has to take a phone call when we’re rehearsing, which
I find most discourteous, and he tells me it’s a work call, then that’s fine. And from now on I’ve said to him, I’m going to go on the assumption it’s a work call, even if it’s not. So I don’t get PO’ed at him.”
Brooks, a youth worker and former drummer for The Anyones, hopes the Laneway appearance is just the beginning for Rudely Interrupted. “We’re just starting,” he says. “We really want to tour. I want to tour, these guys want to tour. We want to get into a bus like any other rock band and do a national tour. Why can’t we? Why can’t they?”
Rudely Interrupted play St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival on Sun 2 Mar.