FEW rock songs are connected to Australia quite like Men At Work’s hit Down Under.
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It was a global hit that probably did as much for Vegemite as the singsong ad boasting “it puts a rose in every cheek”, but the peculiarity is that the main man behind the track is a Scottish-born Aussie who hasn’t lived here for almost three decades.
“I do miss (Australia),” Hay said.
“It’s a complicated relationship – it’s not even with Australia or the people. It’s a complicated relationship with myself when I think about who I was back then.
“I had a lot of problems with alcohol and all of my friends were alcoholics and drug addicts – high-functioning, very successful people, but they all loved getting f****d up and I did as well.
“I realised I couldn’t survive in that environment. I was killing myself and I had to leave. Changing the geography doesn’t solve it – I needed to change. I also left because the record deal I had was based in LA (and) I had the opportunity to come here … but things were pointing away from Melbourne at that particular time, and I came to LA and I found it welcoming and I found it comforting. I could start with a clean slate. I met people in various stages of recovery. I’ve been here ever since. It’s a stimulating place.”
“I’m lucky I get to come back (to Australia) quite often. It’s often enough that I never go too long without being back there.
“It feels amazing (when I’m back). I have three or four close friends I catch up with. I go to places I used to frequent. I walk down the street and in a sense I’m walking in my old footsteps. I haven’t lived there for over 25 years.
“I like to discover something again (as if) for the first time. If I drive down to Lorne and go to the beach, and I’ve done that before, but if I haven’t done that for a number of years then it has a magic to it because it’s a rare thing, as opposed to having it at my doorstep or doing it every day.”
Hay toured Australia last year – a run of solo shows that included a gig in Warrnambool as well as one at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre that was “one of the best shows I’ve ever done”.
“I have a great audience, I have very lovely fans,” he said.
“I played a gig (on that tour) in Sydney at the Enmore Theatre and it was one of the best shows I’ve ever done. The audience was up for it and I couldn’t put a foot wrong, it was fantastic.”
He has found similar crowds awaiting him at the Port Fairy Folk Festival on the “five or six times” he’s played there. Hay is only too happy to return for the event’s 40th outing.
“I love Port Fairy because the audience understands what it is you’re doing, not only what you’re trying to do but what it’s taken for you get to that point,” he said.
"Last time I stayed there was great – I did two shows over two nights, and it was just magical.
“(At the Folkie) you get to play what I call a proper gig. People are sitting there and want what you have and as much as you’ll give them. It’s not like you’re playing a pub and people are there to drink or you’re part of the entertainment. When I first stopped drinking, to play for drunks … I couldn’t do it any more, I had no interest in it.
“You could stay behind in Melbourne and go to the Grand Prix, but if I didn’t do that gig in Port Fairy, I’d much prefer to go to Port Fairy.”
Hay’s present bout of touring will take him around Australia, the US and Europe until the end of May when he will “probably stay close to home”.
“I’m writing a bunch of songs with a friend of mine,” he said.
“Maybe I’ll have a year with less touring and more being at home.”
When we speak, Hay, like the rest of the world, had just learnt of the death of David Bowie.
“It’s a strange day today, very strange,” he said.
“We did a lot of shows with David Bowie when (Men At Work) were a big deal. There were thousands of people – they were big big shows. We were on the cusp of stardom and he was very pleased to have us on the shows.
“The only thing I remember was (Bowie’s people) asked me not to use his catwalk, which went out into the audience. That was their one stipulation for opening up for Mr Bowie. So the first thing I did was use the catwalk.”
Hay laughed at the recollection.
“I don’t think Mr Bowie minded. Sometimes you usually find in those situations it doesn’t come from Mr Bowie, it comes from someone representing him.
“But it’s a sad day. He seemed like someone you knew even if you didn’t know him personally. It’s palpable. It’s not in the script.”
