Garry Campbell in full flight. 

WORDS: Ed Garland
PHOTOS: Jules

I am the first to admit I got it wrong about Sydney band RUST.  

You these hear stupid comments around the scene (by those who claim to be “in the know“) that RUST is a right-wing Oi band.  As time’s gone on, the penny has slowly dropped.

First,  I watched the band put in a blistering set at The Metro in Sydney support of Stiff Little Fingers and they impressed me .

A couple of years later, pre-Covid, I caught them at Time and Tide in Dee Why in one wild punk night. They struck me as a solid Oi cross-over punk band, but maybe but not my thing.  

There was nothing to support the right-wing tag, however, and I still did not know the whole story.

Last year at the Link and Pin Café in Woy Woy I had a few beers with singer Garry Campbell, lyricist and founder of RUST, and we yarned about music and Sydney’s Northern Beaches. He showed his early Midnight Oil tattoo and regaled me with tales of sneaking in to see them as grommet at the legendary Royal Antler Hotel in Narrabeen.  

A massive fan of the Oils fan and the 1980s Sydney punk scene, Garry was also into ska music and played Rock Against Racism gigs. Hardly the background of a stereotypical Oi band front man.

More recently, RUST was the first band to play Wings and Tins, a new venue on the Northern Beaches at Dee Why. It’s become a regular gig on Saturday afternoons and on this occasion the venue was packed to the rafters. It was an awesome vibe that was enhanced by cheap beer.

Live music has been such a success that the owner is opening up to bands two nights a week in a room with capacity of a hundred.

Through RUST and their network of bands, I’ve been to some top-shelf events at Wings and Tin; the highlights have been shows by awesome, street-level punk bands such as Sucker Punch and Trash Again. All fitting bands to be on the same bills as RUST.

One memorable afternoon was a bill with the wonderful The OZSkas, fronted by Carol Bernhard. The OZSkas are one of the best bands of their ilk that the contemporary Sydney scene has produced, with influences ranging from Lee Scratch Perry to The Selector. They play material running from reggae to Motown, all powered by guitarist Martin Fabok (Allniters) and Carol’s amazing vocals. She’s surely The Queen of Two Tone in our city.

_{Sean Kelly.}

As a live band, RUST presents as four against the world. They play with the urgency of The Clash on their first album. Michael Fearnley (bass) and Sean “Smurf” Kelly (drums) are completely locked in.  

Guitarist Luke Snell supplies power chords and solid rhythm with some superb blues touches. He’s from the OZ hard rock mould of Lobby Loyde and the Coloured Balls so there is a nod to sharpie music but with hints of a traditional UK punk ethos.

Songs like “Double Denim” and “Bye Bye Blackbird” are steeped in the harder edge of punk and contain some powerful social commentary with lyrics about the dark and violent stories of the Northern Beaches.

Garry Campbell does not pull any punches in his vocal approach full of disaffection and is uncompromising.  He bellows from the pit of his lungs - like he’s leading his union for strike action.  He has an authority and presence and commands attention as he clings to the mic stand and spits out his lyrics.

What I hear in RUST is an array of influences: second generation UK punk bands like UK Subs, GBH , The Four Skins and The Exploited. They’re where punk became even more direct and full of chants. Purely working class.

Then RUST also recall the tough Oz street music of early AC/DC, Coloured Balls, X and (of course) Rose Tattoo’s first album. The band can be brutal. They are tight and machine-like – as you might expect with 500 gigs over two decades under their belt. This is something only relentless touring can produce.

There something really fibro about RUST. Most of that’s now gone from the Northern Beaches. You are as likely to see a RUST t-shirt at a rugby league game at Brookvale Oval than you are at a Sydney inner-city hardcore gig. RUST wear their blue collar background as a badge of honour.

Twenty years is a long time to keep a band to together. RUST have been battlers and are a glimpse of the Northern Beaches a long gone, and now dotted by multi-million dollar MacMansions for CEOs.

_{Luke Snell.} 

I sat down with Garry Campbell and asked a few questions…

It’s been 20 years. It’s a bit of a milestone for RUST.

Garry: Yeah it’s 20 years and three original members. We are still regularly playing and recording touring interstate and internationally. Who would have thought?  There has not been a plan. It’s been a year at aa time and keeping it real and  fun.

Every year has certainly been different to the next and no two gigs the same; keeping it fresh has been the key and we keep it going until it isn’t anymore.

What's the wildest gig you reckon you've played?

Garry: We have played many crazy shows over the years. There is one that comes to mind. It was our first tour to New Zealand It was a squat in Christchurch; the venue was called the “The Glory Hole” and it had a mattress strapped around RSJ beams, a concrete floor, and plywood stage. That moved around on milk crates.  

We were the headliners. The crowd of 50 or more was quite subdued until we hit the stage. The place exploded . It was a frenzy.

I remember this kid clawing his way to the side of the stage. and his leg was clearly broken. He was in great pain. He refused to go anyway and kept pumping his fist in air. I thinking, ‘Hold on don’t fall in the pit, the mosh pit. You have more shows to see after this.’

After the gig I saw him staggering around, dragging his leg behind him.

_{Michael Fearnley.}

What's been the highlight and who are your favourite overseas bands you have played with?

Garry: Wow! There have been so many. I guess supporting bands that were posters on wall as a young teenager has to be highlight  Holding up your own vinyl record pressed on a German label. Seeing  your artwork and T-shirts at festivals. Sitting up watching Rage after playing a blistering gig because you can’t go to bed.  I have got loads more.

Oh yes, playing the Rebellion Festival in the UK in front of thousands  That would be equivalent  to winning a grand final, I reckon.

You’re on your sixth international tour next year and heading into the studio for your fifth album Tell us about both.

Garry:Yeah. We are been invited to play three festivals in the UK next year and around 10 pub shows. “Punk on the Peninsular” in Dunoon, Scotland, is a three-day event in a beautiful part of the world and is a special one as it’s its ten-year anniversary  We played there on 2019 and were on stage with The Ruts and Cockney Rejects.

The other festival is called “Sleazy”. It’s recently renamed. It was called “Nice and Sleazy” after the Stranglers song. It is in a coastal town called Morecombe in Lancashire on the Irish Sea and is a three day-er as well.

We will end the tour at “The Great Skinhead Reunion” at Brighton. It’s become a big thing over the last 15 years. People of all ages, travelling from all over the world to be part of the subculture’s celebrations with ska punk and Oi bands.  They have reggae DJs who bring celebrations back to the spirit of 1969 when it all begun.

We played a huge tour of the UK last year on the back of “Double Denim and a Bottle of Bleach”. There have been loads of commitments here, playing up and down the East Coast.

After the recent Sydney Crowbar gig, we are taking a few months off and working on new material.   We have already two new songs that are ready to go, and an album’s worth of lyrics that I have been working on. I know Luke has been writing. So the wheels are in motion.

Do you plan your records?

Garry: We don’t usually plan these things. It goes by feel and circumstances. To be honest, we just have not had the time and space to think about our next record. Until now.  

As far as studio sessions go, we don’t set dates until the songs are fully cooked and ready to record. We don’t have financial backing to be wasting time in the studio  It’s a definite plus to be completely independent and not under pressure from the label with deadlines and dates. It’s a labour of love for us guys and that’s why we get excited after 20 years. It never  has become a job and never will.  

* * * * *

RUST are four blokes who have crafted their space and built their own fortress.  They have fans across world and command respect on the international punk scene. They have roots in old school punk but there is that unique homegrown flavour to their music that’s rooted in an unpretentious, street-level Australian music scene. They never care what’s in vogue. They do what they do and push through it.

They kick arse and they take no prisoners live. A great band.