crew cuts
Turn someone in for questioning:
[email protected]fINTERVIEW
62 APRIL 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COM
The Shend interrogates...
Russ Hunt, backline/guitar techName, Age, Job?
Russ Hunt, 57, backline/guitar tech, record
shop owner, occasional stage manager.
Recent Activity?
The Wonder Stuff’s Better Being Lucky tour.
Worthy Past Glories?
Radiohead, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin,
Kingmaker, Damien Dempsey, Sly &
Robbie, Wolfsbane, Cheap and Nasty
(yes, they were!)
Why are you what you are?
I am from a musical family (dad was
a touring drummer, uncle was in ELO/
Wizzard), so music has been part of
me from day one. Got my first guitar on
Christmas 1977 and with my brother on
snare drum, we’d formed our first punk
duo by January ‘78. I spent the next few
years in a succession of unsuccessful
bands, then one formed by my brother
started doing well and they asked me to
stand at the side of stage at a London
showcase and ‘look like a roadie’. The
rest, as they say, is history...
Three best things about your job?
Travelling the world at someone else’s
expense. Not having someone looking
over your shoulder every working day ‘cos
you’re trusted to do your job. Also, there is
nothing quite like standing stage-left while
your band are absolutely killing it, and the
feeling of satisfaction derived from having
played a small part in them doing that.Three worst things about your job?
Lots of time spent away from my family,
but that’s it really. I’ve always felt lucky to
have fallen into this; it’s not something
you can apply for straight outta school.
The good times, people and laughs, have
far outweighed any negatives.Detail the equipment you use?
Boss TU-3 and Peterson VS-1 strobe tuners
and tool case, with a selection of cables,
winders, clippers and assorted bits.
Most crucial invention since you started?
Mobile phones, I’m still not sure how we
managed back in the ‘90s.
Proudest moment?
My son coming on the road with me in
December. He has no designs on being a
roadie (he’s a paramedic) - he just had some
time-off and fancied helping his old man.Best gig while working?
Watching The Wonder Stuff blow TheLevellers away every night as opening
band on the 2011 Levelling The Land tour.
In their defence, The Levs were playing the
album from start to finish and The Stuffies
were playing whatever set they wanted. It
was a masterclass in setlist compilation
and a demonstration of why those full
album shows aren’t always a great idea.
Best gig as a punter?
Any of the half dozen times I saw The
Jam from 1978 to 1982.
Biggest nightmare on the job?
Walsall Bescot Stadium, 22 June 1991.
The weather had been dry but windy
all day, but as New FADs [New Fast
Automatic Daffodils] were finishing prior
to us, I could see the rain clouds rolling
in. By the time we got to it, the stage was
soaked, even gaffer tape wouldn’t stick.
I had 19 string instruments to look after
in a gale, rain lashing in, bits of backline
intermittently ceasing to work. Oh, and
the show was being recorded!
Most irritating request from a member of
the public, artist or promoter?
“How much are tickets?”
Artist from the past you’d most like to
have worked for?
Small Faces, The Tamla-Motown Revue or
The Clash
What phrase sends a chill down your
spine while working?
“It’s a disco load-out!” <shudder>
What other member of the crew would
you least like to be?
Lighting crew - first in, last out. That’s like
hard work.
Which other member of the crew do you
take your hat off to?
Tour managers. You have to be
accountant, lawyer, counsellor and
babysitter in one.
Most irritating thing on the crew bus?
Apart from the snoring and farting, it’s bus
mates that don’t clear up after themselves.
I am a notoriously early riser, my morning
caffeine fix will never be improved by
half-empty beer/wine bottles, overflowing
ashtrays or half-eaten kebabs.Best hotel you’ve stayed at when working?
The Esplanade Hotel Fremantle,
Australia. We arrived on a spring day, two
days-off ahead of us, and my room hada balcony facing the Indian Ocean. That
was a good day.
Members of the audience you loathe?
The ones that try to get on the stage or
throw shoes/beer at the band.
Artists you’d spend time with socially?
A couple of guys I’ve worked for have
passed on; I’d give almost anything for
a night out with both of them.
Best passing through customs anecdote?
In Australia a very affable customs officer
enquired: “Have you got any drugs in
those bags, mate?” I answered “Of course
not, officer” and he exclaimed “What! Not
even paracetamol?” Gotta love Aussies.Most bizarre sight you’ve seen at work?
My guitar player climbing up to be the
Christmas fairy atop a four-level human
pyramid after we had opened for The
Mission in Milan.
Favourite artist to work for?
I have to say The Wonder Stuff as they’ve
kept me in regular employment for 33 years.
Favourite / Most hated venue?
Favourite is either Brixton Academy (all
that space!) or Barrowlands in Glasgow - a
Glasgow audience is something to behold.
I hate too many, but the rats at the 9:30
Club in Washington, D.C. were no fun.
Open air or under a roof?
Under a roof, every time, no alternatives.
Best festival?
Roskilde, how it can be done when
someone is bothered about making it an
enjoyable experience for everyone.
Closest you’ve come to death on tour?
Being shot at by an irate venue manager
at the Marquee in New York City, who
thought our load-out was too slow.
Most outrageous thing you did on tour?
I once drunkenly decided that I should
liberate the lobsters from their tank
outside a hotel restaurant somewhere in
the USA. The restaurant was on the first
floor, so I sent them to reception in the lift.
CCTV caught us and we got the bill the
next morning. Lobsters are expensive!
Most sensible thing you did on tour?
Proposed to my wife by phone from an
end of tour party in Chicago. We’ve been
married 28 years. I
P Email: [email protected]“I once drunkenly decided that I should liberate the lobsters from their tank
outside a hotel restaurant somewhere in the USA.. .”