DRAGON MARK 3 Todd Hunter Talks to RIU

Rip It Up, Issue 24, 1 July 1979, Page 1

DRAGON MARK 3 Todd Hunter Talks to RIU

Duncan Campbell

In the three years since they decided to seek their fortunes in Australia, Dragon have had their fair share of triumphs and turbulence. They spent their first six months rehearsing in a decrepit old house in the suburbs of Sydney, and playing in bars, trying to gain attention. Drummer Neal Storey OD’d about three weeks after their first hit single, "This Time” was recorded. The collective ability of Messrs Hunter, Hewson and Taylor to construct a commercial song sustained them through three wellreceived albums and two years of very hard work, touring month after month, and building up a considerable following. The songs were well suited to live performances, coupled with Marc Hunter’s cocksure, swaggering stage presence. Portrait records decided to go for the big push, packing the band off to the States in 1978 for a tour supporting Johnny Winter. Six weeks playing small venues in Texas and on the West Coast also had their ups and downs, as bassist Todd Hunter recalls: "The audiences varied from night to night,” he says, "some nights they went absolutely bananas, other times they hated us. The band played well on some nights, and terrible on others.” REDNECKS In Texas, they decided to see whether the Redneck legend was true. "There was night in Dallas where Marc set out to create a riot,” says Todd. “He was calling all Texans faggots, and inviting them to scrap, giving them the fingers and all that sort of stuff.” Luckily, physical violence was avoided, and the natives became quite friendly when they learned of the band’s nationality. The audiences were small, but Dragon made useful contacts with booking agencies and other people in the biz. They returned to the Australian concert scene at Christmas, but by this time the writing was on the wall for Marc Hunter. “He’d been very bored with playing and travelling around for about a year,” Todd recalls. “We'd talked with him about it for six months or so, and he finally decided to quit in February. "At that stage, we started rehearsing the new guys in the band. We’d practise during the day and play at night with Marc.”

Todd denies any claims of internal disputes, insisting the whole thing was quite amicable. In fact, Marc still plays with the band occasionally, and has a new single due for imminent release. Todd says it’s similar to the Dragon sound, with a slight disco feel, and general opinion is that Marc will land himself a sizeable hit. NEW MEMBERS For Dragon Mk 3, two new members were recruited, instead of looking for another Marc Hunter. From Perth came Bill Rogers on sax, mouth harp and vocals. “We met him about two years ago. Rather than being a front man, he’s a really good musician. We wanted someone who would really work into the band, rather than replace Marc.” Also new to the fold is violinist Richard Lee, who played on O Zambezi. The new image focuses attention on everybody, rather than one person in front. “We're trying to get the image of the whole band projecting, rather than just one person, with everyone else laying back. It seems to be working, too. After an initial period of confusion, the audiences are now handling it really well.” The new sound is more adult,-less commercial. All the old material has been ditched. “It's a little bit heavier, and I reckon it’s better musically, because with violin and sax in it, there are a lot of different things you can do with arrangements. “The new songs are less poppy, and I think, less accessible, it takes a bit more listening to. “At the moment we’re getting real good audiences, and they seem to be a bit older, coming more for the music than for the pop star trip. For the first time, people are having to face the fact that the band can play. It definitely isn’t a pop band anymore.” A new single, called “Love’s Not Enough”, is already out. Written by keyboards player Paul Hewson, it’s very similar to the earlier material. Todd says this was deliberately done, to ease the audiences into the new sound. Future releases will be quite different. NEW ALBUM Work is already started on a new album again with Peter Dawkins producing, and an American engineer. Release will probably be in September, followed by a two-month promotional tour. Todd, Paul and guitarist Robert Taylor each contribute three songs, and one number is a collaboration by all members. Taylor in particular is producing a much harder sound. A New Zealand tour is possible before the end of the year, though nothing is definite, and Todd wants local people to hear the album before returning. Next year, Dragon hope to return to the States during the American summer, with a sound they think will have greater appeal. “We re-structured the band to see if we could get something that would be more acceptable to American audiences. Playing and arrangements seem to go over much bigger there, compared to the pop star trip that works in Australia.” So the old adage of what you lose on the swings seems well applied to Dragon at present. While they may have dropped slightly in the charisma stakes, their credibility rating looks set to take a big leap. Todd says Australian audiences are very image-conscious, fond of classifying bands into pop-punk-whatever pigeonholes. The change, therefore, was a big of a gamble. “We thought, right, f**k it, we’ll mix it up a bit, and if we don't do any good, well that's too bad. Buj this is actually what we want to do, so we’re doing it.”