“Naturally it is a little bit daunting because Powderfinger’s been a comfort zone and a familiar blanket for the last 20 years.”
- Darren Middleton, on the unavoidable fear that comes with quitting.
"It’s a pleasure to be able to walk away when the memories are good and the feelings are good.”
- Darren Middleton, on breaking up at the right time.
“I’ve got both and I’ll have both all year - excitement and happiness, and a little bit of sadness.”
- Darren Middleton, on having mixed feelings.
April 11, 2010. By Jordana Borensztajn.
Now that the news about Powderfinger’s upcoming split is finally public, guitarist Darren Middleton can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“I feel pretty good, especially because it’s out,” he tells Nova. “The secret we’ve been keeping for a few months – now we can finally tell our friends.”
On Friday at a press conference in Sydney, one of Australia’s veteran rock bands Powderfinger delivered a double whammy to fans. The band announced its biggest tour to date and the news that they would break up soon after.
Middleton says while the announcement came as a massive shock, the quintet didn’t arrive at this decision lightly. “It’s been discussed over the last few months at 2am in hotels around the country, and this is the first step of it sinking in. I mean we’ve spent literally half our lives in Powderfinger,” he explains.
“Naturally it is a little bit daunting because Powderfinger’s been a comfort zone and a familiar blanket for the last 20 years. There’s a little bit of nerves there but not too much because we’ve all been pretty smart about the way we’ve gone about this. None of us have any bad drug habits, we haven’t pissed any income we’ve earned up the wall. So when you look at it in that way, it’s OK.”
Check out the footage of band's announcement!
Middleton says like any long-term relationship, tensions and arguments have been unavoidable over the years, but this didn’t contribute to their decision to end the band.
We felt like we’ve done everything we can do. We’ve always thought not about yesterday but about what we can do tomorrow and we just got to this point where we made this album Golden Rule and we love it. We think it’s probably our best body of work and now’s a good time to turn the corner. So we decided to just call it a day.”
Throughout the band’s 21-year career, Powderfinger’s delivered seven studio albums to its fans and racked up a very impressive list of accolades including 16 ARIA wins and three APRA awards.
Middleton says finishing with Golden Rule was the perfect way to round up. “The Golden Rule album was pretty easy for us to make and it was a lot of fun writing and putting it together. It was a pretty good experience and we think it’s a great record. It’s a pleasure to be able to walk away when the memories are good and the feelings are good.”
Photo: Getty Images/Getty Images Entertainment/ Lisa Maree Williams
POWDERFINGER TOUR DATES
1 Sep - Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Newcastle
3 Sep - Gold Coast Convention Centre, Gold Coast
4 Sep - Riverstage, Brisbane
7 Sep - Regional Entertainment Centre, Tamworth
9 Sep - Entertainment Centre, Wollongong
10 Sep - Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
14 Sep - Derwent Entertainment Centre, Goodwood
16 Sep - Memorial Drive Park, Adelaide
18 Sep - Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney
24 Sep - Supreme Court Gardens, Perth
26 Sep - Gardens Amphitheatre, Darwin
28 Sep - Cairns Convention Centre, Cairns
1 Oct - Townsville Entertainment & Convention Centre, Townsville
3 Oct - Mackay Entertainment & Convention Centre Showgrounds, Mackay
7 Oct - Rockhampton Showgrounds, Rockhampton
8 Oct - Caloundra Music Festival, Kings Beach
9 Oct - University of Southern QLD, Toowoomba
12 Oct - University of Canberra, Bruce
13 Oct - Albury Sports Ground, Albury
15 Oct - Bendigo Showgrounds, Bendigo
16 Oct - North Gardens, Ballarat
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