Reviews- Blitz Magazine

         In a conversation peppered with expletives, larger than life Shihad drummer Tom 'fucking' Larkin, told Nicola Lipman about his passions: filth, fury and being destructive- "in an intellegent way..."

         For someone who considers himself 'non-existent' when unchained from his drums, Tom Larkin holds some very passionate opinions- and the powerhouse percussionist for Kiwi band Shihad, playing at the Roundhouse this wednesday, is certainly not afraid to voice his feelings.
         "I've noticed that here in Australia, a lot of the time you see Aboriginal people in the cities in their thirties and they're fucked," he says. "I see reconciliation as a similar situation that's been handled incredib;y different in New Zealand. At home, the fact is I could go to school with Maori peopl and have communications with them as a normal part of life."
          Given Larkin's sentiment, it is no surprise that the highly successful foursome tackled the issue of prejudice and racism in a song called "Thin White Line" on their latest album, The General Electric. The song, Larkin explains, is about skinheads in Christchurch telling a bunch of chinese guys they weren't welcome in the country. He explodes, "I mean, the skinhead saying that was just an Irish fucking immigrant anyway. We're all fucking immigrants, it's just that some arrived a little earlier. In the scheme of things, it's just the blink of an eye. It's fucking nothing and it doesn't mean anything more. And the thing is. there were a bunch of people that inhabited both New Zealand and Australia before we got there, and they were cruising, doing their thing, and we came and fucked it up. And now, we own everything, we've got it all our way and it's like..."I finished the sentence for him: "we just keep fucking it up for worse for them," "Exactly."
         Shihad are living proof that rock'n'roll is alive and kicking in the age of electronica. The General Electric is a fiesty, energetic masterpiece. Their most recent single, 'Pacifier', reached number one on the Triple J Net Fifty. The band has just embarked on "Pacifier Tour 2000", stopping in all regional centres around the nation.
         Despite a twelve-year struggle to the top, Larkin's enthusiasm for music had not even slightly diminished. So much so that Tom Larkin "does not exist" outside the world of Shihad. "It absolutely rules everything I do and every waking hour." This is the life he loves and plans to continue until he's an agin rock star. Or, as he puts it, "Till I've got a beard, and a big gut and law suits coming out of my arse."

         In the little time off he had before this extensive tour, Larkin was enjoying kicking back and "watching a few videos, seeing a few movies". This leads our converation onto films. Chopper, according to Larkin, was fucking amazing". The Filth and the Fury (the Sex Pistols documentary) was another "fucking amazing" film and took Larkin back to his days as a luttle (little) school kid in NewZealand.
          "The thing about the Sex Pistols is the effect they had on me when I was eleven years old," he reminisces. "Their music was like a weapn. You'd put it on, and you'd get all these reactions out of people. At school, the teachers would turn off the tape angrily and you'd have yoounger kids walking around quoting lyrics with 'fuck' in them- it was absolutely hilarious.
         "The Sex Pistols are pretty special to me," he continues, "kind of like a stick of dynamite. Socially - or at least they were for me, backt hen. They were funny but intelligent. It's fantastic to watcha guy be so destructive, but in an intelligent way. It was chaotic, but the chaos had a theme. It had a purpose and ultimately, a kind of design to it, really.
         "I think it would be impossible, right now, to make the same kind of imapact that the Sex Pistols had," Larkin states, referring to his own musical career. "The impact would have to be different." Shihad is indeed making a different sort of impact. In a time when the categories of dance music are constantly expanding, Shihad are keeping the flame of rock'n'roll well ignited. Their driving, high-energy performance have created a loyal following throughout Australia, Japan, Europe and America.

          "Playing live is te best thing about being on tour," Larkin confirms. "For me, it's kind of like driving. I sit behind the drums, and that's kind of the fucking engine room really. I'm very aware of the corwd the whole time- I'm watching them, and they're reacting to the beat that I put down, so I have a very strong connection to the crowd at any on time."

          While the band maintains morale on tour by taking the pissout of each other, Larkin finds it hard to assassinate his own character. A helping voice suddenly pipes up from the background (apparently, Larkin's friend Mel):...Being anally retentive, Larkin verifies this: "Yep, being anally retentive." ...Being vague, "I have really vague days," he chuckles. So, did the band choose the "Pacifier" name on a 'vague day'? "Don't get the wrong idea here," Larkin says. "Shihad is not tourinf to try and chill out the nation: it's reverse psychology, basically."

Shihad rock the Roundhouse, Wednesday night the 6th of September, tickets are $11 for students.