Jane Gazzo is Reforming Her Old 90s Punk Band Rubher

Jane Gazzo’s old band Rubher is getting back together.

Rubher formed in Brisbane in the 90s with Gazzo fronting the band. In a Facebook post Jane announced “Yes my band Rubher are reforming for a one-off show with our mates @themavissofficial at The Prince May 11th! Getting the band and dear friends together again! Nervous but super delighted”.

One of their songs ‘Johnny Peel Is Dead’ even got back to iconic British DJ John Peel who played it on his show in 1995. According to Peel’s Wiki Peel said, “Last week I got a record from Rubher, which is spelled R-U-B-H-E-R from Australia on Lighthouse records, it’s an EP called Big Red Truck. I was looking at it, looking at the titles, one of them says Johnny Peel Is Dead and I thought that’s a bit grim, it must have been some Australian bloke called Johnny Peel, a bit of a coincidence, but no it turns out this isn’t the case at all and here’s something from an Australian newspaper, it says the last song from the EP is titled Johnny Peel Is Dead. When I asked the origins of the song, I have a small history lesson thrust upon me by the band, my god, don’t you know, and you call yourself a music journo. John Peel is the Radio 1 DJ, who discovered punk in the 70’s and new wave in the 1980’s, I certainly did everybody, in fact I was in all of those bands and he said, what does he go on to say, he started out doing pirate shows on the ships during the WAR !! it says, I mean that would make me like 75 or something, because they couldn’t have music on. I don’t know if you know the story, there was a time when no radio stations in England would play pop music, so all these DJ’s used to get boats and go out to the middle of the sea where they could reach Europe and they used to play pop music and it was really successful and so it goes on in a similar vain, but the record of course is really rather grim because Johnny Peel, nobody who knows me of course would call me Johnny, well at least not twice, but Johnny Peel Is Dead, well it’s me and I’m sampled on it, but I thought I play it, you know, you feel safer way in a funny way.”

As Jane said on Facebook Rubher’s reunion (at this stage) is a-one off. See them May 11 with The Mavis’s at The Prince in Melbourne.

A selection of Rubher’s “greatest hits”:

Johnny Peel Is Dead