BRAD ROBERTS And The Curious Life Of CRASH TEST DUMMIES

Interview by Ali Williams
CRASH TEST DUMMIES have reached a particularly agreeable stage of their career. They can tour when they want, play songs that have already survived several decades of public consumption, slip some new material into the set without causing mass panic, and frontman Brad Roberts no longer feels obliged to work quite as hard as he once did. Catching up with HEAVY’s Ali Williams, Roberts was happy to announce their return as well as share some memories and insight on the band's journey so far.
The Canadian band are heading back to Australia in April, following a previous visit that went well enough for another run to be organised almost immediately. For Roberts, that response carries more weight than any grand discussion about longevity. People came. They enjoyed themselves. They wanted the band back. CRASH TEST DUMMIES were equally happy with the arrangement. “We had such a successful tour last time that we booked gigs almost immediately after finishing the ones that we did,” Roberts tells HEAVY.
There was, however, a substantial period when touring wasn’t part of the CRASH TEST DUMMIES routine at all. After stepping away from the road for some time, an invitation around 2016 unexpectedly put the machinery back into motion. Roberts remembers the moment he wanted to start touring again - mid performance with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Not exactly the sort a conventional way of planning your bands next international tour , but there is something wonderfully reassuring about a musician with Roberts’ history casually deciding to tour again albeit mid-performance. The performance went so well that the band found themselves asking a very simple question: why weren’t they doing this anymore?
Full write up and interview heavymag.com.au


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