Local band en route to Copenhagen

Local band en route to Copenhagen

Marrickville indie band The Lurkers are going global, set to play gigs at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

Well, okay – not quite. Said banjo player and vocalist Mithra Cox: “We weren’t exactly ‘invited’ to go to Copenhagen – we’ll be on the streets with the activists and protesters mostly! But we are playing at the Klimaforum09 – an alternative activist conference happening in Copenhagen at the same time as the UN conference. That came about because we played support to [US political songwriter] David Rovics here in Tempe, when he toured Australia this year. He’s also going to Copenhagen and put us in touch with the organisers over there.”

The group’s style draws on bluegrass, Appalachian mountain music and traditional folk music. Cox said one of the group’s aims was to bring back the tradition of the political bluegrass song, in the context of contemporary issues such as climate change and consumerism. “And maybe the odd song about group sex.”

All three members are based in the inner west – Cox in Marrickville, while guitarist and harmonica player Martin Cubby and double bassist Nicholas Mueller hail from nearby Enmore. “I guess the area has been pretty good to us – people really get into the politics of our songs and not just the music.”

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