Bernard Fanning of Powderfinger performing at Big Day Out 2010 (photo by Steve Collis, Melbourne, Australia; from Wikipedia)
Bernard Fanning (DOB: 8/15/1969) is an Australian musician and singer-songwriter. He was the lead vocalist of Queensland alternative rock band Powderfinger from its formation in 1989 to its dissolution in 2010.
Born and raised in Toowong, Brisbane, Fanning was taught the piano by his mother at an early age. At the age of 15, while attending St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace, he began writing music. Upon graduating from St. Joseph’s Fanning moved on to the University of Queensland, where he studied journalism for a short time. He dropped out to pursue a music career, after meeting Ian Haug in an economics class. Fanning joined Haug, John Collins, and Steven Bishop, who had recently formed Powderfinger, and took the role of lead singer. After Bishop left and guitarist Darren Middleton joined, the band released five studio albums in fifteen years and achieved mainstream success in Australia. During Powderfinger’s hiatus in 2005, Fanning began his solo music career with the studio album Tea & Sympathy. Powderfinger reunited in 2007 and released two more albums before disbanding in late 2010.
While Powderfinger’s style focuses on alternative rock, Fanning’s solo music is generally described as a mixture of blues and acoustic folk. He plays guitar, piano, keyboards and harmonica, both when performing solo and also with Powderfinger. Often speaking out against Australian political figures, Fanning has donated much of his time to philanthropic causes. He is an advocate for Aboriginal justice in Australia.
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Political and Moral Stances
Fanning has said that although political messages may be common throughout his and Powderfinger’s music, it is not his central focus when writing songs: “A balance has to be struck in a lot of ways, in the sense that primarily I’m a musician. I’m not a political commentator. So if I write a song that has political content, then hopefully that song is a good enough song to make it onto my record. And if it’s not, then that’s just a song that I’ve written. So I don’t think it necessarily needs to be that you’re definitively trying to make a political statement.” He has said he has no interest in “doing a ‘Peter Garrett'”, referring to the Midnight Oil front man who entered politics after a successful musical career.
On 8 July 2007, Fanning wrote a piece for Adelaide’s Sunday Mail, describing his recent trip to Uluru. In the piece, he criticised those who climbed the rock, saying he was “appalled that kids were being taught to disrespect the wishes of Aboriginal people on their own land”. Upon returning from Uluru, Fanning wrote “Black Tears”, which “document[ed] a relationship gone wrong”. In his piece, Fanning also criticised the 17-year life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, and encouraged all to join a conversation on reconciliation.
Fanning takes a left-leaning political stance, although he claims he is not fond of discussing the issue. Rather, he attempts to discuss the issues through his songs. “I approach writing a song about something like [Aboriginal affairs] the same way I would approach writing a song about a relationship, because it’s something that I feel strongly about.” However, he has occasionally stated his views on social and political issues, giving The Dominion Post his stance on Aboriginal affairs in light of the Across the Great Divide tour;
The trial of the policeman [Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley] that was charged [over the death in custody of 36-year-old Palm Island man Mulrunji Doomadgee in 2004] has gone ahead and he was acquitted. In terms of that issue, that’s out of the way, but the whole idea of Aboriginal people in custody dying is certainly not out of the way. And Aboriginal people being treated like shit in Australia is certainly not out of the way either.
Go here to read the full article/bio:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Fanning