Ahead of The Afghan Whigs’ first Australian tour, frontman GREG DULLI tells us about his favourite Australian bands – from The Church and AC/DC to unheralded ’80s act Matt Finish and The Dirty Three.

Twenty-five years since their first gig in 1987, the reunited Whigs will be performing two club shows in Melbourne and Sydney in July before taking to the stage at the now sold-out Splendour In The Grass festival in Byron Bay. Formed in Cincinnati in 1986, the trio have released six albums including Congregation, Black Love, 1965 and 1993’s Gentlemen, widely considered to be one of the greatest rock albums of its time.

AC/DC

My first known exposure to an Australian rock band was through the song ‘Let There Be Rock’ and it was a moment that changed me forever. A radio station in my hometown played it late one night when I was a kid and I wrote down the name and bought it the next day. AC/DC is still one of my favorite bands and Bon Scott is an absolute legend and lord of rock’n’roll. Which leads me to…

The Angels

I heard ‘Marseilles’ on the same station late at night and it was a straight jam. They were called Angel City in the US for legal reasons. I never saw them but I finally saw a YouTube clip of them where Doc Neeson looks like a crazed and drunken version of Bryan Ferry.

The Church

One of the first songs we ever played together in the Afghan Whigs was ‘One Day’ by the Church. I have loved them since I first heard them (again at night on the radio) and I was thrilled to meet Steve Kilbey a few years ago. He's a phenomenal songwriter and they really carved out their own sound. I remember being blown away when Heyday came out and thinking they were gonna be huge.

Dirty Three

The kings of vibe records and Warren Ellis may be the most charismatic live performer currently working.

Matt Finish

My friend, Mark McGuire turned me on to Matt Finish and I've been catching up on their stuff recently. Short Note is a heartbreaker and Matt Moffit had a lot of soul.

Empire Of The Sun

I knew of Luke Steele through The Sleepy Jackson who I really liked but when I heard ‘Walking On A Dream’ it was clear that a switch got thrown somewhere because that dude moved to another level. I also am a big fan of Nick Littlemore's voice, particularly the songs he sings on Black Light by Groove Armada.

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M+N PRESENTS THE AFGHAN WHIGS

Wed, Jul 25 – The Hi-Fi, Melbourne, VIC
Thurs, Jul 26 – The Factory, Sydney, NSW
Fri, Jul 27 – Splendour In The Grass, Belongil, NSW (sold out)

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