Robert Susz aka Continental Robert has been a part of the Australian music scene since the late ‘70s with his first band, the Dynamic Hepnotics, well known for their 1984 hit, ‘Soul Kind Of Feeling’.
The singer, harmonica player and songwriter will be teaming with The Paul Renton Band for a night of blues, boogaloo and down-home funk this weekend in Brisbane.
Since the release of 2003 album, 'On The Soul Side', Robert has focused on collaborating and contributing to sessions with other musicians, mainly on harmonica. “I have a few tunes on the back burner that I have to get around to recording. There is a plan to gig with Dynamic Hepnotics, we're playing at a festival in south NSW as well as Caloundra Music Festival… we might pull out some old recordings that were unreleased previously, just to celebrate the occasion.”
Two of Robert’s all-time favourite albums are the 'Hoodoo Man Blues' by Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, and James Brown’s 'Live At The Apollo’. “Back then, I used to use ['Hoodoo Man Blues'] just to study harmonica. It has lots of funky beats to it … Buddy Guy on guitar, Junior Wells singing, with a bass and a drummer.
"On the other side would be James Brown’s album, 'Live At The Apollo’… old-school funk, really exciting live performance. You can’t see what’s happening but you can imagine. The music never stops, everything merges between tunes, I try to do that in my bands – keep everything moving and flowing. These are two of my favourites that inspired me, I never get sick of listening to them.”
'Soul Kind Of Feeling' was a national hit in the '80s and even after all these years Rob still finds it fun to perform. “I stopped playing it for about ten years, then I started playing about a year or two ago, with just my band … but it’s different because the original has horns in it, whereas my usual band hasn’t got horns … so sometimes we put on revue shows and book a horns section… with some guest stars. That’s always good fun too, with a full band!”
Continental Rob has experienced some pretty memorable moments while on tour; from the Dynamic Hepnotics guitarist being strangled during a performance, experiencing Guitar Shorty play a solo on his head and having his own harmonica taken from him on stage by Louisiana Red. “The most iconic was Andrew from Dynamic Hepnotics performing while being strangled at the same time… that’s dedication. Then the next thing I know, someone’s banging me on the back of the head … and it turns into a brawl.
“We had one rehearsal with Louisiana Red for about an hour … we rehearsed about 10-12 tunes but when it came to the show we must of played 6-7 tunes before we even performed one we'd actually rehearsed!
“You'd just have to listen and watch him, but luckily everyone in the band was fairly familiar with the music so we picked up on it fast, we loved playing with him. Keeps you on your toes!”
Besides a few gigs in Sydney and Melbourne, Rob has no further tour dates planned. “I don’t really do tours … I have my own band, the Continental Blues Party that does shows here and there … I get to play with other people too, especially with the band, the Pinks.”
Continental Robert plays New Globe Theatre 19 July.
