Pittwater Life October 2023 Issue

LOCAL CONNECTION: Brothers Reg Mombassa and Peter O’Doherty.
Peter: As a child I was always drawing
and wanted to be an artist when I grew
up, so I’ve been fortunate to be able to
keep it up throughout. Music came second,
I started playing guitar when I was
about 14 and knew a couple of years in
that I didn’t want to do anything else.
Q: If you could pick one band or musician
to see up close, who would it be
and why?
Reg: I would like to see the Auckland
band The Underdogs Blues Band playing
Sitting in the Rain, so I could see what
sort of fuzz box the lead guitarist was using
to get his excellent bassy fuzz tone.
Peter: Could be anyone from Taj Mahal,
Ry Cooder, the Faces, Wes Montgomery,
but though she’s gone, Nina Simone
would have been great to see play live.
She was a phenomenal singer and
pianist, mercurial and original, blending
Bach with blues, jazz, pop and civil
rights to make something totally distinctive
and unique.
Q: Is there a particular focus for your
art at the moment?
Reg: Apart from landscapes which I’m always
interested in, I’m currently dealing
with robots, AI and space creatures.
Peter: I try and paint every day; it’s like
playing an instrument, keep the momentum
up so as to get the conscious mind
out of the way as much as possible and
keep the hands loose. I paint the world
around me, houses and flats, streets,
sinks, chairs, trying to convey the familiar
without illustrating it literally.
Q: Describe each other in a few words?
Reg (on Peter): He is not very tall and has
fluffy whitish hair.
Peter (on Reg): I described Reg accurately
in a song I wrote for the Mentals
called Dorothy Parker’s Hair. The chorus
is: “Dorothy Parker’s hair was, Dark
and listless, Just like my hippy brother
Chris’”. Spoiler alert: Reg’s real name is
Chris. And his hair may not be as dark
as it was!
*More info avalonrsl.com.au
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