Legendary Cold Chisel rocker Phil Small has revealed the surprisingly ‘normal’ job he worked after the Australian band broke up in the early 80s.
The bass guitarist, 70, admitted he kept himself busy by doing warehouse work and other odd jobs during the 14 years the band was on hiatus from 1983 to 1997.
‘After the band did split, there’s a huge void there for everyone. I was like, “What the hell am I going to do now?”‘ Phil told the LISTNR Cold Chisel podcast.
‘It was like you’ve just walked out of a big party and slammed the door into a vacant room. Nothing there.’
Small added he needed to keep himself busy and did so by taking on a variety of jobs until the band’s shock reunion in 1997.
‘So I had to go out and get work. I got work wherever I could, at one stage I was an offsider on a truck. I worked at St Vincent de Paul,’ he said.
Legendary Cold Chisel rocker Phil Small (pictured) has revealed the surprisingly ‘normal’ job he worked after the Australian band broke up in the early 80s
‘One of my longest jobs was with the record label Polygram actually, just working in the warehouse. A lot of musicians got work there through word of mouth.’
However, once the band got back together in 1997, Small was able to leave that line of work and go back to playing up a storm with singer Jimmy Barnes on stages across Australia.
Small first joined the band in 1975 and has played on all their studio albums since, and toured the world with the iconic rock group.
For an Australian rock band that has endured against all the odds, look no further than Cold Chisel.
From late 2023 and into 2024, frontman Jimmy Barnes has been in and out of hospital, first for a hip replacement and then emergency open-heart surgery followed by another hip operation.
Just a few months later, he was back to his barnstorming best, performing a national tour to mark the band’s 50-year anniversary.Â
In October, Cold Chisel played the first of two sold-out shows at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse, supported by The Cruel Sea and Karen Lee Andrews.
Singer Barnes, 68, was seen belting out the group’s classic hits alongside fellow band members Phil Small, Charley Drayton and Don Walker.
The bass guitarist, 70, revealed he kept himself busy by doing warehouse work and other odd jobs during the 14 years the band was in hiatus from 1983 – 1997
Small added he needed to keep himself busy and did so by taking on a variety of odd jobs until the band’s shock reunion in 1997
The band has recently released 50 Years – The Best Of to mark The Big Five-0 Tour, and the album went straight to No.1 on the ARIA album chart.
But there’s another number one for Barnes too: his sixth book, Highways and Byways: Tall Tales and Short Stories from the Long Way Round.
Highways and Byways has made its debut on the bestseller charts at the top of the Australian biography/autobiography category.
‘I’m thrilled to still be here and to have such great fans/readers still travelling the highways and byways with me,’ Barnes said in a statement.
‘I started writing eight or so years ago and it’s been a wonderful, cathartic experience for me and my family, as well as an honour to see my stories help other families start conversations that might assist their healing.’
He was forced to cancel two months’ worth of gigs in August after noticing an ache in his side while performing in New Zealand, which led to an urgent ‘remedial’ hip operation.
The singer previously underwent open-heart surgery to fend off a staph infection, which then returned and attacked his hip, leading to the latest shock surgery and six-week recovery.
Barnes later made his triumphant return to stage after his health struggles as he performed with his band Cold Chisel at The Entertainment Quarter.
The Cold Chisel 50th anniversary tour, dubbed ‘The Big Five-0,’ has already sold over 150,000 tickets across 16 shows, making it one of the most highly-anticipated Aussie tours of the year.
