Talking Rock Stars with Tony Mott
Photos from the Moshpit with Tony Mott...by Ian Browne Shamrock News
My real name is Tony Moulds. It was recommended to me by a lady from a record company that I needed to change my name if I wanted success in the industry. I explained that my favourite band was ‘Mott the Hoople’ and she said: “Great, change it to that.” I replied: “What, Tony the Mott the Hoople?” In 2009 Mott the Hoople reformed and I was completely thrilled. I was hooping so loudly in the pit I was told to keep it down! It’s probably not best to photograph your idols. I grew up in Sheffield. In the early 80’s, I arrived to Sydney from England as a French Chef. I have always lived in Redfern. I had lived in London and New York, but at the time Sydney was the best place on the planet to see live music. In fact, when The Cure toured in 1981, they stayed for three months and never played the same venue twice! After work, I used to head out on a Friday night to take photos of the Divinyls.
Chrissy Amphlett is the best female performer I have ever seen. Not the best artist, but the best performer. She was a screaming banshee, I feared for my own safety, and that of the crowd. So, photographing Chrissy was both a pleasure and pain! Australia was unique in that they had ‘street-press’ music mags, like Sydney’s Drum Media. So there was work available. The Divinyls paid me to take portraits. My first successful portrait was of Chrissy Amphlett. I took a photo of her in a white dress, and she never forgave me for it, as she wanted to be seen in black.
...read the humorous stories Tony shares from his long career as a rock photographer with the likes of The Rolling Stones, Queen, Bon Jovi, Bjork, Henry Rollins, Iggy Pop, Prince, Ben Harper and many more...