KEY POINTS:
You've got a special show coming up, what's it all about?
It's part of the documentary, we're doing a retrospective of some old songs. We're doing two nights, which will be filmed. The first night is available to the public to watch and see how it all happens. We're charging them $40 to come and see the show but it will be a special Topp Twins show.
You're not going to be in character at all, are you?
It's just the Topp Twins. We've some special guests appearing. One of the first women we ever saw sing, a woman called Nancy Kiel, who we met in Christchurch early on in the piece. And we'll have performances from Don McGlashan and Mereana Pitman.
Are they all old friends of yours?
They're all people that have been part of our career. We haven't done a lot of work with Don but we've all been there at the same things. All those people have been interviewed about the Topp Twins, they've interviewed Split Enz and the boys, and Dave and Don, because we were part of the music scene.
Is it still going to be a comedy show or is it more of a musical evening?
It's more of a musical evening but when Jools and I are involved, even if we're not dressed up, there will be some sort of comedy. Basically, we're going to tell some stories about our lives and growing up, what we did in the 80s, 90s, and the particular songs that went with those years, we'll be singing. There'll be some real classic old songs like Graffiti Raiders and Paradise and Bastion Point. We wrote a lot of songs in that time to go with all the protests we were involved in - anti-nuclear, the Springboks, Maori land rights and all that sort of stuff.
Where did the idea of making a documentary come from?
We're 50 this year and we decided we need to do something special. We were thinking of doing a big tour around New Zealand but we've already done one. We've just finished the Recovery Tour, so it felt a little bit early to go back out on to the road again. We've always had this idea that it would be fun to tell our story. We could have made a TV documentary, I suppose, but we went to the Film Commission and they thought it was a great idea. It's going into the movie theatres before it goes on TV, which is kind of exciting.
Do you think the world's ready to see the Topp Twins on the big screen?
Well, I suppose it's a pretty good way to celebrate our 50th. We've already had some pretty good responses from overseas. The documentary crew have already been to Canada and England and interviewed the people we've performed with over there. The idea of the concert is to film it and we'll use parts of the concert to link things in the doco. Instead of just having someone sit and ask us questions, we'll be doing it in the concert. We thought it might be fun to let the people who have supported us come and be part of that audience. It will be a bit of a special moment for Jools and me
If you had to choose the most special moment, or career highlight, of the past 20-odd years, what would it be?
The highlight for Jools and me, I suppose, is that we can still do a national tour in New Zealand and sell it out. We've been performing for close to 30 years and we just did a complete sell-out tour in New Zealand. That makes you feel special, to know that audiences in New Zealand are so supportive.
Is that what makes you feel like Untouchable Girls?
I think so. When we wrote that song, we were young and we felt untouchable. It was our word for being invincible. We could do anything and have a go at anything. It was one of our theme songs when we were young and on the road, being wild and radical. Untouchable Girls just seemed to sum us up in some way.
Do you still feel that way?
Yeah, I do. Jools beat breast cancer last year. We're 50 and we're still out there doing it. We're getting more work now than we did when we were starting out. The calendar's still full.
So this isn't some sort of farewell show? You're not wrapping things up after this?
Hell no! We'll let you know when we do the last gig.
