Tough, uncompromising, belligerent, visceral; the words to describe Rose Tattoo’s musical career almost stretch as far and wide as Angry Anderson’s arm tatts. About to get back in the saddle and embark on a national tour, Anderson and the rest of the band have had it as tough as the descriptions evoked by their music.

First, original member Dallas ‘Digger’ Royal died in 1991 after a long struggle with cancer. In 2006, fellow original members Peter Wells and Ian Rilen both passed away after their own battles with cancer. While these tragedies would end the career of other bands, Rose Tattoo refused to buckle, releasing their album Blood Brothers in 2007 with a new line-up. This year however, founding member Mick Cocks was diagnosed with liver cancer.

The band recently threw a benefit gig for Cocks, which had musicians like Ian Moss and Jimmy Barnes, as well as bands such as The Screaming Jets, perform to a sold-out audience at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre. But true to the spirit of the band, Rose Tattoo are soldiering on.

 "Mick’s holding his own at the moment, he’s got a fight on his hands," Anderson says. "It’s (the deaths of his band members) been hard to accommodate and deal with, I remember it taking me years to get over losing ‘Digger’ in 1989."

 It’s hard to believe that it’s been over thirty years since Rose Tattoo erupted out of the ‘pub rock’ movement of the late ‘70s with such hits as Bad Boy For Love and We Can’t Be Beaten. Together with bands such as AC/DC and The Angels, Rose Tattoo helped write the rulebook for Australian heavy rock.

"One of the great things that I’ve always loved about the band is its work ethic, its art ethic, and its tribute to the romanticism of rock & roll," says Anderson, reflecting on Rose Tattoo’s career and explaining why the band, although highly influential and respected, has never tasted the monetary success of their peers.

 "There’s no denying that we had the chance in the early ‘80s to capitalise on an infamy that was developing around us in America. We were uncompromising; we couldn’t swerve and deviate from what we were. We had a fierce belief in ourselves, which has sustained us to this day.

 "We haven’t folded, we’ve never changed with the wind and we never followed fashion. The reason we haven’t put out many albums is because we don’t just run in and record every couple of years, we only do it when we feel like we have something to say.

"We’ve never had commercial success in Australia, and I’m not going to say that it hasn’t disappointed us, because it has – but we still play where it matters, which is in the pubs. We’ll always be in the pubs playing real music to real people."

And in doing so, Rose Tattoo typify the never-say-die attitude that Australia prides itself on – holding their heads high above a sea of misfortune.

ROSE TATTOO play The Springwood Hotel on Friday Sep 25 and the Kallangur Tavern on Saturday Sep 26. BLOOD BROTHERS is out now and can be found at their website.

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