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Having bagpipes in your rock band? Eh, fairly unique. Playing a didgeridoo? Sure, that’s pretty different too. A single group featuring both, however? That’s an almost impossibly rare mix, one belonging almost exclusively to Brother.

For over two decades and 12 albums (coming up on 13 with the upcoming "Last Man Standing") the Australian-born rock band has smashed together Celtic and tribal sounds – amongst many others – onto one stage and won over listeners across the globe in the process – including at Milwaukee’s own River Rhythms, where the band has become fan favorites.

Unfortunately, the band’s upcoming return to the Pere Marquette Park stage on Wednesday night – starting at 6:30 p.m. and running until 9 p.m. – will likely be the final one of its kind, as lead singer Angus Richardson recently announced that he was stepping away from the band. Before his likely final Milwaukee show, OnMilwaukee.com got a chance to chat with Richardson and reflect on saying goodbye to Brother. 

OnMilwaukee.com: Your music is such a unique blend of sounds and cultures – incorporating some Celtic and tribal music, just to name a few. How did you create and develop that sound?

Angus Richardson: Well, it just kind of happened. My two brothers and I went to a school in Australia that had a bagpipe there. We had Scottish heritage, so all three of us ended up learning the bagpipe, so we had that in our arsenal. Then in high school, we just had a rock band, but it wasn’t until we came to America and started street performing to pay the rent that we decided to bring out the bagpipes because they attract a lot of attention. Pretty loud.

Also, in our first year in America, my brother always had an affinity for the didgeridoo, so he made himself a tunable didgeridoo. And I think he made the first one … that we know of. So we headed to the street with bagpipes, the didgeridoo and tribal drums, and we learned how to work with it all. 

OMC: A tunable didgeridoo?

AR: Yeah, my brother put two pieces of PVC together and worked out a way to be able to have a tunable didgeridoo. You’re not able to use them in different keys, so that made it versatile.

OMC: You announced recently that this is going to be your last tour with the band, your last bunch of shows.

AR: It is, yeah. I’ve been doing it for a long time; next year, it’ll be 25 years in America. I’ve been kind of running the business as well and keeping all the different elements together, and it’s just time to be at home, with the family and in the garden. As much as I love it, I’m coming into a different time in my life.

OMC: Was there a certain moment where you realized this, or was it more of a slow gradual realization?

AR: A gradual realization. I’m enjoying being in the garden at home more and more, and my kids are getting older. Family has to come first.

OMC: Are there any particular favorite memories that you have from being on the road?

AR: There’s countless. We have a lot of good memories from Milwaukee. The first time we played there, we were pretty much just street performing, busking out in front of Summerfest. That went well, so they brought us up onto a stage and we went from there.

There’s one amazing memory from River Rhythms. We got totally rained out, and we finished the concert by getting as many of the audience up onto the stage with us under the gazebo as possible. We just had a huge drum circle with everybody joining in, and it was just pouring rain all around. That was a memory that’ll stay with me forever.

OMC: You have a new album coming out as well. That must feel odd to have a new album coming out while at the same time you’re stepping away.

AR: Yeah, the album itself was kind of summing up this last period, so it seems pretty appropriate. The name of the album is actually "Last Man Standing," so it seems appropriate for this time.

OMC: Do you have any big plans for this final set of shows?

AR: Well, we’re doing our best to get people to bring along their bubble machines. In the old days in Milwaukee, when we played a certain song, we had half the audience blowing bubbles, so hopefully that will happen again. We’re going to bring out a few of the older songs that we haven’t played in many years, have a trip down memory lane.

OMC: What is the thing you’ll miss the most about band life?

AR: The people. The people on the road who appreciate our music, dance to it, listen to it and come up at the end and tell us stories about how the music has affected them. Just getting to know so many good people. That’s what I’ll miss. Of course, and getting to see lots of different exotic places is wonderful as well. We’ve been to Egypt and France and Japan and a few other fantastic places. But it’s the people at the end of the day.