Creativity Quote by Peter Garrett

The flex here isn’t “we sold out shows.” It’s “we sold out shows and still didn’t have to explain ourselves.” Garrett’s “crossover line” marks a threshold where success stops being a local scene anecdote and becomes a repeatable fact: crowds, speed, scale. But he’s careful to define that success as tribal, not mainstream. The image of fans queuing outside isn’t just about demand; it’s a ritual. The “tribe” signals belonging built on shared codes - lyrics, politics, style, the feeling of being in on something. That kind of loyalty is different from casual fandom because it asks for identity, not just attention.

Then comes the real point: “still be a mystery to everybody else.” Garrett frames obscurity as a feature, not a failure. In rock culture, especially in the late-70s/80s ecosystem that produced bands like Midnight Oil, credibility is always under threat from exposure. To “cross over” traditionally means dilution: radio polish, softened edges, a translation for outsiders. Garrett flips it. Their crossover is logistical and communal (more shows, bigger queues), while their meaning remains stubbornly untranslated. It’s a savvy bit of self-mythology: the band grows without becoming legible, popular without becoming generic.

Subtext: we learned how to win the numbers game while keeping the aura. That’s the dream of every politically charged, scene-rooted act - mass reach with intact mystique - and Garrett names it with the pride of someone who knows how rare that balance is.