Behind the scenes at every major concert event are a group of people who work incredibly hard to ensure you don't even know they're there.
Road crews have wide ranging technical abilities – from stage management to sound, lighting and audio engineering – but their importance to the music industry often goes unrecognised.
Researchers from Adelaide University are now collaborating with the Australian Road Crew Association (ARCA) to better understand the challenges roadies of the past face with ageing.
Rod Louey-Gung left his home in Melbourne and went on the road as a sound engineer at age 18 in 1973.
Working with the likes of Jojo Zep, Midnight Oil and Sidewinder, Louey-Gung's SAM Music also provided crew for tours by Fleetwood Mac and Rod Stewart. In the early '80s, he moved to Darwin, set up the territory's first commercial recording studio and even worked as a live audio engineer for Yothu Yindi.
Louey-Gung specialised in installing audio equipment in parliaments and courtrooms, and moved into consultancy in the early 2000s before retiring in 2024.
"I had no idea what I was getting into. A school friend rang me up and asked if I could carry a box, I had no real proficiencies anywhere," he said.
"The roadies from the ’70s are really the genesis of the industry that now exists.
"A lot of us started in the industry because we loved it, not because we saw it as a career.
"It was so all encompassing that the crews and bands we worked with became our families. You were hardly ever home."
This, Louey-Gung said, was where the social challenges began for many former roadies.
"Many of us were just not able to readapt to mainstream society, in many respects it has similarities to a war veteran returning home with PTSD," he said.
While Louey-Gung describes himself as one of the lucky ones in contrast to others, as he was able to transfer his technical skills to a more mainstream industry later in his career, he emphasises that many are not so fortunate, with those left in the throes of the roll 'n' roll lifestyle finding it harder.
Mental illness, lack of job opportunities and social isolation are just some of the issues former road crew members can face.
ARCA, of which Louey-Gung is a director, has been working to support the veterans of the industry, as well as creating a way to engage and create a better path for modern crews.
In 2012, ARCA developed a contact book of 250 past roadies, creating, in effect, a peer-to-peer support network.
"Anecdotally, we believe the contact book and reunions we organise have led to a significant reduction in suicides," ACRA secretary Peter Tregilas said.
The research, led by Professor Deirdre Tedmanson and Associate Professor Brad West from Adelaide University's Social Relationships and Communities Research Group, will look at how various peer support mechanisms and increasing awareness of their contributions to the Australian music industry can help create pathways for them to age well into the future.
"We will be working with ARCA members to better understand how ageing and its challenges are distinct for this particular group, and how these retired road crew, and the next generation, can be better supported in ways that are specific to their circumstances," said Associate Professor West.
Professor Tedmanson notes that the research collaboration with ARCA has broader implications for understanding how successful ageing increasingly differs between groups in society.
"It's important to look beyond traditional categories, such as gender, ethnicity and for those who have provided military service to the nation, and also examine how different professions or work situations impact ageing," she said.
"This research will further our understanding of how work settings can shape lives over time and even across generations.”
Consistent with this observation, ARCA members often joke that what they need is an RSL for old rockers.
ARCA is a not-for-profit with all donations made going to the support of road crew members in crisis.
To find out more about ARCA, or stream live recordings of acts including Australian Crawl, Crowded House, Renee Geyer, Men at Work and many others through The Desk Tapes Series, visit their website.