ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
The rock band called Rudely Interrupted comes from Melbourne, Australia. In December 2008, the band kicked off its first international tour, and it played an unusual gig, at the United Nations. That's not because Rudely Interrupted is the next international rock phenomenon. All but one of the six band members have serious disabilities, ranging from Down's syndrome to autism, blindness and hearing problems. NPR's Margot Adler reports.
MARGOT ADLER: As one person put it, if there was ever a building that needed to be rocked, it's the United Nations. The band Rudely Interrupted was introduced by 62-year-old Robert Hill, Australia's U.N. ambassador.
Ambassador ROBERT HILL (Australian Ambassador to the United Nations): We have Josh on drums, 21 years of age; Rory on vocals and guitar, 21 years...
(Soundbite of applause)
ADLER: The band was at the U.N. for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, but it was also the beginning of Rudely Interrupted's international tour. The band's signature song is called "Don't Break My Heart."
(Soundbite of song "Don't Break My Heart")
RUDELY INTERRUPTED: (Singing) Don't break my heart. Don't break my heart. Don't break my heart. Don't break my heart, My heart...
Mr. ROHAN BROOKS (Manager, Rudely Interrupted): "Don't Break My Heart" was our first song that came from a conversation that me and Rory had, or it was a question Rory had, really. He said to me, do you think you can die from a broken heart?
ADLER: That's Rohan Brooks, the band's manager. Rory is lead guitarist Rory Burnside.
Mr. RORY BURNSIDE (Lead Guitarist, Rudely Interrupted): I lost my favorite teacher at school after she had a 20-year battle with cancer.
ADLER: And so, it was your heart that was being broken, in a way?
Mr. BURNSIDE: It was.
Mr. BROOKS: Rory asked that question. I turned into a bit of a melody, and I played this discordant thing and then Rory goes, that's a malfunction, that's a malfunction.
(Soundbite of song "Don't Break My Heart")
RUDELY INTERRUPTED: (Singing) Malfunction, malfunction, malfunction...
ADLER: Guitarist Rory Burnside is blind. He has had many facial operations and has Asperger's syndrome. Burnside says the name Rudely Interrupted has to do with the way Asperger's affects him.
Mr. BURNSIDE: My behavior can be a bit disruptive, but because of all the challenges in my life, I've also had a number of interruptions to my life. That's why I say I'm the interrupter or the interrupted. And also, I misinterpret situations. For example, if in a rehearsal or a sound check, we have to keep repeating, I misinterpret the repetition as a delay or a waste of time. I want people to be aware that the Asperger's can lead to misinterpretation of situations rather than, oh, he's just impatient; he's obnoxious.
ADLER: Rudely Interrupted started as part of a musical-therapy program led by Rohan Brooks, who in addition to managing the band, does backup vocals. He's the only non-disabled member of the group. The other members include Josh Hogan, the drummer, who has autism; Constance Fitzpatrick, who plays tambourine, has Down syndrome; as does Sam Beke.
Mr. SAM BEKE (Bassist, Rudely Interrupted): I am the bass player.
ADLER: Now, you're Marcus over there?
Mr. MARCUS STONE (Keyboardist, Rudely Interrupted): That's me. I'm the keyboard player. I first started learning piano when I was 14 at Loyola College.
(Soundbite of laughter)
ADLER: The members of Rudely Interrupted see themselves as musicians first and foremost. And they want to be taken seriously, but they still seem to have a lot of fun, and they don't take themselves too seriously, as in this moment, when they're playing with a song they've been working on called "Pimple," clearly not something they would have done at the U.N.
(Soundbite of song "Pimple")
RUDELY INTERRUPTED: (Singing) Got a pimple, got a pimple, Got a pimple on my neck. And if you squeeze it, I will bleed. If you squeeze it, I will bleed...
ADLER: The band members say their disadvantages did help to propel them into the spotlight, and they used those disadvantages to their advantage. But now, they get reviewed pretty much like any other Australian indie band. Burnside and Brooks say they got treated much the same way when they played in New York City.
Mr. BURNSIDE: Double-header yesterday.
Mr. BROOKS: Amazing, really good, and we had an absolute ball. It was just really good to go and play, you know, at a local venue with some other great bands. So - and we were accepted. I'd say that we've been accepted by the New York music community.
ADLER: Scene?
Mr. BROOKS: Yeah, scene.
(Soundbite of laughter)
ADLER: That's great. Rudely Interrupted has performed in Australia, but this is their first international tour. Rohan Brooks, the manager, says that traveling with the group can be challenging.
Mr. BROOKS: It can be mayhem when we're not playing our songs, and we're traveling from here to there and trying to find this park with that car and picking up this car and going to that hotel. But for that three minutes, when we start the song to the end of the song, the world makes complete sense to all of us.
Mr. BURNSIDE: For that, say, 20 minutes, half an hour, that we're on stage playing, that's got to be the best half hour of our lives.
(Soundbite of song "In Our Dreams")
RUDELY INTERRUPTED: (Singing) We don't know why In our dreams, we often fly. Then our minds, it just floats by (we don't know why). The heroes grow from TV shows. So hard to hold control (we don't know why) In our dreams, we often fly...
ADLER: The reviews have been good. Time Out New York called the song genuinely catchy, not to mention affecting. And after the band played in Toronto, one review said, extremely well-crafted music by a bunch of guys who happen to be saddled with slightly wonky sets of genes. Margot Adler, NPR News, New York.
(Soundbite of song "In Our Dreams")
RUDELY INTERRUPTED: (Singing) The heroes grow from TV shows. So hard to hold control.
SIEGEL: You're listening to All Things Considered from NPR News.