For Rob Russell, AC/DC is the electrical current running through his veins.
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A soundtrack to his life, a tattoo on the back of his head, a collection of stories spanning decades, and a prized Angus Young guitar displayed proudly.
Born and raised in Echuca, the 69-year-old has spent his life in the town, working for 35 years at Simplot alongside his brother.
As a young boy, Rob was taken into state care — an experience he describes as life changing.
A thread in Rob’s tapestry, one woven with deep roots in Echuca, a close-knit family, a lifetime of larrikin adventures, and a band which has provided the soundtrack through it all.
“I’m an original,” Rob said, reflecting on his background and the experiences which have made him who he is.
So ask Rob about AC/DC and he’ll tell you ― it all started with Angus Young.
“He's the only one around the world who can play the guitar with one hand,” Rob said.
It was Young’s electrifying stage presence ― ‘duck walking’ right before his eyes ― which hooked him, long before AC/DC became one of the biggest rock bands in the world.
Rob saw them live in Echuca on January 11 way back in 1976, when they played at Victoria Park Oval.
After the show, he and his mates made their way behind the rooms — and came face to face with none other than Bon Scott and Angus Young.
A feat made simple because “we were locals, and knew where they would be.”
“It really made the whole event,” he said.
It was a moment which cemented a lifelong passion.
But Rob's most memorable concert was still to come — February 28, 1981, at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne.
The crowd was rowdy ― as expected ― and so determined to get inside the open venue that a fence erected to keep them out was eventually knocked down.
“There were people hanging out of the trees everywhere,” Rob recalled when surveying the outside of the venue.
The experience was wild enough that ― according to Rob ― no rock concert has been held there since.
His devotion to the band has also found its way onto the back of his head.
At one concert, fans could get in for free if they had their hair cut into the shape of AC/DC.
So Rob had an idea ― having no hair himself ― he simply “just tattooed it on the back of my head.”
The tattoo has since become one of his most recognisable features, particularly when he turned up to AC/DC shows in his specially made suit.
At one concert, he said, people were constantly stopping him for photographs.
“I’m not a big one for taking pictures. But jeez, if I didn’t have 50 pictures taken with me on the night, or even a 100.”
Now, Rob has added another prized piece to his collection, buying an Angus Young guitar.
Why did he have to own it?
“Because it is just the way I am with AC/DC.”
And of all the songs in AC/DC’s catalogue, TNT holds a particularly personal place for Rob.
After injuring his leg in a motorcycle accident, he spent long stretches in hospital with the song on repeat — facing a 12-month road to recovery.
TNT became part of the soundtrack to such a difficult period.
For Rob, AC/DC is intertwined with memories of places, people, and moments which go back more than half a century.
From seeing Bon Scott and Angus Young behind the rooms in Echuca to standing in the crowd at Melbourne’s Myer Music Bowl, the band's history has become part of his own.
And while AC/DC has changed over the years, with different members coming and going, Rob’s loyalty has never wavered.
He has the suit, the tattoo, the music ― and Angus Young’s guitar.
When it comes time for Rob Russell to be buried, he already knows what he wants to wear.
“I’ll probably get buried in it,” he said of his AC/DC suit.