Country
music is a broad church, as anyone who has been to Tamworth knows. And thus the
artists who get a guernsey on this website aren't always strictly 'country' -
sometimes they have just a smattering of country, but if I like their music
then I'll take that as enough of a qualification for inclusion! And so it is
with women in docs, who are best known by the label 'indie' but who incorporate
influences from country and folk in their beautifully harmonised songs. As
women in docs are embarking on their first tour in a long time - in support of
their new album, Carousel - it was a good opportunity to talk to
Chanel Lucas, one half of the band (the other half is Roz Pappalardo).
As I
wasn't aware of how women in docs first formed, that seemed a good place to
kick off. And it also led to Chanel telling me some fascinating stories.
'We
started off in Townsville in North Queensland,' said Chanel. 'We were both
at university. And we met through mutual friends. We were kind
of hanging out with the same people and we both realised that the other person
played guitar and sang. [So] we started a rock band with another two
friends of ours. And we used to play covers in the rock circuit around
North Queensland, so Townsville, Cairns, out to the islands like Dunk Island
and Hamilton Island, and we’d also go up to the mines to play.
'We did
gigs out at Cannington mine and Osborne and all those kind of places. And
it was good money, really good fun, playing in a rock band around North
Queensland. Then we both kind of went off travelling with different groups
of friends and went around Europe and did all that backpacking stuff that you
do when you first finish uni. And I came back to Townsville for a job. Then
a year or so later Roz appeared back in town and we started to put women in
docs together. We decided to focus on the acoustic guitar and try and let
our voices show through a bit more. And we also decided that we should
write our own songs.'
Even
though Chanel sounded matter of fact about playing on those islands and at
mining sites, it did sound like an extraordinary experience - even more so
because they'd made a real go of it as a covers band. And quite apart from
that, I wondered about the logistics of getting around to all of those places.
'Well, we
had some pretty curly moments,' she said, 'but I think the times we used to go
to Dunk Island, they had a little ferry, like a little wooden ferry ... And
so if the weather was rough, you’d have to take all your gear on a trolley out
onto the end of the jetty, and then the boat would be kind of swaying up and
down at the end of the jetty, if it was really rough, and you’d kind of have to
time your loading onto the boat so that it lined up with the jetty, so that the
boat was lined up with the jetty. So you have to wait for the wave and
then kind of launch your gear onto the boat while it was lined up, otherwise
you could miss and it would fall in the water [laughs]. To get out to
mines, usually we flew with all the miners.'
The band
would arrive the night before, often too late to play a gig, so they would
arise in the mornings and play a gig for the miners coming off the night shift.
'We’d be
playing in the canteen at 10 a.m., playing full-on rock covers,' explained
Chanel, 'and everyone would be drinking beer and eating bacon and eggs,
'cause it was the end of their shift. And then we’d go for the day and
have a tour of the mine and go for a swim in the pool and all that sort of
stuff. And then we come back that night and play to the day shifts, when
the day shift was finishing. Then you jump on your plane and head back
home again.'
Playing
so early in the morning sounded like a challenge for any singer, given that
voices warm up over the course of a day.
'Yeah,
you had to get up early,' said Chanel. 'I always need a good couple of
hours before I have to sing, to warm up. I actually do warm-ups and make
sure I talk and drink like a nice hot cup of tea or something like that or some
warm water with lemon or something. It takes a lot of warming up.
You know, it’s pretty hard to kind of really rock at 10 a.m.'
While the
band may have focused more on rock music when they were doing covers, once they
started writing their own material the music became focused on their voices -
specifically, on their harmonies.
'When we
kind of came back [after taking a break from performing], we’d given up playing
in rock bands for a bit, we decided to really try and create music based around
our harmonies because that was the one thing that people really enjoyed about
our performances in the band ... So we thought, you know, maybe this is
something from a business point of view that we can exploit. It was
actually a conscious decision to kind of go, hey, we must be okay at this
because people like it, people comment on it, so maybe we can take this
further. So we purposely started writing songs with lots of harmony.
'Our
voices are very different, so whether [the harmonies] came naturally or not, I
mean, we have been singing together for a very long time so we do fall into
harmony singing quite easily now, and I think we were just lucky that we had
two very different voices which seem to work together. Sometimes
when voices are too much the same, it doesn’t sound like anything. But Roz
has a much stronger voice and a much louder voice than me. Mine is more
mid-range, it’s a bit softer in tone, and they just seem to blend for some
reason. You wouldn’t think they would, but they just do.'
It is
clear from the band's songs, and they way they sing them, that there is a
musical pedigree there. Chanel said she started learning acoustic guitar
when she was five, 'and then I kind of just lost it for a few years. I
picked it up again when I was in high school, and I was hanging out with my
friends and people just pick up the guitar and play and have sing-alongs and
all that sort of stuff.'
She also
used to perform in choirs and says she did a lot of musical theatre when
she was a teenager and at university - shows like Fiddler on the Roof
and Les Miserables - so her experience growing up was more about
singing, and it wasn’t until she was in her late teens and early 20s that
she picked up the guitar again. Now, she says, wielding an instrument is an
integral part of her on-stage persona and she can't imagine not having it with
her when she sings.
'For me
it’s also about putting on the frock and putting on the lipstick,' she said of
performing. 'It’s all part of who you are and part of your persona. No
matter what you do or say on stage, I think if you are a performer, you do have
a different persona you take out with you, depending on which act you’re in or
what band you’re playing with. It’s not really you up there. It
sounds weird, it is you, but there is also, if you are a good performer, there’s
also a persona that’s part of that performance.
'There’s
a fine line with song writing too about being able to tell a really honest and
true story, but without kind of baring your soul ... One of the things
that makes a really good song is it needs to have universal appeal. So if
you can tap into, you know, yes, we all write from our own experience, like we
write from our break-ups and our accidents and the funny things that happen to
us, but a good song then translates that experience. It’s something that’s
universal and something that will appeal to a wide range of people. And
if you can do that, I think you’re a very successful songwriter.'
The
upcoming tour will be the first time in four years that women in docs have
taken their songs on the road as a band - they have continued to play solo -
and Chanel said that, rather than feeling trepidation, she is pretty
excited about it, actually.
'I think
we all really love travelling and we’ve always travelled a lot with women in
docs. So it’s really fun and it’s really part of the whole experience. Although,
we did have a little practice trip and we went up to Mackay to a festival. And
that was our first kind of big trip together before this tour ... and it was a
bit of a shambles. I’m not sure if we’re as ready as we think we are. We
forgot to book our extra baggage on our flights. So we got to the airport
and had to pay a big bill because we hadn’t booked our extra baggage. And
then I didn’t pack any jumpers or jeans or anything because I was going to
North Queensland, so I thought, well, I’ll just take shorts and T-shirts. But
it was actually really cold, so I had to go and send one of the other bands out
to buy me a jumper from the local op shop while they were in town. And
then on the way home, Roz left her bag at the festival.
'So, you
know, we just kind of got in the car on the way home and went, “Well that went
well, didn’t it?”' she said, laughing.
Given
that Roz lives in Cairns and Chanel lives in Brisbane - and the other band
members are also scattered around the country - rehearsing for the tour is also
something they need to plan.
'One of
us will always arrive a bit earlier,' said Chanel, 'and we’ll have a day or two
to rehearse beforehand. And that’s how we’ve written the album as well -
we just get together backstage. Even though we haven’t been touring for
the past four years, for the last two years we have been getting together for
kind of one-off gigs or just small shows, like local shows. And so we have
actually seen each other and, kind of, been getting together fairly regularly. Also
we were getting together to record the album.'
Something
that is different for women in docs this time around is that the new album was
created with the assistance of decidedly non-musical technology: Skype and
Dropbox. This technology helped them bridge the physical distance between them
and, said Chanel, rather than hindering the process, 'I think it’s really
helped us produce quite a high-quality album with very well-written songs.
'When we
used to tour nine months of the year, and we were just go-go-go, and we
self-managed that, so we were doing all the gig booking, all the driving and
tour management, all that kind of stuff, we just never had brain space, really
[to write],' Chanel explained. 'Towards the end we were so full of
administration and working and gigging that there wasn’t that time to write. So
what’s happened is we’ve had a little bit of time off, we’ve gone ahead with the
project and it’s really brought us back with a new energy, and a new kind of
respect for each other’s skills. And it just means we don’t muck
around. There’s no time for kind of umm-ing and aah-ing over stuff, so it’s
like, "Yeah, that’s good, no, that’s no good". And we’re pretty
kind to each other. It’s not harsh, but it means the creative process is
quicker and much more efficient.'
As Carousel is
the eighth album for women in docs, and they have toured extensively in the
past, I asked Chanel how she and Roz find their inspiration to keep songwriting
and performing.
'I don't
know,' said Chanel, laughing. 'If there was some sort of magical answer, I
would share it with you. I don’t know, I just love it. It’s what I’ve
always done. I’ve always been a performer since I was a little girl, and I
was on stage doing theatre shows, performed in choirs and if I don’t perform, I
get sad and I get depressed. So I need to perform to keep myself going.'
Chanel
will have plenty of opportunity to do just that as women in docs hit the road
in November. The tour dates are below. Carousel is available now.
For more information on the band, the tour and the album, visit www.womenindocs.com.
Friday
1st November 2013
Joe’s
Waterhole, EUMUNDI QLD
www.liveatjoes.com
| www.trybooking.com
Saturday
2nd November 2013
Grottofest,
MARBURG QLD
www.grottofest.org
Thursday
7th November 2013
Thornbury
Theatre, MELBOURNE VIC
http://thethornburytheatre.com
| www.oztix.com.au
Saturday
9th November 2013
Trinity
Sessions, Church of Trinity, ADELAIDE SA
www.churchofthetrinity.unitingchurch.org.au
| www.dramatix.com.au
Sunday
10th November 2013
Brookfield
Margate Winery, MARGATE TAS
www.brookfieldmargate.com
| www.trybooking.com
Saturday
16th November 2013
Brisbane
Powerhouse, Visy Theatre, BRISBANE QLD
http://brisbanepowerhouse.org
Thursday
21st November 2013
The
Newsagency, MARRICKVILLE NSW
www.stickytickets.com.au
| www.facebook.com/thenewsagencyenmore
Friday
22nd November 2013
Clarendon
Guesthouse, KATOOMBA NSW
www.clarendonguesthouse.com.au
| www.trybooking.com
Saturday
23rd November 2013
The
Street Theatre, CITY WEST ACT
www.thestreet.org.au
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