I’ll start off by asking you, why country music?
Country music has been in my
family for a long time. My father performs in the same band. He always listened
to Neil Young and the Rolling Stones, in a more country aspect. And that’s
really had an effect on me. It feels like home. It’s ingrained. Yeah [laughs].
So
you didn’t do a teenage rebellion through heavy metal, or anything like that?
Well, actually, I did.
[Laughs].
I still perform in a metal
band as well, so I can’t get rid of that [laughs] interest. So the answer is
‘yes’ to that [laughs].
Are
you the lead singer?
Yeah. I am. I sing in the
band. It’s progressive metal [laughs].
Are
there any other bands? I mean, one’s enough, let alone two, but ...
No, two’s as much as I need
at the moment [laughs].
And
especially when you’re the leader of both and, I would imagine, writing music
for both?
Exactly, yes. Writing for
both bands. So it’s a different headspace, naturally. But it’s also plenty of
work.
It
leads me to wonder whether for you, as a songwriter, whether [when] a song idea
comes to you, you think, Oh, actually the
best – the best way to serve that story is to – is through country, or it’s
through metal. Or do you actually set out to write songs for each band
differently?
It’s a good question. I’d say
that I’d set out for a particular band in mind as opposed to thinking about a
line, or something that’s more appropriate for one band or the other. Generally
I’ll start with a title for a song and then build from there. So once you’ve got
your title, you sort of know which band it’s going to apply to.
Are
you quite workmanlike in your songwriting? Do you tend to say, okay, I need
some new songs now, off I go, or do you tend to flow with the muse, so to
speak?
Yeah. Sure. I am operating
all the time. Even if it’s not a full song, it will be sort of gibberish on a
notepad, for at least 10 to 15 minutes a day. And sometimes that turns into a
song, sometimes it doesn’t. But, yeah, it isn’t a case of sitting down and
writing a series of songs because we need a new album, it’s usually for picking
and choosing from a big catalogue of music that I’ve got ready to go.
So
it sounds like you’re a believer in the showing-up-every-day school of creative
work. There are some people who do believe in the idea that you just keep
writing and out of that comes something good.
Absolutely. Yeah. To me it’s
the same as practising to play guitar. If you do it every day you’re going to
get a little bit better each time. It’s the same approach with writing lyrics.
You go deeper when you really want to write a song and have it stick, because
you put in that practice.
So
you talked about the music you were listening to as you were growing up. But
you’ve obviously been playing guitar for a while, and singing too, so when did
your personal musical history start?
That’s a good question too.
I’ve been a massive Beatles fan for as long as I can remember. That’s probably
the first band I got into. And, yeah, from there, I think, it was probably
about 10 or 11 years old that I wrote my first song, which – no surprise –was a
very Beatles-inspired song. But, yeah, I can trace it back to at least that
young. And then I’d get other kids in the neighbourhood to come and perform
with me, even though they had no idea what they were doing.
[Laughs].
Just to try and get a feel
for performing live at that age [laughs].
Do
you still have a love for harmonic voices?
Absolutely. Oh, absolutely. I
mean, Low Rent has a female accompanying – sort of lead singer, you could
almost say. as well. And almost every chorus has at least two, three parts in
it. So I certainly do.
I
remember reading something a while ago saying that humans instinctually respond
to harmonic voices more than solo voices.
Absolutely – it’s that crowd
mentality, isn’t it? Everybody together [laughs].
So
you’ve obviously moved on from the Beatles. When you started writing songs for
Low Rent, was it a conscious decision to switch your style, or you just evolved
naturally towards the right style for that band?
I think having country music
around me so much from that age, as well as the Beatles, it became so ingrained
that when I first started to write songs they were country flavoured, and
shaped what the band was going to be at that early stage. And I think that has
been the case for a long time.
Now,
I knew your father was in the band, but is your brother also still in the band?
Yes, he is. He’s the bass
player.
Can
you imagine the band without family members?
Certainly it would be a
different experience without family members. Family makes it that extra special
– I don’t imagine it being the same sort of thing without the family involved.
I mean, as well as the players my mother’s sort of a co-manager. She’ll sell
merchandise at shows, get people up dancing. So it really is everybody
involved.
It
sounds like there’s not a lot of push-me-pull-you stuff going on. It sounds
like it’s quite a harmonious experience.
Ninety-nine point nine
percent of the time it’s [laughs], it’s fantastic. But every family has
[laughs] disagreements.
It’s
quite an interesting dynamic because, of course, there are quite a few sibling
arrangements, but it’s not that common to have a parent and child in the same
band. Even Kasey Chambers doesn’t necessarily play with her father all the
time. So it must be interesting for your father, in particular, to almost have
a role reversal, because you’re the boss of the band, basically, and he’s not.
That’s right. Exactly,
exactly. And he’s happy with that. Way back when it started with him telling me
what to do and now all the roles have reversed [laughs].
It’s
like a holiday for him almost.
That’s right. He can just
enjoy it. And he does. He really does.
And
your brother doesn’t mind not having any decisions?
No. He has a similar approach
to my father. My brother, Tim, does take on some concept writing. So what I
mean by that is the overall sound of a record, or what it’s going to mean
overall. He’ll certainly assist with that. So he has got some creative input
into the process. But for the most he is similar to my father. He’ll happily do
what he’s told [laughs].
Well,
I think that works out nicely for you.
It does – it does. It’s
ideal.
And,
actually, that’s a good segue to my next planned question which was about the
concept of the EP, because I’ve only heard the one song but I’ve read that it’s
a classic concept record. So I was wondering if you could say what the concept
is?
Yeah, for sure. The
protagonist that I’ve chosen for all five songs on the EP is a man that’s in prison,
and he’s reflecting on his life, different aspects of his life. Things that
have led him to where he currently is. By the end of the record he’s on death
row, trying to face not only the imminent death, but just reflecting on how his
life had led him to this position. I guess, I’m trying to induce from the
listener the idea that even though somebody could do such horrible things and
end up in a terrible position, that they are still human beings. And they do
still think and feel the same way everybody else does, regardless of whatever
they may have done. So, yeah, at the high level that’s the concept.
It
sounds like there’s a couple of strands in that, one of which is exploring
moral boundaries, and the concept of right and wrong. And the other is having
compassion for people who are difficult to have compassion for. So are those
themes that you’re interested in, or themes that just emerged in the telling of
this story?
I think they were themes that
were very clear before even the story writing began. I knew that’s what I
wanted the end, that you could feel compassion for somebody like this, even
though you’re not supposed to. And I think it has been achieved. When you’ve
got that structure – similar to the way I was saying, that I’d write a song with
the title and then elaborate from there; same sort of thing with the record
culture. We have an idea and a very, very rough outline, then we fill in all
the flesh and bone and make it into a breathing thing.
I’ve
interviewed quite a few songwriters over the past couple of years – or three
years, I guess, and I’ve actually not ever come across anyone who works quite
that way. So you are you conscious of being, I suppose, if not unique, but
almost unique, I would think, in working from concept first?
Oh, sure, definitely, it’s
something I’m aware of, that my approach might not be the same as everybody
else’s. But it’s a comfortable way to work for me. It keeps you on the page
when you’ve got a really clear idea before you even begin. So, commonly, in music
you can have an idea just transform as soon as you get other people involved,
or play it a different way than you first imagined. So sticking to that course
is really something I strive for.
And
it’s not unrelated to the metal side of you either – it sounds a bit like a Led Zeppelin or The Who thing to do.
Absolutely. Especially the
concept idea. That’s a very ’70s idea. Every album in the ’70s [laughs] was a
concept record by rock bands. And I love all that music, so I think that’s
definitely a little sprinkle in what we’ve done.
So
it sounds like your life is suffused with music in a lot of ways. And I note
that you’re a trained sound engineer, and you also took over the production of
this EP – which, on the one hand, sounds terrific if you love music, but on the
other hand, I was wondering if that, at any point, felt like too much
responsibility?
It only even feels like too
much responsibility if things aren’t going to plan [laughs]. That can be
overwhelming. But generally not. I like to have a lot of control. That might be
a theme that you’ve picked of some of my responses.
[Laughs]
Yeah.
And that’s just control
still. You’re not communicating to a producer or an engineer that needs to make
your idea into a tangible sonic sound. I can do it myself. So, yeah, I get to
sit in that seat as well as the creative writing seat and director of the band,
if you will.
Control’s
not always a bad thing either, or wanting control’s not a bad thing. It can get
a bad name. But I tend to find that people who like to control in the way
you’re describing are also very good at taking responsibility for things.
Absolutely. Another word that
comes to mind which sounds like a bad thing, but it’s not necessarily when
you’re talking about art or an artist, is ‘selfish’. If you’re particularly
selfish about what you’re doing, that means that nobody is going to change it.
It’s not going to stray from the page. It’s not going to become something
completely different. And I’m all for being selfish about art and making art.
It’s
one thing when you’re a solo performer and you can just boss yourself around,
but most bands don’t operate very well unless there’s a benign dictator at the
head of them.
Absolutely. I couldn’t even
think of a band that doesn’t have that role in it, in some way [laughs].
Sometimes there’s two.
Keith
and Mick.
Yes [laughs].
It
is a lot of responsibility. But in the end you know that you’ve got the product
you want.
Exactly. And that’s what it’s
all about. No compromise.
And
then you get to hand it over to people like Shane Nicholson and Jeff McCormack
to do the finishing touches. So I was wondering how those relationships came
about?
Shane had heard of my group
before I got in contact with him with this particular record. And I had to find
a pocket of time with Shane, because he’s such a busy man, which, in a way,
sped up the process for Grace Radio and
its production, so we worked on his timeframe, which was earlier this year,
about January, February this year he had free to work on something. So we
needed to hustle down and get it all ready. But once I made contact with him he
was more than happy to be involved, and did a great job mixing the record. And
it was also his recommendation to use Jeff McCormack, who he used himself for
his own projects. So that was entirely Shane’s doing and thinking, and it was,
again, a great move. I think Jeff has done an excellent job mastering it.
And
apart from that, just from my own observation of Australian country music and
how things work, those relationships tend to become important in other ways. It’s
not just how your songs sound, but what you can go on to do, in terms of
touring and future collaborations. And, certainly, those two men are very good
to know, shall we say?
Absolutely, absolutely. Especially
for a band like ours. We have been together for a long time, but we’ve never
really taken that full plunge into exploring what Australia might be able to
offer us. And already Shane has hinted at good places in Tamworth to look out
for, and particular festivals that he has found helpful to his career. So
you’re exactly right. It’s that network thing really starting to work in the
right way.
And
I also find that the country music audience really understands that country
music’s a broad umbrella, and is very accepting of acts they haven’t heard of
before, regardless of whether those acts are brand spanking new or have been
around for a while. So I think it’s a great a genre to work in, and certainly
it seems from reading the press release that you’re ready to burst out, in a
way. And it’s certainly the right genre to do that in.
For sure. We did a live
[song] yesterday on a morning community radio station. That was just myself and
Tim on bass. And we were saying the exact same thing. It feels like everything’s
in place for us now. We’ve got the right people involved. We’ve got a great
publicist. And we’ve got really good songs that might be able to help us break
through and get some attention, which is what, I think, we need at the moment.
I
guess the trick, though, is – as it is for a lot of musicians – how you
balance. Especially working in country, ideally you get out around the country.
But it’s a big country and it takes a lot of time and organisation to do that.
So, I guess, it’s a question of how much time you can give to it, initially, at
least.
Certainly, certainly. And
travel is something you really do need to plan for in great detail in
Australia, because you’re right, it’s eight hours to the next state, not two
hours, like it would be in the US or somewhere. So you’ve really got to hope to
get a lot out of that if you’re going to do it. And it can take a toll. It’s a
lot of time.
Well
it can, but it seems like you’re in the right place. You’ve got a great EP, and
you met some good people, and Tamworth is half a year away, so you’ve got time
to plan your shows there.
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