I thought I’d ask you about the formation of the Prospectors
because I know you had The Long Weekend before that.
The drummer’s an old friend of mine and the bass player’s a
guy that I work with, so we’re essentially mates before band mates, so it’s
worked out really well.
Does that mean that your rehearsal space is always a
harmonious one?
Absolutely [laughs]. Do you play in a band yourself?
I used to [laughs].
You can relate. It’s very comfortable. We can enjoy a beer or
two during practices and no one’s worried about time or anything like that.
I sometimes think when you’re the band leader it can be hard
to navigate laying down the law as opposed to it being a democracy.
Exactly. I think like anything, though – if you want to
compare it to a relationship or whatever – you just generally know when you
work well with people and you become comfortable around each other. You really
just go with the flow.
I read in the press release that you and the Prospectors are
‘not your granddaddy’s rock band but they would probably like a lot of his
records’. So which records in particular?
My songwriting is heavily influenced by Neil Young, so two
of his major albums in After the Gold
Rush and Harvest. And also there
are elements of Led Zeppelin and Tom Petty, even like a little bit of The
Eagles – stuff like that.
I can hear a bit of that influence in your music, and it can
be really difficult to avoid mimicking some of those bands but you haven’t –
you have a distinct sound of your own. But I guess that’s part of the mystical
creative process, of how you synthesise all those influences and create your
own sound.
Absolutely. I don’t intentionally try to sound like anyone,
so maybe that’s working for me but, then again, when I hear their songs I
think, Wow, I wish I could write a song
like that. So maybe during the process something of my own overtakes it.
When you come to create songs are you thinking of stories
you want to tell or is it more emotions that you want to convey?
IT definitely used to be more emotion based. With Know Your Destiny I attempted to write
more from a story perspective – ‘Across the Board’ is an example of that and
same with ‘Midnight Train’. But I don’t think I’ll ever be able to move away
from the emotion side of things. I’m a pretty emotional, passionate man, so I
just do what comes naturally.
In performance – if that’s the base you’re coming from – it can
be quite demanding anyway, so are there certain things you have to do to take
care of yourself so that when you’re performing those emotions they don’t
completely deplete you?
Yes and no. I like to put emotion into the performance. I
think the more I can give the better I can relate to the audience. Sometimes I
think it’s more of a push – if I have to play a song like ‘San Diego’, which is
the last track on the album, that song’s portraying a low point in my life and
if I’m just rocking out with the guys and everything’s going well and I have to
bring myself down to that moment, I can find that tricky. But I guess you just
try to take yourself back to that time and think about it whilst you’re playing
the song, and hopefully that comes across.
Your voice has a lot of shade and nuance in it, and it’s
always fascinating where
That’s a really good question. I was always singing as a
kid. I don’t think I was ever really good because my parents were supportive
but they were always telling me that I talk too much. So I was singing around the
house. And then when I started playing guitar I was faced with the challenge of
trying to learn and sing at the same time. I remember playing in front of
relatives and they’re, like, ‘Yeah … you’re sort of getting it’ kind of thing. It
was never bringing my confidence down, I just kept on trying. And then I formed
a band with some high school mates and it was a punk-rock band – we were really
influenced by Pennywise and Blink 182, as you did in the late ’90s. Then that’s
when it started really happening for me, when I was about 16, 17, and we would
play in front of the school and people would come up and say, ‘Hey, you’ve got
a really great voice’, and that was the first time I’d ever heard people say that. And then when my influences
started to change as I matured and got more into acoustic folk-roots music, I
then started listening to great singers like Ben Harper and Ryan Adams and
Eddie Vedder, and I guess it went from there. I never got lessons or anything
like that – it was just experience, and the more I gigged, the more I recorded,
it seemed to get better.
And I guess if the intention is there to get better, that’s
the important thing. Some people might think, Oh well, that’s doing the job, but if you’re constantly striving to
improve for yourself and also serve the songs better, that tends to have an
effect.
Absolutely. With this record in particular and the gigs recently
I did a little bit of training on my vocals, and I’ve put a lot of emphasis on
warming up before gigs, taking care of my voice and drinking whiskey [laughs].
Now, the single ‘Midnight Train’ – watching that clip I
recognised Jed Rowe straightaway and there were several other people in it. It’s
one thing to write the song and quite another to conceptualise it visually that
way – and bring in your friends – so why did you choose to do that?
I’ll be honest: it wasn’t my idea. It was the director, Ben
McNamara, who’s a friend of mine and he’s done a lot of work in film and he
came to me with the idea and said, ‘Hey, you know a lot of musicians. You’ve
got a really strong network and group of mates that are doing similar stuff –
why don’t we get them on board?’ And I said, ‘You’re a genius’. But I said, ‘It’ll
never work. You can’t get fifteen musicians in the same place on the one day’.
And it did work.
And it did work, yeah.
That’s probably a testament to how they feel about you.
I hope so.
So you’re touring again – you toured the album earlier in
the year and now you’re touring in support of the single. Are you revisiting
any venues or is it all new?
No, we’re going back to the two venues we did on the last
tour, which is Lazy Bones Lounge in Marrickville and we’re also heading back to
the Stag and Hunter in Newcastle, and this time we’re also going north to Brisbane
for the first time, with two shows there at Lefty’s and the Royal Mail. And
then we’re heading back for a final show in Melbourne, our hometown, and it’s
the first time we’ve played at the Toff in Town so we’re really excited about
that.
Lefty’s is a good venue for alt-country acts like Brad
Butcher. There’s a great alt-country community in Melbourne and also one in
Brisbane/northern New South Wales, so I hope those rivers flow into each other
at your gig. The Melbourne alt country scene seems to be this great creative,
collaborative hub now, as demonstrated by your video, so have you felt the
support of that community as you’ve shifted into The Prospectors?
Yes, of course. I think that it extends further than
alternative country – it’s a whole sort of blues, roots, folk, soul a little
bit as well. It’s the singer-songwriter kind of network, and they’re all great
guys and girls. We support one another, and they’ve just met The Prospectors
and taken them in as their own. The musical family’s really important to me. It’s
something that I’m really privileged to be part of.
Know Your Destiny is out now.
Chris Cavill and The Prospectors tour dates:
Friday 19th June
Lazybones Lounge
294 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville NSW
Ph: 0450 008 563
Tickets $15, from 9pm
Saturday 20th June
Stag + Hunter
187 Maitland Rd, Mayfield NSW
Ph: 02 4968 1205
Free entry, from 8.30pm
Thursday 2nd July
Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall
15 Caxton St, Brisbane QLD
Free Entry, from 7pm
Friday 3rd July
Royal Mail Hotel
92 Brisbane Tce, Goodna QLD
Ph: 07 3288 2213
Free entry, from 7pm
Saturday 18th July
The Toff in Town
With guests Rob Sawyer + Mousecapades
2/252 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC
Tickets $10 +bf / $15 @ door, 8pm
Ph: 03 9639 8770
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