Interview: Corey Colum (part III)

This is the last of a three-part interview with rising country music star Corey Colum. You can find the first two parts of this interview here.

Corey Colum's debut album is out now through Universal. If you're looking for a really entertaining, well-rounded country album that you could play for all ages and even for people who don't know (or think they don't like) country music, give it a try. Corey has a fantastic voice and a great storytelling way about him.

Is there anyone else in your family who’s musical?

My dad sings, he’s sung for a long time now.

So that’s where it comes from?

Yeah, he does the more crooner stuff, I suppose. And old time rock 'n' roll and that sort of thing. And my uncle plays, he’s here now doing supports for Simply Bushed. He’s really Australian – Australiana yarn-telling sort of thing. He does poems and writes his own stuff.

So you grew up around it?

Yes. My uncle was a big influence on me, so going down to Boyup Brook and that, we used to go down there together and when we drove across here [to Tamworth] the first time, it was with my uncle. He was a big influence on me, which is good.

And so obviously your family would be supportive of you?

Oh absolutely. Mum and Dad are here and my wife Tara’s mum and dad are here. My sister’s here, her sister’s here and – yeah, so it’s full on. Got a house? [laughs]

So, they can – they can yell down any hecklers?

Yeah.

I don’t actually know that people heckle at Tamworth much.

Yeah, I – I’ll tell you after Saturday and Sunday! Might get a couple. But it’s good that [the show is from] five to eight, too, so people are just starting to get tipsy, hopefully not too far [laughs].

Yeah, that’s true. So, if you wanted to put a band together in Karratha, do you think – would there be many people to draw on?

I have looked into it but – there’s a few around [players] but with Karratha, people are coming in and going out all the time with the fly in, fly out. But there’s a few locals that could look into doing it for sure, yeah.

It strikes me that because of the fly in, fly out but it would be quite hard to work out who’s actually there for any period of time.

They don’t know how many locals, no, because it’s all in and out.

For a performer, though, that probably does keep it fresh, because you are getting different crowds.

For sure ... It's a good opportunity.

Even if they’re rock'n' roll people.

Yeah! Everyone’s been really supportive and every time I play out somewhere people rock up and enjoy it and word gets around, so it’s good.

So when’s your next album out? [Laughs]

When I get those little bits of time to write [laughs].

I suppose now probably no doubt a bit of a schedule, it’s like, okay, you’ve got 18 months ...

Nothing’s been said at the moment!

And do you feel you would want to write songs for that – like you would want to do it when you’ve got some songs written or would you rather think, okay, now is the time for a new one and we’ll then get the material in?

A bit of both. It’d be nice to be able to have that time to write a full album, but how long would that take? So, if it comes up where we want an album in a certain time, then we’ll see what I’ve got already – what songs [are ready] - and then go write some more. Because we did write a lot for this album too.

Did you record it in Perth?

In Sydney at Garth’s [Porter, the producer's] studio ... I came over for that and photo shoots.

How long did the recording take?

Two weeks.

That’s pretty snappy when you think about it.

Absolutely, it was pretty quick, yeah, absolutely.

I guess you would feel pressure to —

Yeah, perform [laughs].

Get it right first take!

Because if you didn’t ... Definitely, lots of pressure. But everyone was really, really good — no one was pushy, it was really good, working with Garth, and Ted Howard was engineering, and those guys were just great.

Presumably you had to take time off work for that as well?

Yes.

It’s a real challenge, isn’t it? Becausethere’s not just the recording and playing commitments, there’s also a lot of marketing stuff.

Yes, that’s right.

Particularly these days that artists have to keep on top of over things, you can’t just drop into the press at the time of the release and then go out again, you’ve got social media.

Indeed. It’s good having [the record company] and for that as well, because I wouldn’t know where to start really. So, it’s good to have those guys [laughs].

A lot of people possibly don’t necessarily think about what it takes to start off a career, we only know about what happens when you’re already there.

Dead right, yeah.

So, if this works, great, and then hopefully it takes and by the time the second one’s out you’re probably full-time as a musician.

That’d be great.

www.coreycolum.com

Interview: Corey Colum (part II)

Corey Colum's debut album was released during this year's Tamworth Country Music Festival, where I sat down with him in the Hog's Breath Cafe one afternoon for a chat. This is the second of three parts - the first part is here. In this part Corey talks about his day job, the country music scene in WA and managing a creative life with a young family.

So you've had Garth Porter as a producer on this album - you're working with people who know what they’re doing, the record company will probably support you doing it as well because it just seems in country music that people will buy albums from new artists. It does seem to be easier to get a foothold into have a career.

Yes, that’s good. It’s good too.

And talking of careers - you were a plumber, which would be hard to leave behind because everyone needs a plumber!

Yeah, and I’m still working now.I’ve just got holidays to come over here and I mean, I’ve got to go back to work. I’m actually working in instrument tube fittings, so it’s sort of like plumbing, just bending tubes up – I’ve been doing that for a little while now.

So you do that by day and then you play at night?

Whenever I can get gigs, yeah. I used to run the local open mic nights, so that was interesting. I did that for nearly three years I think.

Going back to your earlier comment about Karratha not being a very country music kind of town - is Western Australia in general a bit not country? Is there any pocket of country music?

There is, there’s just not big things like [Tamworth]. Well, they’ve got Boyup Brook and that – Boyup Brook’s probably the main thing in WA, they have the festival down there, the awards and Harvey Dickson’s down there, he’s got a rodeo ground and all that sort of thing. So that’s on a few times a year, but other than that, there’s some field days scattered around but nothing big like here. And you get a lot of shows over here, all up the east coast, whereas you don’t get big names coming over to WA too much.

Well, it’s that challenge of it being so large and so far away.

That’s right, yeah.

But it’s the very kind of challenge that country music is about, you know what I mean? Those stories that get told about distances and hardships.

Yeah. There is still places there, still places to play and you still get accepted and it goes really well - it’s just not a huge, and not everyone’s into it ...

In terms of your songwriting - you’ve written a lot of the stuff on the album and it's a good all-round album in that I thought you’re covering a lot of subjects, but there’s also something for everyone to relate to.

Yeah.

And you’ve made your bold case for the West Australian woman [laughs].

Yeah [laughs], very bold.

That was the first single. Was that your decision or the record company’s?

I think that decision was pretty much made when the song was recorded, it was like 'that’s going to put me on the mark, that’s where I’m from'.

Was it popular in WA?

Yes, it’s going really well. And the clip’s on CMC and that’s going well.

Well, it is a really memorable title.

And it’s not just WA women - it’s all women!

[Laughs] And I quite like the 'Outback Justice' kind of theory in that song, because you don’t often hear the ... there are stories of revenge but that was kind of a clear cut, well we might have burnt the truck or ...

'Yeah, maybe, I’m not saying'. Yeah, that’s the best bit.

So was it part of your songwriting to kind of just think, 'I want to tell some fun stories' or did you actually look at the genre and think what kind of elements am I drawing on here?

No, we sort of went in there and just – just any songs [that worked] – 'Outback Justice', I didn’t write that, and 'West Australian Woman' was Matt Scully and myself and Garth Porter in the studio, and that song sort of came out of something that Matt brought to the table, then we just worked from there and we made 'West Australian Woman'. But I don’t think there was any sense of looking at [the album] and making certain we have everything, but we’re very glad that it’s got a lot of difference in it too. It’s got 'Fire in the Hole' and then others are rockier and then 'The Ballad of Brigalow', which is really like a yarn ... so to have that diversity through the album, I'm very happy with it, yeah. Because when I first thought of doing an album, my idea was really a lot more acoustic and just very simple. And then Garth said, 'Well, what audience do you want?” and I had to like it as well. So the rock bits got to come out on it and I’m really, really happy that we went with that too, it’s good.

Well, it is an entertainment genre. A lot of people like country music because they’re working on properties all day and they like to come in and be entertained.

True.

So there are, I think, a lot of country performers who have that balance of the softer songs and the harder songs. But in terms of working all day - you’ve got a young family and you’re working a day job and a night job. Is there any space in there to be creative? Do you have little pockets of time to yourself?

Little pockets, yeah. Little tiny pockets.

Do you have one kid, two kids?

One, yeah, she’s nearly eight months old.

Right. So a lot of late nights ...

It’s not too bad, Tara’s [Corey's wife] pretty good like that because I sleep through, I’m a pretty heavy sleeper [laughs]. She wakes up mainly.

So that’s how you maintain your sanity.

Yeah, because I’ve got to get up early.

I do think it’s really challenging when you’re – particularly when you’re starting out a creative career, because usually if people are working day jobs, and they often do have families, it's hard to juggle it all. But I guess, you must feel you’ve got your eye on the prize, so it’s worth it.

Oh yeah, definitely, yeah. We’ll just push – push as much as we can and play and then hopefully the album goes well ... and then if that takes over the work side, slowly but surely, then I can still do things. I do shutdowns, so I go away for a month.

I saw that on your bio - what is shutdown?

They just shut down an area of a plant or whatever, usually for a month to do maintenance work on it. They then get a crew of blokes in, work twelve-hours shifts and then go out and – yeah, just to fix that area up.

So you travel to that area and just stay there for the month?

At the moment, it’s good because it’s – the ones that I do are in Karratha, but yeah, they – just all around Australia, different mobs do different shutdowns at different places. So they’ll get a crew in – it depends on the size of the shutdown, how many blokes they get, [then they] put them in a camp or whatever, and – yeah, do that shutdown for that certain time and then, off again. So, you’re doing long hours and you’re there flat out so you’re making a bit of coin and then we go away, and we can use that for a little while.

And when you get a chance to play, do you love it?

Oh yeah, it’s great. Especially when you get a response from people who like what you’re playing and can relate to the songs you’re playing. Nothing beats that, it’s a real buzz.

Do you get any hecklers?

Oh yeah [laughs]. A lot of them are mates, yeah.

In a town like Karratha, I would think there would be a few who would shout out something like, 'Play Khe Sanh!'

Yeah, oh yeah, I get that all the time. Like, I’m just not going to learn it just for that fact!

Do you play rock songs though, when you’re playing in Karratha?

Not – no, not really. It’s pretty hard to go full rock on when it’s just me and acoustic guitar and bit of harmonica and a stomp box sometimes, so it’s pretty cruisey, yeah.

Part III of this interview will be published soon.

www.coreycolum.com

Interview: Corey Colum (part I)

Corey Colum hails from Western Australia - a long way from the country music capital, Tamworth, but not a long way from its musical traditions. Colum's debut album is a well-rounded affair that is sure to please country music fans with its balance of driving tunes and softer songs - there are songs to drive to and songs to sing to, and plenty of that country-music storytelling that characterises the best songs in the genre.


I met Corey during the 2012 Tamworth Country Music Festival - he had a hectic media schedule so I was lucky to get a slot, and I expect he'll be even busier at future festivals!



So, you’re from Karratha originally or – no, Bunbury.
Yeah, originally from Bunbury, Australind. I grew up down there and then me and my wife moved to Karratha four years ago, so I’ve been over there.

Because you liked the look of the place or ...
For work mainly, for work. Yeah, because the almighty dollar was – we thought we’d go up and have a go.

Oh, so the mining boom lured you there?
Yeah, pretty much, yeah. Thought we’d have a crack ... the Telstra Road [to Tamworth] was 2009 and that sort of just made everything bigger and better as it was going along.

So you were first noticed during the Telstra Road to Tamworth and the People’s Choice or Audience Choice Award, and then somewhere off the back of that you were offered a recording deal. Your album’s just come out - it’s January 2012 - that’s pretty quick.
Yeah. I honestly thought it would have been quicker! I signed in 2010, I think, so I’ve been signed for two years and I thought it would just roll on. But I’m very happy that it’s come out now, because it’s given me some time to just get used to it and because I feel more comfortable within myself too. Playing -because I've played a lot in Karratha since then as well, so it’s been good.

So, you've been playing for the miners or the mining crowd? Are they a tough audience?
They’re pretty good. Look, it’s been really good up there actually. It’s not a huge country scene but people will see you as a local so you get a lot more ...

That surprises me that it’s not a big country scene. Is it because there are a lot of people who aren't from the area and they bring their tastes of music in and they probably like rock?
Yeah, definitely.

Listening to your record, it’s kind of an all-round record - there’s lots of different stories told on there - but your voice, it sounds to me like you could have been a crooner.
Oh right [laughs].

And you don’t have a belt them out, it's not a kind of 'I’m straining to get the note, I’m trying to cover up for the fact that I can’t sing'.
Thank you, yeah.

So, have you got a secret desire to be Tony Bennett?
No [laughs]. No, I don’t. I never have, no.

So has it always been country music for you?
Yeah, pretty much.

What did you grow up listening to?
John Williamson, Alan Jackson, Hoodoo Gurus even, I really like Hoodoo Gurus. Yeah, what else? Lots of things come and go. I really like a lot of songwriters, like John Ryan, Robert Earl Keen, Fred Eaglesmith, that sort of stuff as well. I really love the stories behind them. So, yeah, Troy Cassar-Daley.

What’s not to love about Troy?
Yeah, that’s right.

Oh well, maybe in the future if you decide that country’s too loud for you, you could go to the crooning.
Might give it a crack actually. No one’s ever said that.

Well, sometimes people’s voices can only suit one thing. And sometimes there are voices that you can hear could go another direction if the music were different. And yours just sounded like you had the rounded edges on it that it could suit other things if you wanted to. But maybe when you’re 60 or 70 you could do a Michael Bublé.
I wouldn’t mind doing the Bubble. That'd be all right.

I often think singing out the front of a band is hard work if you’ve got to be loud.
I haven’t done much stuff in front of a band. Most of my gigs and that have been – up in Karratha have been just by myself, so solo work is mainly what I’ve done. So, getting into a band is something I’m looking forward to as well, getting a band behind me, and working with a band.

Up here [in Tamworth] are you doing you and the guitar or with a band?
All the meet-and-greets are solo and then the Diggers gigs are with a band.

So how did you put the band together?
Mark Donahue, who’s The Sunny Cowgirls’ manager, he’s been helping me through the whole thing. So, I spoke to him and he put me through Rusty Crook and he’s got a couple of guys ... So, yeah – it’s really good fun, I’m looking forward to it.

So you’re playing with them here for the first time?
Yes.

And presumably you need to rehearse - what kind of rehearsal space is there in a town like this at this time of year?
Not much and everyone – they’re all flat out, too. So it’s really hard. So they’ve been learning my songs for a few months now and then we’ve got to get together Saturday morning, before the gig.

Right. In someone’s motel room.
Yeah!

But I think that’s the nature of Tamworth, is that that there are a lot of musicians who are playing around the place.
Absolutely.

And they’re all really, really good.
Yeah.

So they can hit their marks, they come in and they’re like, 'Okay, I know your stuff'.
Yeah, and even with – like, doing my album and then the rest [are] covers, so I’ve given them all the tracks and they would have played the songs a hundred times before too.

Are you feeling nervous about ‑
Yes [laughs]. Very much so.

I think the trick is if your rhythm section’s got it, you can relax because they’ll take the heat for whatever goes wrong.
Yeah, yeah, that’s right [laughs]. It should be good fun.

It must be exciting too.
It is, it is.

I know you were saying you were signed in 2010 so it does seem longer, it’s still only three years since you were here doing Road to Tamworth.
That’s right, yeah. The year 2007, I was in college, CMAA College. So the first year that I did Tamworth [was] 2006. We drove across and had a look around and then ‑

You drove across?
Yeah, and then we drove across in 2007 as well.

How long did that take?
We didn’t make it in 2007, the car broke down.

So, you drove across the Nullarbor Plain?
Yeah.

That’s commitment.
Then I was living in Australind so we didn’t have to go the extra 1600 ks up to Karratha. So we’ve flown the last couple of years.

Have you come across other people who’ve driven that far?
Yeah, yeah, the first year we did because we stayed in the caravan park up the other side of the river and the cricket club and met a lot of people that travel over here. I was talking to another guy at the paper, the photographer, and he was saying a guy from WA is here and he’s been here since November just cruising around. They stock up, I think, and get things fixed on their vans and all that sort of thing. So it’s interesting.

Well, it’s that dedication, that country music dedication that is really extraordinary.
Yeah, it would be.

But it also means, I think, that when you are starting out in a career, because people love the genre, they’re actually, I think, much more willing to accept new artists. It’s not like we only listen to Kasey, we only listen to Troy. It’s like, okay, you’re new, you’re playing country music, great, we’ll listen to you.
Yeah, which is good, good for people like me.

Well, that’s right. So, when you came here before you were performing and hoping to make a career out of it, was it – who were you thinking 'that’s the sort of career I’d like to have'?
Anyone that makes a career out of it really. Anyone that can have a – have their lifestyle around music and support the family, because that’s what I do, if I can support my family playing music and travelling – that’s the ultimate for me I reckon. So, Troy Cassar-Daley, John Williamson, he’s been doing it for how long now? And to keep doing it and keep bring good albums out, that’s – that would be great to be able to do that.


Stay tuned for Part II of this interview.


Corey Colum's debut album is out now through ABC Music/Universal.
www.coreycolum.com