Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there?
Melbourne. I don’t really know if there’s a scene here. There are plenty of people making great music despite the odds, but it’s no Laurel Canyon.
By teaching myself how to play along to Bob Dylan songs. Then Bacharach songs. Then I started writing.
Well I made 5 Oh Mercy albums and felt like a change. Making things more challenging is sometimes a good thing. I’m hoping this is one of those times.
Well I worked out pretty early that writing, arranging and recording is fun and I didn’t want to share that fun. You know – dilute the experience. The hardest thing to do is to sing it like I hear it in my head. I never get there. My most rewarding thing is witnessing an idea come together without having to rely on anyone else’s expertise.
Well the arpeggio has been kicking around for years. I’d just been waiting for the appropriate bed for it to lie on. The string motif is kinda right out of a B grade 60’s tv theme and the words were written from the perspective of a medical diagnosis.
4 songs. Post Quasi Cocktail Dance Music.
At my house. I mostly made it over the year of 2019. It took a while for me to transition out of the way I’d generally approach making Oh Mercy songs.
Well that’s a photo I took on my Hasselblad 500cm. I develop and scanned the film in the same room I make the music. It’s a half second exposure with a little movement from the subject. Miles from Bad Dreems did the design work. I think he did an excellent job.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
The Blue Nile
I love listening to podcasts, reading, watching the footy, taking pictures, jogging and playing squash. Other things too. I got plenty of things in my life that bring me joy. I’m lucky.