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Thursday, October 07, 2010

Getting To Know... Rob Irish

In the latest in the Getting To Know... series, Rob Irish tells BobbySix.com about his favourite albums, trips to Japan and his obsession with Leonard Cohen:

I would describe my sound as being fairly 'old-fashioned' as far as the Sydney scene goes. I've always loved traditional instruments and traditional music. I'm a big believer in the 'song,' and in continuing the Australian songwriting tradition. Bands like The Drones and The Dirty Three, Nick Cave, The Go-Betweens etc have been very influential in that regard, as I think they all capture something that is uniquely ours, and theirs are the songs of our time. Just as Dylan's were the songs of America in the 60s and 70s. I guess they still are, really.

As well as being a solo artist, I'm involved in a couple of other acts - fronting Sydney band Sooners, and playing drums for A Casual End Mile. Great people who I'm happy to be working with! All my projects act as very different outlets. Collaborating is challenging and very inspiring, and it's interesting to see what you can bring to a group of musicians. I write a lot, and my solo work is a collection of poems-made-songs. It's very close to me in that way.

Music has been the corner-stone of my life since I was very little. My mother, who also sings folk, pushed me to play guitar when I was six or seven, which I hated at the time, but was grateful for when I got older. I was in a few punk-bands throughout high school (believe it or not!) but the great songwriters were played constantly around the house and in the car. I avoided them for as long as possible but I guess it all sank in after all... Cohen has been a constant obsession for a long while now.

If I could only listen to three albums for the rest of my life, they would be:

Blonde On Blonde by Bob Dylan,
Songs From A Room by Leonard Cohen,
No More Shall We Part by Nick Cave.

I'd hate to have to choose but I can't fault any of those records. They've lasted this long already.

It might surprise people to learn that I speak Japanese fluently, and used to go over every year. The instruments are cheap, and food is great, and the people are lovely - if a little strange. If you ever want to feel Australian I can recommend a trip to Tokyo, it's an incredible city and so different to anywhere else in the world.

Aside from music I work as a barista in a bookstore/cafe to pay the bills. It means I get cheap coffee and cheap books, as well as being able to choose the playlist when I'm on. Not sure if part-time work gets much better than that, but music is definitely the passion.

Hear some of Rob's songs at his Myspace page.

1 comment:

Bobby Six said...

If you are musical, artistic, clever, interesting or just really hot and want to be featured in the Getting To Know... series, just drop an email to the address up there on the right.