Geoffrey O'Connor interview

Geoffrey O’Connor - known for his work in Melbourne band Crayon Fields - plays this year’s St Jerome's Laneway Festival as a solo artist. Heidi Pett chatted to him about his various name changes, duelling synthesisers and a dream collaboration with Elton John before he loses his marbles:

You’ve previously released solo work under ‘Sly Hats’ - what sparked the decision to use your real name this time?
Sly Hats was a name I just came up with on the spot when I got my first gig. I gradually grew to regret it more and more. I just never really liked the name and I couldn’t see myself releasing albums as Sly Hats, so I thought I’d curtail that and use the name that my mother gave me.

It’s a very personal album in terms of lyrics, did this have something to do with your decision to use your birth name? I guess I’m asking because it might be expected that people distance themselves from the more personal aspects of their own life in their work whereas you’ve gone in the opposite direction.
For this record I actually wanted to make it quite personal. All the songs are based on both experience and observation, which I guess is still all experience. Just something I’m familiar with, really.

Do you find it difficult offering up these things that you’ve created? Knowing they’ve come from somewhere close to you? 
Not at all. In drawing from personal experience I admit certain things and exaggerate other things to make out that I’m a bit of a better guy. There’s still a strong resemblance between the way the stories are told in the songs and what actually happened. I guess with songcraft and that kind of licence you can make yourself out to be better than you actually were in the situations. Little bit of fantasy and exaggeration.

Do you differ in your approach when writing your solo work as opposed to what you’ve done with Crayon Fields? 
I guess with my solo work I’m able to chop and change things a little more. It’s a lot easier for me to rework a song when I’m doing it all by myself. When I’m working with the band I feel like I’m wasting everybody’s time. There’s different levels of preparation involved, different ways of approaching songs. I don’t have to be wary of other people as much when I’m writing for myself.

The latest album does feature a lot of collaborations, though, so how did that work?
I’d bring the songs fully formed. Usually I’d sing their parts first and ask if they wanted to sing the duets. There were a couple of times where somebody asked me if I wanted extra vocals on my records. It worked out really well cause I get a nice variety of different voices and instruments.

How do you set up your collaborations? 
I’ve never approached someone. Never made the cold call. Usually they’re friends because I really like their music and their voice. Not that that’s the way I choose my friends! But that’s often how I get to know people.

Of course. Now, your latest album has been described as having a synthy, power-ballady vibe. Was that a deliberate nod to the eighties? 
It wasn’t a deliberate reference, but I can definitely see where the comparisons come from. I did consciously set out to make a record that sounds very synthetic, which I guess is always going to evoke the eighties a bit. Although, I feel like in 50 years time when synthetic instruments become more familiar to people it will just be seen as another instrument. You know folk musicians use acoustic guitars and it doesn’t really evoke a certain period anymore whereas it might have 30, 40 years ago. It wasn’t a conscious thing, you know? I’m not going to be making a music video where I’m of surrounded by people doing aerobics or anything like that.

I was going to ask about your videos, actually. You’ve collected a fair bit of praise for your previous videos, are you working on some for your solo work? 
I’m making a trilogy of videos, they’re all sort of thematically linked. They’re just fun to make. A little bit morbid but vaguely humorous as well, I hope.

What can we expect from your set at Laneway? 
I’m bringing my band along, which is two synthesisers and this kind of laser machine which kind of acts like a drummer. And duelling synthesisers, which I really enjoy; they kind of flank me on stage.

It sounds like a military operation! 
It is, yeah. *laughs* You should see the rehearsals.

So you’re quite precise in the way that you approach your music? 
Yeah, I like to be thorough in that way, I don’t like to leave things to chance.

Speaking of leaving things up to chance, Laneway is certainly a large production. How do you feel about playing in that sort of environment? 
To be honest part of what appeals to me about playing festivals is the freedom you have to miss bands as much as see bands you really like. There’s something really comforting and satisfying about drinking backstage while you can hear them playing faintly in the background and knowing you might see them next week. It’s a bit perverse really!

I guess when you’ve got any number of opportunities to see them play, you lose the urgency. Is there anybody you’re particularly looking forward to seeing? Making ‘friends’ with on the basis of their musical talents? 
I doubt I’d hang out with them, I never approach my idols! It’s not that I’m shy or anything it’s just not something I’m comfortable doing. I’d feel like the really corny guy.

If, in a parallel universe that was totally socially acceptable, who would you like to work with? 
I’d love to collaborate with Elton John to be honest. *laughs* That would do it for me. While he’s still got half a brain it’d be great. Him and Stevie Nicks, I think that would be a great balance.

If the idea of duelling synthesisers appeals to you, then get yourself along to the St Jerome's Laneway Festival where you can catch Geoffrey O’Connor alongside the likes of Feist, The Drums, Laura Marling and Yuck. For the full lineup and for news on ticket availability, visit lanewayfestival.com.au

Interview by Heidi Pett. 

Husky interview

After a string of festival gigs over the past few months, Melbourne band Husky are closing out their Summer playing the national St Jerome's Laneway Festival. Heidi Pett spoke to frontman Husky Gawenda about his literary influences and thoughts on triple j Unearthed:

“I’d say we’re about songs.” It’s a deceptively simple explanation from Husky Gawenda when asked to define his band and their music. Variously described as indie folk and harmonic pop, favourably compared to the likes of Fleet Foxes and Boy & Bear, Husky have certain a knack for creating gentle melodies that nonetheless stay with you all day. Single History’s Door received extensive radio play on both triple j and Sydney’s FBi, as well as some recent lovin’ in the Bobbysix End Of Year Reviews, and with good reason: it’s an almost perfectly-crafted modern folk offering, sparking all sorts of comparisons with such a range of artists it leaves Gawenda faintly bemused. “I’m always so surprised by how people describe us and the different bands we’re compared to. I don’t always agree or hear the influence and sometimes it’s somebody whose music I’ve never actually heard, but I don’t think there’s any point being precious about it. People will listen to music and want to categorise it. It’s human nature.”

“I can say whatever I want about the songs I write and the sort of music we play, but in the end it doesn’t matter what I think. It matters what you think, it matters what the people who come to our shows think.” It’s an almost postmodern attitude - the death of the author/songwriter in favour of the audience’s interpretation. When I mention this, Husky laughs and admits “Well my father’s a writer and my mother’s an English teacher, so literature and writing was a big part of my upbringing and part of my life as far back as I remember. I grew up reading the classics, novel-wise. Most of the 20th century classics, as well as 19th century English and Russian literature, and a bunch of poets - Dylan Thomas, Wordsworth, those sort of guys. There are musicians as well, who are as much poets as they are songwriters; Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan, even Paul Simon.” These early literary influences certainly come through in his music, expressed through a strong lyrical component to the songs on debut long-player Forever So.

Recorded in a backyard bungalow in Melbourne’s northern suburbs which the band spent late nights soundproofing themselves with the aid of Youtube tutorials, it was an album Husky says, “we really wanted time and space to record”. Well, that and the fact that before scoring a spot at Pushover Festival thanks to a triple j Unearthed competition, Gawenda admits they were fairly unknown and thus hadn’t the cash to hire a studio and producer. “We wanted the luxury to be able to record songs that we won’t necessarily use. To take the time to write, develop and arrange the album. If we went into a studio and were paying by the hour we wouldn’t be able to do that. It was a mixture of getting the sound we wanted, and just not having the money to record in a proper studio.”

Looking back on their success over the last year, it seems Husky won’t be running into the same problems again. “I think what Unearthed does for bands like us is incredible. It does exactly what it’s supposed to, which is to bring bands to the attention of the public that otherwise nobody would hear of. That’s the beauty of the platform that triple j has, they can pick bands out of near obscurity, and put them on the radio.” Since the release of Forever So in late October, Husky spent some time touring before the busy summer festival season, where they’ve found the crowds, “really embracing and responsive”. Husky notes that the festival circuit is an equally important way for emerging bands to establish themselves. “You get exposed to people who might not know you that well or might not otherwise have come to your show. They discover you for the first time and you get to meet all these people that you otherwise wouldn’t have met. I think festivals are great for all bands, but especially for newish bands like us.”

Having seen them at Woodford Folk Festival over the New Year, I can attest to the fact that they put on a charming live performance which has certainly added to a fan base that has grown exponentially over the past year. Offering something a little different from the current crop of fingerpicking, harmonising folk acts, they’ve attracted praise from high places - triple j’s Richard Kingsmill, for instance, described them as “pure class.” This is something which Husky attributes in part to the varying musical backgrounds within the band. “I think the jazz training that they’ve done over the years have influenced them and it's certainly added to their ability as musicians,” he says of bandmates Evan Tweedie, Luke Collins and cousin Gideon Preiss.

Despite spending a lot of time together growing up in quite a creative family, Husky says he and Gideon, “didn’t really formally play music together until about three years ago. We spent a lot of time listening to music and going to gigs together, but he was on a different path for those early years. He was playing in a lot  of jazz bands and I was kind of just writing songs. Then, about three years ago, we decided to get together and have a play and see how that went.” It seems things have panned out fairly well so far, and Husky agrees. “Even from the beginning it felt right, and it’s never stopped feeling like that.”

Interview by Heidi Pett. For more information on the St Jerome's Laneway Festival, click here.

St Jerome's Laneway Festival announces its 2012 line-up

At Bobbysix.com, we've been fans of Laneway since the early days. We were there in 2007, watching The Temper Trap belting out anthemic tunes at Sydney's Circular Quay before most people knew who the hell they were. We saw Daniel Johnston's heartbreaking performance, Mumford & Sons' triumphant display and Florence + The Machine's lung-busting turn in 2010.

So we're excited to bring you the line-up for the 2012 event, which, once again will take place in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland and Singapore. Highlights of next year's event include the wonderful Laura Marling (above), Feist, The Horrors, Portugal The Man and Yuck.

So, without further ado, here's who you can see at next year's Laneway: ACTIVE CHILD, ANNA CALVI, AUSTRA, BULLION, CHAIRLIFT, CULTS, DZ DEATHRAYS, EMA, FEIST [except Adelaide], GEOFFREY O'CONNOR, GIRLS, GIVERS [Syd + Melb], GLASSER, HUSKY [Bris, Syd, Melb], JOHN TALABOT, JONTI, LAURA MARLING, M83, ONEMAN, PAJAMA CLUB (feat. Sharon and Neil Finn), PORTUGAL THE MAN [Syd + Melb], SBTRKT (Live), TRIPLE J Unearthed Winners, THE VERY WEST, THE DRUMS, THE HORRORS, THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART, THE PANICS, TORO Y MOI, TOTAL CONTROL, TWIN SHADOW, WASHED OUT, WU LYF, YUCK

Tickets go on sale Wednesday October 19th at 9am (EDST) through Greentix.We said it last year and we'll say it again, if you want to go, you'll need to be on the ball when tickets are made available. If you snooze, you lose.


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