Pat Capocci has an easy laugh. Originally from Maitland, near Newcastle, he grew up somewhere less fast-paced than Sydney, surfing and listening to music, and you can tell; he’s a warm and laidback kinda guy.

Capocci attributes his tastes to his dad, who fed him a solid musical diet of cool stuff – old blues guys like Jimmy Rogers, Magic Sam and so on. Was there ever a moment when Capocci said, “Dad, I just want to listen to Cold Chisel,” or something?

“Nope. I never knew any different,” he laughs. “It was a natural thing for me; I grew up with it. Dad’s got pretty much the same taste in music that I have now. In fact, the more time’s gone on, the more I’ve grown into rhythm and blues.”

His old man gets even cooler. “In the years I was growing up, from 16 onwards, Dad took me to every gig until I was 21. He wasn’t there making sure I wasn’t getting up to anything bad – although, maybe he was, secretly. It was because he has a love for music and we were enjoying it as mates and hanging out.”

Capocci is a wailer and guitar slinger extraordinaire. While his earlier records like Call Of The Wild and Delinquent Beat are pretty straight-down-the-line rockabilly, they’re not necessarily reflective of his live sound. His latest release, Pantherburn Stomp, is more accurate. It’s a rumbling, dirty-edged mix of rockabilly, old-school R&B and rock’n’roll with some ’60s garage rock thrown in for good measure.

“Yeah, it’s a good reference point,” Capocci says. “It’s our own tunes and an honest output. We’re not being stuck in one genre, and so far people are digging it. Maybe a few people think it’s different compared with our other recordings, but our live following knows that it’s just a recorded version of what we do. It’s tight, too.”

That Pantherburn Stomp is Capocci’s third album in as many years gives you a hint about his work ethic. The guy is dedicated, and puts his nose to the grindstone in a way that many others would find too difficult. In a previous interview, he was quoted as saying that he got up at 4:30am every day to practice for a few hours before his day job.

“I’m getting up at 5 or 5:30am now,” he smiles. “I’m getting lazy! I’ll never get the foot off the pedal practising though. I don’t think I’m ever going to feel absolutely comfortable playing – there’s always something else to practice.”

When it comes to the broader rockabilly and blues culture, Capocci marvels at the way people come to the scene from different angles. “A lot of people seem to discover it through fashion,” he reflects. “It’s not bad, but it’s definitely odd. For us, it’s always been about the music. Take Newcastle, for example – there’s a huge pin-up culture – that’s totally new to us. I came from a punk background. I was into The Clash, the Buzzcocks and The Vibrators. Rockabilly is kind of the next rebellious step I guess, when you start to mature.

“I’m a barber, right. I popped into the shop the other day and there was a guy in there with a pretty sharp quiff, but when they took the cape off, he was wearing running gear. It just didn’t make sense!” he laughs.

Catch Pat Capocci at the Fifties Fair 2014 withShotdown From Sugartown atRose Seidler House onSunday August 24.

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