For many musicians, touring is a straight-up slog: a barrage of deadlines met and missed, all toiled away at under the shadow of iron-clad itinerates.
And yet singer-songwriter Sam Joole is the exception to that particular rule, a performer who relishes every single moment he is out traversing the wide open road.
“I love touring,” the Sydneysider says. “I seem built for it. I seem to live much better on the road. When I come home, I usually go to pieces, eat badly, stop practising and become a sloth. But when I’m on the road everything feels right. Isn’t it meant to be the other way?”
Joole’s relish for the rigours of touring is particularly surprising given he usually travels solo. The blues- and Americana-influenced music he plays is often carried simply by his striking voice and some nimble guitar-picking, and he has nobody else to stop him from withdrawing too far into himself when he’s travelling from country town to country town.
Not that Joole really minds. “It can get very lonely and weird sometimes but you just get used to it,” he says. “I keep my spirits up by writing songs, taking cool photos, videos and journal entries about the travels and reaching out to local artists and people for new and fun conversations.”
Perhaps his humble, committed work ethic is to be expected – after all, Joole is currently living the life he has always lusted after. Ever since he was a child, music has played an important part in his world, and he sees writing songs as a way to truly express himself.
“Even on the odd occasion I do other things, I usually feel like I’m just gathering songwriting material,” he explains. “I didn’t come from a specifically musical family or a showbiz family of any sort. But it wasn’t unmusical, either – my parents had a wicked vinyl collection and mum made us all take piano to grade three. She also made us all go and see shows and musicals. Dad was well into rock’n’roll and blues and was always getting good music going at parties. Me and my brothers jammed out on guitars a lot.”
That extensive musical background means Joole has a hearty range of influences, and though the music he makes might be easy to categorise as typical rock’n’roll, the sources from which he draws his talent and tone are incredibly varied. “When I was 11 I went through a lot of hard metal bands and then started getting into punk. Eventually I settled on The Cure as a favourite and it’s still the case. But as I grew up I started getting really into folk, people like Bob Dylan, but I was also pretty hit by grunge. I also went through a big trance and drum and bass phase and still listen to loads of electronica.”
Joole’s jumbled, wide-ranging tastes go a long way to explaining his scheduled performance at an upcoming iteration of Xan Müller’s ever-popular event series, Surveillance Party. Though many of the acts on the bill perform electronic music, Joole is deeply connected to the other musicians playing; linked to fellow party-starters like cyber-punk act No Illuminati through both a deep sense of camaraderie and a shared desire to push genre boundaries.
“[I] was introduced to Surveillance Party [through] No Illuminati, top-notch friends of mine. We’ve known each other forever and supported each other musically a lot. I’m so excited because the way they throw parties is exactly how I roll with creative energy.”
Sam Joole plays at Surveillance Party, with No Illuminati, Royalston, Nam Shub Of Enki, La Vif and more, at the Oxford Art Factory on Saturday November 12.
