Five Minutes with Ernie Garland from Kinsky

2.Inspirations

Bob Marley. Great songwriter. Go to any far-flung corner of the globe and there he is with his message of peace and positive vibrations blaring out of whatever sound system that’s going. Beautiful. And Nina Simone. I caught a doco of her on the ABC when I was young and I thought, ‘Who is this feisty, amazing woman?’ That was it for me. Her voice has so much power that the world stops when I listen to her.

3.Your Crew

Kinsky started out as myself and bass player Dave Murray. We both have a deep love for reggae and Jamaican music generally. We got the songs together for the first album (Sunset On The Good Fight) and went to a converted farmhouse studio in the Catalan region of Spain to record it. The live band is currently at nine pieces.

4.The Music You Make And Play

I listen to a lot of different genres and draw from them accordingly when writing songs. I could pick out a part in one of my songs and say, ‘That was inspired by a part in a track by Miles Davis from his All-Star period.’ Or, ‘This middle eight horn part was inspired by an OutKast track, but keeping it in a reggae/soul style.’ My house is made entirely of wood, so for the new EP, which will come out later in the year, I wanted to record the drums in my living room. I got Terepai Richmond (The Whitlams, DiG) over on drums and set up the mixing console in my neighbour’s living room a few doors down and tracked the drums. Once the recording’s all done I’ll head back to the farmhouse in Catalunya to mix it.

5.Music, Right Here, Right Now

The scene’s way better than it was. It was really bleak a few years back with hardly anywhere to play. There’s a lot more venues these days. Camelot in Marrickville is my favourite venue at the moment. Not so long ago I saw the Sirens Big Band play to a full house. They’re an all-female, 18-piece brass band with some awesome Middle Eastern and African influences in their works. They’re off the hook.