1.Growing Up
I grew up in New Zealand in the ’50s and ’60s. There was one radio station only and it didn’t play much contemporary music. My mother had an electric organ for a while which she tinkered with but there wasn’t that much music in the house. I remember hearing popular songs like ‘Tom Dooley’, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, ‘Catch A Falling Star’, ‘The Battle Of New Orleans’ and ‘How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?’. I enjoyed the roots, folk, blues, country end of popular music and am still attracted to that type of music.
2.Inspirations
Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Cream, Hendrix, The Doors, Lou Reed, Bob Marley, The Carter Family and Hank Williams. The first Bob Dylan songs I heard and liked were actually covers of his tunes recorded by Peter, Paul And Mary. The first albums I bought where Mississippi John Hurt, Lightnin’ Hopkins and the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, which I got by mail order.
3.Your Band
My current band is Dog Trumpet, which is me and my brother Peter O’Doherty. We share the songwriting equally but Peter does all the engineering and production work. We play as a duo or as a full band with a rhythm section of Bernie Hayes and Iain Shedden on drums. We have played with other drummers and bass players but Bernie and Iain have been regulars for some time now. Previously Peter and I were original members of Mental As Anything but we left the Mentals to concentrate on Dog Trumpet about 14 years ago.
4.The Music You Make
The music we play now can be loosely described as psychedelic folk-pop with blues, country and Celtic influences. We have recorded our last five albums in Peter’s home studio. In our live show we play a selection of tunes from our six albums and two EPs and a couple of songs we wrote while in the Mentals and also a few covers such as Little Red Rooster, Strange Brew, Lili Marlene, Colours and Wooden Heart.
5.Music, Right Here,Right Now
There is a slight improvement n Sydney. Clover Moore’s attempts to reinvigorate small bars and venues is helping a live music scene that had declined since the late ’70s and early ’80s when heaps of hotels and bars featured live bands.
Medicated Spirits out now through Orange. Catch Dog Trumpet atShady Pines Saloon onSunday September 21.
