1.Growing Up
I grew up in a little rural town called Derrinallum (population just over 200) and we had one music teacher who taught everything, so rather than starting out with chords or tabs I was playing flute parts to things like ‘Yankee Doodle’ or ‘The Entertainer’ with the letters of the notes written underneath the sheet music. I later found that it was great for training my ears, but not much else. I basically had to learn the guitar all over again when I went to boarding school and got a proper teacher when I was 14. Luckily though, this happened to coincide with my introduction to Led Zeppelin and ’60s/’70s music, so after playing for seven or eight hours every recess, lunchtime and night through high school, I quickly made up for any lost ground.
2.Inspirations
As a teenager it was always the classic guitar heroes like Page, Hendrix or Gilmour, and while I’ll always have a special spot for them, over time I grew to understand that the bands that they come from were always more than the sum of their parts. Now I’m much more partial to the likes of John Paul Jones, Brian Wilson or Paul McCartney – amazing musicians that would always put the song first over a moment in the spotlight (just a coincidence that they happen to play bass?).
3.Your Band
I joined Greenthief back in 2013 when they made the move down from being in Brisbane to Melbourne. What grabbed me about them initially was their big rhythm section sound and that they had the essence of a great jammy band, but everything was tight and to the point. Music obviously made by musicians, but not just for musicians.
4.The Music You Make
I’ve always seen us as a bit of a mix of The Mars Volta and Queens of the Stone Age. We like to keep things musically interesting and raw – the energy of our live show is definitely a major part of the band, but there’s a discipline that brings things back to more pop sensibilities.
5.Music, Right Here,
Right Now
Although it’s definitely a double-edged sword in terms of ‘success’, I love the fact that it’s so much easier to make music than it has been in the past. The limitations are more to that of creativity and drive than money or being on a label which is awesome.
Greenthief will be playing at Frankie’s Pizza On Thursday March 19 with The Underscore Orkestra
