1. Growing Up
Dad was a drummer and I learnt to play guitar around age eight on his 40-year-old Maton semi-acoustic. He’s still got it and now it’s getting rusty – he lives on the coast. One of my key childhood musical memories is getting swung onto the shoulders of my uncle Andrew who played in a Brisbane band in the ’80s called The Water Rats’ Picnic and saddling down to the local bottle shop to pick up some more beer for the family dinner. Poppy used to get out the accordion or the old lap steel to play old country songs about currawongs and mountains.
2. Inspirations
For me The Church and their albums are synonymous with my Brisbane and Sunshine Coast childhood and whenever I hear their music I feel like I’m back there. There’s something about those old Brisbane houses. The wooden floorboards with drafts coming up, the wide front and back verandahs, the warm summer nights, a quick drive to the beach in the evening, feeling sandy and sticky from the heat and salt water – I’m particularly sentimental this evening, it seems…
3. Your Band
I first met Tim Harvey and we bonded over our dairy allergy. He played a big part in the production of the EP and eventually became the Jade Imagine guitarist. Jen Sholakis I met backstage at a Courtney Barnett show when I was playing a national tour with them (I was in the supporting band, Teeth & Tongue). She eventually joined to play drums. Liam Halliwell – or Snowy, as we call him – I had seen around the Melbourne stages for years playing in numerous bands, namely The Ocean Party (one of my faves).
4. The Music You Make
Right before our show last week for the Milk! Records/Bedroom Suck Split Singles record launch, Jen Cloher pulled me aside and said, “Look Jade, if you don’t bring it tonight, you’re dropped from the label. I want rock moves, I want a transformative experience. I want to be moved!” So that’s what we try to bring to the live show from here on in. (Pretty sure she was joking about the being dropped from the label thing… I hope). The recordings for the EP were made at Dave Mudie’s studio in Northcote and also in my bedroom and hallway with Tim Harvey.
5. Music, Right Here, Right Now
Here in Melbourne, the biggest obstacle I think that musicians have to overcome right now is being self-funded, juggling work whilst really giving music a real good shot – it’s hard, both are full-time jobs. Everybody I know who are musicians are pretty tired, fairly broke and quite underslept, but the best thing about the local scene is that everyone is really supportive of each other, collaborations are rife and every single night of the week you can go out and see a solid world-class show.
Jade Imagine’s debut EP What The Fuck Was I Thinking is out now through Milk! Records. She plays the Golden Age Cinema with Noire on Saturday May 27.
