1.Growing Up
I grew up in a family where music was appreciated but no-one played anything. I started out in the school band on a clarinet at age six and started the guitar at age 15. Mum and Dad always had pretty good music taste and I feel like some of the records I remember listening to growing up may have put me on the right track.
2.Inspirations
My main influences would be people like Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Paul Kelly, the guys who write stories rather than chasing a catchy hook. Modern inspiration includes guys like Langhorne Slim, Conor Oberst and Jake Bugg. They’re the kind of songwriters who make me want to write and tell my story.
3.Your Band
The band met at Macquarie Uni – we were all studying Arts/Music and always jammed. We’ve got two bands, The East Coast Low and The Florins with the same members on different instruments. The East Coast Low is Jon Keen on bass, Bradley Owens on guitar and Ramon Echevarria on the drums.
4.The Music You Make
It’s raucous Americana that tells stories from my life and the lives of people I’ve met. We take that Johnny Cash country style, add a bit of Black Keys, mix it with some Dylan-esque folk and maybe a touch of a few other things on the way and that’ll land you somewhere close to the music we make. You can check it out on Facebook, iTunes and Spotify and all those. Our record is called A Thousand Shipwrecked Shores, and we recorded it with one of the best producers in Sydney, Wade Keighran, who you’ll normally find playing bass in Wolf & Cub and Steve Smyth and The Outlaws.
5.Music, Right Here, Right Now
I was worried there for a while, but live music and all music has started to re-emerge from little nooks and crannies all around Sydney. There are tonnes of smaller venues opening up bringing all kinds of music to the masses, it’s cool. You’ll normally find me hanging around Moonshine in Manly as they are pretty consistent at booking killer bands.
Housefox Fest, with Zach Odgers and The East Coast Low,Hard-Ons, Rust, Black Rheno, Gutter Tactic and more, takes place atNarrabeen RSL on Saturday April 16.A Thousand Shipwrecked Shores is out now independently.
