1. The First Song I Wrote
The first song I wrote (and finished) was when I was 19; it’s the only song that has survived and stayed relevant (in a way) through the years too. It’s called ‘Father Song’ – it’s about the capacity or lack of that my father had to communicate pretty much anything to me. Its relevance has been kept by me becoming a father myself, and with that the flaws my children exposed within me. I figured I’m still my father’s child no matter how old we grow, and so it’s still my job to expose his flaws. I took it upon myself to give this man the opportunity to open up, which started with an “I love you”. As confronting and foreign as those words felt to lay on each other, this was the simple expression that exposed the man to bare bones, and so this is where we met again.
2. The Last Song I Released
‘Call Back Home’ is the name of my latest single. This song is inspired by my sister and her addiction to meth. I was racking my brain as to what might have happened – what was she trying to escape? – but had the realisation that although it’s not the cleanest escape nor the most socially accepted, we’re all trying to escape and sedate some sort of discontent. I recorded ‘Call Back Home’ in Melbourne with a wonderfully hairy man called John Castle.
3. Songwriting Secrets
I get asked this question a lot, and the answer is “Illuminati”… nah, in all seriousness, if there is a secret, can someone tell me? My muse for a song is discontent and silence. I’ve tried writing really stoned once with my old band Vernas Keep and we all thought it was the best song we’d ever written, and then the next day we had a listen back to it – it was absolute rubbish, so I’ve sort of given up on drug-induced songs for now.
4. The Song That Makes Me Proud
Is my biggest hit my best song? Nope. My ‘biggest hit’ almost didn’t get released ’cause I didn’t feel it was a strong enough song (it’s called ‘Sleep By Rivers’). Not specifically ‘Sleep By Rivers’, but I’ve pleasantly had many people message/email me about the lovemaking they’d made to my music.
5. The Song That Changed My Life
Jeff Buckley – ‘Dream Brother’ or his version of ‘Hallelujah’. I was introduced to Jeff Buckley at the age of 17 by my girlfriend. I never heard someone sing with such subtlety and vulnerability; I’ve never wanted to listen to what someone had to say more than this man. So basically that’s where it sort of began for me – if I was going to write and sing, I wanted to do it with the subtlety and vulnerability that this man did. I know, right – a high bar to set, but hey, I’ll work on it until I take my last breath and just hope people like what I come up with while I’m trying get there.
Kyle Lionhart plays the Newtown Social Club on Wednesday March 29.
