Larry: So how’d the show go?
Andy: It was really good; I hadn’t actually been on stage for six months.
I’ve seen you running around, I think I saw you running around Song summit from memory
Yeah, that was great fun actually, had a great time at song summit, I had a really busy year last year, heaps of busy shows, and then this year came around and I just needed a bit of a breather, and then kind of unexpectedly got one because well, to cut a long story short, my girlfriend and I became the subject of a bit of a psychotic stalker who turned out to be a bit dangerous, and we had to go to court and move house and it all became a bit full on, so that really flipped everything on its head for a moment there, and had to pack up my home studio and everything and get out, so its been a pretty weird start to the year. And I had these plans as well, because last year was really good I thought this year will be good, we’ve got some momentum, we’re going to roll on record, play shows, and everything got turned on its head, so I literally haven’t even been able to face the thought of going on stage until tonight, and they said you’ve got to play tonight, I didn’t even say OK to this, I didn’t want to do it, but I’m really glad I did, it felt really good to get back on stage even without the band, just for a couple of songs.
So it was just you?
Yeah just me and the piano, for 20 minutes, and it was good, I opened up with a new song because i’ve been working on new stuff, and that felt really good, the new stuff felt really good, really solid, and playing it live is a really good test as well, it really exposes the joints and the weak points in a song, and it just fell kind of solid.
Has any darkness kind of come out in your music because of this start to the year?
It was coming out already, I think last year you see a little bit and you get a little bit older, I’m not 20 anymore, and you just absorb a bit more and get a slightly different perspective on being, and a bit of darkness does start to come out, with lightness as well though, you get it all at one and that comes out, and being in clear and present danger just sort of seeps in, not necessarily in the way you think, I mean you might not write a really dark song about someone trying to break into your house while you’re asleep or something, but just the awareness of that as part of your life story, it adds a subtle difference to life before it.
There’s not going to be a Decemberists style concept record coming out of it?
Haha, probably not, I mean sometimes it’s cool to just let things emerge themselves, plus I know that wasn’t a serious question but if I were to do something like that, it’d probably come out a bit camp or Operatic, you’ve just got to say what you see, here’s what I think; when you’ve got something to say, you don’t pump it full of air to make it seem more important, you actually just strip away everything that isn’t really essential. So instead of trying to inflate different aspects sonically, musically, in real life trying to make it seem more dramatic, you just say it in a way that gets right to the point, and I think that’s cooler, and more effective, it’s more listenable as well, so that’s what I’m trying to do, I mean it doesn’t mean i’ll write an acoustic record like that, but I just tell the truth, drop a truth bomb!
I know back in March there was a brief period you did some recording in BJB before it closed down
Yeah well I think we were one of the last sessions in there, it was pretty unfortunate, but these things happen for different reasons, I think that desk was bought by Jimmy Barnes or something and he’s set up a studio, that SSL desk we had.
Well as long as it’s going to a good home.
Yeah its better than it ending up in a trash heap or something. But we did some stuff and that was part of what I’m doing now, I’m really happy with what we did then I thought it was really cool, and its indicative of what the new direction is, and hopefully that and the other stuff will have a place by the end of the year.
Well, looking forward to hearing what comes out of it, and I think you’re looking forward to getting into it again, it seems like there’s been a bit of a speed bump in the road, unfortunately.
Yeah, bit of a chapter closing, a new one opening maybe, sometimes its got to happen.
So the rest of the year, this is your first gig in six months, so has it got you buzzed up at all to get back onto the stage?
Yeah you forget how good it feels, I’m going away to the states for just a couple of months, just for a well needed trip somewhere.
Go to New Orleans, I just got back from there! That shit is crazy!
Thats what a few people said! That’s on the to do list, we were going to go to Mexico but I think things are a bit heavy there at the moment, so New Orleans sounds like a nice replacement!
Have you done South By South West before? I think you did it in 2010, I think you were there.
Yeah possibly, I think it was 2010, it was crazy. 2010 was so full on, but it was so manageable, I was lugging my keyboard around it, it was hectic. I want to go over there and play!
Yeah, bands shouldn’t go over there for the first time and play, I think you should go and have fun.
Yeah it is really interesting because you’ve got to go all the way around the world to meet all these other Australian artists.
Well thanks for your time!
My pleasure, thank you!
Transcript by Ross Hetherton.
