STACK NZ June 2015 Issue 63

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Although 2012’s 25th anniversary
collection included a bonus CD of new
songs, Runaway Days is New Zealand
country-rock icons’ The Warratahs’ first
new studio album in nine years.
And Barry Saunders and the rest of the
band – Nik Brown (violin, mandolin), Mike
Knapp (drums) and Nick Theobald (bass,
vocals) – didn’t waste any time in
recording it; in fact, the bulk of
the tracks were laid down
over a couple of days.
“We didn’t actually
have a plan,” the affable
Saunders explains to
STACK. “We went into the
studio in Devonport just to do
something out of town because we’ve
done all our previous stuff in Wellington.
We just banged these songs down and
sang them at the same time, so that’s
what you hear, really. It was a bit rough
around the edges but we liked what we
heard and we brought it back here to mix
it.” While still recognisably The Warratahs,
there’s a rawer, more stripped back, edge
to Runaway Days and with Saunders’
harmonica to the fore on a number
of the tracks, there also something
of blues feel to it. “It is a bit bluesier,”
he agrees. “I have started playing harmonica
a bit more lately. I used to play the harmonica
when I was a youngster in bands – it is a great
instrument, but it’s an instrument that is much
abused. I try and keep it cool, and don’t try and
play massive solos. The first harmonica players
I ever heard were people like Brian Jones,
who played really simply but effectively, and I
thought I would just try and do that.”
Saunders is looking forward
to getting back on the road
to promote the new album,
although the days of big
tours are long behind
The Warratahs. That said,
the band have recently been
on tour with The Eastern, one of the
leading lights of the new wave of Kiwi country/
folk bands centred around Lyttleton; in many
ways, The Warratahs could be seen as our
Godfathers of Country Rock. Saunders is not
so sure, but is pleased that new local roots
bands are emerging. “A lot of them say they
got into us through their parents’ records –
it makes you realise we are getting on a
bit now! But that’s all cool – I take it as
a big compliment.”
Runaway Days by The Warratahs
is out on June 19.
Barry Saunders onTheWarratahs’ quickfire new album EASY COME, EASY GO
We just banged
these songs down
and sang them at
the same time
Sitting down with
Justin Hawkins,
the darkness
Q1/ The clip for Open Fire looks like classic MTV:
were you going for that?
Those oceanic moments are instant. We drove
around Ireland looking for places. Simon Emmett,
who directed it, is a fashion photographer; he’s
more about capturing moments with stills. It’s a bit
different to other Darkness videos, it hasn’t got a
plot. [It's] a video done by a fashion photographer
who’s used to making things that aren’t beautiful,
look beautiful.
Q2/ Tell us about the speech on Barbarian,
that opens the album.
It was supposed to sound like somebody,
generations after the Viking Invasion, sitting on a
clifftop – that’s why you can hear all the wind. It's
like the beginning of The Fog, when he’s addressing
the children around the campfire. But the guy was
Dan’s gardener! He was cutting the grass, into
amateur dramatics, so we asked him to come in.
He’s a Norfolk bloke in his mid-60s!
Q3/ How did Rufus Taylor, son of Roger Taylor
from Queen, end up in the band?
We’re now on our fourth drummer. Not bad! Four
albums, four drummers! Emily Dolan Davies did a
great job on the album. We were looking to make
it permanent, but when it came to negotiating,
her and the band had different expectations – it
was personal. It got out that we were looking for
a drummer, and Brian May’s guitar tech said "try
Rufus." He’s a bit younger, but he comes from a
proud heritage of drummers. He’s awesome in his
own right. You can tell his father’s a rock star, you
know what I mean?
Q4/ You left the band in 2006, in well-documented
circumstances. Do you regret anything?
Unless you’re prepared to take that journey, you
might as well stay home. Not an option if you’re
going to be in The Darkness. We had a f***ing
great time, literally living the dream! It got
unsustainable, damaging to my health, so I had to
make a change. It definitely
enriched my life.
Last of Our Kind
by The Darkness is out
now via Kobalt/Inertia.
12 JUNE 2015 JB Hi-Fi
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