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world and when they do, well, just look at
Gillard and Clinton.
Loose Magic is a bow toThe Dirty
Three.When was the first time Sue’s
Last Ride messed you up?
The first time I sawThe Dirty Three
was in Sydney at The Metro around 1996 and it
floored me. I’d been listening to Horse Stories
(who wasn’t in 1996?) but seeing them live was
next level. They are one of the world's great
rock bands. Period. It was electrifying, intensely
emotional music. And always just sitting out
on the edge as though it could fall over at any
moment. That takes a lot of bravery as a musician,
to let go the way The Dirty Three do. I’ve seen
them many times since but the last time was at
Sugar Mountain festival early 2016 in Melbourne.
I was standing side of stage with Courtney and
Adalita and I saw the audience react to their
music. People had snot and tears running down
their faces, it was intense and beautiful to see
how powerful music is. Nothing else can reach
that place. And I just fell in love with them all over
again, came home and wrote a song about them!
ZKR
year period which meant lots of time
apart, sometimes up to three months at a
time. We didn’t see much of each other!
Which isn’t great if you’re trying to be
in a relationship with someone. Breaks
seldomly come for women songwriters
in this country so I was very excited and
proud for her. I think a lot of us in the Australian
music community were. Her success made
things brighter for Australian music overseas.
You use the Maori for ‘Be strong’, ‘Kia kaha’, in
StrongWoman – how did you get to know the
phrase?
My matriarchal line is Ngapuhi so I grew up
hearing Te Reo (Maori language) in our house.
The song is about the strong women role models
in my life growing up. My mother Dorothy
especially, who was a force. There’s a line in the
song: “Proud my Mother wanted respect more
than love.” Looking back I can see the sacrifices
my mother had to make professionally that my
father never encountered. Subtle sexism or not
so subtle! People didn’t like a woman who was
prepared to stand up for her beliefs or ambitions.
Women aren’t encouraged to be powerful in this
In album opener I Forgot Myself the lyrics go
“I was Feelin’ Kinda Free, now I’m Desperate”
– I think you are referencing two awesome
homegrown albums here!What do you love
about them?
Nicely spotted! This album is a love song to
Australian music both past and present. I’ve
tried to sneak in as much as I can for the music
nerds without alienating anyone who isn’t one. I
love both of these albums for their passion and
bravery. I was listening to The Drones' Feelin'
Kinda Free while I was writing this album. I
was inspired by Gareth Liddiard's unflinching
commentary on Australian life.
There are a couple of tracks which reference
the physical and emotional distance between
yourself and your partner Courtney Barnett,
whose music career took off in the last couple
of years (congrats!). Did you write about these
feelings to deliberately organise them?
Absolutely. All of my albums have been candid
portraits of whatever was happening in my life
at that time. I love artists who tap the richness
of their life and share it openly. Sun Kil Moon’s
Benji was an album that affirmed how powerful
that can be for the listener. Laura Jean is another
artist who isn’t afraid to tell the truth. Courtney
went on an incredible career trajectory in a four
10 AUGUST 2017
visit MUSIC NEWS
continued
AVEY
TARE
Experimental pop dog David
Portner – AKA Avey Tare – has
wowed us from his seat in Animal
Collective, his collaborations
with Angel Deradoorian and Kría
Brekkan, and his solo outputs. We
threw him some questions about
new solo album Eucalyptus.
In your album letter,
you mention several
beautiful places in
America, particularly
in the west, where you
created this record.Why
did you call it Eucalyptus,
a tree we associate very
much with Australia?
You could say eucalyptus migrated to
California from Australia. I’ve always thought
parts of Australia reminded me of California. It's
funny to think of a plant catching a ride from
humans and moving, and also of a time when
there wasn’t eucalyptus in California. I think
the way an environment changes marks a time
that's transient and it is a lot like how music
changes time and space. I think a lot of what
I’m writing about on the album is the changes
that happen in life, and in space and time. Like
eucalyptus suddenly growing in California or
the many plants that were introduced to Hawaii
from outside places. Things die and grow, things
travel, things mutate. I wanted the music to
feel like that too: like something that comes
and changes the environment, and that you can
inhabit as well for a short time, and then it’s
over.
Did you make field recordings and compile
them into a big digital tome to draw from?
I do that often. Usually the recordings I make
Jen Cloher
by Jen Cloher is
out Aug 11 via
Milk! Records.
The inimitable Jen Cloher answered our questions
about her gorgeous new self-titled album; be sure
to read the entire article at .
JEN CLOHER
Read the full interview online at
st154_091-090_MUSIC Room 4-5.indd 1 24/7/17 3:02 pm