STACK #133 Nov 2016

MUSIC

NEWS

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BILL RYDER-JONES

how guinea pigs originated in Syria? She’s on this massive trip to help out Syria by taking in loads of guinea pigs. She’s off her rocker. I try to say, it doesn’t work like that, mum.” That filial relationship has been through its rough bits, and although Ryder-Jones admits they still “jar” one another, he has learned much from her. “My mum’s taught me a lot about preserving yourself against the rest of the world; she gives love to a lot of things,” he says. “That’s her world, and music is my version of that. I create this little world, and I’m at the centre of it.” But he doesn’t mean his music is his love – are you loony? “I’m not giving my love to people, f-cking hell, mum does that. I’m doing it so people will give their love to me . She’s the ultimate caregiver, but she keeps nothing for herself. Whereas me, I’m holding up a neon sign going, ‘Sad Boy With Long Hair Seeks Attention.’ At least I’m honest, y’know?”

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"E verything happens in the bath,” says Bill Ryder-Jones. “The more I can do in the bath – to be honest with you, I’ve done interviews in the bath. I had a bit of a lie-in today, otherwise you’d be hearing the splish-splash of happiness.” He doesn’t smile

in any of his photos, but the former The Coral guitarist is full of sudden, dry humour. He is in the bath on the cover of his fifth solo album West Kirby County Primary , a remarkably intimate and bewitching collection of acoustic-based tracks, which he recorded in his mother’s house – the house he grew up in. "A few years ago I found that house very oppressive, but it’s cool now,” he says. “I’ll tell you something about my mother’s house. My studio is the only room that isn’t chock-full of animals. So in the first bedroom she’s got three chinchillas. She’s got two rabbits up in my brother’s bedroom. There’s about

PAT PIERCE PIERCE BROTHERS

Q1/ The EP’s doing great on the charts, you’re getting stellar press coverage, and it looks like you’re having a ball on tour. How are you holding up in this whirlwind? Thanks so much! To be honest, we put so much into the release week that we actually made ourselves pretty sick. Playing all day every day for that week, then flying out to Europe and hitting the ground running did not sit well with our bodies. That said, we’re finally on the mend now; our schedule is pretty unforgiving, so we’ve just been smashing the waters and teas and vitamins! Getting a number 10 debut on the ARIA charts was something we never dreamed we’d accomplish, so we’re stoked that we pushed ourselves that hard to get there. Q2/ How have you got along with The Cat Empire, whom you've been supporting? The Cat Empire are musical freaks! Harry has given us the name of a guy in Byron Bay who does workshops in special drum timing; it's all about mathematics and separating your hands from the beat, which is super difficult, but if we got the hang of it, would be amazing. They’re very smart boys! Q3/ What do you think’s the primary lesson you’ve learned about performance during these shows? What we’ve learned from busking is that any audience can be turned if you really give it your all, and this is reinforced when you have a stage to play on. I think what we’re going to take back is perhaps a new confidence on stage to try things we haven’t previously tried; we’re always having different ideas of what to do and how to do it. Q4/ Do you feel totally prepped for your Australian headline dates? We’re stoked that we sold out our Melbourne show already! We can’t wait to put some new songs to work for that one and really give it our all.

a million guinea pigs, plus there are cats, mice, they’re f-ckin’ everywhere. Honestly, she’s barking. Y’know CITY AND COLOUR: DALLAS GREEN West Kirby County Primary by Bill Ryder-Jones is out November 6 via Domino.

F amed Nashville recording studio Blackbird is just two blocks from Dallas Green’s new abode; he and his wife moved from big smoke Toronto last year and found themselves happily close to the musicians who have brought Green’s new album as City and Colour, If I Should Go Before You , alive. He didn’t necessarily make this record with these other musicians in mind, but says the “ideas started flowing” once he’d decided they were his merry men. “It was really just this combination of trust that was built as players,” he explains to STACK , “and maybe a little bit of confidence that I had finally grown in myself, that I could feel good enough about my ideas to present them to other people in their rawest form, as opposed to constructing these little basement demos of my own. The guys, they’re really wonderful

guys, I found this really great balance.” Those guys – Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs), Doug MacGregor (Constantines), Dante Schwebel (Dan Auerbach), and Matt Kelly – became Green’s touring band, and the fivesome are now sharpening the songs on the road. Woman , the very first on the record, is a fine introduction into the things they’re exploring: it’s a wide, Neil Young-esque soundscape with crunched guitar and a spectral vocal refrain which describes love as “a sea without a shore.” Building over the course of nine minutes, you end up in an utterly slow-motion thrash, like some sort of ecstatic wave against rocks. “I do love water imagery in songs because for me, water is so temperamental, it’s ever-changing,” he says of its lyrics and feel. “When you’re singing and writing, you want something that strikes somebody into thinking, and I want to paint a picture.”

– they take really good care of the song.” It’s an interesting point: session musicians are there to bolster your material without overtaking

If I Should Go Before You by City And Colour is out now through Dine Alone/Cooking Vinyl. Green is also playing Byron Bay's 2016 Bluesfest; check bluesfest.com.au for details.

it, but it’s best when they also give a damn. “It’s hard to find

Into The Dirt by Pierce Brothers is out now via Warner.

people who would play for the songs and not just play for themselves,” says Green. “In these

The boys are touring Oz this month; check piercebrothers. com.au for details.

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NOVEMBER 2015