- What’s been the most unexpected part of touring regional Australia? Is there something you didn’t see coming until you got out there? Absolutely – I wasn’t quite sure what to expect on the long drives from Perth up to Geraldton, Merridin, Karratha, Broome. The evolving landscape is incredible and the isolation is a nice break from the regular tour schedule and airports etc. I have toured and traveled to play music most of my life and that was the first time seeing the vastness and scope of the outback from behind the wheel, Western Australia is big sky country for sure!
- You’re opening the shows AND playing guitar for Pete — how do you balance the switch between those two roles each night? Good Q! It’s two different mindsets for sure. My songs and how I’m going to approach my set is the priority as soon as soundcheck is complete, usually a little bit of down time (maybe an hour or so) to chill in the dressing room – then 45mins before stage I warmup and play around the guitar to loosen up. To shift gear after my set is a little bit of time for the energy to drop because I do dig in quite a bit! But the gear shift to being there for Pete comes pretty natural after almost 20 years together. It’s like being brothers – we can read each other and communicate non-verbally during the set, or a nod/look if anything needs adjusting. Just been so many years on the road – it’s not a difficult gear to switch into for me.
- Do regional towns have a different energy compared to big cities? How has the audience vibe or reaction surprised you on this tour? To be honest I don’t feel a great deal of difference – ALL of the audiences have been so fun, responsive and vibed. I have personally been really humbled and overwhelmed at the response to my music. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect, because I made my music purely to satisfy my own interest and honour my favourite music in my way. Never considering how it would or wouldn’t go over with audiences. I set out to make good music that I believe in. So to hear the crowds respond and get the feedback directly from a collective energy each night – is powerful and affirming for me. I’m so grateful for it. Plus the amazing messages and engagement on socials – it’s much appreciated. The ‘travelling roadshow’ nature of this tour is very much- roll up – load gear in – get the sound – deliver the show to the best of our ability – pack it up and roll on to the next. So to us – it feels like just being in that mode everyday I think. The biggest difference between city and regional honestly is the urgency to figure out food for after the show when you are in the smaller regional towns because everything closes – and fair enough! Pete and I are always keen for a meal post show.
- What does a typical day on the road look like for you when you’re playing back-to-back regional shows? It kinda depends on how far the drive is the next day. Some days if you’re looking at a 6.5 or more hour drive – I’m usually up early for a coffee and a quiet bite to eat and then pile into the van and go! On the rarer occasions when it’s a shorter drive or an off day and we aren’t flying home, I’ll get up and go for a wander. For example, we had a day off in Broome last week so Pete and I went down to Cable Beach and jumped in for a brisk wake up. Rare treats when you’re on the run. To answer the earlier part of the Q – a typical day would be Pete texting me kinda early to see if I’m awake for food and also make sure luggage is organised to leave, we’ll then jump in the van and hit the highway. A certain portion of the early parts of the drive (while the Tour manager and sound man Jimmy “Flowers” Foster – is cruising us along) sees Pete and I on our phones, perhaps doing the social media duties for yesterday’s events, or lately it’s been radio interviews for us both – and then we either start chatting or play van DJ’s and start trying to pick bangers to out do each other to chop up the drive. We’ll then arrive at the venue around 3:30/4pm and throw the gear in to do the show. Pack down – hotel – sleep – repeat! Really exciting stuff right? Not! Haha
- Have any of the places you’ve visited on this tour left a lasting impression? Maybe enough to write a song about them? Maybe enough to write a song about them? I really enjoyed my time in regional WA and it’s amazing how music I grew up with fits those landscapes. Icehouse sounds amazing on those highways! All the classic Aussie music has a connection to our land I feel. My friend and mentor Tommy Emmanuel has a song called ‘Cross The Nullabor’ and I always adored the sounds he created and I felt like I could almost see it in my mind from hearing it. Now, after witnessing similar scenery, it all makes perfect sense to me. So no doubt, all the beautiful places and areas we have visited will swirl around in my subconscious and who knows, I might just find a way to express it in a new song! I’ll keep it in mind, however, I do find it’s best to let life sink in and stay out of the way of the songs. Let them happen when they happen and see what comes to the surface.
- There’s a certain rawness and honesty to regional shows – do you approach them differently as a performer compared to city venues? I would say in certain aspects yes, I do approach them differently- especially if the venue is setup like a pub style room with a bar on the side, OR just occasionally it has been an actual PUB haha! In those instances, I recalibrate the energy/approach I open with, just to grab the room and be strong about it. For the theatre shows I still dig in of course but I have learned from this tour that being as centred as possible and delivering the first songs without trying too hard is a better way of inviting the room into my music.
- What’s the best part of being on the road with an iconic Aussie artist? Are there any standout stories or learning moments? The best part in all honesty has been the overwhelmingly positive response to my music and the years of hard work I have put into my craft being received and appreciated. All of that is thanks to Pete and his years of service to his own music and craft. I’m forever grateful to him for this chance to travel the entire country and meet his fans and become known to them as an artist in my own right. It’s been a very big learning curve all around to be fair, learning the ropes of being an artist on a big tour is like doing a degree. I have always watched and noticed Pete’s day to day over the 2 decades in his band so the biggest lesson I have learnt this tour is how that actually feels to be in the hot seat. I’ve learnt to juggle daily tour commitments and travelling whilst keeping in touch with family and loved ones, then being present and available to do promo, radio interviews, going into stations and playing live on air, social media, management calls and planning singles and release deadlines, finishing songs and mixes on a laptop from the back of the van or in airport lounges and then still putting a show on each night and pouring your heart out whilst trying to get as much sleep as possible to keep it all going for the entire tour. Universities will never be able to put that into a curriculum, you have to live it as a human and learn how to manage it all on the fly. It’s a lot!
- Gear-wise, do you travel light for regional tours, or are there specific tools you always bring to help shape your sound on the go? Yes this whole tour – not just the regional shows – I am travelling as light as possible. I have a small pedalboard and a couple of guitars and that’s it. I haven’t even bothered with hiring a backline amp to use during Pete’s set – I just have a little pedal that makes it sound like an amp and it just makes it a plug in and play / copy paste scenario every night for “Flowers” our sound engineer. For both Pete and I, the quicker and easier soundchecks are, the better. Less complicated and less luggage is often the way to go in all situations these days.
- How do you stay creatively inspired when the days start blending together on tour? Is there a daily ritual or reset button for you? Reset button! That would be nice. Sleep is the best one, and if that doesn’t happen, I get to the gym and do a workout, or a cold swim, any or all are about as good a reset I can think of. Creatively, every single time I pick up a guitar or go to sing, there’s variables, even if you’re playing the same material, each day we are slightly different as people. I feel lucky that I’m not releasing my music at an early stage of my career and that I have spent decades working on my craft as a musician, so I can usually find little ways to change things slightly to keep it interesting – plus I’m cheeky enough to try new things and see what happens! I won’t over complicate things or do a big jazz/blues exploration on Better Days for example haha,no party pauses! There’s parts on all songs that need to be honoured and I love that too! Respecting the music is as rewarding for me as improvising and trying to take people for a ride with the guitar. Basically – there’s still plenty of creation and detail in something that might seem on the outside to be repetitive.
- What advice would you give younger artists dreaming of hitting the road? I would say from having been on the road as a session man for 25 or so years and now seeing it through the lens of an artist – make 100% sure that the music you are making is music that YOU love, nothing else matters until YOU love what you’re doing. This is said a lot these days, and Instagram is full of short videos of Rick Rubin or other wise people saying the same thing. It’s so true though. You will hear people say it’s hard, it’s expensive and people will try to warn you and give you the realities and that’s fine. But – if you believe in what you’re doing and saying with you songs and KNOW that you’re being honest with yourself and your art then there’s a much better chance of someone else resonating with it. Then you can step into the other daunting responsibilities of booking and promoting a tour without second guessing your motive and your intention. SO – work hard to make the music you want to make, do it to the best of your ability and do NOT do it to please anyone but yourself. MUSIC first! Book the van and venues later. That’s just me.
Listen to Brett Wood’s new single ‘Eyes’
BRETT WOOD – UPCOMING SHOWS SUPPORTING PETE MURRAY:
WED 13 AUG | BEER GARDEN BREWING, PORT LINCOLN SA | 18+ *SOLD OUT
THU 14 AUG | BEER GARDEN BREWING, PORT LINCOLN SA | 18+ *SOLD OUT
FRI 15 AUG | NORWOOD CONCERT HALL, ADELAIDE SA | AA *SOLD OUT
SAT 16 AUG | SIR ROBERT HELPMANN THEATRE, MT GAMBIER SA | AA *SELLING FAST
SUN 17 AUG | LIGHTHOUSE THEATRE, WARRNAMBOOL VIC | AA
THU 21 AUG | WEST GIPPSLAND ARTS CENTRE, WARRAGUL VIC | AA *SELLING FAST
FRI 22 AUG | THE UNION THEATRE, WONTHAGGI VIC | AA *SOLD OUT
SAT 23 AUG | THEATRE ROYAL, CASTLEMAINE VIC | AA
THU 4 SEP | THE QUEANBEYAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE, QUEANBEYAN ACT | AA
FRI 5 SEP | GARDEN HOTEL, DUBBO NSW | 18+
SAT 6 SEP | REVESBY WORKERS CLUB, REVESBY NSW | AA
SUN 7 SEP | BLUE MOUNTAINS THEATRE, BLUE MOUNTAINS NSW | AA *SELLING FAST
Tickets available from www.petemurray.com
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