FBi Radio

	FBi Interview With Greg Hitchcock

DB:	Welcome to "Three Corkers And A Bit Of A Filler", FBi's album review program. My name is Dan Buhgiar, and the album that we're reviewing on the program this week is a bit of a sneak preview at the new one to be released by The Dearhunters.

	It's going to be called "Red, Wine & Blue", not available anywhere in the shops until September, so we're pretty lucky to have it available to listen to today. And joining me in the studio to fill us in on how the album was recorded and what kinds of things influenced it is guitarist from The Dearhunters, Greg Hitchcock.

	Greg, thanks for coming in. It's been a bit of a wait getting this album released - why has it taken so long, even for us to get an advance copy of it ?

GH:	Well, it took us probably just over a year to make it, and then we took our time looking for a deal and being very fussy with who we were going to go out with. We've got a basic thing with Melbourne label Candle Records, so we were happy with that and still own our own record and we have full control so we're happy to put it out now. On the 6th [September].

DB:	I guess with all the members of the band having done stuff in successful bands in the past you'd be in a position where you would be a bit fussy about what you're doing - it's not just your first time in where you're really aching to get that record out.

GH:	Well, it's not really being that fussy, it was just that we wanted to have full control over our own record. We don't want to be ripped off and we don't want to make a whole lot of money for someone who just spends it on launches and stuff.

DB:	And Candle have just done a whole lot of things with that Stella One Eleven record. Before that they were fairly obscure, but now they seem to be able to expand and offer their distribution services a bit wider.

GH:	Yes, it seems to be working for them. I haven't heard any figures on the Stella album but it seems to be going very well.

DB:	It's nice to have successful label-mates !

GH:	Exactly !

DB:	Now, maybe you can fill us in a little bit on The Dearhunters. The members of the band include Jodi Phillis, and Raph Whittingham recorded on the album, who were both in The Clouds. Raph's since left the band....

GH:	Raph's the drummer for Stella One Eleven now.....

DB:	Ah, you were borrowing him !

GH:	Well, they were borrowing him actually, but he left to hit the big time !

DB:	OK, and also in the band is Tim Oxley, who played with you sometime in The Verys ?

GH:	Yes, in The Verys, and Tim actually sang that last song [Mr. Katherine]. And that's the line up now - Raph's left, and we've since recruited Dave Aston, who plays in about 37 bands around town including The Impossibles, Trout Fishing In Quebec, and The Dearhunters now.

DB:	Now, I know at the time that The Verys were doing stuff like releasing "20th Century Fix" was also the time that The Clouds were doing a lot of live stuff, and you guys had a tendency to play gigs together. So is playing in a band with Jodi something you'd wanted to do for a while ?

GH:	Yeah, we talked about it for years. At about that period we even started, like, I played a lot of stuff on her solo album, which is called Lounge-O-Sound. And then we did some shows in that line up, and that sort of progressed to become the Dearhunters. It's an ongoing project, it's lasted a couple of years really.

DB:	Now, what I think is quite interesting is the first song we heard, "Mr. Katherine", is going to be the first song on the album. And it's one of Tim's songs, where he does lead vocals. I kind of get the impression that Jodi has always been known as "that woman with the amazing voice" and I thought it was pretty interesting that you didn't start out with that for a drawcard.

GH:	As an opening track do you mean ?

DB:	Yes - what that something that was consciously done ?

GH:	No, that wasn't conscious. We just picked a really good running order we though, it didn't really matter who sang what. The songwriting is pretty much shared between Tim and Jodi, and Raph and I contributed a track or two.

	"Heads" & "All Over Now" played

DB:	While that song was playing Greg, we had a studio visitor who compared the music to Crosby, Still and Nash......

GH:	And Young !

DB:	Being a bit of a youngin' myself, I'm not particularly familiar with the band, but you were saying that you've heard that before.

GH:	A lot of people say that. I think it's just the harmonies and the general style of the whole record. We've had it many times.

DB:	You said the Dearhunters have been a process in the making, ever since a few of you got together to do Jodi's Lounge-O-Sound project - so was there any kind of formative influence to the sound of this record ?

GH:	Well, everyone's got their personal influences. I know Jodi's a huge Neil Young fan. And Tim I couldn't tell you whose influences he used to make this record, it's a bit different from The Verys, he was more of a rock vocalist.

DB:	Because what I heard when I was listening to this, particularly where Tim is singing - and maybe with a couple of harmonies in there - is a kind of Brian Wilson sound. I just thought "the Beach Boys", as soon as there was those layered harmonies. And even the texture of his voice, it just reminded me of Brian Wilson.

GH:	That's a lovely compliment, what can I say to that ! That's flattering. Jodi is a huge Beach Boys fan, we're all Beach Boys fans anyway. I don't think it's ever intentional to sound like that, but I hope it comes out like that. Beautiful !

DB:	Also, I think a lot of people might think the Dearhunters are an alternative country thing, but there's a really strong pop element running through the record.

GH:	Well, yes, we didn't try to make a country record, it's just that I play a bit of slide, and they're laid -back pop songs. It's definitely we have more of a pop background, all of us. The country thing is just the speed of the music, and things like acoustic guitars and slide guitar.

DB:	There is a real lot of slide in there, we heard a bit of it on "Heads". Is that something you've been doing for years and wanted to finally test it out on a recording ?

GH:	Not really. I never really intentionally took up the slide guitar ! It just seemed appropriate at the time so I got out a slide and started playing it. I've never really studied any slide players. George Harrison is probably my favourite slide player, which is a sort of minimal sound. I'm not really into pedal steel or anything like that....that would make it sound too country I think.

DB:	You've done a lot of rock stuff - like you played with You Am I for a while. Do you miss that kind of jumpin' up and down ? Because when you play these songs you sit - you sit on a stool I think ?

GH:	Yes, but that suits the music also. Like I couldn't do a head-bang or anything, that's just not appropriate.

DB:	Sometimes you don't need it....

GH:	I do need it, but I play in another band called The Monarchs, which is a much faster sort of rock outfit, where I get my rocks off in that vein of music.

DB:	Now, I mentioned earlier the new album "Red Wine & Blue" isn't available until September, but we've had a bit of a sneak preview of it here at FBi a song that you've put out on a 7". It's a beautiful song called "Ivy" - track 4 on "Red Wine & Blue"

	"Ivy" & "Another Heart" played

DB:	Now, Greg, we've been speaking a little bit about Tim Oxley's vocals. he did lead vocals on that one [Another Heart] and I was talking about how impressed I was after hearing him as a rock n' roll singer for years, he's got so many beautiful moments, and compared him to Brian Wilson. That one was the definitive Brian Wilson moment for me I think. And he's a very brave man, doing the falsetto thing.....

GH:	Well, he's one of......a few people who could pull it off. Barry Gibb has a falsetto voice but I'm not sure he pulls it off ! I don't think anyone has actually told him not to sing in falsetto lately, but I think Tim Oxley gets away with it.

DB:	Did he kind of sheepishly come to rehearsal with that song, "Guys, I want to do this....you know.....bit of falsetto....."

GH:	Well, he kind of sings everything in falsetto in a beautiful way. But he just says, "This is the new songs, let's do it, it goes like this....."

DB:	You mentioned that most of the writing on the band's songs happens by Jodi & Tim and you & Raph contributed a couple of songs to the record, but is there also that process where the band is writing as a whole ?

GH:	No, not really. Everyone writes their own songs and sings their own songs.

DB:	Seems a bit selfish !

GH:	Well, we just don't really like each other !

DB:	Hmm, must be hard.

GH:	No, we put it together, the structures are worked out as a band but the basic idea of the song and all the lyrics are usually written by the one person. It's just the way it operates.

DB:	And it works beautifully. The next track is called "Ballerina", and it's got quite an interesting sound at the beginning of it - can you explain how you got that to work?

GH:	It was quite an interesting procedure actually. It was a song that Jodi wrote, she had the idea that she wanted backwards guitar on it, so she recorded the guitar track as it should sound, and then played the whole guitar track backwards and then learnt how to play the guitar backwards, and then played it backwards and then played it forwards again. So she's actually playing the song as it is supposed to sound, but the whole song is played backwards.

DB:	That's amazing ! Let's have a listen......

	"Ballerina" & "The Roman Song" played

DB:	"The Roman Song" is "R-O-M-A-N" but I'm sure it's as much about "roamin' around town" as it is about Italians ! "The Roman Song" was sung & written by the drummer of the Dearhunters, Raphael Whittingham, who no longer plays with the band - does that mean we won't be hearing The Roman Song is the Dearhunters live sets anymore ?

GH:	Most likely !

DB:	Unless the new drummer Dave Aston is wiling to take on vocal duties ?

GH:	Well, we haven't heard him sing yet !

DB:	So you don't know whether that's such a good idea ! To me, that really is a lopin' along drinklin' song - that seems to be the theme lyrically as well....

GH:	Yeah - drinkin' and gamblin' and havin' a good time !

DB:	And the piano accordion thrown in there for good measure - who helped out with that ?

GH:	Raph played that himself actually.

DB:	Fantastic ! Because there's a few little extra things in there on the album - there's a bit of keyboard there - did you do that yourselves ?

GH:	There's loads of keyboards. Actually, that was a last minute thing, we just has keyboards lying around and thought "just put a bit more fruit on there !"

DB:	And did I hear a triangle in one of the songs ?

GH:	Some sort of little bell, yes. Maybe a tambourine.

DB:	You went all out !

GH:	I hope it's still subtle though !

DB:	Well in the song before it, "Ballerina", we were talking about the tape sound at the beginning which you said was done by playing the guitars backwards, there was also the nice music box sound - was that something you thought "we need something a bit different "? Or is this all just stuff that naturally came with the progression of the songs?

GH:	The idea of the song was about a music box we found in a second hand op-shop, and it had the melody on it. And then the whole song is based around it.

DB:	You ripped off a music box ?!

GH:	Ah, it's a total lie !

DB:	Now, you've said that the people who write the songs tend to sing them - do you fill each other in on what the songs are about ? Because some of them do seem to be very personal.....

GH:	No, we don't even ask actually. A lot of them are very personal. We have an idea of what they might be about, but it could be a very different interpretation to what it is about ! So we don't even ask, we don't even talk about it !

DB:	Well, I hope I'm not asking you too much about this next song which is one that you write and sung on the album - it's called "Starling". It's a pretty, again, laid-back sort of song.....

GH:	It's probably a sadder song to me than what it sounds like. I wanted to write a beautiful song using minor Th chords, so I wrote it, and that's all it is.

DB:	There's a little sound in there like a whistling keyboard, or is it a theremin ?

GH:	It's a moog. If I'd had a theremin I would have used it, or a musical saw, but we had a moog.

DB:	Greg, is this the first time you've done lead vocals on a song ?

GH:	I've done other things in the past, but we won't go into that !

	"Starling" & "That Kind Of Love" played

DB:	We've had to skip past a couple of tracks because we're a bit short of time. So, at this point I should thank Greg Hitchcock from the Dearhunters who's come in to review the album with me. It's a beautiful sounding album Greg, it's very clean and sounds very produced. But you didn't record it in a big name studio or anything ?

GH:	No we did post of the recording at Jodi's house actually, in Bundeena. And we had a friend - Cameron McCauley - who'd just bought a recording program for his computer. And he's quite a renowned engineer himself. So it was a favour for both of us - we could be the guinea pigs for his new program and we could use him to do some demos.

	We started doing this recording and it just sounded awesome, so we just kept going. That's one of the reasons it took so long as well, we didn't take it too seriously in the beginning. And then we just kept doing overdubs and it's polished up quite nicely.

DB:	And it's very twentieth century too, using all that digital recording.....

GH:	It was all a new thing for me, I'd pretty much come from the old school - just love analogue tape and the proven formula. But I'm a changed man, actually.

DB:	So did you find it to be very different with the kinds of things you could get and the things you could do ?

GH:	Not really. I was just so impressed that it came out so clean and so warm. but we did use a lot of borrowed valve mike pre-amps and stuff like that, which made it nice and warm. But I just really liked how fast it was, it recorded really quickly and you don't have to sit around waiting for the tape to rewind so you could hear it back. Things like that. A really interesting process.

DB:	Well, now you're ready to be a twentieth century guy ! It's a fantastic final product - "Red Wine & Blue". Can we buy a copy at the launches ?

GH:	Yes, enjoy it on a Sunday morning, when you have a hangover or after you've made lurve !

DB:	Well, we're going to end now with the final track on the album - "Alienship" - which seems to be the most "rock-y" number and the most similar to the stuff the Clouds and Verys were doing a few years back. Would you agree with that ?

GH:	Well, in a way. It is probably the fastest song on the record, but it's still pretty laid back !

DB:	It's got a kind of scary sounding keyboard riff in there - who's responsible for that ?

GH:	Um, I don't know....Professor Theremin ?

DB:	Thanks to Greg Hitchcock from the Dearhunters !

	"Alienship" played