Kev Carmody

Thu 22nd Oct, 2009 in Features

One of the true icons of Australian music, Kev Carmody has earned his place in the pantheon of songwriting greats with his political folk anthems such as From Little Things, Big Things Grow, Thou Shalt Not Steal and Cannot Buy My Soul, the latter also the title of a successful tribute album which inspired a rediscovery of his work.

Leading up to his appearance at Brisbane’s Valley Fiesta, he caught up with FasterLouder, revealing his love of music as a community-builder, his passion for the resurgence of Brisbane’s live music scene and a turn of phrase that recalls Home and Away stalwart Alf – œFlaming’ Stewart.

You must be looking forward to Valley Fiesta, with all the local bands on the bill?
Oh yeah, Brisbane is virtually my hometown and it looks like it’s an open-air stage at the mall, which is great. It’s a great thing for younger bands. I mean, Brisbane was a hard place to get a family gig twenty or thirty years ago, you had to go to Sydney or Melbourne to get a gig. But now, there’s a real live music scene happening around Brisbane.

For people who haven’t been to the festival before, what kind of atmosphere is it? Is it more of a street party/carnival type atmosphere than your typical rock festival?
I would hope so, Daniel, I’ve never actually been to it myself (laughs). I live out in the bush, four hours out of Brisbane. But the mere fact that it’s located in the mall means it’s not only going to be just the people who turn up to see what’s on the program, it’s also going to be the passers-by standing there with their shopping bags, which is great. Have you got anyone in mind you especially want to see?

I think The Danger Bunnies would be great…
Are they Queensland-based?

Yeah, they seem to be. They’re really young kids, like twelve years old.
(Laughs in delight) I tell you what Dan, that’s the difference between now and thirty years ago. You have the technology that allows the younger ones to be able to record in their own flaming bedroom; you don’t need to have a record company telling you what to sing, like that flaming Idol concept.

What do you think of something like Idol? That idea that you can take some kind of shortcut to success without playing gigs and doing the hard yards…
Well I suppose it’s one way. I wouldn’t go through that whole Idol selection process. I wouldn’t have a chance anyway, so why bother? But I do actually feel for some of the people who get through who haven’t done the hard yards because you’re number one all of a sudden, then within five years you’re in the damn recycle bin! The selection process is based on criteria from the record company and the corporations and half the time it’s just regurgitated stuff anyway.

You mentioned that it was hard to play shows in Brisbane a couple of generations ago; why was that? Just a lack of venues or a culture thing?
It was the culture then where anything that young people did was frowned upon. Just take the ignition of the flaming punk movement in the late – œ70s and in the – œ80s. To the older generation, politically, that was a real threat. And it did have a political aspect to it. Venues ceased to function or were closed down because of noise restrictions.

Was it especially difficult to play live music in the Bjelke-Petersen years?
Crikey, yeah. But there were some great bands then; I mean you know them off by heart. The Go-Betweens. Ed Kuepper and Chris Bailey, The Saints mob. And they were a real live thing, back then they couldn’t get any CDs or vinyl or anything because they didn’t have record contracts. But they just did it themselves. The other thing, in my opinion, that really opened it up to people was that community radio stations started to broadcast, Double J and 4ZZZ and stuff like that.

And they would actually record your work?
I used to go into 4ZZZ with me guitar and go – œbang, bang’, record a song, and it would be out the next day. We didn’t worry about mixing or putting drums or bass on it or anything like that. It was just me and the guitar. That was the way the community stations operated.

4ZZZ actually got shut down a few times, didn’t it?
Bloody oath it did! They were coming through the door with fire-axes. We had to go and broadcast up on Mt. Koota. Yeah mate, they cut the cables. But I mean the [4ZZZ] people were really committed to their music. In the late – œ70s and in the – œ80s when the station was in Queensland uni, you had the special branch schedule on file all the time if you played in a band. They really fought for their music in the days.

It’s a bit of a forgotten story, isn’t it?
Well, for your generation I suppose. But there’s a book called Pig City and Crikey! It caused a stir. He went and interviewed people from that era and put it in a flaming book and then we had a music festival three years ago. Paul Gabowsky put it on and it was a big punt, The Saints got back together for it.

There were seven or eight thousand people turned up at the uni, that’s where 4zzz was operating from. Even some policemen turned up in their full gear, just to see who was playing! It was great, But that whole thing is an aspect that the younger generation don’t realise went on. But it’s people like you that can get it out there! See if you can get a hold of Pig City.

Are you playing many more shows apart from the Valley Fiesta or are you trying to scale back your live commitments these days?
The old flaming arthritis has got me cruelled. But there’s a few things that I’m popping up at. The Caloundra Festival, and the Byron Bay festival mob wanted us and Melbourne festival wanted us. But I’ve got to have time to plant the spuds mate.

So does the arthritis make it physically hard to play guitar for example?
Yeah, real hard. I can still play it; it’s just got a bit slower. But the other thing is that I make sure the audience know, so that if I make a blue, that’s why. If you want the sterile version, go buy the CD, you know? But I can’t give up live music, I just love it.

It must be satisfying how your music has been rediscovered the past couple of years, especially with something like the Cannot Buy My Soul compilation?
I feel so flaming humbled and proud to follow that whole people’s tradition of music. The 20th century was a complete flaming aberration, where corporations and publishers owned the music. For a thousand years before that you had cultures, communities, clans, even families that were custodians of the music. It evolved over time, in the oral tradition.

It’s great to hear someone like The Herd or Johnny Butler reinterpret it into a musical genre they operate in and change the words. And don’t forget – it was Paul Kelly’s idea. It had nothing to do with me. But it was amazing, within two weeks just about everyone he’d contacted wanted to be on it. He rang me up and said – œThere’s only 78 minutes on a CD, we’ve got all these people that want to be on it, what are we going to do?’ But I think it’s fantastic that the younger generation updated it and changed the words and then fifty years down the track someone will change it and update it again.

When you and Paul Kelly wrote From Little Things, Big Things Grow, did you have any inkling it would become such an iconic song or that it would still seem so relevant all these years later?
Absolutely not Daniel! It went WHAT and a half minutes, and only a few songs that long had ever gone commercial. But we really thought there was a story there. It’s the same combination all the way through and no chorus – well I guess it’s got that From Little Things chorus I suppose. We had no idea in the wide world [it would be a success].

Sometimes you’re your own worst judge. Look at Beethoven. He didn’t like Fur Elise. We just put down the basis of the damn thing in about four hours, no, less – probably about two hours. At first, only the community stations were playing it, and then the ABC, and it gradually got momentum.

Do you think that tradition of protest songs is alive and well in Australian music?
Crikey, yeah, but as you know, sometimes it doesn’t see the light of day. It comes out on a CD somewhere, but they’re just not going to put it on a commercial station. There again, you younger ones have so much more flaming opportunity than we ever had, because you’ve got the internet these days!

You can get it out there; you can bypass this whole consumer industry. I call it flaming year 3 music! Just entertainment music, consumer music, if you know what I mean. The vast majority of those lyrics, it really shows how the socialisation of the human intellect in Western society has progressed to the point of complete emphasis on the individual. All the lyrics are – œI’ and – œMe’; they’re not – œWe’ and – œUs’. It’s always – œwhat’s best for me in the relationship’?

So it’s very different from what you were taught?
Well, we were taught as blackfellas that it’s about what’s best for us in the relationship. It’s all keeping the socialisation of the human intellect on the individual level, because that’s when they can put insecurity into you, like you haven’t made your car repayment this week, or you haven’t got this or that. We’re taught to think as individuals, not as a community. It’s no good one fella having more food, if the rest of us are starving.

Kev Carmody plays Valley Fiesta in Brisbane this Saturday 24 October. For playing times, head to the Fiesta website.