Waiting For Guiness - makingfriends in all the rightplaces

Thu 15th Mar, 2007 in Features

Friend or Foe? This is a question that we may ask many times throughout our travels on this planet we call Earth. But Friend or Foe is also the title of the latest mix of music from the conglomerate known as Waiting For Guinness.This release is filled with joy and inspired playing from this six piece unit. They fill the grooves with Gypsy flair and mariachi spice and this release captures Waiting For Guinness in perfect shape and fighting fit.

Of course with a band of talented and creative gents, the musical influences are varied and lush. Dirk Kruithof (guitars and banjo) and David Stephenson (trumpet, trombones, and vocals) are two of the founding members of this collective. Dirk was able to catch up with me via 21st century technology and tell me a bit more about the band.

“I suppose I think of Waiting for Guinness as an Alternative or Independent band in a way. Except that we play music other than garage-rock. Terms like ‘alternative’ don’t mean so much anymore anyway, alternative becomes mainstream then something else is the alternative. Is Green Day alternative? That’s probably where you’d find them listed in HMV. Regarding our origins, Waiting For Guinness was originally a loose busking combo, with different combinations of musos depending on who was available that particular night. There are people from Jazz, Mariachi and Rock backgrounds in the group. I get inspired when someone brings in musical influences I know nothing about. People often comment on how we have ’ Many Influences’ but it seems as natural as breathing to me. When you have a band with 6 people in it everyones going to bring in their own ingredients”, said Dirk.

And the influences work most of the time on this release, these Sydney men, have brought you a cultural melting pot of music. Other members of this talented group at the moment are: Marko Simec on accordion and percussion and vocals; Alex Crouch on guitar and percussion; Trevor Brown on saxes and flute and Tim Bradley on drums and percussion. Looking over the brief biographic blurbs on their website (www.waitingforguiness.com) you can see that many of these guys have either serious musical education backgrounds or interests in other areas of the art world. Artists unite, so I wondered what is a Waiting For Guinness gig like?

“Live gigs are very dependent on the energy generated not just by us, but by the audience. The audience fuels us. Drinking and dancing are certainly encouraged—depraved behaviour is welcome. Live gigs are unpredictable. Hopefully they are an enjoyable experience where reality and illusion become blurred. Infotainment? You’ll have to come along and decide for yourself,” Dirk stated.

And I am unsure of the myth making around the name of the band. The website tells me one thing and Dirk has spun another tale about the origin. “It’s the name of a Romanian/Irish gypsy violinist we met once whilst busking in Turkey. He was the best musician I have ever heard. I saw him reduce people to tears with just 3 notes from his violin. Goran Guinness was his name, he went to the bottle shop with the money we made on the street and never returned…. We’re still waiting”, said Dirk.

And this week, Friday the 16th of March this rabble of artists will launch Friend or Foe at The Factory in Enmore (http://www.factorytheatre.com.au/). They will joined by a number of support acts on the evening, so this should be an event worthwhile to attend on many fronts.

If you like music in the style of Calexico or Monsieur Camembert, then Waiting For Guinness should be the drink for you! See you there! With Guinness on stage and a Guinness in hand what better way to celebrate the eve of St. Patrick’s Day!