Darren Hanlon has been a regular on the radio airwaves for quite some time. In fact, I’m having trouble trying to work out exactly how long – he seems to have been quietly humming away in the background for decades.
“I know, the years go by so quickly. I sound like a nanna!” Hanlon says. “In 2000 [Triple J] played ‘Falling Aeroplanes’, which started the whole roller coaster, and I’ve had a pseudo career ever since then, which I didn’t expect.”
So far, this ‘pseudo’ career has spanned four full length albums. However, since his record label Candle Records closed its doors, Hanlon has been forced to spend some time thinking about the machinations of the music industry.
“I’ve got friends on other bigger labels, so I hear about their trials and tribulations, but at this stage I can’t really afford to be losing that much money to record labels,” he says of his future plans. “I’ve been offered other things, but I think the next record, I really just want to do myself, and do a different kind of record and really strip it back.”
Although without major label backing, Hanlon is far from being left out in the cold. In his adopted hometown of Sydney, he’s happily ensconced in a close-knit musical family. When Hanlon feels like a chat, his first port of call is former housemate Sarah Blasco , who he says made him feel “like a complete loser” when they were living together, but not through any fault of her own. “Just because I’m just lying around watching Dr Who all day and she’s practising and doing stuff!” he laughs.
“It’s been great, for both of us, we talk a lot about the music industry. We whinge, and we feel like a couple of whingers,” he says. “But really, we’re just both in different fields. I don’t feel like I’m part of the industry as such, whereas she’s really caught up in the machine, so yeah she has been a good councillor.”
Also in the neighbourhood are songstress Holly Throsby , his drummer Bree Van Reyk and the lads from Youth Group . An impressive bunch to gather round for a weekend BBQ, the members of Hanlon’s peer-group have all paid their dues in the Australian music industry and now seem to be reaping the rewards. The group understandably spend a fair amount of time talking shop, but do things ever get awkward when it comes to comparing pay cheques? “It actually almost translates the same, which is weird,” Hanlon says. “It’s actually financially good to be independent.
“I’m probably the one in the group that is…well, it’s just me now,” he continues. “I don’t have a label or a manager or anything, and in some ways it’s liberating. Really honestly I can’t complain, I would recommend it to a lot of people. It’s the only way I live, seriously my reason for not being on a major label is I couldn’t afford to live, and independently you can.”
Hanlon is setting out across the country this month on the ‘Touching Elbows’ tour, promoting the latest single from his 2006 album Fingertips and Mountain Tops. “We’ve only really done one tour with the new album, but it kind of doesn’t feel new anymore,” he says. “It doesn’t take long, it’s crazy you spend so long writing the songs and recording. It’s kind of like preparing a meal, you spend hours in the kitchen and then you’ve eaten it in twenty minutes.”
The album has already produced one monster radio hit, ‘Happiness Is a Chemical’, and despite the convenient analogy, the song is proof that spending hours in the studio is hardly Hanlon’s style.
“I worked with Jessie [ Sandoval , drummer The Shins ], and when we did ‘Happiness’ I had the song in one go. It’s not the most complicated song.
“Then the other day I got a very weird email from him saying ‘I could have played better, can you send me the files so I can replay it?’. He explained to me that he’s never recorded a Shins song way that way, it’s the only time he’s actually gone into the studio and recorded a full song, in one hit literally.
“I was like, Dude, it’s too late it’s been flogged to death on the radio, had a video clip made and everything, just let go! I love it, I love what he played on it, a lot of my recordings I don’t give the musicians a long time to warm up, I think the best stuff comes out on the first or second take. Who wants to spend a year on the album like Fleetwood Mac ? I don’t, it’s boring.”
The songwriters creative output is anything but. In fact, it’s hard to imagine experiencing a mundane moment in the mind of Darren Hanlon. Whether he’s singing about a punk rock housemate who only takes her safety pins out at night, or a brush with celebrity, Hanlon has a talent for plucking an extraordinary story from the otherwise simply ordinary.
Make sure you catch Darren Hanlon around the country in June:
Wednesday June 6 – Brass Monkey (Cronulla)
Tickets from www.brassmonkey.com.au or call (02) 95443844
With Special Guests
Thursday June 7 – Gallipoli Legions Club (Newcastle)
Tickets from (02) 49612430
With Special Guests
Friday June 8 – Factory Theatre (Enmore)
Tickets from www.moshtix.com.au or call (02) 92094614
With Special Guests
Sunday June 10 – Livespark @ Powerhouse (Brisbane)
Tickets from www.brisbanepowerhouse.org or call Powertix (07) 3358 8600 or in person at the Powertix Box Office at the venue
With Special Guests
Wednesday June 13 – Ruby’s Lounge (Belgrave)
Tickets from over the bar, after 5pm Tue – Sun or call (03) 9754 7445 or through Moshtix link through www.rubyslounge.com.au/gigs
With Special Guests
Thursday June 14 – East Brunswick Club (East Brunswick)
Tiickets from www.eastbrunswickclub.com or call (03) 9388 9794
With Special Guests
Friday June 15 – Jade Monkey (Adelaide)
Tickets from (08) 8232 0950
With Special Guests
Saturday June 16 – Mojos (Fremantle)
Tickets from the venue or phone (08) 9430 4010 or at Galaxy Entertainment, Jumbo, Planet Music and Mills Records www.moshtix.com.au/Outlets.asp
With Special Guests
Sunday June 17 – Mojos (Fremantle)
Tickets from the venue or phone (08) 9430 4010 or at or at Galaxy Entertainment, Jumbo, Planet Music and Mills Records www.moshtix.com.au/Outlets.asp
With Special Guests
Friday June 22 – Heritage Hotel (Bulli)
Tickets from the venue or call (02) 4284 5884
With Special Guests
Saturday June 23 – Tilleys Divine Cafe (Canberra)
Tickets from www.canberraticketing.com.au or call (02) 62752700
Sunday June 24 – The Lane (Alice Springs)
Tickets from the venue or call (08) 8952 5522
Tuesday June 26 – Live at Peko Park (Tennant Creek)
With supports Tableland Drifters and Band Nomadic.
Thursday June 28 – Happy Yess (Darwin)
Tickets at the door.
With supports The Bionic Hearts
