SOUNDTRACK OF MYLIFE
Henry Krip is frontman and multiinstrumentalist with rising Australian ‘‘gangsta-country’’ band Wagons.
ANYONE WHO’S in a band will know the soaring feeling in the midst of a loud rehearsal, in a dingy practice room, when everything seems to be going right.
After a couple of well-chosen beers, the smell of your damp surroundings seems to disappear, and you and your band can delve into musical bliss. You wish your album could be recorded then and there, here and now. Someone press record.
Forget the pristine studios, the world-class engineers and the obtrusive cogs of the industry . . . this is all about the performance. Capture the moment.
That is what Bob Dylan and The Band: The Basement Tapes (1975) successfully achieves. It was recorded, not surprisingly, in a basement, straight to tape, often with minimal microphones, but somehow I think it’s one of the most charming-sounding albums, that perfectly represents this great meeting of minds.
Million Dollar Bash is my fun highlight and was a great influence on Beer Barrel Bar on our latest album Acid Rain and Sugar Cane.
Another huge favourite is Harry Nilsson: Nilsson Schmilsson (1971). To me, this sounds like a lost Beatles album. Not only that, but a Beatles album when they were creatively flying, mid-career.
From the opening track, Gotta Get Up, the album takes you on a melodic journey like no other. Even the dynamic and engagingly varied production is very George Martin-esque.
This was the perfect album to listen to on repeat, gearing me up to write a Wagons album that takes the listener on an aural journey through the most glorious peaks, then sinks down into dark and twisted troughs, rather than just randomly throw out a bunch of love songs at the dartboard.
The track Jump Into the Fire, with its epic bass riff intro, is the opening music to every single Wagons show on this tour. This is an album which requires every music lover to sit deep in a comfy chair – with or without dog on lap – pop on the headphones and immerse themself in. A lifechanging 35 minutes.