Dan Warner Interview 13th July '05.
Dan Warner has released
the critically acclaimed album 'A Likeness of You' (Croxton Records)
his first solo album which continues on from his work in bands such as the
ill -fatedly named 'The Warner Brothers' to 'Overnight Jones' and his duo's
'Dan & Al' and 'Dan & Kev'.
Dan came in to the the studio at Southern FM and played some songs live
for us and we had a good chat, which follows...
Dan kicked off by playing 'Purple Flowers'
David: Thanks for that Dan it sounded great. The new album 'A Likeness
of You'... the first solo album for you?
Dan: It is my first solo album, it's my seventh album funnily enough, but
it's my first solo album because I've played in various different bands
and duos over the years. One of the duos I played in was 'Dan and Al' who
you were playing when I walked up the stairs, which was nice, a nice
welcome to Southern FM , but finally my first solo record.
David: Has this been something you always wanted to do, or is it just something
that happened as things evolved?
Dan: It's a bit of both really, I've always wanted to do it but I guess
when you are in a band as a young person you think 'this bands going to go
forever', you know, everything feels like it's forever when you are young.
I was in a band called 'The Warner Brothers' when I was younger, and we always
thought that was going to be our thing forever, but that's obviously not the
case. I was also in a duo with this guy Al for many years, we played for
10 years at the Punters Club in Fitzroy on a Sunday, which is almost forever.
David: Did they give you Long Service Leave at the end of that?
Dan: They should've, it doesn't work that way with musicians unfortunately,
but we also did a lot of Gigs at the Corner Hotel in Richmond, but in the
end I moved overseas for a while with another guitar player called Kev,
lived in New York City for a couple of years, and then recently returned
to make my first solo record.So It's been a bit of an evolution.
David: Excellent. Your musical career has taken you in all sorts of different
directions. Being in New York must have been an interesting experience.
Dan: It was interesting because I was there pre 'September 11' and post
'September 11', so it was interesting to see the change in the city, but all
that aside it's a fantastic part of the world. Being a musician you dream
of ending up in places like New York City to ply your trade, and it was really
very exciting to be driving over the George Washington Bridge of a night saying
to myself 'Well Im playing a gig in there tonight' It was pretty
exciting.
David: How did you go down?
Dan: Pretty well ...yeah. I found Americans to be pretty similar to Australians.
We have prejudices I guess, but they love their music, they love particularly
the sort of mucic that I play, which is country based rock 'n roll music.
So I loved it over there and I think people are people wherever you go...
David: That's true. It's a long time since I was in New york, unfortunately
for me...and for New York as well...
Dianne: That's a matter of opinion...
Dan: A lot of people asked me about you actually...
David: I'm sure they did... New York struck me as being, out of the
cities that I've visited in the US, as being the most like Melbourne. People
say Boston is, but I haven't been there.
Dan: It is, it is, I think Boston looks like Melbourne because the river
snakes through the center of town and it looks a lot like the Yarra, you
have the rowers on the river and even in Boston they play cricket, so you've
got these strange vistas you see on the side of the river that look like
the Yarra , but I agree with you that New York City, particularly the village
and the east village and those parts of the city feel very much like Melbourne.
David: And you just feel at home don't you?
Dan: You do. and the people are really simi;lar, it's like a big inner
city Melbourne. The people are similar I agree.
David: So coming back to Australia and working on the songs for this
new album, did you set out specifically to write songs for this album? Or
is this material that you've accumulated over years and pulled out of the
bottom drawer?
Dan: Actually a lot of these songs I wrote when I was overseas. Because
I was playing with just one other guitar player and I ended up spending a
lot of time alone because he was working and doing other stuff as well, he
was an American guy, so it was actually the first opportunity I've had in
my life to sit around, he had a studio in his house, to sit around and spend
a lot of time writing, in one space, over a few months.
David: I suppose you need that isolation don't you?
Dan: It gave me that objectivity too, that I think isolation gives you...
David: It's a perspective thing...
Dan: I agree totally, and a lot of these songs I wrote overseas.
David: They are very evocative songs word wise, lyric wise. You paint some
lovely pictures with your lyrics and a lot of the songs seem to be around
memories of people and reminiscences...
Dan: You're dead right. There's a lot of memories. I was actually going
to, there is sort of a chronological order in the songs, I originally had
them arranged that way. It's almost like a portrait of one person's life,
so a lot of them are... about half the songs for me are definitely action
and half are memory, and it's definitely got that feeling to it that unifies
the songs I think. I'm glad that you've got that from the record, I think
that's fantastic.
David: No, I've really enjoyed the lyrics. It's a great album for listening
to in the car, as you are driving along if you are taken somewhere else
through the lyrics of a song I think thats a really positive thing.
Dan : Well I grew up listening to, I can see you've got Tom Waits on the
console there, I love Tom Waits and I love Dylan and Neil Young, and all
those storytellers. Like in Australia... Richard Clapton and Paul Kelly,
Mick Thomas, all those songwriters are great storytellers and I think,
for me, it's a huge part of the song to be able to paint that picture.
David: That storytelling thing, and you mentioned Mick Thomas, and of course
your album is out on Croxton Records which is Mick's label, he's such a
storyteller that a big part of going to see a Mick Thomas show is the stories
in between the songs .
Dan: Yeah he's a great raconteur isn't he, I agree and this record would
not have happened without him.
Dan played 'Over You' live to air which sounded beautiful.
David: Dan, your album has been particularly well received , and you've
had some great reviews. RRR's Jeff Jenkins called it 'the best Australian
album of the year' that's pretty high praise.
Dianne: What did you think when you read that Dan?
Dan: I was quite taken aback by that but it's funny, like you do put so
much work into these things, and believe me I've had bad reviews in the past,
so it's nice to get some good ones.
David: I suppose you never know really until it's out there, it's a gamble
every time isn't it?
Dan: Although, as I was saying before, you have the objectivity with the
subject matter, you lose the objectivity with the actual big picture of
the record, and until someone besides you hears it you've got no idea how
it's going to be received.
David: We talk to a lot of artists on the program and that's someting that
is a universal experience I think ..."When is it finished' for example,
and 'What are people going to think of it?'
I'm just going to quote you from your website...
" I had the perfect opportunity to make a very realxed record in my home
town,and call in all my friends and favourite players from Melbourne. Some
songs are lke a family reunion or something, everyone playing and singing
along."
That's just a great description of the whole experience of making the album...
Dan: That's one good thing about having played in Melbourne for almost
20 years , I've met some great people from really different areas of the
music scene, and as you know the scene in Melbourne is incredibly fertile.
Over the last couple of years for instance, I've been playing with a silent
film called 'The Sentimental Bloke'. The score was written by Jen Anderson
from 'Weddings Parties, Anything' and she brought in Dave Evans as a keyboard
player or squeezebox player from 'The Band Who Knew Too Much' and he's sort
of from the jazzy side of the scene in Melbourne. I never would have played
with those sorts of musicians but as I've been lucky enough to play with
musicians from all different types, or different areas, in Melbourne I've
tried to bring them all in on this record.
David: It broadens your palette doesn't it, fills out the music and you
can discover more things in the songs when different people come in and contribute.
Dan: It's quite humbling when they agree to come in too.
David: The producer Craig Pilkington?
Dan: Yeah, from 'The Killjoys' . I didn't know Craig at all before meeting
him for this project. That was another important thing. It was good to work
with someone I didn't know in that capacity, who didn't have to be nice
to me. So he could say nup, this isn't working, so he was another great
collaborater.
David: He produced Barb Waters album last year 'Rosa Duet' which was one
of last years best Australian albums to my mind.
Dan: Well I've got a track on that record so I'll have to agree with you.
David: So, with launching the CD , you've already had a launch in Melbourne,
have you been playing it around the country much at all?
Dan: I'm about to, talking about Mick Thomas, go on an Australian tour
with Mick. We're doing just a solo show, and Craig's going to play as well.
We're going to Adelaide first then Sydney and hopefully further afield,
then the triumphant return to Melbourne.
David: So hopefully with the triumphant return to Melbourne we'll see a
big show again?
Dan: Yeah I hope so
David: Youll gather in some of the people that were on the album and put
a big show together?
Dan: I think so...
David: You mentioned further afield, and you have your connections with
New York , any plans that way?
Dan: Yeah I think, I'm going to try to get a release for this record overseas,
I'm actually going with the film I've been working on... 'The Sentimental
Bloke' is going to Venice and London later in the year so that's a good
opportunity for me to go and try and sell my record to a label over there.
So hopefully I'll get that happening , and go on a tour early next year.
David: Despite being well received in Australia, ultimately it's a limited
market, so I'm sure you want to expose your music to the rest of the world,
or the rest of the world to your music.
Dan: And like you were saying before, I wish I'd realised when I was younger
that New Yorkers are like Melburnians 'cos I think I would have gone overseas
a lot earlier.
David: But then again you don't need to because you come back here to make
this album and you are able to draw on such a cohort of musicians, and Melbournes
the place to be for that I reckon.
Dan: It is the best city in the world for sure.
Dan played 'Pastures' to take us out....
