Four of Australia's finest musicians walk on stage at Melbourne Recital Centre with no plan, no setlist, and no idea where the night will take them.
An improv show is more akin to a tightrope walk than it is to your typical concert.
Sure, the artists are professionals. They’ve built long careers and have performed their act countless times before. But nonetheless, once they get up there, anything can happen, so the thrill of watching it all come together is like nothing else.
And in such a curious field, you’d be hard-pressed to find a group more curious than The Others. An unlikely pairing of four of Australia’s most impressive musicians – pianist and composer Paul Grabowsky, world-renowned yidaki player William Barton, Spiderbait drummer Kram and jazz multi-instrumentalist James Morrison – the group has steadily gained a cult following through a handful of rare but spellbinding performances. On 28 May, they’re taking to the Melbourne Recital Centre stage, giving fans another chance to witness the magic.
The Others
- 28 May
- Melbourne Recital Centre
- Tickets here
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“One of the rules in this band is we never discuss what we’re going to do,” says Grabowsky. “People are fascinated by it, but by the end of the night, they’re very, very excited by it. I think the nature of the music means that we take people on a journey, because we’re going on that journey ourselves, so everybody’s coming along for the ride.”
He says the group never rehearses together (partially due their extremely busy individual schedules) except for at sound checks, where they test out the myriad of instruments featured in the show.
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“I play piano, of course, but I also play a couple of different synths and melodica. James plays all sorts of instruments, from a conch shell to the trumpet. But he also plays saxophone very well, and the trombone.
“Will sings too. I mean, he’s the greatest didge player in the country, but he also has a beautiful singing voice, so that’s become an important part of what we do. And Kram is one of the preeminent rock and roll drummers in the country. So we make sure that when we go on stage, we’re ready for that from a sonic point of view – ready to roll.”
“I’m kind of like the rock star of the group,” laughs Kram. “The other guys are all legitimate jazz and classical musicians. But I’ve had a lot to do with them over the years, and it is a very special ensemble – one of the most incredible things I’ve ever done.”
After being brought together by a few chance encounters in the Australian music industry, Morrison, Kram and Grabowsky first got together at Morrison’s studio in Sydney’s northern beaches in 2012. From there, each show solidified the feeling that they were onto something special. Barton has been a more recent addition to the group, but one that immediately felt right.
“Something about playing with Will is like playing with 40,000 years of history. He brings the land and the energy of his culture into everything that he does. It’s just so powerful to be sitting in the drum kit next to him. And he has these beautiful rings on his finger – when he’s tapping on his didge, he can really tap into that rhythm,” says Kram.
“It has a transcendental quality to me,” he continues.
“I remember one show we did – we did three nights in UKARIA last year, which is a fantastic gig in South Australia in the concert hall there. And the third night, I wept. I literally started to weep on the drum kit because of the emotion that was being created from what Will was doing and then how Paul and James all fitted in together.”
But despite crafting such incredibly moving moments, the band is committed to keeping it live. No real songs have come out of their sessions. Instead, if they find a particularly exciting riff or rhythm, they’ll explore it deeper on stage, letting it run its course.
“I mean, so many of the moments in a performance are so kind of suggestive of a composition,” says Grabowsky. “It’s like landing on a planet which is a particularly beautiful planet; a strange planet, but it has a strange beauty. You want to spend some time there. But we allow for those things to happen. If we find something that’s clearly really working, then we’ll sit on it for a while.”
I ask him how it feels with all eyes on them and no idea what’s going to happen next. Is there any fear?
“I think we’re all a bit too old for stage fright,” he laughs. “The thing’s got its own kind of internal logic and it’s never not worked out for us. I’ve got to say, it’s always been surprising for us in a really happy way. And the feeling among the band is that we always can’t wait until we do it again.”
For more information on The Others at Melbourne Recital Centre on 28 May, head here.
This article has been made in partnership with Melbourne Recital Centre.
