It rapidly becomes clear Fanning would rather have a yarn about Gough than himself. “You’re probably getting the impression that I’m not that interested in talking about myself,” he admits. “The less you say, the more interesting it becomes, rather than blabbing on about the reverb on a snare or whatever.”
Understood, but certain questions still have to be asked. We’re curious about his response to Powderfinger fandom. The outfit used to inspire an almost Beatles-like hysteria from their fans. “I appreciate that people liked our music, but that kind of thing doesn’t really interest me because I just don’t have those sorts of feelings about other bands, so I don’t identify.”
Fanning has some pretty strong views about the use and misuse of celebrity: constant tweeting and posting by certain celebs makes him gag. “I don’t believe it’s appropriate,” he explains. “It just contributes to the shallowness. If we get artists and put them on pedestals, it feeds the cycle of meaninglessness.”
Fanning’s experienced a whole bunch of things that fall in the category of putting shit into perspective – before the release of Tea and Sympathy he broke up with his partner of 12 years and his brother passed away. With Departures,his father died. Fanning’s been quite candid about those events fuelling his solo albums.
Given he’s writing again, what’s firing the process this time around? “Just life,” he laughs. “With the last record, I set the parameters intentionally and wanted to try to develop my style in a different way. This time around, it’s just me and my guitar in my room, without any restrictions in terms of what’s going on. I’m quite a way off recording just yet, but it’s been a real pleasure – it’s the most fun I’ve had writing in a longtime.”
The recording’s also a way off because Fanning and his family will remain in Spain until June next year. “I’m recording demos here though,” he explains. “I’m just working away on it, similar to last time, although it sounds and feels very different. It was very much the idea with Departures not to approach it in the same way as Tea and Sympathy, but the production on Departures ended up taking it closer to Powderfinger in terms of sound than I had intended. That was basically because I’m a terrible engineer. It sounded very DIY and indie, for want of a better word to start off with, but then I worked with people who made it sound a bit too good, but you learn stuff every time.”
Just as Fanning would rather discuss something other than himself, he’d also prefer to hang out with folk who don’t talk about music incessantly. “It’s not that common to find people in the industry who don’t,” he snorts. “I don’t seek out people in the music industry though. Of course, after 25 years I have accumulated friends who are musos, that’s only natural. Some people have that obsessive gene where everything they do and say relates to music. I was probably a bit like that when I was younger, because of circumstances, but it becomes boring – you’ve got to have other interests. I think most people have that mentality when it comes to work – you need stuff outside. A lot of people think that being in a band isn’t work, but it is for me.”
BY MEG CRAWFORD
