Playing the Friday Nights series at the NGV in support of the new Van Gogh exhibition, Liddiard believes that Vincent was an artist before his time. “Five years before Van Gogh’s entry onto the scene, if you had stood on a mountain with a megaphone and described who was coming along and what he or she was going to do, they’d just go, ‘That sounds fucking shit. It sounds like a person who can’t even paint.’
“But in retrospect that’s what the world needed, we needed that. He was a complete rebel and he wasn’t copying Van Gogh like everybody else is now, he wasn’t copying anybody and that’s the first thing they don’t teach you in school, which I find mind-blowing. You want to be like Van Gogh? Don’t be like Van Gogh, that’s the end of that lesson there.”
In addition to his songwriting and work with The Drones, Liddiard is also a keen artist, which relates back to his early childhood and his artistic influences. “My mother used to have lots of Van Gogh prints on the walls, they were his pencil sketches of peasants and people living off potatoes and I used to stare at them. That gave me a good grounding, I’ve always been into the weirder side of art though and influenced by guys like Henry Darger, Igor Stravinsky and more outsider artists, so I’ve always been into the visual stuff. For me, all art is the same, whether it’s visual, poetry, lyrics, or songs.”
A couple of weeks ago, Liddiard became part of legend as the last person to play at Sydney’s Newtown Social Club, before it closed forever. Despite no real sentimental attachment to the venue – having only played there a couple of times 15 years ago – he was sad to see it go. “I played there back when it was the Sandringham Hotel, and the sad thing about it is it’s a great venue that’s really well set up.
“It’s shutting because no one would go to the bar downstairs after or before a gig, because people in Sydney have been trained to not go out to bars. Their plan was to have music upstairs and then people would drink in the bar below, but no one does that. It wasn’t like when the Tote closed and there were thousands of people in the street protesting. There were plenty of people upset about its closure, but no one really did anything about it. It’s pathetic.”
Having released Feelin’ Kinda Free last year, Liddiard is excited about his next musical project. Pressing for details about what we can expect to hear, Liddiard reveals that he is well versed in the music of ‘80s yacht rock icons Hall and Oates. “My dad was a big fan of those guys and so I knew them before it was cool to. I think my favourite track is Maneater, the lyrics to that are fucking terrifying.
“It’s about a woman who might be a purple jaguar, who goes around eating guys. I like the notion of people interpreting songs in their own way. Even if you explain it in fine detail, they’ll still interpret in a way you didn’t see coming. That’s really cool.”
At the upcoming NGV show, Liddiard will be playing his most loved 1975 Martin D-28 acoustic guitar. Having picked up the guitar in Silicon Valley in a guitar shop for millionaires, it’s the rich sound and ultimate feeling each time Liddiard plays it, that makes it one of his most prized possessions.
“When I was in the shop I also got the chance to play Neil Young’s D-28 which he bought off Hank Williams Jnr. It’s got a beautiful sound and I think it’ll shine in the NGV space because the acoustics are along the lines of a cathedral. I can’t wait.”
By Tex Miller
