Ten bands everyone should know about:
Arthur Russell, John Fox, Max Ryan and Where Where Were You At Lunch, Black Alan Barker, Tinawaran, Gen Finnane, Mining Boom, Sunset Blush, Manuel Gottsching, Bronze Horse.
Nine food items that you need to make a kickarse dinner party:
Mission Chilli and Lime Corn Chips, Cornettos, expensive cheddar, Tabasco, chilli mussels, three types of alcohol, sticky date pudding, the option of coke, potato salad.
Eight possessions that define you:
My sandwich press, my terrarium, a pair of joggers, my 1989 Honda Civic hatchback, a scarf my mum knitted for me, a nice golden-lined hippy vest from 1973 that I nicked from my dad’s wardrobe, an early ’90s vomit coloured Velcro Billabong wallet, my copy of Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham.
Seven favourite movies/TV shows that go on your mix-tape:
Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Rosemary’s Baby, all of James Bond, Twin Peaks, The 7.30 Report, Fitzcarraldo.
Six bad habits you can’t escape:
Biting my nails, talking in my sleep, running late, I have somehow lost the ability to say the word ‘statistically’ of late, wrapping leads up badly, soda water.
Five people who inspire you:
My nanna who is 95, Charles Darwin, Julia Gillard, Jackson C. Frank, Les Hiddens.
Four things that turn you on:
My girlfiend, a good dream, deja-vu, After I’ve Made Love To You by bonnie prince billy.
Three goals for your music:
Not much apart for it to turn out well, have the chance to play it in front of people and maybe have something get on the soundtrack for Man Vs Wild.
Two live gigs you’ll never forget and why:
Bonnie Prince Billy at the Annandale in about 2005. I was pretty obsessed with him as a younger man. I thought he was the strangest guy with the most interesting songs. I remember he played After I’ve Made Love To You. I still can’t believe that this song hasn’t been covered by boys to men or some more recent equivalent. It would translate well.
Leonard Cohen on the last tour. A lifetime of the most beautiful work compressed down to a couple of hours. The greatest body of work that I know of bought to life in music. Made the tennis stadium feel like the empress.
One day left before the apocalypse and you…:
… would not do anything extreme. I’d rather enjoy one more day of ordinariness. I’d indulge no more than getting a pack of cigarettes (I don’t usually smoke) and a bottle of wine and sitting in the park somewhere. What kind of apocalypse is it? This would be appropriate for some kind of ‘comet destroys earth’ apocalypse, you could watch it all roll in from the park bench, but less appropriate for any kind of zombie related apocalypse, for example.
