“I’m back home in Rockhampton,” he reports – the adoration for his northern Queensland hometown readily apparent in the tone of his voice. “It’s perfect right now – you come here at the right time of year, and it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world.” After an extensive jaunt of touring – as is standard for the duo – Marou is taking a period of well-earned downtime to spend with his family. “I got two boys – they both love and support everything we do. Sometimes I’ll come to their school and I’ll play songs for the kids, and they just love it. My eldest son just became a teenager– he hasn’t shown any sign of wanting to be a musician yet, but once he figures out he can get girls with it, he’ll be knockin’ down my door for guitar lessons.”
The time off is also due, in part, to a shock health scare that affected Marou earlier this year and left him hospitalised. “I’m 34 years old and I had a heart attack – two of them,” he exclaims. “You wouldn’t believe it. I was playing a bit of touch football with my family when I started feeling a bit dizzy. Next thing you know, the doctor’s telling me that one of my arteries was pretty badly clogged up. Thankfully, I was fine – I got a stick put through my heart and now I’m back to normal. It was a bit of a wake-up call for me – I’m definitely not partying as hard as I used to now.”
Having toured extensively already in support of their third album, last February’s Postcards from the Shell House, Busby Marou are now one of several Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander bands and musicians to be featured on the new compilation entitled The Sound of Indigenous Australia: Now & Before. As its title suggests, the two-disc compilation brings together some of the biggest contemporary names for its first disc – A.B. Original, Thelma Plum, Birdz and Emily Wurramara; to name but a few. Meanwhile, the compilation is also purposed to acknowledge the trail-blazing of heritage acts such as Yothu Yindi, Archie Roach, Christine Anu and the Warumpi Band on the second. “Sometimes I feel like we miss out on some of the Indigenous stuff, which is a shame,” says Marou; whose song with Busby Marou, Best Part of Me, is on disc one.
“It’s not a snub or anything, it’s just that we’re always so busy. NAIDOC Week just happened, and we didn’t really get to do anything for it apart from me doing a couple of school visits. It’s an honour to be a part of this compilation. I’m a very proud Torres Strait Islander, and to have the Indigenous community of this country behind us. It’s very special to me.”
When queried about some contemporary Indigenous artists he is particularly fond of, two names immediately spring to mind for Marou – whom, as luck would have it, are also both featured on The Sounds of Indigenous Australia. They are Melbourne’s Dan Sultan and Darwin’s Jessica Mauboy – two considerably different artists, and yet both acts that Busby Marou have found themselves sharing stages with over the years.
“Dan was one of the earliest supporters of our music,” says Marou fondly. “It was a pretty incredible thing to see him win an ARIA award a few years back. I remember vividly – a reporter asked him how it felt as an Indigenous artist to win such a prestigious award; he shot straight back asking what the difference was between him winning it and a whitefella winning it.
“I also love Jessica Mauboy – I know I’m not the only one who is so proud of her for all that she’s achieved both for her and her people. I can’t believe we’re both playing the Gympie Muster together later this year.”
