But who or what defines Weddings, Parties, Anything? Is it just Thomas himself as the sole original member; is it the songs themselves or is it something even less tangible than that? “There’s a whole lot of people that have been through that band,” Thomas says carefully considering the question. “It’s a really good question and not an easy one. There is a given line-up at a particular point in time but in saying that, that line-up can vary. When Pete Lawler left everyone assumed that was the finish ‘cause Pete was such a big part of the band but we kept going and got stronger if anything. Then there was a thought that by the end we’d become some sort of a Melbourne super-group. We had people from the Huxton Creepers, The Messengers and Jen Anderson had been in The Black Sorrows. It’s not just the line-up, I guess I’m trying to say, it’s the songs but it’s not just the songs, and that question is probably the heart of what we’re doing. What is The Weddings?”
Any mention of Thomas’s reputation and position as an esteem and accomplished songwriter is met with equal measures of gratitude and humour. Not taking it too seriously seems to be Thomas’ modus operandi. “It’s wise to do that if you can,” he says of remaining humble and grounded. “Really, I don’t think my reasons for writing a song in 2012 should be different from writing a song in 1993. You should write because you have something in your heart that needs to be said and stated. But in reality you spend 20 to 30 years of your life chasing some idea of what success is. Whether that’s making a living or those moments when you’re associated with large commercial entities like record labels and your actively chasing something and people call you a great this or that. At that point, you can kind of bank that.
“But really, beyond that, you can’t get too precious about it,” he says with humoured tone. “Being mentioned in the same breath as Paul Kelly is fine; certainly I’m happy it’s him and not some dickhead. I really like Paul, both professionally and artistically, but beyond that, it doesn’t mean much. It doesn’t put me anywhere; people don’t go into a record shop looking for a Paul Kelly album and if it’s not there decide to get a Mick Thomas record. It’s not that simple but if it was, all I’d have to do is go to the record shops and steal all of the Paul Kelly albums.”
While everyone involved in the creative economy – from artists to venues to PR and media – search for a reason for and a solution to the dwindling revenue that effects all involved, it seems foolish not to ask Thomas his opinion on the current creative recession. It has never been cheaper and easier to make an album and it seems it has never been harder to be paid for it. “That’s the paradox of the whole thing – there’s more records being made than ever before but so little money,” he explains. “It is to do with the digital age but it’s not all it is. Music’s just one of the things kids do now. If you grew up in the ‘60s, ‘70s, and even ‘80s and you were interested in the world out there, music was it. Music was the force but now there are so many other things. Gaming is huge, simply being on a computer could be your thing, and music has gone down in the scheme of things. Couple that with this whole idea that intellectual property is not worth anything and you have a tricky situation of trying to get paid…you start to realise that while you have a desire for your music to be heard there has to be a point where you put your foot down. I’m in a lucky enough position to be able to do that but up and comers can’t. This thing with Amanda Palmer and her crowdsourcing a backing band for beers and hugs is a weird one, what do you think?” he asks and we begin discussing the idea that it devalues performance and performers skills even further. “Yeah, I think she’s a total stinker,” he laughs. “I think it’s incredibly presumptuous of her but it stopped me in my tracks a bit. I just did this tour in Europe and I looked at it on paper I realised that to take one person with me meant things didn’t stack up at all. So I put together a package of a CD and a vinyl single packaged in a tea towel – it looked really good – and I sent people one each week and while it didn’t put the tour into profit it made it doable. I thought ‘well I do go to my punters with my hand out too’ but that’s going too far, surely?”
BY KRISSI WEISS
