With his most recent album called Jungle Blues, local bluesman C.W. Stoneking seems like the perfect headliner for this week’s Earth Hour concert at Melbourne Zoo. But before he joins the big cats and crocodiles, C.W. took a little time out to chat to Oz Music Scene.
You’re playing the Earth Hour concert at Melbourne Zoo this weekend. Why did you want to be a part of it?
To be honest with you I didn’t really know about it until they asked me to do it. In my isolation in the suburbs with my children, making music, I had no idea. I’d never even heard of it before.
How important are events like this in raising awareness of environmental issues?
I think it sounds pretty good. It’s good for people to get together and do something. People’s attention spans might run out I guess, which is why they only make them a day-long event, or an hour-long event in this case maybe. But it’s interesting.
What are some of the things you do in your own life to make the world a little greener?
I don’t know what I do. My garden isn’t very green. Everything I do there makes it more brown.
One of the really cool things about the event is that it’s all acoustic. What do you like about playing in that stripped back mode?
I sort of came up playing acoustic when I got my start. Some of the bands I’ve had, we even used to do shows with no microphones. But I like it pretty good. I like having electricity as well, because it helps you rock out some more. I’ve got a drummer now, so you need to get on top of all that noise that they make. But also acoustic is good as well.
Your sound draws heavily from the music of the 20s and the 30s. What’s so appealing to you about that classic musical era?
There’s a lot of things for me that are appealing about it. They had good style back then. You could see it in everything they did really. It’s in the music as well. You compare a good-looking building back then to something that they come up with now. There’s just bits and pieces that don’t need to be there, you know? I’m talking from a visual standpoint. People overdo things a bit now. They had some good ways to do it, so I try to follow in that vein a bit when I make my music as well.
Was it ever difficult to get a foot in the door because your music was so different to what’s on the radio?
No, not really. I wouldn’t say that because I guess when I was starting out I wasn’t really trying to get ahead of myself in terms of getting some sort of deal that was going to shoot me straight to the top. I was more interested in just developing my sound. And once I’d kind of done that and put out my last record, or the record before last, I guess I’d just spent my time well because people liked the record. And then it was easier for me because I was different I guess. I had a whole stretch of ground all to myself.
You played the Port Fairy Folk Festival this month and you’re doing the East Coast Blues and Roots festival in April. What do you enjoy about those festival shows?
You play to pretty big crowds. Usually a lot of people want to buy your record. But I guess one of the best things for me, as a person who usually never goes out unless I’m on tour, is that I get to see some other music. I guess that would be one of the best things for me. As far as doing shows goes, I generally prefer doing my own shows in an enclosed space. The festival energy is more … there’s a lot of things going on.
It must have been something special growing up in an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory. How did your upbringing make you the person you are today?
I guess I spent a lot of the time playing, instead of thinking about buying stuff or hanging around the shops. So maybe that was how it helped me. Except now I spend lots of time hanging around the shops. But I still get the chance to play a few when I’m writing songs, things like that.
And finally, do you have a message for your local fans?
I would like to say hello to them, and that I hope they’re enjoying my record. I hope to get a new one to them before too long.
C.W. Stoneking plays Melbourne Zoo for Earth Hour this Saturday, May 28. Tickets are still available from the venue.
Image source: Craig Bender @ Wikimedia Commons