By Stuart Coupe.
It was during a 14 hour drive home from Mildura VIC after playing a 10 day music festival, that Golden Guitar nominated singer/songwriter and producer Angus Gill had an epiphany, while listening to Paul Kelly’s Life is Fine record. “What if, I recorded an album with Paul Kelly’s band.” Gill had been introduced to PK and his band a year prior, by mutual friend and US music legend Steve Earle. Gill reached out to Dan Kelly (guitar), Peter ‘Lucky’ Luscombe (drums), Cameron Bruce (keys), Bill McDonald (bass) and Ashley Naylor (guitar) and booked a studio in Melbourne for two days in December 2018. Angus Gill & Seasons of Change was born and a new record 3 Minute Movies was made, which is out today via Rivershack Records/MGM.
“Making 3 Minute Movies was different to anything I’ve done or produced before. We tracked in an analog studio. No click tracks or studio trickery was used in the making of this record and we did minimal overdubs and comping. We ran the songs a few times and picked the best whole take. It was a very raw, organic and authentic process, much like how a record would have been made in a pre-digital era. The best part of it for me, was seeing the ‘discovery’ of the songs when we played them through for the first time. Hanging out with the band, I learnt a lot about who they were influenced by and it opened my eyes to a vast range of sonic possibilities we could explore. There’s elements of Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Doors and The Beatles on this record. It was an absolute treat to have the opportunity to work with this group of legendary Australian rock musicians.”
The 11 track album begins and ends in the Farfisa powered title track 3 Minute Movie, which serves as a skeleton for the record. “I’m a very visual songwriter, I’m always searching for those seemingly small details, the ones you see out of the corner of your eye, which in fact paint a much bigger picture. I realised that a majority of the material we tracked for this album were character and narrative driven songs, with a beginning, middle and an end...essentially 3 Minute Movies.”
On The New Old Me, a stellar duet with Steve Earle, the hardcore troubadour admits “I’ve had a flair for screwing up, as most of you’d agree/Welcome to the new old me.” To which Gill credits Earle, “you told me to toughen up and buddy that’s just what I did.”
The ‘Bonnie & Clyde anomaly’ Daylight Robbery is a collaboration with Australian rock legend Mark Lizotte (Diesel), who provides acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals, mandolin and other stringed flourishes on the track. Gill recalls “I can still remember my Mother’s face/When I took that shaver to my saving grace” in the bildungsroman Coming of Age, written with A-list songwriter Bob DiPiero. The bagpipes make a prominent return to rock music in Skin Story and a horn section adds to the sonic palette of the ‘side-street labyrinth’ Acquainted With The Night, which grapples with mortality. The anthemic Hey Underdog, co-written with Hall of Fame Songwriter Jeffrey Steele, Grammy winning Vicky McGehee and Providence David, features the Beatles inspired ‘guitar into a Leslie speaker’ sound.
Produced by Angus Gill. Mixed by Angus Gill. Engineered by Lucas James at Hot Bias Studios. Additional Engineering by Angus Gill, Mark Lizotte and Ray Kennedy. Mastered by Jeff McCormack at The Music Cellar. Steve Earle appears courtesy of New West Records, LLC. Angus Gill & Seasons of Change are: Peter ‘Lucky’ Luscombe - Drums Bill McDonald - Bass Ashley Naylor - Electric and 12 String Guitars Dan Kelly - Electric Guitar Cameron Bruce - Hammond B3, Piano, Farfisa and Fender Rhodes. Angus Gill - Acoustic and Baritone Guitars and Background Vocals. Additional Overdubs: Susie Ahern - Background Vocals (Tracks 1, 2, 4, 6) Lorne McDougall - Bagpipes (Track 6) Max Abrams - Saxophones (Track 8) Jaron Mossman - Percussion (Tracks 3, 4) Mark Lizotte - Background Vocals, Bass, Mandolin, Percussion, Acoustic and Electric Guitars (Track 7)
Website: angusgill.com.au
Comments