WANDERING STAR| JED APPLETON INTERVIEW| WARP 02.08.17

HE’S BEEN CHASED BY A NAKED MAN ON A SWEDISH STREET, ALMOST KILLED BY A HORSE, FALLEN DOWN STAIRCASES, THOUGHT HE WAS IN DENMARK WHEN HE WAS IN SWEDEN, FINED ON THE EURAIL AND ROCKED UP TO THE WRONG AIRPORT ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION. SO FAR HOBART TROUBADOUR JED APPLETON’S CAREER HAS TRAVERSED A STAGGERING ARRAY OF CONTINENTS, HEARTBREAKS AND MISADVENTURES AND HE’S ONLY JUST GETTING STARTED.

Your music career started when you were super young, can you tell me a little bit about how growing up in small towns and playing in church bands progressed to such a prolific and conspicuously non religious solo career?

I think that playing in church for eight years de nitely in uenced me spiritually in the sense of making sure that everything I was singing was honest. Leaving the church was definitely a big change in my life. What was I gonna sing about now? And it lead obviously to travel and love and heartbreak and everything that comes with life. To me that seems like a different sort of religion.

Heartbreak as a religion?

Heartbreak is a big part of it. Fortunately and unfortunately being a travelling full time musician kind of already does the work for you. You don’t have to really search for the heartbreak or the love ‘cause you’re always out and about. You don’t go in to relationships knowing that you’re gonna write about it but you end up doing it anyway.

You’ve just released your single ‘Love you like I do’ and you have a massive gig coming up on the 5th of August at the Peacock Theatre, then a one off show in Melbourne. Are we gonna hear some sneak previews of more new songs?

Yeah it’s gonna be broken up into three parts. I wont give too much away about the first two sets but the third would be the rock’n’roll set we’ve been doing with the band with old and new songs but it’s a lot bigger and I get to run around and jump up and down and be a goof ball.

You toured Europe relatively young for a solo performer, did you notice an evolution in your song writing on your return from Europe?

On the first European tour I did I actually picked up a Bob Dylan album for the first time and that definitely changed me. I had a lot of time to listen on the road and I did a lot of shows, playing in 3-4 bands a night and trying to write as well. It was so satisfying. I definitely felt older coming back. I was 17 and I’d just turned 18 on the flight back. I got stuck at a couple of airports, nearly killed by a horse, fell down a staircase, etc etc. Crazy stuff happened. It was great.

So is there a pull to Europe or do you think you’ll always base yourself in Tassie?

I don’t think I will. I’ll definitely retire here but I feel like I’m gonna spend the next 5-10 years touring and getting to know the world and living in different parts of it. Maybe falling in love in a different country and stay there.

If you’re lucky enough...

If I’m lucky enough yeah!

You released your self titled album in 2016 and said at the time that’d you also created two concept albums. This alludes to a large body of work floating around in your head. Anything special about to be set forth into the world?

I started writing again just as I was recording the 2016 album and since then I’ve recorded and written so much material. An album’s such a big thing to release these days so I need to go step by step and make sure it’s right. I feel like at the end of this year I’ll start looking releasing an album next year. Hopefully if industry allows I’ll do a triple album cause I’ve got so much material I wanna get out.

How does the writing process unfold for you?

Lately songs come to me on a day I have spare and if I start writing one song I’ll make sure that I keep writing a bunch of new ideas cause I know I’m in writing mode so I get four or five ideas for songs with a verse and chorus leave it for a day then come back, put it in the computer. Then I’ll make another verse and play the song in my head, then I record demos on my laptop and maybe take it into the studio to do other demos. Sometimes I’ve been writing in the studio and sometimes just in my bed when I wake up with melodies in my head rather than playing guitar. And poetry too.

Do you often start a song with a poem and draw the melody around the prose?

Sometimes, probably a fifth of the songs I write begin as poetry and the other ones would be spontaneous. They come out in five or ten minutes- real quick. And some I’ll work on for a couple of days and if that’s not done then I just leave it because I don’t think it’s right.

What would you like to see more of in the music world?

I would love to see more brave honesty. When I listen to music, I wanna hear someone telling me something with a lot of passion. I don’t see a whole lot of passion in a lot of live music these days either ‘cause I feel like a lot of people are trying to be cool or trendy. And every time I’ve been onstage feeling cool or trendy I’ll look at myself later and think that’s ridonculous. Just be yourself y’know. That’s the most rewarding show you can ever do.

And what would you like to see less of in the music world?

Less pointless talk I guess. Less ramble about doofing in clubs. Essentially I’d like to see less bad songwriting. [laughs]

‘Love you like I do' is out now.

-Amanda Laver