|
|
 |
John Butler Trio
 If the adage 'what you give is what you get' holds true, John Butler is one man who most certainly epitomises this. Progressing from busking the streets of Fremantle to become one of Australia's most prominent independent artists, his intensity and passion combined with an altruistic nature has assured his place as one of Australia's most respected and well loved artists. It is refreshing to speak with someone who can back up the hype, yet not be consumed by it.
Speaking to Butler, it is a little difficult not to be enveloped by his insatiable love for life, music and all things good - you really do feel the love.
"I don't know if you've ever been on a dance floor at a really, really funky party, and you look across at your friends and they're just smiling and dancing their asses off and you're like 'This is so coooool! This is so much fun!' I have these moments quite a lot playing my guitar and looking at the crowd and it's like 'This is so cool'. I'm blessed for that." You can almost see him dancing down the phone line as he laughs at the thought of such frivolity.
And indeed he is a man with many a reason to smile. Following the release of their highly acclaimed third studio album, 'Grand National', The John Butler Trio will soon be returning from touring the USA and Japan to embark upon their eagerly anticipated Australian tour, before heading off to Europe.
"You can record a good album and say lots of nice things about yourself in the press, but you have to back it up with a good live show. Everybody has to come out and put their heart and soul into it. For me, a great show is when the audience realise they're just as much a part of the gig as the band. When they give as much blood, sweat and tears as the band does and when we're all together making a good gig happen. As I get more enthusiastic and freer, so do they, that's pretty cool."
'Grand National' was recorded in Melbourne with Butler enlisting the services of Mario Caldato Jnr, the man responsible for producing G-Love, Beck and the Beastie Boys. The new album is distinctly mellower than previous releases, a factor Butler attributes to Caldato. "We had our songs, we had our grooves, but Mario C brought that relaxed environment that was conducive to being creative. Little approaches, like 'why don't you sing that a bit softer', 'try this' or 'try that'. His knowledge of rhythm and groove was nice to have around because the album was so groove based. He didn't suggest any particular grooves; he just really set the vibe for them."
Butler is incredibly appreciative of the talent and ardor of the people he works with, and is quick to give credit to Shannon Birchall (upright bass) and Michael Barker (drums and percussion) for the value of their input into the album. Butler also relishes the diverse musical talents of his extended family. "Being able to play music with my family really enriches my life." He features wife Danielle along with numerous other family members to provide various vocal and instrumental contributions.
A phenomenal third studio album and sold out Australian tour aside, it is family that Butler holds closest to his heart. He is positively jubilant as he describes the thrill of family life. "My boy's third word was 'gitar, gitar'," Butlers enthuses of youngest child Jahli, now ten months old. "He walks up to the guitar and just wants to play it. It's wicked, we were pretty stoked." He is equally enthralled with daughter Banjo, now four. "She really likes music; she sings a lot and plays the ukulele. She definitely has an opinion about things... she's like her papa I guess. She's like, 'I love this, but I don't like that'."
It was family time that inspired the cover art for 'Grand National'. "I was painting and doing crafts with my little girl. I was putting paint on one side of the paper and folding it over and I was like, 'this is pretty cool!' and she was like, 'yeah, this is cool!'"
Considering the scope of Butler's passions, the artwork is not surprisingly far more profound than simply an ornamental piece with which to decorate the exterior of the album sheath. Initially, Butler simply wanted to manipulate the paint to include the trio's faces.
"I was like, let's try to put our faces in there. We tried to do it with paint and it made me look like an alien. So we superimposed the images in there. Once we started realising how we could manipulate the art, then we started doing all kinds of stuff. There's so much hidden stuff in that cover it's not funny." He laughs and continues to list the cavalcade of elusively disguised objects. "If you really look at it long enough there's maps of Iraq, embryos, a woman hugging a bomb, there's a bit of Arabic in there, salaam, which means peace, love symbols everywhere, there's people holding rifles, oil rigs, jet fighters. There's all kinds of stuff going on!"
Despite growing accolades and solid album sales, Butler remains an independent artist. Co-owner of Jarrah records, along with The Waifs, Butler maintains that being an independent artist was more of an eventuation than a conscious decision.
"We weren't hell bent on being independent; it's just that no record company wanted anything to do with us until we sold 30,000 albums. The minute we sold the albums we got big record companies calling us up, but by then it was too late because it was pretty obvious what they were interested in, and it definitely wasn't our music. I don't know if it gives me any more freedom [to be independent] but it definitely gives me a lot of pride to know that I made what I made with my own two hands and with my team of people."
On a final note, I postulated what one would write about Butler himself? "Oh man! I don't know."
He muses, and laughs almost uncomfortably at the thought, before unconvincingly offering, "Umm, I don't know, maybe that I'm good looking?" before bursting into laughter and surreptitiously changing the subject.
"I've had people write nice songs about me and my wife has written some really sad songs about me being away on the road. But it's all good now because they travel with me." So we have to share him, that's okay.
Suzi Gunn
The John Butler Trio play sold out shows on Sat 25 and Sun 26 August at Thebarton Theatre.
|
|
The latest issue
available now!
|
