Jordie Lane is coming to town, this Friday as a matter of fact. Having spent most of his musical life riding solo, he’s taken his career to the next level with GLASSELLLAND, the latest (and possibly greatest) LP from the folk sensation.
Enriching the record with the production wisdom of Clare Reynolds and bringing in Melbourne musos The Sleepers, Lane’s upcoming tour will be a newer, more enriched experience than ever before. To get into all the juicy details, we recently caught up with the man himself.
Now that he’s back from recording in a series of tear-me-down studios in the US, we chat to Jordie Lane about his most ambitious album yet.
HAPPY: Hey mate, how are you? Eager to start touring in Aus?
JORDIE: Very well thanks. But it was still unusually hot in Tennessee when we left, and then bitter cold Spring in Melbourne, what’s going on with that? Can’t wait to hit the road this week. That’s where I feel most at ease, on the road (well, in the air) and on stage.
HAPPY: Can you tell us a little bit about your American travels? It seemed very touch-and-go.
JORDIE: It was, fraught with danger: “dangerous waters”, “a parlous journey on stormy seas”, “a perilous voyage across the pacific in a small boat”,“the precarious life of an undersea diver”, “dangerous surgery followed by a touch-and-go recovery”.
HAPPY: What was the best and worst parts of working in your tear down studios?
JORDIE: The best parts were the imagination we had to employ, the blind naivety and the adventurous nature of it all. It was like we were little kids building a castle. The worst parts were that we had to pull them apart just when we’d got comfortable with them. So it was bittersweet.
HAPPY: And what did Clare bring to the table this time around?
JORDIE: I’d never had a producer who knew me so well. She had the insight to draw the stuff out of me that was hidden deep, and she knew my abilities, my limits, and how to turn my fears to strengths.
As a co-writer, she is so experienced working with big time pop artists and producers in America like Timbaland that she has the wisdom and knowledge on how to make a song and recording work. It was an experience that helped pushed us both to stop at nothing to make the best thing we could make.
HAPPY: Did the American landscape and way of life contribute to the album in any way?
JORDIE: Yes, immensely. There are so many references presented obviously in the lyrics, but also more subliminally within the sounds and choice of organic instruments versus manufactured ones. Many of the songs come from a facetious standpoint, that was the only way to deal with a lot of crazy things going on.
One song, America, Won’t You Make My Dreams Come True? includes American colloquial language and lots of current pop culture, to the dangers of the political and legislative climate there. If you listen to it, you’ll find them all hidden in there.
HAPPY: The songwriting on GLASELLLAND is next level – what was the main factor that brought this authenticity?
JORDIE: Well, thank you for thinking so. I think it’s important that artists strive for every future work to be the next level compared to the last. And as long as the artist is willing to take risks and explore, then they will achieve that, personally at least.
We spent as much time as we needed to explore the themes, the sounds, the concept and the performances on the record. Because we controlled the environment and had no restrictions using someone else’s space or time, we didn’t feel pressured. And again, doing this all in a bubble, just myself and Clare, made it intimate and comfortable to be righteous and fearless.
HAPPY: The Frederick Steele McNeil Ferguson clip is super engaging. Where did that concept come from?
JORDIE: I was on one of my trips back to Australia late last year after doing that Beatles tribute, and was drinking port with my Dad, and we got to talking about my great Grandfather Fergie. I said, “Was that truly his real full name?”
And he told me all about his hardships as a teenager in WWI in the trenches. It just blew me away how far my reality is now to what his was. So it’s a song to remind ones self that whatever you’re going through, it could be worse!
HAPPY: What made you add The Sleepers to your shows?
JORDIE: The Sleepers started as the alter egos of myself and Clare in the studio. We wanted to create different characters that brought their own flavour to each instrument. For the live tour, we didn’t want to present it with just hitting a bunch of backing tracks and samplers, thats not our style. So we’ve put together a killer group of musicians from Melbourne to become the real life ‘Sleepers’.
HAPPY: After the tour’s over, what’s next on the cards?
JORDIE: We are gonna get straight back to building more cubby house castles, and start making another record.
Everything you need to know about the GLASSELLLAND tour is right here, but grab yourself a look at the full tour dates below if you’re wondering whether or not you can catch this act in your hometown.
Fri 28 Oct – MELBOURNE – The Corner Hotel, VIC
Sat 29 Oct – HOBART – Republic Bar, TAS
Tue 1 Nov – FREMANTLE FESTIVAL – St Johns Anglican Church, WA (Duo)
Wed 2 Nov – FREMANTLE – Mojos, WA
Thu 3 Nov – ADELAIDE – Jive Bar, SA
Sat 5 Nov – BALLARAT – Suttons House Of Music, VIC
Thu 10 Nov – SYDNEY – Newtown Social Club, NSW
Fri 11 Nov – WOLLONGONG – Heritage Hotel, NSW
Sat 12 Nov – CANBERRA – Street Theatre, ACT (Duo)
Thu 17 Nov – BRISBANE – Woolly Mammoth, QLD
Fri 18-20 Nov – MULLUMBIMBY, Mullum Music Fest, NSW
Thu 24 Nov – KYNETON – Major Tom͛s, VIC (Duo)
Fri 25-27 Nov – QUEENSCLIFF – Queenscliff Music Festival, VIC
