[gtranslate]
Interviews

Face the shadowy reaper of death with Burden Man

Burden Man is an artist you can’t ignore. He treads a topic society on the whole tends to avoid – death.

It’s the only certainty in our lives, the shadowy reaper forever peering over your shoulder with a grimace on it’s face and one eye on it’s watch. Rather than ignore it, Burden Man opens death with open arms, spinning one tale after the other of it’s leadened, immortal presence.

burden man

Celebrate life by welcoming death with Burden Man, the songwriter eager to tread the poisoned ground the rest of the world turns their back to.

HAPPY: Hey man, how are you? What are you up to at the moment?

BURDEN MAN: Hey there. Not too bad considering we’re all going to die one day, thanks for asking. At this very moment I’m listening to a song called Satan by the band Bongripper as I sift through ideas for the cover artwork of my upcoming EP. Exciting times.

HAPPY: How’s the EP recording going?

BURDEN MAN: Much better than I expected it to, to be honest. But that’s only because I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve recorded before but this is the first time I have had a solid beginning and end in sight for a recording process. As it stands right now, the guitars are done and I have just completed two songs vocally. So, running very much on time!

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/254728750″ params=”color=000000&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

HAPPY: Are you happy with the way it’s shaping up?

BURDEN MAN: I really am. Musically and vocally it’s sounding much better than I imagined. My producer, Stevie Knight, has helped a lot in opening the songs up. Before I started this recording, I did some demos with a producer friend of mine, Hal Rees. He helped with a couple of the song structures and melodies while they were in their embryonic stages. I’ve had a really creative couple of people to help me out for this first EP and it’s turning out perfect.

HAPPY: You seem to only tackle morose subjects, especially death. Where does this focus come from?

BURDEN MAN: Correct. Well, it comes from death being a huge part of our lives. We’re never going to escape it and yet we try to avoid it every day. It’s everywhere. There was a time when I didn’t know how to cope with it and I still have my off days. So I focused a bunch of songs on my struggle with it to act as a mild therapy. My thinking was the more I sing about it, the more I can come to terms with it. It worked, sort of. I have a lot more to write about, but this intense focus on death needed to be taken off my chest so I could move on.

HAPPY: Have you always been more inspired by the darker side of humanity?

BURDEN MAN: I haven’t. It wasn’t until I was about 19 that my mind started to gravitate towards that side. In general, I started to question a lot of things and it sort of got more intense over time. I’m not saying I’m a ‘dark lord’ by any means, it’s just what I tend to think about a lot of the time and I find it so interesting to write about.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/251794581″ params=”color=000000&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

HAPPY: Is it a coincidence that 2016 was the year Burden Man emerged?

BURDEN MAN: Yes and no. Burden Man was on the back burner for a while as I focused on a couple of different bands (the most recent was where I actually met Stevie, my producer). So Burden Man was always there, like a little depressed devil on my shoulder whispering sweet tales of sorrow into my ear. The most recent band turned out to be the wrong fit for me and a couple of other things went south in quick succession. It was a bad time. Though, it fuelled the creative process so I was able to gain some momentum.

HAPPY: What’s going to make the gig at The Newsagency special?

BURDEN MAN: You’ll be seeing a black hole up close and personal.

HAPPY: Is there any way in particular punters should prepare for the event?

BURDEN MAN: Bring wine and a chastity belt for your mind unless you want me to penetrate it with such blatant and realistic views on our eventual death.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/247472377″ params=”color=000000&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

HAPPY: What’s your plan for 2017 and beyond?

BURDEN MAN: Definitely an EP launch early 2017 and touring the east coast. I’ll be heading over to Europe for a few months with the goal of trying to bridge the gap between there and Australia. Apart from that, I will be recording again at the end of 2017. Unless I die.

You won’t want to miss this dark night of music and the afterparty shenanigans in Newtown. Doors open at 8pm, and tickets are both available online or $15 when you show up.

December 10 – The Newsagency, Marrickville – $15