Oct. 14, 2022

Juzzie Smith interview

Juzzie Smith joins me on episode 71. Juzzie is an Australian who has a one-man band act with the harmonica pivotal to the sound. He has had over 200 million views of his online videos, starting out when a passer-by recorded him busking at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. Juzzie started his one-man band after playing as the harp player in a blues band, and then teaching guitar and harmonica. This gave him a great foundation to lay down the rhythms for his self-penned laid-back bluesy folk....

Juzzie Smith joins me on episode 71.

Juzzie is an Australian who has a one-man band act with the harmonica pivotal to the sound. He has had over 200 million views of his online videos, starting out when a passer-by recorded him busking at the Edinburgh Fringe festival.

Juzzie started his one-man band after playing as the harp player in a blues band, and then teaching guitar and harmonica. This gave him a great foundation to lay down the rhythms for his self-penned laid-back bluesy folk. He plays up to six instruments at a time, including percussion juggling balls. Juzzie has been a regular at music festivals around the world and has produced his own music and video content in his home in Ocean Shore.

Links:
Juzzie’s website:
https://juzziesmith.com/

Percussion juggling balls;
https://www.chukachuks.com/

Press Play and Blow Away tuition course:
https://juzziesmith.com/store/67-harmonica-lessons-mp3/

Videos:
Grolsch Festival YouTube with 11 million views at time of writing:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=juzzie+smith+harmonica&sp=CAM%253D

Edinburgh Fringe Festival appearance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcrujO7lKsA

Juggling percussion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opRp6Em0vXg

Keep Life Simple Beatbox harmonica:
https://youtu.be/nXhS231_iJ4

Jamming video:
https://youtu.be/dmA_zUC8__8

Juzzie’s ‘My Coolest Harmonica Solo’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmOb76IuyRc

Taking Time Out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhiXwAD_Pxc&t=19s

Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com

Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB

Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ

Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS
and Blows Me Away Productions: http://www.blowsmeaway.com/

Support the show

01:29 - Juzzie lives on the east coast of Australia, in Ocean Shores, and the inspiring artistic scene around there

02:14 - Has a one-man band act and has had over 200 million views on Social Media

02:26 - Started out by street performing in 2003 and how he put together his one man band

02:43 - Attached a green bullet mic to a rack when starting out

02:52 - Lots of people captured videos of Juzzie as he performed in the streets

03:12 - Got signed up to appear at the Broadbeach festival in Australia after busking there

03:46 - His first big success on YouTube was a recording from the Edinburgh Fringe festival

04:55 - Played in lots of countries around the world

05:16 - The instruments Juzzie plays in his one man band

06:19 - First heard harmonica age 13 on a commercial and the sound grabbed him and he bought a harp the next day

06:45 - Brother taught him a little guitar

06:50 - Started playing harmonica on a rack later, learning harp from an instructional book

07:16 - Was teaching harmonica and guitar from age 16

08:11 - Played in band as a harmonica player before starting one man band and learnt from the older guys in the band

09:21 - Listened to a lot of different instruments for influences, not just harmonica

10:11 - Learnt horn lines with saxophone player in the band, as well as keyboards and guitar

11:07 - Juzzie started his one man band when he deciding to go busking to make some money, with a lot of CD sales back then

11:57 - Used a Pignose amp when started out busking

12:13 - Moby’s ‘Play’ album was an influence to Juzzie’s spacious form of blues

14:16 - How Juzzie started layering up the sound

15:01 - Juzzie busked for 19 years as he preferred that to playing in pubs and the great lifestyle it brought him

16:28 - The markets Juzzie busked at and the big crowds it drew

17:15 - Not selling so many CDs and why stopped busking

18:22 - Percussive juggling balls with harmonica act

21:00 - Plays harmonica on a rack while using juggling percussion balls

21:48 - What role does the harmonica play in Juzzie’s act

22:43 - Interaction with audience when playing live

24:07 - Plays bluesy-folk music

25:12 - Juzzie plays lots of laid back instrumentals

27:02 - How does Juzzie maintain interest with big festival audiences with a one-man band act, and importance of connecting with people when performing

28:24 - Taking Time Out album from 2010 and his children singing on La La song

30:00 - Live at the Zamia Theatre album in 2012 and Sonny Terry (& Rory McLeod) influence in Harmonica Jam song

31:02 - Harmonica Belt song where he changes key of diatonic several times

32:21 - Rise & Shine is the next studio album from 2015

32:54 - Keep Life Simple is beatbox harmonica

34:14 - How being an multi-instrumentalist has advanced Juzzie’s harmonica playing

34:54 - Doesn’t always play harmonica in a rack

35:12 - Superhero instrumental song from album, and single version has lyrics

37:16 - Another live album released in 2020

38:49 - Waltzing Matilda is only cover song Juzzie plays

39:13 - How Juzzie has used Social Media to great effect

40:51 - Jamming song and video with six Juzzie’s on-screen

41:56 - My Coolest Harmonica solo video from a festival in Germany has got lots of hits

42:41 - How Juzzie uses video to keep connected to people around the world and monetise

44:41 - Released some harmonica tuition material which was popular with Aussie truck drivers

46:33 - 10 minute question

47:33 - Juzzie learnt the very challenging Rhapsody In Blue by Larry Adler on chromatic as one of the first songs he learnt, but now only really plays diatonic

48:42 - Uses low tuned diatonic harmonicas a lot

50:04 - Uses TC Helicon Voicelive 3 Extreme effects pedal for all instruments, including harmonica

51:48 - Spends more time getting a quality sound with the set-up as he does practising his instruments

52:11 - Is Seydel endorser and 1847 is harmonica of choice

52:47 - Sells a harmonica along with his tuition material

53:19 - Doesn’t use different tunings, uses different positions instead

53:59 - Low F is favourite key of harmonica

55:04 - Uses minimal overblows

55:11 - Mainly a pucker player, apart from octaves

55:25 - Uses the RackIt from Blows Me Away Productions with Bulletini mic and Ultimate 57s for singing

56:26 - Gecko rack from Seydel

57:06 - Doesn’t use amps now, just the TC Helicon pedal

57:52 - Currently working in the studio for online projects. Might tour in two years time

WEBVTT

00:00:00.034 --> 00:00:02.097
Josie Smith joins me on episode 71.

00:00:02.786 --> 00:00:07.410
Juzzy is an Australian who has a one-man band act with the harmonica pivotal to the sound.

00:00:07.830 --> 00:00:16.178
He has had over 200 million views of his online videos, starting out when a passerby recorded him busking at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

00:00:16.658 --> 00:00:22.503
Juzzy started his one-man band after playing as the harp player in a blues band and then teaching guitar and harmonica.

00:00:22.702 --> 00:00:27.807
This gave him a great foundation to lay down the rhythms for his cell-penned, laid-back bluesy folk.

00:00:28.207 --> 00:00:32.070
He plays up to six instruments at a time, including percussion juggling bowls.

00:00:32.752 --> 00:01:26.864
Zydle Harmonica Hello, Jussie Smith, and welcome to the podcast.

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Hello, good to be here.

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So you're talking to us from Australia, Eastern Australia?

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Yeah, that's right.

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Yeah, great.

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So you're in a place called Byron Bay, is that right?

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Yeah, it's just a bit north of Byron Bay, a little town called Ocean Shores.

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So a little coastal town, but yeah, it's a beautiful spot.

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Sounds beautiful with a name like Ocean Shores, and probably reflects your approach to life and music, which we'll get into.

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So...

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So what's the music scene like in Australia and around where you are?

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I think you're near Brisbane, aren't you?

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So is there a good music scene around there?

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Yeah, we're about an hour and a half south of Brisbane.

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Yeah, and there's a lot of talent in this town here.

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It seems to just bring a lot of artistic people in all different walks of life.

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And yeah, it's very inspiring, that's for sure.

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So you're a one-man band.

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You've had a lot of success on social media, haven't you?

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You've had 200 million views on social media.

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Is that one of the ways you've managed to kind of launch yourself?

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Yeah, I think it was very rootsy my whole career because I started street performing busking When my daughter was born, and that was like 19 years ago, I just went out there as a one-man band because I figured I was coordinated.

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I could make a beat while playing guitar and I strapped a rack around my neck.

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Back in those days, I put a green bullet mic.

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It was so heavy.

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But I just wanted that dirty sound.

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I've never seen anyone put a microphone on their thing so you could play guitar and sing.

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Yeah, just with traveling and all the playing I've done on the streets, all the people that capture the videos and just it's been quite amazing watching how they do stuff.

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Yeah, like one video I think had 80 million views just in itself.

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It's crazy.

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Yeah, it's amazing.

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Yeah, so you managed to use that much to your advantage.

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So you were busking to begin with.

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I read somewhere that you were busking at a festival.

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They then sort of signed you up to play the next year.

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Was that kind of one of your first gigs or were you gigging as your one man band before then?

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I started out playing lots of markets and doing the street performing.

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And then, yeah, sometimes I go to festivals and I didn't apply to be in it, but I just said, oh, can I sit up on a corner and just do what I do, street performing?

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And yeah, this Broadbeach Blues Festival, I remember they just loved my show so much.

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They just said, oh, you're back on the stage next year.

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And I was there every year for the next 10 years.

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And so obviously you made your name in Australia, but you have certainly travelled abroad now.

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I know you've been to the Edinburgh Festival, yeah, amongst other places.

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Yeah, Edinburgh was amazing.

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Just went there once for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

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It was really quite an amazing experience.

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experience because you play for 30 days straight i think i had one day off edinburgh weather is not the best weather i think it rained about 22 days out of the 30 yeah and it was just so good because there's so many amazing performers and i just they had a rule that you couldn't play through an amplifier like bigger than your hand so i had these tiny little microcube amps just one for my harmonica and one for my guitar my lap slide guitar that's the only guitar i brought because i just had troubles trying to bring everything on aeroplanes So it was very minimal.

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And that was actually where the video went viral.

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The one that had 80 million views was busking on the street in Edinburgh, and someone filmed it.

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Fantastic, yeah.

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Great stuff.

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And have you played in many other countries since then?

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I've played lots of countries, yeah.

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I've been to Canada about six or seven times now, and so many places.

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New Zealand I've played, even played in China, did a festival there.

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Yeah, I just come back from Germany.

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I took my son over there.

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We did a little tour.

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Obviously, this is a Harmonica podcast, so you're a one-man band.

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I know you play, I think, about six instruments, don't you, as you're performing?

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Yeah, well, I've got different guitars, which I like, depending on the song.

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I have a cigar box guitar, which is very acoustic but also punchy sort of sound and then I've got a normal little small body acoustic guitar or electric guitar depends I might either take one of those when I go traveling and then I've got my lap sly guitar which is a sort of beautiful smooth electric sound or it can be a really dirty bluesy grunty sort of sound depending on the song

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so as well as the guitars then what you're playing percussion singing yeah

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so my feet they're like my rhythm section so my left foot controls the beats so I'm sitting on a boxed drum.

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A guy in Melbourne here makes these ones that I really like because they kick pedals on the outside and it's called a wood skin and it's also got a pedal for the right if you want to have that snare sound.

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On my right foot I made my own little shaker thing which gives it sort of that clap sound and sounds so good when you mic it up and also have a tambourine for that brighter sound depending on the song.

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So what were the first instruments you learned?

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Yeah I remember when I was 13 I wasn't really into music but I was watching television and a television commercial came on and was it jeans west or just jeans and i can't remember but it went we got half past jeans and it was harmonica the sound that i was listening to and i went wow i just fell in love with that sound and pretty much the next day i went to a music shop and asked for harmonica and i got a key c and it was i think i still got that harmonica yeah it just changed my life and my brother was playing guitar so he taught me a few chords on guitar i kept learning

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from the beginning were you playing harmonic on a rack with guitar

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no that came later i just it I learned harmonica just from, I think it was like a book that came with a cassette back in those days, and it just taught you little melodies, and then it had a little blues section at the end.

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And then I was learning guitar.

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My brother was teaching me ACDC and songs like that, three-chord powerful songs, and it was so much fun.

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It wasn't until later that I got a rack for the harmonica and worked out how to play harmonica.

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I was actually teaching because I started teaching when I was 16.

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That was my way of making income.

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So I had 10 students straight away, and I was teaching them guitar and harmonica.

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I just learned that I could teach them harmonica if I gave them backing.

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So I'd play the harmonica part that I was teaching and then they'd be able to jam along with the guitar too.

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That's where I realized I really got good coordination because I spent 10 years teaching music.

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I had to be able to play guitar underlying myself teaching the harmonica.

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Yeah, so I think that was really a big stepping stone for me being the one-man band that I am today.

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Great to see, you know, that kind of one-man band thing is really using it on the rack as well.

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So I think before this, you were playing in bands as well, were you, before you started your one-man band?

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Yeah, I was in bands and I remember when I was 16, my brother's I had good friends that had a blues band.

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They were a lot older.

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They were like in their 30s, but not many people played harmonica.

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And when they heard about me, they just dragged me along to all the venues, snuck me in the back door, and I had so much fun.

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Because when I finished school, I...

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I applied to go to university, but I missed out.

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So I had a gap year.

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So I just played with this blues band when I was 17.

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And that sneaked me in everywhere, of course.

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But I just learned so much from them because they were just really passionate about playing great blues music.

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And I just remember the guitar player, Dave Blanken.

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He would give me heaps of CDs and stuff to listen to.

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And I just love it because it was so much.

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He had a collection of about 10,000 CDs.

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And it's like, whoa, every blues album you can imagine.

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It was like my homework.

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He'd give me this stuff and I'd go, wow.

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And then I'd be back there the next week, we'd be jamming.

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And I just remember playing so much harmonica, gosh, that my lips would bleed sometimes at the gigs.

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Who do

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you listen to in the harmonica at this point, your influences?

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It's a funny thing because I listen to so much harmonica.

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I like to listen to other things to inspire me for harmonica lines, like trumpet players, any good melody.

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And I try and find that on the harmonica and just get a different feel.

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If you hear the way a trumpet plays, It just has a different tone and you can sort of get these tones if you shape your mouth in ways and do your breathing in a different way.

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Yeah, the last episode I did was with Ricky Coole and he's done this great series of videos called Mississippi Saxophone where he looks at saxophone solos and playing those on harmonica for exactly the reason you've said.

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It's going to give you the new ideas and the different approach to how you play the harmonica.

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He did include one trumpet solo, a Lee Morgan solo.

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At this stage, you're playing with these blues bands.

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You were the harmonica player, yeah?

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You were you weren't playing guitar and not singing?

00:10:11.754 --> 00:10:14.616
No, I was just playing harmonica in this blues band, yeah.

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And they had a saxophone player too, so I had to learn how to play horn lines with a saxophone.

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It was cool because you could treat the harmonica like a horn.

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The sax would be doing the horn line and I'd be playing the same notes or similar and just it was so cool because you could get such a big sound and then you could also do your harmonica solos and you can make the key sounds so you could pretend to be like a keyboard just playing the octaves in the background.

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Yeah, really fun to play in band.

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The saxophone and harmonica actually sounds really good together, doesn't

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it?

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Yeah, and you can do chord responses, so great.

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Same as guitar, you know, the harmonica and guitar chord response, it's so fun.

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And that's another thing I learn a lot, like you hear guitar players and you learn the way they do phrases is quite different to a harmonica player, so it's really nice to be able to be a good guitarist as well and then be able to find all those in-between notes and go, wow.

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And a lot of bending to get the precision of the notes that you're looking for.

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So you played in a band a few years and then sort What made you decide to start the one-man band?

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So I went to uni and I did a music course, which went for four years up in Lismore.

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So that's just near where I live now.

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That's what brought me up to the area I am today.

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And I was still playing lots of blues bands then, but then I became a father and I went, wow, you know, okay, you can make$150,$200 a night.

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That's not really much to keep a family going.

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You know, you have to do a lot of gigs.

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And then I just went, I'll just go busking and I'll get a suitcase put a kick pedal to the suitcase I just was a bit creative and I was just trying to work out ways of making a beat and I thought a suitcase you can put everything inside it so you could just carry the suitcase to the markets and I just remember going to my local market and opening a suitcase pulling out two little ants I actually had a Dobro guitar so it didn't need um micing when I first started busking I just had a little pig nose yeah you could open up this amp so you could if it was closed it was really distorted and if you open up the back it made it cleaner but it had one knob on it and that was it and I just used to plug my bullet mic into that and I'd just play really fun blues and I got more into sort of listening to things like Moby and how Moby would approach blues as like repetitive sort of grooves and how you could just repeat it and then just the 4-4 beat and I just went it's so fascinating you know it's just and it went down so well like I remember just first time I played I sold 10 CDs which was like$200 in half an hour wow I just ran out so I had to make 20 CDs the next time and then I sold out and the next time I went and then I just kept doing that.

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And before you know it, you're selling 150 CDs a day.

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And it's like, wow, such good money.

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And it was just so fun.

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Yeah, fantastic, yeah.

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I mean, I remember that Morby album you mentioned.

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He came out.

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It was play, wasn't it?

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I had that album.

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Yeah, play.

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It was very blues-based, wasn't it, with kind of ambient sounds and the mixing and stuff like that.

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It was a great album, all sort of kind of based on blues, wasn't it?

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Yeah, it was amazing for its time.

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And you could tell, like, people loved it because I think it was the most sold album in that time.

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And it was like, wow, people just love that soulful feeling.

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But then they loved that groove.

00:13:12.640 --> 00:13:16.264
And I just went, well, I'll just do that live on the streets in my own sort of way

00:13:16.303 --> 00:13:20.089
That was quite an inspiration for your one-man act, was it, initially, that Moby album?

00:13:20.370 --> 00:13:29.682
It was, yeah, because I'm not really a traditional blues player because I think I overdosed on just playing like 12-bar blues and stuff and singing blues because I'm like this skinny white boy that surfs.

00:13:31.424 --> 00:13:33.268
I don't really have the blues, if you know what I mean.

00:13:33.567 --> 00:13:40.817
But I love those guys because they're just the real blues tradition because it just comes with so much feeling and I just love that.

00:13:41.318 --> 00:13:43.581
But then, yeah, to hear this guy just put...

00:13:43.714 --> 00:13:47.578
these blues licks and things into a song and just keep it quite simple.

00:13:47.938 --> 00:13:48.620
Yeah.

00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:51.943
But you weren't trying to put kind of electronic aspects in though, like as he

00:13:52.345 --> 00:13:52.404
was.

00:13:52.465 --> 00:13:53.166
No, not back then.

00:13:53.186 --> 00:13:58.932
I was more like just making beats with my, you know, my box suitcase, you know, four on the floor with that.

00:13:59.013 --> 00:14:00.634
So it was really, really rootsy.

00:14:00.835 --> 00:14:01.775
And that's what was fun.

00:14:01.796 --> 00:14:04.840
It was like dance music, but with no electronics at all.

00:14:12.909 --> 00:14:12.990
Yeah.

00:14:13.313 --> 00:14:14.302
Thank you.

00:14:16.961 --> 00:14:24.447
how you developed that sound you know it sounded like you you started adding in more more instruments and more layers to your sound as you progressed

00:14:24.928 --> 00:15:01.224
yeah that's right just over time just because because I did so much street performing like sometimes I play eight hours a day you know and you just have that repetition of doing the same similar things or just just always alternating a little bit and just changing it around and just having fun and just seeing what you can do but I think all that playing just allowed me to you know be solid with my guitar playing and then just be able to focus on the melodies and the grooves that I'm doing on the harmonica and bringing in the different rhythms with my feet without really thinking it's more just your whole body becomes music and you can just feel what you want to do next.

00:15:01.563 --> 00:15:13.418
And what's the busking scene like over there you know you say you were busking in markets and things is that obviously the weather's good in Australia is one thing that helps but it doesn't rain like Edinburgh all the time but yeah so is it quite a strong busking scene over there?

00:15:13.761 --> 00:15:16.828
Yeah, I don't do it anymore, but it used to be amazing.

00:15:17.009 --> 00:15:22.501
It was just all I did for 19 years because I don't really stay up late since I became a father.

00:15:22.822 --> 00:15:25.589
I don't drink either, so I didn't really want to go out.

00:15:25.950 --> 00:15:30.860
It's late nights and not being a drinker, it's just a different sort of feeling when you're playing in pubs.

00:15:31.422 --> 00:15:32.885
So I think that was one of my...

00:15:33.282 --> 00:15:47.014
probably the best things ever that happened for me is I decided to wake up at 3am and, you know, I'd drive three hours to play these amazing markets and spend a weekend like on the Sunshine Coast and play at places like your Mundy Markets, Caloundra, Redcliffe.

00:15:47.293 --> 00:15:50.397
And then I'd come home and I'd have the week off so I could just be with the kids.

00:15:50.496 --> 00:15:52.057
So it was a really beautiful rhythm.

00:15:52.298 --> 00:15:59.725
But the funny thing was, is I'd wake up like at three to get there at six to set up my own sound system and, you know, to set up for the day.

00:15:59.784 --> 00:16:04.731
So you start playing at 7.30, 8am sometimes and then finish at about one or two.

00:16:04.751 --> 00:16:11.572
And then you'd be finished, you know, jump in the ocean at the end of the day and have a little snooze and then have some dinner and then do it again somewhere.

00:16:11.711 --> 00:16:17.629
Just, yeah, so it was really, really, really special for me because that type of rhythm allowed me to play a lot.

00:16:18.018 --> 00:16:24.433
but then also have a really lovely lifestyle so that I could be with my family and my kids growing up a lot.

00:16:24.673 --> 00:16:27.721
Were these tourist places you were going to play?

00:16:27.802 --> 00:16:32.273
Yeah, well, Yamundi Markets, that's one of the most famous ones in Australia.

00:16:32.293 --> 00:16:34.038
Just this little town, it's beautiful.

00:16:34.370 --> 00:16:36.892
that just draws like 10,000 people.

00:16:36.912 --> 00:16:40.615
I don't know where they all come from, but it's just such a creative market.

00:16:40.634 --> 00:16:44.979
It used to be the rule was you had to make it, sow it, or grow it to sell there.

00:16:45.058 --> 00:16:51.485
So it was just everyone made their own stuff, and it just had the biggest fig trees that were just so beautiful to set up under.

00:16:51.865 --> 00:16:55.668
So it was just all around, just a great environment and crowds.

00:16:55.749 --> 00:16:56.649
Wow, you played it.

00:16:56.729 --> 00:17:00.873
You'd just play, and you'd have 200 or 300 people around you, and then you'd stop.

00:17:01.133 --> 00:17:13.365
They'd move on, and the next half an hour you'd play, and you'd have 200 or 300 people around you go wow you're just playing thousands of people it's a great way because that was when cds were popular so that was really good for me because you could make a living really well

00:17:13.645 --> 00:17:25.479
yeah you were selling the cds and we talked about a lot on here the sort of death of selling cds and i take it that's what you said you don't busk anymore anyway yeah but was it part of the reason because you weren't able to sell as many cds as streaming came

00:17:25.898 --> 00:18:06.221
because i did so much i sort of i'm feeling you know as you get older it's just takes a bit of toll doing all that playing and setting up and I just love being in the studio and just seeing just where else I can take music so these days I do a lot in the studio and I'm sort of like thinking about the world too I don't want to drive too much I just want to be a bit conscious of how much fuel I use and just be gentle on the world I keep the online presence going I've had a little break from that just recently but I've always just loved to get inspired and try new things and just I find music's one of those amazing jobs where you just keep growing and there's so much you can learn and that it's just like you always feel like a kid.

00:18:06.501 --> 00:18:08.124
It's so much fun stuff to do.

00:18:08.144 --> 00:18:10.266
It's just a matter of having the time to do it.

00:18:10.406 --> 00:18:17.894
So I feel really fortunate to be in that position where I can be in my own studio and just try all these things and go, wow, can't wait to share it

00:18:19.175 --> 00:18:19.336
with you.

00:18:19.355 --> 00:18:19.977
Fantastic.

00:18:19.997 --> 00:18:21.898
Sounds like you're really loving it, which is good to hear.

00:18:22.239 --> 00:18:27.163
So one very cool thing you do, Josie, which is you've got juggling percussion.

00:18:27.184 --> 00:18:31.429
So I'm also a juggler myself, so I'm loving this juggling percussion that you do.

00:18:31.469 --> 00:18:32.450
So tell us about that.

00:18:32.990 --> 00:18:33.892
Yeah, that's...

00:18:34.192 --> 00:18:35.053
Amazing.

00:18:35.333 --> 00:18:39.858
That's another thing of playing at lots of busking festivals because you meet amazing performers.

00:18:39.979 --> 00:18:43.784
So one of the most amazing things that happened for me is a good friend of mine.

00:18:43.804 --> 00:18:45.707
He was just over today, Joel Salem.

00:18:45.787 --> 00:18:47.189
He invented those chukka chuks.

00:18:47.548 --> 00:18:48.390
So they're shakers.

00:18:48.770 --> 00:18:50.993
They're a juggling ball, but they make grooves.

00:18:51.294 --> 00:18:54.097
The latest ones he's created are three different tones.

00:18:54.157 --> 00:18:56.421
So you've got, like, smaller ball bearings in one.

00:18:56.480 --> 00:18:59.404
So it's more like a– related to a drum kit.

00:18:59.444 --> 00:19:07.996
So it's more like a snare, like– Then you've got the middle ones, which is more like a high hat.

00:19:08.236 --> 00:19:08.496
It's like...

00:19:08.576 --> 00:19:10.940
And then you've got the bigger ball bearings and the low one.

00:19:10.980 --> 00:19:11.800
That's more like a clap.

00:19:11.881 --> 00:19:14.023
So you've got...

00:19:16.827 --> 00:19:20.051
So you can do all this stuff while you're juggling, but it's like being a drum kit.

00:19:20.071 --> 00:19:23.656
And it's just, for me, I had a dream about doing this when I was a kid.

00:19:23.717 --> 00:19:27.682
So when I met Joel, he was doing it with just little egg shakers when we first met.

00:19:27.722 --> 00:19:29.965
And I was like, oh, man, we're just really good friends.

00:19:30.046 --> 00:19:32.829
And because we're just so passionate about it all, we just...

00:19:32.930 --> 00:19:37.694
yeah, always get together and just be creative and just get so inspired talking to each other.

00:19:51.989 --> 00:19:55.792
Kind of next stage on from the egg shake, are you able to get, like you say, these different sounds out of them?

00:19:56.032 --> 00:19:58.134
Yeah, well, the latest one's called pitch benders.

00:19:58.174 --> 00:19:59.997
You can actually push them in and they get...

00:20:02.049 --> 00:20:03.951
while you're shaking.

00:20:03.991 --> 00:20:06.933
So it's next level, just creativeness of what you can do.

00:20:07.595 --> 00:20:09.455
And visually, it's just amazing.

00:20:09.496 --> 00:20:15.221
I remember the first time I took them out, it was just like people just don't know what to think, but it just goes down so well live.

00:20:15.662 --> 00:20:16.863
I've got to get myself some of these.

00:20:16.923 --> 00:20:17.743
As I say, I'm a juggler.

00:20:17.763 --> 00:20:19.325
They're called chukka chuks.

00:20:19.404 --> 00:20:20.645
Are they available to buy then?

00:20:20.986 --> 00:20:21.906
Yeah, they are.

00:20:21.926 --> 00:20:25.951
Yeah, so his website would be chukka chuks.com.

00:20:26.211 --> 00:20:27.372
I'll put a link on the website.

00:20:27.392 --> 00:20:28.153
I'm going to buy some.

00:20:28.492 --> 00:20:31.695
So a common one is you're holding the yellow ones, a mellow one.

00:20:32.016 --> 00:20:35.961
So I'm holding that one in my index and thumb finger, like...

00:20:36.061 --> 00:20:40.648
But I've got the white one, which is a hi-hat sort of one, bouncing on the offbeat while holding the other one.

00:20:40.828 --> 00:20:41.971
So this is all in my right hand.

00:20:42.010 --> 00:20:44.955
So you go...

00:20:45.936 --> 00:20:49.182
And then you've got your left hand to do the two and four beat, you know, so you go...

00:20:52.705 --> 00:20:54.167
You can have that 2-4 big.

00:20:54.409 --> 00:20:59.635
And then you can do all the fancy stuff where you're bouncing in between each other, throwing it behind your back.

00:21:00.176 --> 00:21:03.342
You're playing harmonica on a rack when you do this, of course.

00:21:03.602 --> 00:21:04.502
Yeah, so that's

00:21:04.644 --> 00:21:04.903
the

00:21:04.943 --> 00:21:07.146
other thing, just a repetitive cool groove.

00:21:07.287 --> 00:21:08.548
It's like...

00:21:08.769 --> 00:21:11.773
And then you go...

00:21:14.114 --> 00:21:38.414
and then you do the breakdowns so it's all going on inside my body but it all just comes out and this is so fun when it all works and you've got the groove because you have the beat as well with the left foot because that just comes in now and then too just add that the pulse to the song and then you've got if I'm sitting down doing it I can have the two and four happening with my right foot so there's a fair bit going on

00:21:38.694 --> 00:21:46.843
obviously watch the video of you doing this so I'll put a link onto a video so people can check you out so I could Talk about juggling all day, but we'll move on a little bit.

00:21:46.863 --> 00:21:52.808
So back to the harmonica, you know, kind of how important is the harmonica to your, you know, what your one man band show?

00:21:53.089 --> 00:21:59.115
For me, the harmonica is probably my main instrument because I played so much and it just, it feels like I'm just breathing.

00:21:59.415 --> 00:22:02.859
So harmonica is probably the instrument that I'm most comfortable with.

00:22:03.059 --> 00:22:07.244
That's pretty rare, really, because a lot of people just play harmonica, you know, just add a little bit extra stuff.

00:22:07.265 --> 00:22:14.031
But for me, the harmonica, I can just play a harmonica song and I know that will just be just such a treat at a show because it's such a great instrument.

00:22:14.031 --> 00:22:15.534
instrument and you can just do so much.

00:22:15.614 --> 00:22:16.835
I think that's the other thing.

00:22:16.855 --> 00:22:19.637
I remember playing a show, did a harmonica jam song.

00:22:19.857 --> 00:22:22.300
This was a long time ago and my friend filmed it.

00:22:22.500 --> 00:22:26.605
And yeah, it's had crazy amount of views on YouTube too, like 12 million or something.

00:22:26.945 --> 00:22:27.467
Pretty wild.

00:22:27.707 --> 00:22:29.409
And that was just me improvising.

00:22:29.909 --> 00:22:32.211
And then, and it just came through good.

00:22:32.291 --> 00:22:39.720
Like I was just playing a low F, a Lee Oscar back then, but just all the sound you just get from a harmonica into just a normal microphone.

00:22:40.141 --> 00:22:41.201
It's just really special.

00:22:42.625 --> 00:22:43.406
Yeah, fantastic.

00:22:43.686 --> 00:22:48.614
And there's one of your live songs, which is One Man Band Live.

00:22:48.713 --> 00:22:53.019
It's a good song where you kind of talk through, you know, how you're kind of layering in the different instruments you use.

00:22:53.059 --> 00:23:00.830
But in this, you talk about how you, you know, you kind of first started playing the harmonica with the guitar by, you know, a four or five head shape.

00:23:02.413 --> 00:23:03.233
This is the easy part.

00:23:04.076 --> 00:23:07.400
Playing the harmonica, that's a different story while doing all this at the same time.

00:23:08.961 --> 00:23:12.946
And the way I learned how to do it was really simple.

00:23:13.968 --> 00:23:16.592
Just suck on two notes and shake your head, and that's enough.

00:23:17.874 --> 00:23:19.635
And then add everything in one at a time.

00:23:20.056 --> 00:23:20.636
Sound like this.

00:23:31.191 --> 00:23:32.172
Yeah, now that's right.

00:23:32.271 --> 00:23:36.297
I like to explain what I'm doing because it's really nice to interact with the audience.

00:23:37.026 --> 00:23:41.250
Because then they can get to feel everything that you're doing, not just look at you and go, wow, that's pretty hard.

00:23:41.510 --> 00:23:44.375
But then you actually say, oh, I'm just going to introduce my one-man band.

00:23:44.775 --> 00:23:45.997
First member, my right hand.

00:23:46.297 --> 00:23:46.978
Sets up the groove.

00:23:47.818 --> 00:23:51.542
And people get to hear the right hand by itself just making a cool groove, you know.

00:23:52.384 --> 00:23:54.707
And then you say, now it's going to connect to its brother, the left hand.

00:23:54.747 --> 00:23:57.170
Then you put the melody with it, the little groove.

00:23:57.971 --> 00:23:58.892
And it's like, cool.

00:23:59.112 --> 00:23:59.893
Then here comes a beat.

00:24:00.252 --> 00:24:00.433
Two.

00:24:00.897 --> 00:24:06.742
and then here comes a two on the four on the right foot so that's four members so far

00:24:07.763 --> 00:24:22.336
so you talk about not you know you're not you're not playing sort of full-on blues all the time although it's having it's kind of a bluesy kind of folky or your music you probably describe it so you know what are you playing on the guitar you're more about laying down kind of rhythms than necessarily playing chord structures are you you know how do you approach that

00:24:22.717 --> 00:25:12.588
i play yeah just sort of laying down grooves but it's just more simple chord structures that you can you know you can like for slide guitar for example example you can just strum the whole thing or you can pick it and you can mute it with the right hand so it's more softer there's all sorts of elements that make the song but it's more dynamics that probably make it work really well so that's why i like to have different guitars for depending on the different songs because yeah sometimes on the skybox guitar you might play the bass line with the right hand finger while playing the melody with the left hand and then playing like nice long chords on the harmonica so it's just got this really nice beautiful open sound and there'll be delay going on for the notes on the scarbox guitar so it just drifts out there it's really lovely when you play things like that live and people are always fascinated because they go wow there's so much going on

00:25:12.949 --> 00:25:22.779
you do quite a few instrumentals don't you so you kind of you know with maybe just a few kind of vocal interjections so you got this kind of like like you say you know relaxing melodic music coming

00:25:28.066 --> 00:25:41.864
out That's the stuff I love to listen to is quite melodic, beautiful, easy listening sort of tunes and slide guitar is great for that.

00:25:42.183 --> 00:25:47.490
Yeah, I do love playing instrumentals and just music with a lot of space.

00:25:47.570 --> 00:25:54.540
I find it's just like listening, having space just for your ears to relax and that's really nice in these days where it's so busy.

00:25:54.661 --> 00:25:58.526
You go out on the highways, wow, it's so busy everywhere and then you come home and you just go, wow.

00:25:58.817 --> 00:26:01.380
I'm just going to finger pick this little chord and that's it.

00:26:01.579 --> 00:26:01.780
Yeah.

00:26:02.701 --> 00:26:16.512
It's interesting because, you know, a lot of people who are approaching playing the harmonica in this case, you know, they'll try and play something fast and impressive, you know, but you kind of take this approach of lay it back and nice and slow and kind of punctuated harmonica riffs without trying to sound too fancy a lot of the

00:26:16.673 --> 00:26:16.753
time.

00:26:16.773 --> 00:26:17.213
Yeah.

00:26:17.253 --> 00:26:25.280
Well, I learned that maybe my guitar teacher back when I was like 15, 14, I think was maybe the first time I ever got up on stage.

00:26:25.661 --> 00:26:28.483
He was a really good harmonica player as well, my guitar teacher.

00:26:28.523 --> 00:26:28.784
Yeah.

00:26:28.784 --> 00:27:00.136
I used to have to travel from one side of Canberra because that's where I was brought up was in Canberra and it was just so inspiring but he just taught me music it's just like you don't have to play all the time it's just like what you play is so important because I remember the first time I played with him I just shook on holes four and five and just did that for a whole song it was like and the next time he saw me he said okay I'll explain a little bit about how you play but I always thought of music as like a conversation you don't want to talk too much but what you say it's got to be you know really connect to people I just love playing just what feels right and not overplaying.

00:27:00.438 --> 00:27:01.638
So I'm always aware of that.

00:27:01.679 --> 00:27:09.406
And when you're playing live, you played to some audiences, big audiences, you played at festivals, you know, how do you carry the audience as a one-man band?

00:27:09.508 --> 00:27:15.693
I think you've probably explained that in what you've just said already just in the last few minutes, but, you know, some people might be intimidated as a one-man band.

00:27:16.355 --> 00:27:20.779
It works really well for me because I think being a one-man band is so different.

00:27:21.220 --> 00:27:27.467
The way I sort of introduce myself and build up songs is quite unique and interesting.

00:27:27.727 --> 00:27:32.172
So it just captains So you can have them just really there.

00:27:32.211 --> 00:27:43.023
And I think coming from street performing so much where you've got to pull a crowd from out of nowhere, you learn that to actually play in a festival is quite simple because they're all waiting for you, you know, and you've got this big sound system.

00:27:43.044 --> 00:27:44.906
It's like, wow, this is the easiest gig in the world.

00:27:45.247 --> 00:27:55.944
So I think street performing is a great way to learn how to perform to audiences because people– If you're the best musician in the world, you don't look at the audience, you don't talk to them, they'll just walk away.

00:27:56.325 --> 00:28:07.241
But if you connect with them and, you know, you're just really honest and just be yourself, I think people really love that and it does something special that lets people really connect to you and even connect to themselves more and just be more open.

00:28:08.022 --> 00:28:10.246
So let's talk a little bit through your album.

00:28:10.266 --> 00:28:12.409
So I think you've released four albums in total.

00:28:12.549 --> 00:28:13.029
Is that right?

00:28:13.811 --> 00:28:17.156
I had a couple of earlier albums, yeah, but I just stopped selling them.

00:28:17.217 --> 00:28:17.917
But yeah, I've had...

00:28:18.241 --> 00:28:19.847
So maybe seven or something, yeah.

00:28:20.369 --> 00:28:28.520
So the ones which are available on Spotify, which is what I use to put the tracks on, the first one of those is Taking Time Out, which is, I think, released in...

00:28:28.834 --> 00:28:41.299
2010 so just picking out a few songs on there you've got La La which is something you definitely get audience participation in you get them singing in and you get sort of children singing is that your own children singing on that song?

00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:54.173
Yeah I remember recording that just in the studio that I'm in at the moment that's so cute because I used to wake up really early before the kids woke up to record like four in the morning and just record for a couple of hours before they wake up.

00:28:54.253 --> 00:28:58.382
And I remember they came down one time and they said, oh, and I was working on that song, La La.

00:28:58.541 --> 00:29:00.625
And I said, oh, you guys want to sing?

00:29:00.846 --> 00:29:03.550
It was so cute because their headphones were like bigger than their heads, you know.

00:29:04.113 --> 00:29:06.457
And it was really sweet to capture their voices.

00:29:06.696 --> 00:29:13.309
I'm now a father with a beautiful family.

00:29:14.018 --> 00:29:25.977
Another

00:29:26.057 --> 00:29:28.882
one is the title track, Taking Time Out.

00:29:28.981 --> 00:29:33.548
So, you know, this is very much in keeping to what, you know, you've got a theme going through.

00:29:33.588 --> 00:29:38.277
And like you say, you want to enjoy life, slow things down, you know, relax, you know, and appreciate things.

00:29:38.336 --> 00:29:41.280
And, you know, quite a laid back song in that mood.

00:29:42.114 --> 00:29:43.075
Yeah, it was fun.

00:29:43.115 --> 00:29:52.064
I was just playing around with keyboard and piano chords and just working out little sounds and just jamming around with them.

00:29:52.104 --> 00:29:56.728
And at that time, I was like, man, you've really got to take time out for yourself.

00:29:56.827 --> 00:29:59.651
Otherwise, you're just going to get too run down.

00:30:00.392 --> 00:30:04.336
And then you released a live album at the Zamio Theatre in 2012.

00:30:04.596 --> 00:30:06.917
So yeah, some good harmonica songs in here.

00:30:06.938 --> 00:30:08.299
One of them called Harmonica Jam.

00:30:10.913 --> 00:30:25.296
so you're kind of whooping and things on this is that sort of showing sunny terry influence

00:30:25.796 --> 00:30:36.871
yeah i used to love sunny terry and just the way you do that and how you'd cup and stuff and just make all these cool effects And I used to just experiment and like Roy McLeod, how he did it.

00:30:36.931 --> 00:30:40.193
And, yeah, they're just so great and just so inspiring.

00:30:40.615 --> 00:30:44.679
So, yeah, I just would always add that because it's like a cool thing to build up.

00:30:44.999 --> 00:30:51.266
Like Harmonica Jam is a great song that I use to start off my gigs because I walk out and there's just one microphone there.

00:30:51.566 --> 00:30:58.973
I stay standing up and I just play Harmonica Jam because it has this nice slow build up and it just cooks and just warms up the audience so well.

00:30:59.298 --> 00:31:01.442
that you've got them for the rest of the gig.

00:31:02.064 --> 00:31:08.097
And then you do another one, which is the old tricker called Harmonica Belt, where you basically just play a different diatonic to change the key through.

00:31:20.354 --> 00:31:21.896
Yeah, that's funny.

00:31:21.916 --> 00:31:27.286
Gosh, I just think I had all these harmonicas and people would always ask me about the different harmonicas.

00:31:27.365 --> 00:31:31.573
And I just, I figured it'd be cool to show everyone how they all sound in one song.

00:31:31.893 --> 00:31:35.960
So the lower ones to the left and as I go through all my harmonicas, they go up in key.

00:31:36.019 --> 00:31:36.801
So you got your highest.

00:31:37.218 --> 00:31:38.558
So there's eight harmonicas there.

00:31:38.598 --> 00:31:40.560
So I'd start on like cruisy groove.

00:31:40.601 --> 00:31:43.383
And then just every time I change, I've got the tempo that little bit.

00:31:43.624 --> 00:31:45.905
That's a huge winner when you play gigs.

00:31:45.965 --> 00:31:47.807
But geez, it's a huge head spin as well.

00:31:49.067 --> 00:31:50.108
Yeah, it's interesting.

00:31:50.308 --> 00:31:53.992
Quite a simple but interesting trick where, you know, you just change the key of harmonica.

00:31:54.012 --> 00:31:54.853
People go, wow.

00:31:55.173 --> 00:31:57.375
It's obviously been done in other songs as well.

00:31:57.395 --> 00:32:00.817
But, you know, it's a great idea sort of to showcase a harmonica, isn't it?

00:32:00.959 --> 00:32:01.318
Yeah.

00:32:01.358 --> 00:32:03.320
And you change the styles for different harmonicas.

00:32:03.361 --> 00:32:05.843
Like I think when I get to the C, I play more country stuff.

00:32:05.903 --> 00:32:07.183
But it's all cross halves still.

00:32:07.183 --> 00:32:21.118
so the keys are changing nicely yeah and at the end you're just going as fast as you possibly can so it's like it starts off really low and cruisy and cool and by the end you're just cooking with the hoots and everything in there as well so it's yeah it's a workout

00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:32.830
and then your next studio album Rise and Shine 2015 so this is progressing on with this idea of kind of having these blues beats you know over a nice groove

00:32:32.851 --> 00:32:37.135
yeah I play a little melody on my harmonica

00:32:37.135 --> 00:32:46.624
You recorded this in your home studio again, yeah?

00:32:47.285 --> 00:32:48.025
Oh, I did, yeah.

00:32:48.806 --> 00:32:53.329
I did them all, actually, but except for the live one that was just mixed down at a friend's place.

00:32:54.330 --> 00:32:58.674
And you've got Keep Life Simple on here, which is a beatbox harmonica.

00:32:58.934 --> 00:33:00.316
Yeah, that's right.

00:33:06.781 --> 00:33:07.933
Keep Life Simple Bye.

00:33:13.410 --> 00:33:15.452
Yeah, that's been a really popular song, that one.

00:33:16.034 --> 00:33:17.316
It's used a lot in reels.

00:33:17.736 --> 00:33:20.380
I think it's just because of the theme, Keep Life Simple.

00:33:20.500 --> 00:33:23.203
People love it for the simple things that they do in life.

00:33:23.483 --> 00:33:25.386
So what about the beatboxing and the harmonica?

00:33:25.527 --> 00:33:30.634
We have heard other people do this, but did you start beatboxing around then?

00:33:30.654 --> 00:33:31.957
Was it part of your one-man show?

00:33:31.977 --> 00:33:31.997

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