The hardest part of creating music is needing to meet a creative deadline and not being able to switch on the creativity at all!  It can be quite frustrating.  I sit there and will it to happen! So I then go back to the drawing board, which usually has nothing on it at all!  If I end up with a verse and a chorus I’m happy, but it’s the finishing of the song that stumps me the most.  Sometimes I’ll wake from slumber and jot down songs in a flash, but it’s the somewhat forced creativity that I find a little intimidating.

My first memory of music is hearing Paper Roses by Hank Snow! There was a lot of country music being played in my household as a youngster.  I do remember performing this song especially a fair bit!  I always knew I was going to be singer.  I remember sitting my Mother down and singing her a song, and at the end of the performance I then declared that I was going to be a Singer.

“To me, music has been the shaping force in my life for better or worse. I’m so deep I can’t get out. Buying records and singing songs. It’s been this way for as long as I can remember. These things called songs that, echo our world, shape our understanding and signpost our experience are so powerful. They carry so much weight yet are weightless on the air. I write songs for a living but still can’t tell you where they come from. They drop into the world as they’re needed, hoping and ready. They matter and the folks that hear them or need them matter also. I like living in a world that Bob Dylan or Barry Saunders or Kathleen Hanna live in. It makes me feel less alone that there are folks out there who with a flick of a pen and a cut of a chord can make it all seem ok again. I feel lucky. The idea that Chuck Berry, Shostakovich, and Django Reinhardt have all existed on this earth allows me, from moment to moment, to think we’re not all bad. That from time to time, humans can add a little grace into the world.  If they can do it maybe the rest of us shouldn’t be afraid to either. In the face of the destroyers, tearer downers and money grabbers, that’s important to know.?Music is affirming. When you have nothing it can give you purpose, hope, inspiration and courage. It gives moments to discover yourself and your place in the world. I am empowered to know that outside the radio, the industry and the money there are kids discovering The Clash, Peter Tosh, Otis Redding, Hazel Dickens and Public Enemy and through that, they are finding room for their own hearts to grow. To think outside whatever channels that have been prebuilt for them.?Music matters in the guts and in the heart is where it counts. We are better for it and we are stronger because of it. “

Music transports us, relocates us and has the ability to redefine us.

As a teenager, I remember music doing that to me significantly-

I remember stealing a Nirvana tape, putting on my walkman, riding my BMX around and being alerted to the idea that music could let you feel a wide range of emotions. I was now self-aware.

I remember discovering punk music through a friend’s dad that had been a part of the Australian movement in the 70’s. I was suddenly allowed to see the faults in authority and I was allowed to be angry and I wanted, somehow, to be a part of making change.

I remember listening to a hip hop crew who focused their efforts on racism and I remember being convinced that something was wrong in the world when skin color was a determining factor in anything. I learned to embrace empathy for other humans.

I remember a local hardcore band screaming about their beliefs and how they struggled to marry their ideals and the reality of the world around them. I felt the same way. I began to actively define myself, rather than stumble into who society wanted me to be.

There are hundreds of stories like this for me. It wasn’t merely the words they were saying, it was the passion behind it, the complete and utter emersion of belief that could only have been portrayed to me through music- the melody, rhythm and words coming together to transform me.

I owe a lot to music…. we all do.

I was driving along in my car today. With music blaring, I found myself away from everywhere I didn’t wish to be. Moments went by and before I could really appreciate where the song had taken me, I found myself in the middle of an intersection with cars tooting their horns in an effort to remind me of my careless driving. I had run a red light. Was it my fault? Yes. Did I care? No.?My main concern was that I’d been swept from my thoughts, which are almost exclusively inhabited by music. The startling realisation of not knowing who you are or where you are anymore is something most people might encounter upon the demise of a marriage or when they lose a loved one, but I encounter this every time I’m not consumed by music. It is the only thing that really makes me happy and content. In saying this, given music’s capacity to make me quite cavalier about day to day things, it may seemingly be what kills me, but what a heavenly way to die.

Music has always been who I am, right from when my dad played me his Neil Young and Roy Orbison records. I’ll never forget the first album he bought me. It was Silverchair’s ‘Frogstomp’. I think even as a five year old, hearing these songs and learning that music could exhume such grit and disdain, yet with such purity and heart, made me want to be able to recreate and generate the same passion. My thoughts are that few other things in this world can warm your heart and fill your life with such contentment.

I listen to mostly death metal and gangster rap, which is rather dissimilar to the music I create. The reason I think I’m drawn to metal and gangster rap is because, despite the questionable legitimacy of the content, both genres are fuelled by intensity, aggression and a ‘live every day like it’s your last’ mentality, which make my mind and soul feel the crunch of something powerful and truthful in that I really feel alive when I’m listening to it.?As well as listening to some of the amazing, soul shaping artists like Johnny Cash, Neil Young and Jeff Buckley in amidst the singer/songwriter greats, I find myself absolutely falling in love with Dallas Green, also known as City & Colour, every time I listen to him. His voice is angelic and I feel like his songs were written for my own reassurance that everything’s going to be okay.

Just as I can’t imagine a world without Dallas Green, I cannot even begin to imagine the possibility of a world without music. I hope it never comes to this, and to be honest, I don’t think it ever will. The reason is simple. It’s universal. It’s a bonding mechanism. It exists on an exclusively personal level as well as on a completely superficial, expansive level which helps bring people together. For the most part, I dislike people. However, knowing that musical influence and the love, support and ever growing creative birth of music is and has been derived from human inspiration, I tend to forgive man’s shortcomings just a little bit.

I don’t think the implications of not valuing music concern me as much as they should, because I know that deep down it’s something that I personally will always value more than my own well being. However, if nonchalance of others towards music does ultimately extinguish the musical flame, then of course, I would be devastated. I think though, as long as everybody can appreciate the music they like on a personal level and support the artists they love as much as they can, music will live beyond me, my family, and anyone else who is reading this. So, even if you like just one artist, I would encourage you to support them as much as you possibly can.

I once saw a sign saying ‘Music is who I am, everything else is what I do’. I feel that it’s important people value music, because as far as I’m aware, music is the world, everything else is just what happens. Help make sure music IS the world and not just what happens.

Music is important because like all the arts, it evokes emotion within us. Whether it’s the power of Rage Against the Machine making adrenaline surge through you, or the theme to the Exorcist making you feel on edge. It becomes the soundtrack to people’s lives and the theme playing under their memories.

It facilitates communication and expression. It helps develop empathy through other peoples stories and thoughts, and in turn it inspires thought, which produces growth within the individual and humanity as a whole. And of course it’s a source of entertainment and enjoyment.

The first memory I have of liking music would be as an infant and it was Tim Finns “There’s A Fraction Too Much Friction”. I got my mum to keep rewinding the cassette so I could keep listening to it… I didn’t know what Tim was talking about – ”Friction” wasn’t a word I was gonna be using anytime soon.. I just liked the tune.

As a child whatever music my parents were playing and whatever was on the Radio at the time. So a fairly steady diet of the Eagles, Tom Petty, Police, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Queen, David Bowie, Dire Straits etc as I got older and starting choosing my own music it was the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns & Roses, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden, Metallica etc? ?What made you first realize you wanted to pursue a career in music?

Of course I had no idea in the slightest about what a career in Music would entail in reality, but I guess at the time it was a combination of the buzz of playing live in front of a crowd, and writing music with my mates that I dug and was proud of. I thought “This is the best thing ever!”

We started I Am Giant about 3 years ago but we’d all been in previous bands. We had common tastes and I’d worked with Shelton previously so we thought we’d try writing some stuff for our own band and see how it went… and it turned out to be a great fit.

Who are your major musical and non musical influences?

I just couldn’t narrow them down! Musically anything that gives me goosebumps.. you could start with all the bands I listed previously as music I listened to growing up. I like Ernest Hemingway and John LeCarres writing. Stephen King is a great author.. Love the Shawshank Redemption although I’ve only actually seen the movie. I generally like Michael Mann’s films ie Heat and The Last of The Mohicans. Love all Quentin Tarantino’s work.? ? ?How has your music evolved since you first started?

I guess its matured with time and experience.. Firstly, every single project I collaborate on is heavily influenced by the people I’m working with at that point in time. I’m still inspired by the artists I listened to when I first started writing as a teenager, but of course my horizons have broadened and I’ve listened to so much more since then and been fortunate to work with a lot of other musicians and artists that I’ve learnt from and been inspired by. But essentially it’s still Rock music and fundamentally I think it comes from the same place the very first songs I was part of writing came from.

What have been your biggest challenges and opportunities?

The biggest challenge has just been staying afloat and surviving while still putting in the time, effort and imagination required to create an album that myself, and the rest of the band are happy with and that can potentially make an impression and not be swallowed up in a vast landscape of other aspiring band and artists. The biggest opportunity has been being able to work with the people who have had the skills and knowledge we lack to enable us to record and release our album in the manner it has been.

What is your favourite song?

Couldn’t possibly pick one! It changes periodically…  but between the four of us in the band some favourites are; One Of These Nights by the Eagles, Breakdown by Tom Petty, Daytona White by Glass Jaw, Lullaby by the Cure, Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd, Day Of Suffering by Morbid Angel, You Don’t Pull No Punches But You Don’t Push The River by Van Morrison, Lover You Should Have Come Over by Jeff Buckley, Everything’s Ruined by Faith No More,  Blood Sugar Sex Magic by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Visions by Stevie Wonder, Like Suicide by Soundgarden, Black by Pearl Jam, Long Forgotten by Oceansize, Blueberry Pancakes by Fink, My Very Best by Elbow.

What is the hardest part about creating music?

Creating something that you really love and are convicted about, that everybody elseloves too… and technically it would be getting across exactly what you want to say lyrically in the song while making it fit rhythmically and flow musically.

People have a misconception of Musicians driving around in Limo’s once their song is on the Radio but it’s largely a myth.I’ve experienced this first hand.. when you’re not making a living from your art, you have to do other work to pay rent and feed your family, medical bills etc etc… And you can’t live with your parents your whole life. You spend the best, most productive part of the week focused on just making money to survive and the leftovers are just not enough to create anything worthwhile. Without nurturing and working on it, your music starts to die.? ?On the value of music…

It hasn’t lost its value any more than the Mona Lisa.. It’s just become easier to steal. In the old days you had to put the CD up your shirt or down the front of your jeans. Nowadays it’s easier than pinching oranges from your next door neighbour’s tree.?Music is as powerful as it’s ever been.

In the digital age, and with internet data transfer it has just become so quick and easy to get music without paying for it, its reached the point where some people are actually unaware that their actions are not only illegal, but that they directly affect the Artists livelihood.

In terms of making music matter, most of us as artists have already done our part. Strived for years in bands, working our asses off, learning the hard way, not making a cent from it, to hopefully get to the point where the quality of our Music becomes something, not just worth listening to, but something that has a positive influence on people’s lives. Now it’s over to the listener to support the artist and make music matter..