“In the beginning of the band there were only five of us, we used to jam a lot and listen to heaps of Grateful Dead,” Holmes says, explaining the darker energy of the groups music. “It wasn’t too long before our buddy Firthy (Daniel Firth) from My Left Boot started playing electric guitar with and that’s when we started to explore of the psychedelic realm. The next person to join us was Doug Widner (guitar/vocals) who we met through the love of the Dead and the Jamgrass Music Festival. I also heard that Doug lived on Jerry’s couch for a few months in the ‘80s and while he was there, he learned the secrets of the banjo and also mastered Pac Man.”
After an unsuccessful tour as Jen Cloher’s backing band at the start of this year (unsuccessful due to bad weather forcing the tour to be cut short) the Merri Creek Pickers strengthened their own sound and released their debut album, Music From Kennedy’s Pool, a few weeks ago.
“We recorded our album at the farm,” he says. “It’s a small farmhouse in a lovely little town called Ensay. We record our music ourselves, that way we have no time restrictions and no neighbours to worry about. We also try to record as much as we can live. I like that because I feel it gives the songs a bit more authenticity and feel.”
The journey of album recording is never entirely solo though, and the band enlisted the mixing skills of Matt Robins (The Dandy Warhols). “During the mix stage of the album we made sure we had somebody there every day,” he says. “It was good because Matt Robins out at Color Sound had the same vibe as we did for this album which made it easier to get the sound we wanted. He did a great job and I can’t wait to work with him again.”
Getting the sound right for this band is always going to be a challenge but Robins nailed it. With up to six vocal parts at any one time as well as five guitars jamming away, it would be easy for things to get muddy. Somehow, on Music From Kennedy’s Pool, it never does and they escape that in the live environment too (as long as the sound guy doesn’t freak out at the amount of lines in). The timbre of each part – be that guitar, vocals or other – create a truly distinctive and orchestrated feel that somehow marries up with their free form, jamming energy. Musically, they find a unique harmony and personally, nine personalities somehow manage to work well together. When there’s three-pieces out there tearing each other up musically and emotionally, it’s a testament to this band that a nine-piece can work so well together. “We all live really close by so getting everyone together in the one place isn’t too hard it’s just getting everyone together at the same time that can be tricky sometimes. But it’s all normally cool.”
With the Merri Creek Pickers feeling more at home on stage than anywhere else, and while an official tour hasn’t been planned as of yet, they’re jumping at the opportunity to play as much as they can and in as many incarnations and versions as is needed. Playing the role of backing band is something they seem to enjoy just as much as steering their own music under lights. After this run of shows, however, the band plans to take some time out to prepare for their second album – not wanting too much time to fall in between releases. “Our next couple of gigs are going to be ragers,” he promises. “We play at The Tote this week supporting our good friends Immigrant Union but we are going to be Zia McCabe’s (The Dandy Warhols) backing band for the night. Expect a couple of classics. We’re really looking forward to our album launch this Saturday on the Evelyn rooftop. There are going to be lots of special guests and great bands playing on the day. I guess you call it a high time kind of a vibe at the moment.”
BY KRISSI WEISS
