“I wanted to do something that was focused on sitting and listening and taking in the music,” Burns says. A long-time fan of folk clubs, he always had the idea of starting a Melbourne incarnation since moving here from his native New Zealand five years ago. “I really like listening to music where there’s not a lot of separation between the performer and the audience. I’ve always enjoyed a campfire or a loungeroom-type concert. That kind of feeling in the room is really important.”
It’s that campfire feel that sets the Melbourne Folk Club apart from most other gigs, but it’s not like everyone is sitting around singing protest songs, playing djembes and fire-twirling. Instead, there’s a strong focus on the performer and their storytelling, even if many of them don’t fit the typical mould of folk artists. “I guess I’m putting a slightly different spin on folk music,” Burns explains. “My view is that it’s songs about people and places, and that it can come from lots of different genre influences. If you strip it back and present it quite organically, different genres of music can come together and feel like they work.”
And work together they do. So far lineups have included artists from all kinds of backgrounds, from trad jazz to pop to country (often all on the same night), and yet the gig still retains a familiar feel week to week. “There’s a few things we try to do a bit differently, which make [the Folk Club] its own kind of environment. As far as the artists go, whether or not they’d be considered as folk, sometimes putting a bill together we think, ‘Let’s try it’. The artists on the bill won’t always know each other, but we put them together because we know it will work. It’s a bit of fun.”
A sense of trust is central to Burns’ philosophy too, both from the audience and the artist. “The audiences are really respectful; they’re there for the music and they want to listen. It tends to lead the artists to say things they wouldn’t normally say onstage. I think they feel like they’ve got the time and the space and everyone’s listening to them. They just open up, and there’s so many interesting stories being told.”
Beat also caught up with Charles Jenkins, a recent performer on the Folk Club stage. He was effusive in his praise, with clearly fond memories of the night he shared there with Ben Salter, Lisa Miller and Shane O’Mara. “Just that understanding that if the performer, the audience and the production all work together, it becomes more than the sum of the parts. It’s just this beautiful experience for everyone involved. If I could play a gig like that once a week I’d be pretty happy.”
The connection between audience and performer is key to the Folk Club experience, and something that sets it apart from your typical gig. Burns normally plays MC on the night (“I talk some smack and crack a few jokes and people kind of semi-giggle sometimes”), and hands out free cookies to give the night an extra-homely feel. “I’ve been starting to realise there’s more regulars than I thought. That was the challenge; to get people coming week-in week-out. It’d be magic to sell out every week in advance, whatever the lineup. That’s the ultimate goal I guess; to put on a night where the bill isn’t even announced, but people just turn up because they trust it will be good.”
BY JULIAN DOUGLAS
