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Interview with Pete Murray

Byron Bay singer-songwriter & one of Australia’s most loved musicians, PETE MURRAY has released his new single TAKE ME DOWN, alongside the announcement of his newest album CAMACHO – out on June 2 and a 33 date national tour.
Australia favourite son sat down with Amnplify’s Pauli Dee to discuss the exciting time.

Congratulations firstly on the release of your single TAKE ME DOWN – from your upcoming album Camacho. I definitely want to talk about the album, but first I wanted to ask you about the single TAKE ME DOWN. How have you found the reaction so far?

Well I think when we chose the single, we all agreed that it probably wasn’t the best song on the album, but it seemed to be the right one to go with, in the way of it represented all the different flavours of what I was doing now with the beats & this sound. It’s kind of hard when you put out a first single. The only thing that differs that song to the rest of the album is that 80% of the rest of the album has a real groove to it, whereas that one has a straighter beat.
Have you heard the album yet Pauli?

Yes I have and it’s a ripper!

Oh cool, so you know what I’m talking about then. I wanted to go with one of the groove tracks when I was discussing it with my team, but they all said we have plenty to choose from and will release more, so ended up agreeing on this one!

Do you feel a sense of relief once something like this is released?

I think I’ll feel a sense of relief when I get some more positive feedback! It’s all been very positive so far, but not many people have heard it yet, but I can feel some sort of a swell growing, if that makes sense? It’s small, but everyone I’m talking to at the moment really loves it, so I’ll probably be relieved when I hear a lot more of that!

Are we going to see a video?

We didn’t shoot a video for the first single. Instead we’ve done this sort of doco on the album.
We’ve filmed some footage and we’re just at the stage now that I’m narrating it. It’s just a little bit about what I’ve gone through, where I’ve been, where I am now & ow this all came together.
So we’re doing that at the moment, and the second track off the album will be SOLD, which we’ll do a video for as well.

Is that single going to be released before the album?

I’m not sure when, but I know that every week now, until the album comes out in June, they’re going to release another song, you know, on Spotify and iTunes and all the streaming places, but as far as singles go for the radio, that will be SOLD, which I think will be coming out a little closer to the album. For now we’re just going to let people listen to a few songs, we’ll release one a week so there should be about 4 available to listen to already when the album comes out in June.

You’re just going to drip-feed us!

Well you can’t complain mate, you’ve already got it!

Hahaha I do and I love it. It’s a great album and I think it’s going to do really well.

Why did it take so long for you to release another one?

You know I could have released one 3 years ago, which would probably be the normal cycle, 2 to 3 years between albums, but it would have only been as half as good! I wanted to make this one great from start to finish. I wanted to try and create another FEELER. Not replicate it, but try to create another album that had that depth and strength in the songs and the connection that album had. That was such a word-of-mouth album, it just spread like wildfire everywhere around the world and I just hope this one has the same qualities, the same strengths and that people can get into the album and really love it and for it to be their favourite and to be another one like FEELER. This album still has a laid back vibe, but it’s also quite punchy! I want people to put this on at parties and sing along. Where FEELER was quite melancholy in parts, this is different in the way that it’s happy; lyrically, emotionally and musically. It’s got a happy, upbeat & positive vibe & hopefully it’ll make you feel good when you listen to it!

These songs all sound very personal. How important is it to you to write personal songs from the heart?

Yeah well I kind of went away from that for a while because FEELER was so personal and some of the songs on previous album were really close, I mean BETTER DAYS was a close one & personal, but on the other albums I really started to get away from that & I didn’t want to make them emotional or personal again, so this time I did. I wanted to get back to that. I feel like having those songs that people are going to love & have a connection to in their relationships, in their life, with their kids, whatever it might be, hopefully this album in ten years will take them back to a certain time when they heard it and take them back to how they were feeling at that time.

Last night when I was listening to the album, preparing to talk to you today, my fiancé was listening to it with me and when she heard GIVE ME YOUR LOVE, she said “That song going to play at our wedding next year!” so already songs off the album are making an impact & a connection.

Yeah well that’s a beautiful song. Even when I wrote that song I got goose bumps! It’s very personal to me, but when I was writing it, I was picturing this perfect love that you don’t find often and for someone to say that. Imagine if someone said those words to you? It’s just like “Wow, this is love!” and I was hoping that it would really connect with people.

It’s a different sound with the horns in there. Is that sound something you envision when you’re writing the song? Or does that come later on?

Well that one was originally done on keys & I was working with my producer, Tony and he bought the horns into it later and it really works well, I was like oh yeah, this is perfect! It sort of takes it back to the 60’s, with that retro 60’s feel. I love it.

Mate, we have to talk about this tour that you’re about to go on. 33 dates is massive! Have you started rehearsing yet?

It is a big one! I’ve got a new band, so we’ll have to start rehearsing pretty soon! We did a couple of days rehearsing for some TV stuff we had to do, so we’ve done a little bit, but these guys are great players, I’m not worried about the band at all. They’re freaks actually! We’re using a lot of samples from the album so we can get that big sound. This isn’t just throwing your drums and mic on stage, what I’m doing here is representing the album the best way I can & I can’t do that with just a normal drum kit, so we have these pads that are going to make the sound really cool!

Is there anywhere in particular you’re looking forward to visit?

Not really. I’ve been to most of them before. I always really look forward to the regional dates, because the people out there are always so appreciative that you’ve come out to play for them and they’re just there to have a great time.

Have you got plans for after the tour’s done?

Nah mate, I think I’ll just spend some time with the kids and hang out with them. I’ll be trying to do some things with them while on the tour as well, you know it’s not always easy to keep family life going while you’re away, but I’ll just be spending time with them once the tour’s done.

One Random Minute           

What did you have for breakfast this morning?

Scrambled eggs, salmon, baked beans & a bit of toast & I still haven’t cleaned up yet!

Favourite dessert?

Oh you know what I’ve been having lately, is gluten-free lamingtons with a bit of yoghurt & some strawberries

Apples or bananas?

Bananas

Tea or coffee?

Tea

Boxers or briefs?

Briefs

Summer or winter?

I like the winter… but only when the sun’s out!

Favourite super hero?

The Flash

You owned a restaurant in Byron, what was the best thing on the menu?

I did. We had it for 2 years, but we don’t have it anymore. The best thing about that was I could walk in and the chef would say to me “What would you like tonight?” and I’d just tell him to make me something special. He’d come up with these amazing meals – I don’t even know what they were, but he could do things with tuna and seafood that were just amazing. I love my seafood!

Connect with Pete Murray