Project Description

Interview with
KEV CARMODY

Interviewer – Simone Tyrrell

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“CANNOT BUY MY SOUL”
The Songs Of
KEV CARMODY

OUT NOW – STREAM/DOWNLOAD HERE

42 TRACKS INCLUDING COURTNEY BARNETT, KASEY CHAMBERS
& JIMMY BARNES, MO’JU, TRIALS & BIRDZ, KATE MILLER-HEIDKE,
ALICE SKYE AND ELECTRIC FIELDS, ARCHIE ROACH, PAUL KELLY

News Feature HERE

Kev Carmody is the keeper of story, the teller of truth; may his words be forever carried on our voices and may his spirit dwell always in our souls.’ – Stan Grant

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Simone:
Hi Kev. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me today.
Kev:
My pleasure and thank you.

Simone:
Well first off, I would like to say congratulations for the re-release of your album “Can Not Buy My Soul”.  You’ve got some amazing artists featured on the album and some fantastic collaborations on your songs.
Kev:
Thank you.

Simone:
You’ve got people like Jimmy Barnes, Kasey Chambers, Courtney Barnett, Kate Miller Heidke, Missy Higgins and so many others. How did the collaboration with all these artists come about?
Kev:
I’ll tell you what Simone, it was just like the first one, I had absolutely nothing to do with it! (both laugh). The first one was Paul Kelly and he did start it off with everyone – Tex Perkins and Johnny Butler, Missy Higgins because they wanted to contribute. And this one was his partner Sian, and she said there is just so many people who do really different versions of your songs, would you mind if you let them do it. I said yeah let them go because from my Aboriginal history and background, music is to be shared. Everybody is the custodian of the music, so it was a terrific thing with these young ones with Courtney Barnett and the big one with Casey with Jimmy doing a duet I thought, country music and hard rock Simone, is that going to work? (Kev laughs). And it becomes a completely different version and it becomes their song. Have you seen the videos yet? Because in my whole life I just refuse to do videos. Music has to stand by itself. I’m not worried about getting up on stage and going on. Have you seen those videos?

Simone:
Yeah I have. The question I was actually going to ask you next was about that, as I’ve listened to the first two singles Black Bess with Kasey Chambers and Jimmy Barnes and as you said such a fantastic mix of two different styles of genres and the voices coming together it brings about a whole new sound and meaning to it. I also listened to Rider in the Rain with Mo Ju and Birdz. And oh my gosh!
Kev:
Oh wasn’t that something Simone! That song to me, I did that, and I thought I don’t know if this will be a bit too far out. I felt the whole of society, we’re on this big conveyor belt and it’s all driven by this biblical thing. The “bib-lay” I call it. The “bib-lay” is mammoth. And we can’t get off this conveyor belt. We just have to find a way as homosapien’s to alter that conveyor belt. We got to get in charge of the whole thing instead of politicians and Wall Street. We can do it Simone! We can do it!

Simone:
Absolutely! The power of the people!
Kev:
Yeah let’s give it a go! It’s given me a real boost these young ones.

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Simone:
It’s fantastic, and I was going to say to you, other than it giving the songs a new lease of life and the artists certainly make it their own. I also really loved the continuity of the artwork on the video clips. The video clips of those two songs. Can you tell me a bit about the artwork that went with that? Particularly Moju and Birdz it has the lyrics come up on the vision as well so that way people can really understand the message of the song.
Kev:
I haven’t seen that one yet!

Simone:
Oh haven’t you? You’ll have to watch it! (both laugh)
Kev:
I’ve been so busy! I was so proud of young Alice Skye. That video is just beautiful. And Sian put that together. But the other one too with Courtney, she’s in her bedroom with her dog! And those young women make me so proud instead of the hot pants (Simone laughs) and the flaming carry on with videos!

Simone:
Yes, it’s a very beautiful, honest, stripped back, very natural. I love Courtney’s version of it. It’s like that style of music where you speak the lyrics as opposed to singing. It’s a very different style but it gives such a heartfelt meaning to that song. I found it beautiful.
Kev:
You’re dead right. And you feel so proud of them as young women. It’s so powerful with that minimalist, that’s what I call it. It’s minimalist in one way but it’s just so powerful in another way. And with her dog in it, being from a droven background we’ve always had our old friends the dogs. It really meant something.

Simone:
I just also wanted to say your songs are so heartfelt and so personal which in turn gives an insight into the Indigenous history and it makes your songs timeless. The reason I say that is I saw a recent protest, I saw a picture of a woman holding a placard saying – “I’m in my 60’s and I’m still fighting this shit”. (Kev laughs)
Kev:
(laughing) a lot of protests that I went to, I found back in the 1980’s I found that I was doing about  55% or 60% of my playing was done for protests. Driving the car down, we’ve got a protest happening here, painted up the placards and away we go. We just did so bloody much of it. It’s fantastic to see that people still feel that’s the way of getting the message across. The T.V. and the media take flaming notice of them.

Simone:
Yes. And I was going to say do you feel that’s why your songs are so timeless and are so important to our current generation as well as upcoming generations? Because the issues are still relevant and still valid, we’re still fighting for this change. It’s just incredible.
Kev:
Simone you are so spot on! That’s the disconcerting part. Even though there’s so much massive positivity, those fights 40 or 50 years ago are still bloody relevant today. We look at deaths in custody, no bugger has been charged. We’re catching up but there’s still huge gaps to be addressed. And not only in our culture but the whole of society and economics, that’s causing a lot of the problem. Again, as people we have to address that and redefine democracy. It’s a bloody globalized corporation democracy.

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Simone:
Yep definitely. I just want to touch on the last album that you had. It was actually a really massive undertaking, your Album “Recollections Reflections (A Journey)” (Kev laughs) it’s a 4 CD box set – 41 songs!! Which is epic! It was songs from your back catalogue as well as songs that were never released. As I’ve read from different bits and pieces things that were scribbled notes, things that never came about, songs that hadn’t been finished. What was that journey like with that project and getting it all to come together, because it was actually huge?
Kev:
It was Simone. And the thing was my sound engineer Andy Meyer, he lives about 20 odd kilometers away. He set up this tiny little studio in a massive dis-used fruit packing shed where he rented a house with a big old fruit packing shed. A massive area. It had junk everywhere in it. But that’s where I flaming recorded it. He’d say “what about some of those old songs with Paul Kelly” when he comes up to stay, he used to say “what about all those flaming songs you’ve got in that box” (Simone laughs). Some of those things I wrote late back in the 1960’s. A song called “Home Town” the old hillbilly type sound. There’s such a spread of music genres in there. Andy was like just whack them all on these 4 damn CD’s and we’ll see what happens. The family was saying at least it’s a historical record of all your music. Let’s just put it down. I did everything virtually in one take. I didn’t rehearse, I just walked in, put the earphones on and Andy set the tape to go and I just played along to it and if it worked it worked.

Simone:
Wow.
Kev:
I love that concept of; a bit like improvisation, I love that with a crazy idea you just did it.

Simone:
Very raw and very real. It’s great to rehearse and everything of course and to get things really polished, but when you can just walk in, press record and have it done, it’s such a more pure and raw experience, I think.
Kev:
You’re dead right. We recorded so much of our own stuff, because Andy is a drummer. We banged on old tins, we banged on drums, we banged on lumps of wood, we made up our own sort of instruments; just to show the young ones you don’t need thousand dollar guitars and bloody amplifiers. You can work around the sound. We just put a microphone out before daylight and recorded the bird sounds. Just the natural world. To me that sound is like what music is.

Simone:
Definitely. And another creative collaboration that you have been involved in during your career was assisting writing the musical score for the Australian Film “One Night the Moon” in 2001. What was the process like writing for the screen and how did you find it different to your usual way of writing?
Kev:
Oh look Simone we turned Hollywood on its head! Because what happened was the Hannan sisters, Mairead and Deirdre and Paul Kelly and myself, we knew the story. It was a true story. It was about an old tracker from New South Wales. Old tracker Riley. We knew the story. So, we actually put the music soundtrack down as the script was being written, it was being written from the soundtrack virtually. We virtually did the soundtrack first. Whereas in Hollywood they do it the other way round. That’s why that song “Moonstruck” I did that virtually on the spot. I had the guitar finished in my head. I don’t record stuff; I keep stuff in my head. I thought geez this will fit. With grandma, old Aboriginal grandma, she used to say “hey you boys”, when we were being rough, “hey knock it off, hey c’mon you boys, you gotta be gentle like moonlight on your skin. Moonlight. Really soft”. And I thought that was the song you know.

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Simone:
That’s so beautiful.
Kev:
I had the little guitar piece, just a very simple little guitar piece that you can play solo, that was the main thing, because I never played with a band.

Simone:
That’s pretty amazing. I love that story and how that came about because as you said it’s not a traditional way that it’s normally done. Very special.
Kev:
Then there’s this one song called “This Land is Mine”, and Paul said right, I’ll take the non-indigenous side, I’ll write that bit, and again we wrote that fairly quickly. I took the Aboriginal side, my own indigenous side and I wrote this land is mine, and then no it’s not it’s mine. And it was like two fellas arguing over a fence, arguing over the back fence. (both Kev and Simone laugh). And to have Mairead Hannan; Mairead is just a whizz on composition and theory and she’s a great violin player and fiddle player as well. It was an absolute buzz doing that, and of course people recognised it because it won a flaming award, best soundtrack for the year.

Simone:
Yeah, I read it got 10 different awards and two of them were part of the AFI awards.
Kev:
Well that’s right. And all of those songs I did are still flaming relevant.

Simone:
Absolutely. I just also wanted to say your songs and your work have received some fantastic recognition and awards from being inducted into the ARIA hall of fame, receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Southern Queensland, you were the recipient of the Jimmy Little Award for lifetime achievement in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music and many others. You write from the heart and tell stories of your experiences and history. What has it been like over the years to be recognised for your talent and your songs with these awards?
Kev:
It amazes me Simone that’s the damn thing. I won the Helpmann Award and went “bloody hell what’s this?” (Simone laughs) You gotta come down to Melbourne. Alright alright. So away I go. There is a song from that “One Night the Moon” that Paul and I were writing something and he said what do you think about the medals and stuff that the old tracker they awarded him years and years after he found the solution to this little child that was lost, they gave him medals and stuff. He said oh geez just a bloody swag full of nothing. All these awards and everything are great. Yeah they’re great but the swag is still empty! (Kev and Simone laugh)

Simone:
I read one of your quotes after you got the ARIA award where you said that you’ve been inducted for the least amount of albums sold. (Simone and Kev laughs)
Kev:
Oh yeah and I can see a lot of people in the recording industry all sitting in the front row there, looking at me and going “hmmm and very very creative accounting!” (Kev and Simone laugh)

Simone:
I actually think that’s a really good testament about you being in the ARIA Hall of Fame. Like you said before about all the money and the commercial side of things, that isn’t something that’s just necessarily looked at. Your contributions to the music industry, your contributions to Australian music, Indigenous music, all the other things you have contributed to as well. I think it is a testament to say that the Hall of Fame doesn’t just look at sales and money and who sold the most.
Kev:
Thank goodness.

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Simone:
I think it’s a real honour to have your work recognised in other forms other than financial.
Kev:
You’re dead right. You’re absolutely dead right. Don’t forget I knew the stuff I make and write it would never ever ever exist or be played on commercial radio where they advertise stuff. No way. Before I recorded, I used to just walk down to Queensland University and they had the AAA Maori hour, black fellas station for one hour, and you used to just walk in with your guitar and have a yarn to on mic and then play a song and record it. They’d send it down to radio Redfern in Brisbane, then they’d send it to RRR in Melbourne, then they’d send it up to Broome or somewhere or over to Fremantle and that was for years and years I was doing that with different songs for years before I ever recorded officially in 1988. From about 1981 onwards I was just walking down to the studio with my guitar and playing live.

Simone:
That’s amazing. What an absolute fantastic story.
Kev:
Community radio really really helped me. Community radio. Without communication all over Australia, commercial radio certainly wouldn’t play us at all.

Simone:
What an absolutely fantastic journey you’ve had with your music career over the decades. It’s amazing. Congratulations on the new re-release but everything you’ve done, it’s an absolute testament of your talent and your longevity in the industry. It’s been wonderful to hear about it.
Kev:
Oh Simone you’ve fired me up now. (Simone laughs)  I’ve gotta start getting the fingers back on the guitar and playing the guitar!

Simone:
(laughing) Excellent. I’m glad I could be an inspiration and get those fires burning (laughs).
Kev:
I’ve gotta get to Melbourne. I just really think about you poor fellas in the lockdown. I’ve gotta come down and play a little country town or something. Castlemaine somewhere or something like that.

Simone:
Once we’re out of stage 4 lockdown I’d love to be able to come and see you live and play in a country town when I’m allowed to travel more than 5km from home (laughs) I would love it. I’d love to see you live. But thank you for talking to me today.
Kev:
We’re thinking of you in our little part of the bush.

Simone:
Well I can’t wait to see you in Castlemaine if that’s where you’re going to go. I’ll definitely make the trip. Thank you again for talking to me today, it’s been an absolute pleasure and to get an insight of your work and to learn more about your music. Hope you have a fantastic rest of the day.
Kev:
Thank you so much Simone for your input and don’t forget it’s your work that disseminates all our flaming stuff around the place. So, for that we can do it together. I’ll play the music and you can do the writing and broadcasting.

Simone:
That sounds great to me.
Kev:
We’re in it together mate.

Simone:
Absolutely. Thanks so much Kev. And I really do hope that we get to see you sometime soon.
Kev:
Ok. Go safe and we’re thinking of you.

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Follow KEV CARMODY
Website – Facebook

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KEV CARMODY
‘CANNOT BUY MY SOUL’
2020 – TRACK LISTING

CD

DISC 1

Black Bess – Kasey Chambers, Jimmy Barnes
Rider In The Rain 2020 – Mo’Ju, Trials, Birdz
Blue You – Alice Skye
From Little Things Big Things Grow – Electric Fields
Blood Red Rose – Kate Miller-Heidke
Just For You – Courtney Barnett
Black Bess – Kev Carmody
Rider In The Rain – Kev Carmody
Blue You – Kev Carmody with Andy White and Liam O’Maonlai
From Little Things Big Things Grow – Kev Carmody with Paul Kelly Tiddas Blood Red Rose – Kev Carmody
Just For You – Kev Carmody

DISC 2

I’ve Been Moved – Dan Kelly
Thou Shalt Not Steal – John Butler
Elly – Bernard Fanning
The Young Dancer Is Dead – The Last Kinection
From Little Things Big Things Grow – The Waifs
River Of Tears – The Drones
On The Wire – Troy Cassar-Daley
Cannot Buy My Soul – Archie Roach
Moonstruck – Sara Storer
This Land Is Mine – Dan Sultan
Darkside – Tex Perkins
Blood Red Rose – Clare Bowditch
Comrade Jesus Christ – The Herd
Images of London – Steve Kilbey
Droving Woman – Augie March, Paul Kelly and Missy Higgins
Eulogy For A Black Person – Pigram Brothers

DISC 3

I’ve Been Moved – Kev Carmody
Thou Shalt Not Steal – Kev Carmody
Elly – Kev Carmody
The Young Dancer Is Dead – Kev Carmody
From Little Things Big Things Grow – Kev Carmody with Paul Kelly
Tiddas River Of Tears – Kev Carmody
On The Wire – Kev Carmody
Cannot Buy My Soul – Kev Carmody
Moonstruck – Kev Carmody
This Land Is Mine – Kev Carmody with Paul Kelly
Kelton Pell Darkside – Kev Carmody
Blood Red Rose – Kev Carmody
Comrade Jesus Christ – Kev Carmody
Images of London – Kev Carmody
Droving Woman – Kev Carmody
Eulogy For A Black Person – Kev Carmody

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DIGITAL

DISC 1

Black Bess – Kasey Chambers, Jimmy Barnes
Rider In The Rain 2020 – Mo’Ju, Trials, Birdz
Blue You – Alice Skye
From Little Things Big Things Grow – Electric Fields
Blood Red Rose – Kate Miller-Heidke
Just For You – Courtney Barnett
I’ve Been Moved – Dan Kelly
Thou Shalt Not Steal – John Butler
Elly – Bernard Fanning
The Young Dancer Is Dead – The Last Kinection
From Little Things Big Things Grow – The Waifs
River Of Tears – The Drones
On The Wire – Troy Cassar-Daley
Cannot Buy My Soul – Archie Roach
Moonstruck – Sara Storer
This Land Is Mine – Dan Sultan
Darkside – Tex Perkins
Blood Red Rose – Clare Bowditch
Comrade Jesus Christ – The Herd
Images of London – Steve Kilbey
Droving Woman – Augie March, Paul Kelly and Missy Higgins
Eulogy For A Black Person – Pigram Brothers

DISC 2

Black Bess – Kev Carmody
Rider In The Rain – Kev Carmody
Blue You – Kev Carmody
From Little Things Big Things Grow – Kev Carmody with Paul Kelly
Tiddas Blood Red Rose – Kev Carmody
Just For You – Kev Carmody
I’ve Been Moved – Kev Carmody
Thou Shalt Not Steal – Kev Carmody
Elly – Kev Carmody
The Young Dancer Is Dead – Kev Carmody
River Of Tears – Kev Carmody
On The Wire – Kev Carmody
Cannot Buy My Soul – Kev Carmody
Moonstruck – Kev Carmody
This Land Is Mine – Kev Carmody with Paul Kelly
Kelton Pell Darkside – Kev Carmody
Comrade Jesus Christ – Kev Carmody
Images of London – Kev Carmody
Droving Woman – Kev Carmody
Eulogy For A Black Person – Kev Carmody

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VINYL

DISC 1 SIDE A

Black Bess – Kasey Chambers, Jimmy Barnes
Rider In The Rain 2020 – Mo’Ju, Trials, Birdz
Blue You – Alice Skye
From Little Things Big Things Grow – Electric Fields
Just For You – Courtney Barnett

SIDE B

Blood Red Rose – Kate Miller-Heidke
I’ve Been Moved – Dan Kelly
Thou Shalt Not Steal – John Butler
Elly – Bernard Fanning
The Young Dancer Is Dead – The Last Kinection

DISC 2

SIDE C

River Of Tears – The Drones
On The Wire – Troy Cassar-Daley
Moonstruck – Sara Storer
This Land Is Mine – Dan Sultan
Darkside – Tex Perkins

SIDE D

Cannot Buy My Soul – Archie Roach
Comrade Jesus Christ – The Herd
Droving Woman – Augie March, Paul Kelly and Missy Higgins
Eulogy For A Black Person – Pigram Brothers

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AMNPLIFY – DB