Hello, my name is Jack. I am a musician and I really enjoy watching and playing football. My second album “Break Your Own Heart” came out in April this year and I have been travelling around playing it for people since then. At the moment I am playing a three week long dual residency between Thursdays at Café Lounge in Surry Hills, Sydney and Sundays at Bar Betty in Fitzroy, Melbourne. My friend Packwood is playing too.
You’ve got a track featured on the Tunes For Change CD – in which all profits go to Oz Harvest. How did you get involved in this project?
I had heard about Tunes For Change in the past because a bunch of artists I love (like Nick Cave and Leroy Lee) have donated their music to the cause, and it struck me as a great idea. Then I played a couple of shows down at Bondi Beach Open Air Cinema over the summer, which is where we met the guys behind it and got the ball rolling on our involvement.
How does it feel using your talents for worthy causes such as Tunes For Change?
It’s nice to feel like you are a part of something that is helping people! On this particular album every dollar Tunes For Change receives translates into OzHarvest getting one meal to someone who needs it. When I think about it practically like that is when I get really excited, because that is a really tangible thing that is going to make a big difference to somebody’s life. The guys and girls who organise it all are the ones who are driving it though.
Your record Break Your Own Heart was released in April, has it been received the way you expected?
I am not sure what I expected… The response has been overwhelmingly positive which I am thankful for, and it has allowed me to keep touring and meeting new people so I am really happy with the way its all been going. At the time I was writing and recording it though, it was much more of a cathartic project than a calculated attempt to make a certain type of album to be received a certain way.
The clip for your single ‘She’s Got A Boyfriend’ has also just been released. How did the ideas for the video come about?
I can’t take much credit for that one. We had been speaking to an amazing artist and director called Jefferton James (who also did the cover art for my first album “One Thousand Origami Birds”) about doing a video clip for the song, and a couple of days later we randomly ran into each other at a mutual friends party… I remember he said something like “how about we turn you into a really lame guy, who tried to turn himself into a superhero to win back the girl from his arch nemesis… there will be curtains involved”. It didn’t seem like that big of a stretch, so we went with it.
Have you got any new music in the works?
Yes! I have been writing a lot lately, both on my own and with others. The last couple of months especially I have been experimenting with electronic sounds and all sorts of weird production techniques… That’s been a really fun learning curve to be on.
Who/what are your main influences when producing new music?
I have been listening to a lot of Bright Eyes, Radiohead, Cass McCombes, Elliot Smith, The Weakerthans, The Postal service, Charles Jenkins, The Falls, Packwood, Gillian Welch, Dirty Projectors and The Rescue Ships lately… I love the music all those artists make so hopefully that shines through.
Recently you’ve played tribute shows for The Rolling Stones and Nick Drake. If you could play a tribute show for any artist who would it be?
I want to say Elliot Smith, but I feel like that has the potential to be the saddest evening ever, so I am going to go with Paul Kelly.
What has been your most memorable gig to date?
Playing at SXSW 2011 in Austin, Texas was pretty surreal. To be there amongst such an incredible cross section of artists I admire. And so was playing Woodford Folk Festival at the end of last year. My parents took me there twice as a kid and I think it really made an impression on me, I had a bit of a moment when I first got up on stage there…
If you could play any venue/festival where would it be?
I think Newport Folk Festival for all the history involved… Might even go electric for it.
The A Tale Of Two Cities Tour is about to kick off in Melbourne and Sydney. Were these places chosen as they have both have been your home at some point?
That is definitely a part of it. Both cities resonate as “home” to me on some level. But as well as that, they are both really exciting places in surprisingly different ways. The idea behind these shows was to make each one a really relaxed, fun, free gig that people would want to come back to for the duration of the residencies, Melbourne and Sydney seemed to be the best places to get that kind of thing going on.
What gigs can we catch you at next?
Thursdays the 19th and 26th of July at Café Lounge in Surry Hills, Sydney and Sundays the 22nd and 29th of July at Bar Betty in Fitzroy, Melbourne for the remainder of the “Tale Of Two Cities” residency shows.
To download Tunes For Change currents recording go to: tunesforchange.org
For more info on Jack Carty go to: www.facebook.com/jackcartymusic
