THE RETORN OF THE WARRATAHS

Rip It Up, Issue 144, 1 July 1989, Page 12

THE RETORN OF THE WARRATAHS

IfSunday is a day of rest for working musiciansit’s because Saturday is a day of work. After the Warratah'’s Gluepot gigs and a South Auckland dine and dance, it’s now late Sunday morning and Warratahs’ vocalist Barry Saunders says “No” toabeer (true!) and we talk turkey over mud-thick coffee. :

~ lf'sbeen 18 months since the Warratahs waltzed on fo the recording scene with the infectious ‘Hands of My Heart' single and their album The Only Game in Town. But these guys have not beenssitting around— the band have played Australia’s Tamworth Country Music Festival (400 km north of Sydney) and Barry visited America’s best known country music town, Nashville Waltzing Matilda How was Tamworth? “Isaw a couple of good comedians, the last thing you'd expect to see at a country music festival. Tamworth used to be agood butnow it’s the - placefor every meat-head. “The positive side is that nobody

knows you so it’s up to you to prove you’ve got songs and can entertain. We played in pubs so they’re looking away from you when you start — they’re more concerned with drinking.” ‘

Does Australia have its own country and western culture? “There is no country music like ourswhich is based on Hawaiian sounding country —in Australia country is mainly bush ballads.” The Warratahs found their seeking out aspecifically country audience a futile adventure. :

“I'm glad we did it but we wouldn’t bother again. We’re into playing what we play to a mainstream audience that would go and see any - band.” Nexttime the band plays

Australia it will be inner city pubs not outin the sticks. God and Country ‘Afew years back Robert Altman directed his piss-take big-screen soap Nashville which earned the ire of many fans with its lightly veiled digs at country greats such as Loretta Lynn. - Dolly Parton, who refused to see the film, told reporters in New Zealand, “Loretta may have had tough times but she’s not crazy. Hollywood peopledonot - understand Nashville.” For the truth about Nashville and the true Loretta Lynn story, you're better off watching the superb Coalminer’s Daughter (it’s on video —and Lorettashowshowtobea grandmother by the time you're 27, . Better still, Barry Saunders went - Nashville himself — “for a holiday and to take some songs and play them to people.” He soon found out that music wasn'’t this city’s primary industry. “Printing Bibles is — it’s a printing town. It’s smaller than Christchurch;, very pretty and essentially a business

town. I thought it was all going to be jumpin’ bars and people swinging each other around wildly, but most people were quite conservative. - “The radio suprised me the most — it was almost as though country was chasing the pop business. You don’t hear much country on the radio.”

Did you see any hot bands? “We saw an amazing all-woman band called Wild Rose. There’s

probably lots going on in Nashville ‘but you'd need to hang around for awhile. Imet Bill Monro, theman who wrote ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky’. The band called him up on stage and heplayed ‘Blue Moon’ as a waltzona mandolin.” People come to Nashville to record because it’s got studios, musicians and songs. The song publishers of Nashville are legendary. “The greatest thing about an American song publisher is they

work like fuck. You leave them a tape and you go back three days later and they know it all. Picking up a song is so important to them you can tell they’ve listened to it three or four times.

“The American way is that everybody is friendly and nice for an end result. It’s a great way to do business. People are friendly to you because you may go away and write ‘lslands in the Stream’ that afternoon. They take writers and songs very seriously. They know good writers and songs are worth a shit load of money to them. “Publishers liked the songs. Most of the time they said it was great but itsounded old-fashioned. One company came close to taking us. - They were very keenand we had lots of correspondence.” But how does a Warratahs hit like ‘Only Game in Town'’ differ from a Randy Travis song? . “It'salot straighter. The sort of songs Randy records have to be done acertain way — in a crossover style. I think at the moment they’re looking for country songs with something

else to them. The further away from country it gets, the more stupid it sounds to me. I think they may end upalienating people and then come back to straight country songs.” Isa singer like Dwight Yoakam an exception to the rule? “Yes, he’s popular and his songs and musicians are traditional

sounding. People say he’s been put together by an ad agency but when you listen to his albums, his songs hang together well.” Would you like the Warratahs to record in Nashville?

“Not really. Some people think we should go up-marketbut I'm happy with the way we record now. I wouldn’t mind trying something else atsome stage but I don’t know about Nashville. I'd sooner give my money to a New Zealand studio.”

Take Me Home " The conversation drifts to parochial references in lyrics. There was talk of Warratahs recording the old Wayne Mason rock and roll song ‘Going Back to Otaki’. “Itjust won’t work as a country song. References to New Zealand are not something I crusade for — I canonly write about what is

relevant. We have awaltz ‘Taranaki’ on the new album —lgrew up there until I was nine. I love the place and it'sa great sounding name — better than ‘St Louis’. “Asyou go down south, people

tend to write more about the country. I like that sort of thing,” Have you been able to cover any old NZ songs? “No, most of our covers are American standards. A lot of the coverable NZ hits are novelty songs, soldon’t bother. I heard a lovely song by Cole Wilson, singing about Southland, written when he was in the war in Papua New Guinea.” Any new tricks on the new album, Too Hot to Sleep? ‘ “The second one might be alittle more country than the first, a bit more waltz, but Idon’t think the approach is any different.” Two of the standout tracks on the album are Barry’s compositions, the first single ‘St Peter’s Rendezvous’ and... “Nothin’ Ever Happens Round Here’ is my favourite — it’s about when I'was in Wellington going - through a difficult petiod —a time whenyou look at yourself, rather than blame your surroundings.” The Warratahs’ are planning a national tour in August and later in the year they are off to do dates in Sydney. ' So don’t miss Barry (“I'm not keen ondrinking or trucker songs”) Saunders and the lads with their own style of cool country music, when they play a drinking establishment near you. :

MURRAY CAMMICK

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