I wrote these songs while on a car camping trip around New South Wales from October to December. NSW people were “locked in” without being able to leave the state unless you were essential or could quarantine for two weeks. I was not willing to lock myself in an Airbnb for two weeks while there was still plenty of NSW to explore. I had a tent on top of my car and camped in National Parks, State Reservations, Caravan Parks, and just by the side of the road sometimes.

The album cover is from somewhere near Coach and Horses Campground in Paroo-Darling National Park 50km east of Wilcannia. The Paakantyi and Ngiyeempaa People have traditionally made this area their home.

These songs were recorded on Kaurna Land in the Adelaide Wotso Coworking space and in the Adelaide YHA hostel.

This is the first time that I think that I’ve really had a consistent theme in my group of songs. These are all clearly about the trip. From the excitement of adventure in Hello Emu to the loneliness of Normal Nomad. And that feels significant in being a creative person. Granted, I am bummed that 2 months yielded only 4 finished songs. Oh well, life is hard.


Hello Emu

I really wanted to have a big triumphant return to my fav singing style. Big, over the top, with major harmonies stacking on top of the already mountainous notes. My last two albums (Boba Tay and Playing Animal Crossing in My Room), were instrumental, so I kind of felt like I had to check if I still had it to be able to sing like that.

A big part of my NSW adventure was to take pictures of animals endemic to Australia. I have a memory of siting in my lawn chair along some empty highway near Gunnedah and hammering out the chords while a cacophony of parrots screamed into the sunset. The next morning this Australian King Parrot was having breakfast dangling upside down from the tree. These were not emus of course, but without the capacity for language or understanding of taxonomy, I don’t think they’d mind that I chose a more rhymable bird, more identifiable Australian bird.

The problem with such big open chords (which make room for soaring vox), is that theres so much open rhymic space. This is a problem I’m likely to run into in the future. My solution was the obvious one; record drums. But without having a kit and really not being able to play drums made that difficult at the time of writing the song.

I recorded the drums from a $60 children’s drum set I found in a Vinnies (Goodwill). It was a pretty awful sounding kit, except for the kick, which was salvageable. I ended up buying some chains from Bunnings (Home Depot or Lowes) and putting one inside the snare, and dangling another off the pot lid doing its best impersonation of both a hihat and a crash. I duck taped the snare over and over to dull the horrible plastic ringing, and stuffed paper towels into the kick pedal to dampen the squeakiness.

I wanted there to be some left turns in the song, hence the jazzy bridge and choiry ending. I’m learning more about music theory and excited to apply some of the song writing techniques I’ve learned from Rick Beato, Strong Songs Podcast, Signals Music Studio, Nahre Sol, and Adam Neely into something.



Communist Cowboy (I Wish It Was The Rich)

This was mostly written the newish (2013) Warrambool State Conservation Area, 15km east of Lightning Ridge on the land of the Gamilaraay and Yuwaalaraay people. I made little instagram video of me playing the song. I wrote underneath the parched Mulga, with a fly net around my head, swatting the occasional biting flies, moving from pick, to pen, to fly.

The song is a comparison of the physical violence that's apparent when you’re driving, to the physical violence of the capitalist financial system. The bloody bodies of kangaroos and wombats mirror the many people who suffer under ownership class. Recognizing my privilege as someone who has the financial capacity to take 2 months off during a global pandemic, moving along the roads that scar the land allows me the reflection that MOST people do not get to do this. Everyone should have the opportunity to do this. From the violent past and present actions towards the Traditional Land owners (in Australia and America), to minimum wages that sit below livable wages, to the idea that someone who does no work but owns the means of production is allowed not only to exist but celebrated in this culture, freedom cannot exist in a capitalist system. So a cathartic release is to simply state that I wish that battered bodies lining the road were those of the rich. It’s Johnny Cash meets Mad Max.



Normal Nomad (Might Not Be Better)

Written near Lithgow, on the land of the Wiradjuri Aboriginal Australians, I camped at a wonderful free campsite at Lake Wallace. Apparently Charles Darwin hung out around here while writing The Voyage of the Beagle. This song is mostly a true story.



A Lighter Roast

Featuring Beth Wakeling @bethfannywakeling

This is a love song that happily ended up as a duet. When you’re camping for an indefinite duration and destination, you meet a lot of people doing the same. Some of those people are couples. MAYBE I’m a little bit jealous, I DON’T KNOW. But it seems nice to have someone to do everything with.

I was really excited to take some of the Bossa Nova, jazzy chords I learned while making the Playing Animal Crossing in My Room album and make my own song. This is basically half the chord progression from 2am (Wild World), sped up into a Bossa Nova style. I was listening to a lot of Jimmy Rosenburg and thinking about how to make a jazzy shred solo and after a couple rewrites I’m really happy with the solo.

The wonderful Beth Wakeling sings counter to me, coming down to my make-shift phone booth turned recording studio to drink ciders and learn my silly little songs. Thank you Beth.