How I wrote you've been in my mind"

blues negative. I wrote this little lick to start the song off , it’s all around a D 6/7^th. Then it flows into the Em6/7 th that I call the verse. A very open chorded song with a charging latin beat. The lyric is a bit of a blues joke “I didn’t wake up this mornin’/my woman was there…”

Kind of a post punk feel in the cascading chords in the chorus. Though this is what I meant when I said the album was "west coast". I meant the latin beats, the electric 12 string  and the harmonies.

flash in the pantz. Very blocked out major chords. I asked the mistLY to play it like a real 80s song. Like the Cars or something. Muted and dampened. The chorus opens out to a  suspended and then to a  minor 7th. Jazz style chords. Song is about life on earth. Also about being a man and how we see women. "I'm a man! I do the seein' and the lookin!"

field record me. I’m asking for a bunch of super smart aliens to come and dig me! Because the people on earth ain’t! Songs verse is in Aminor and descends within that A root note. The Chorus is Em to F with a  flat 7^th. I hear this as a blues song. R&B. A BIG chorus.

we need a champion.Had this groove for ages, demoed it in 2004 and that demo is on the cd. Major chords in the verse. The chorus is D9 to Dm7 to A9 to A6/7^th. The middle 8 is B to F#. Lyrical concern is about the dearth of champions in Australian public life. the politics, what a bunch of mediocrities! Sounds very West Coast and mid seventies to me. 

I don’t wanna know myself.   Found myself reading a mag about some dork musicians “life journey” to “know himself”. This wrote itself in two minutes. What I don’t know by now - I don’t wanna know!”

Opens in A to G. Verse is in E7 to some other E and then A-G#- C#m B-A. I love those chords. 

cop this, sweetly. Demoed this in 2004, well the song didn’t have those shimmering chords at the start then. They are E to F# to A to E

The verse is Em to Am and Em to G to A

The chorus is some wide open D7sus to F7/9^th to G. Wide and suspended chords. The song title uses the Australian vernacular. 

life’s a dream. Had these opening licks for a long time. Well all the chords actually. Took ages to get the right lyric. This tripped off very sweetly, when I got them. Cmaj7 – C9 - Gmaj7- then to Dm9 to G9.

The chorus is A#maj7-Amaj7 A#maj7 and ends on Gm-Gmaj7 -G9. I reckon a lot of people could sing this song. 

playin’ chicken. This song is about playing another song of mine. The one people call “the chicken song” . Nobody knows the title. I do. Very open chords. Amaj7 to Gm in the verse then all these descending chords  around E, ending on Em7. The chorus is Em9 to dmaj7. A great disco beat in the chorus.

midnight cats. A song about the subconscious. Thoughts and emotions padding across your brain night and day. And you don’t know. The stuff that is mostly YOU.  All kinds of fruity chords in this. Wherever there's a chord, throw a flattened 5! Verse is in Dsus to a flat 5 to a Bflat5. I give up.

mt gambier night. This starts in Cm9 to Gm9 then Dm7/9 to Em9 to Gm9. Then a bunch of chords moving around an A root note then Dm9 to Em9. A song about walking around a small town which you grew up in - at night- and the darkness envelopes you and a  strange funk gets within you right to your bones.

mistral. One of my favourite songs. F3sus to B to Asus….Hell the chorus is Fm to Fsus9 to E the same way. The mistLY thought I was mad. 

I’m not the guy I tried to be. I was singing about something Willie Nelson once was reported saying as he looked through the curtains to peer at the people who were coming to see him. But I got it all wrong and wrote this instead. Its in E. Chorus is in A though. "once I had so many futures? i was furious goin' foward". 

This record is the best rock album we've ever made. And lyrically its the most straight on and concise. Just the right balance of killing language and throwaway attitude. The "throwaway" being right there in the writing too. Right through it. My "throwaway" is my best though. Most others would dream of trash that great. 

This week we are in QLD- come along to a show.

Thursday 23rd August Starcourt theatre - Lismore Book tickets here

Friday 24th August - Miami Tavern- Gold Coast, QLD

Saturday 25th - Beetle Bar- Brisbane book tickets here 

Sunday 26th August - Sol bar - Maroochydore, QLD Tickets are currently available at Solbar. Ring us for details: 07 5443 9550
Tickets are also available at: Ebony Rose & Billy Hyde Maroochydore

Thursday 30th August - Aararat Live - Vic

Saturday 1st September - Wheatsheaf Hotel - Thebarton SA

Sunday 2nd September - Wheatsheaf Hotel - Thebarton SA

Sat 15th September Westernport Hotel - San Remo

Friday 21st September - Palais- Hepburn Springs

Saturday 22nd September - NEWPORT SUBSTATION - NEWPORT book tickets here

This tour is supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria