You know, there's no lack of ideas," he said. "I feel quite purposeful and as ambitious as I've ever been. He grins mischievously, briefly adopts a pensive pose and then bounces back up in his chair. So after 35 years on the road, as a man in his late 50s, is he at risk of settling down? And I think that album was the turning point, definitely." "It changed the culture of the band dramatically. It became more important for me to get the expression right. "I was really into it! But as soon as I started wanting to write about stuff I knew, the whole approach to song-writing changed. Mark Seymour: "I think we're entering a period where the national conversation has narrowed." ( ABC)įor a moment, he throws his hands around theatrically like a bombastic film director. I go out and I meet people in the room after the show. As I've gotten older I become much more interested in engaging people directly.
"Towns differ remarkably from one place to the next. Australia's just an incredibly immense place."Īnd it is the distinctly Australian characters he found along the way that inform the narratives that occupy Mayday. The longer I stretched out, the more interesting, obscure places I get myself into. He appears equally at home in the imposing stadiums of Melbourne and Sydney as he does on the long and winding roads of the outback. On the other hand, he is quick to admit that it put him in good stead for the rock and roll lifestyle. "I recognised it when I was quite young and I think I got used to it." "And I did feel at an early age that there was something dislocating about that. You made friends and then you had to walk away," he said. "We're suffering from huge inequality between the rich and poor and there are more stateless people in the world than there have ever been," he said.įor Seymour, the concept of nomadism has also played an integral part in his own personal journey.Ī son of two teachers in rural Victoria, he says his family rarely stayed anywhere longer than three years. Mayday is populated by lost Dickensian characters - a homeless man, a refugee in detention, a lonesome FIFO worker - and Seymour makes no bones about producing the record as a vehicle for social conscience. Seymour 'thrived on travel'ĭespite some of the more negative things I'm inclined to cough up, I still think that I've got plenty of more work to do. He says it describes his unease with the direction Australian society is taking. His trademark urgency is still there in the title of his ninth album, Mayday.
When the river runs dry book analysis plus#
I think we're entering a period where the national conversation has narrowed," he told Jane Hutcheon on One Plus One. And it's not necessarily related to politics. So, when the river runs dry, where does one of Australia's most beloved troubadours draw his inspiration from?Īs the famous chorus goes, it's from the scene of the crime, of course."I think Australia has entered a period of deep conservatism. He reformed the Hunters to open the 2013 AFL grand final. His anthem Throw Your Arms Around Me has been voted the second best song of all-time by Triple J listeners on three occasions.
Now, nine albums and countless tours into a divergent solo career, he practically constitutes a one-man national institution. Mark Seymour was a true veteran of the Australian rock scene before Hunters and Collectors had even disbanded.
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