Grizzly Jim Lawrie

Photo by Ian Laidlaw.

Grizzly Jim Lawrie is a talented Melbourne singer songwriter doing good things, He kindly answers my questions. He is a talent worth checking out. So read on.

http://www.grizzlyjimlawrie.com/

1. What was the inspiration behind the new single Midnight Run?

Last year seemed like a big year for rough patches(or is that every year? New Year’s Eve always echoes with “to the next being better than the last”). A few friends and I all had various situations in our lives that weren’t quite treating us right, all different but significant. It’s all about how, for some reason, it’s part of modern human nature to just stick it out rather than leave what you know isn’t good for you and its about the liberation of getting out.

2. What do you hope that will do for you?

This single is a lot more pop friendly, so I hope it’d be nice if it had a bit more of a reach than the folk country basket I’ve been put into in the past, but in the end it’s not about that, and I would just hope it gets to the people that need to hear it.

3. What has been the highlight so far?

Releasing the album last year. Our launch at the Curtin last year was heaps of fun. We had some great bands on the bill and everyone was having a great time. And we did an instore at Basement Discs in Melbourne CBD that ended up being pretty big too.

4. Why does the old bar rock so much and why should people support it?

I reckon it rocks because it’s an ‘anything goes’ kind of venue. You can be surrounded by a hundred sweaty punk kids packed to the brim and jumping around one night, and sitting on the floor listening to a line-up of great folk or acoustic songwriter stuff the next. They treat everyone with respect, and that’s why they deserve it back. It’s places like the old bar that keep Melbourne’s music scene going, by backing(sometimes at a loss) young bands who have no idea how to put on a show, that end up playing shows at the corner, or the forum or touring internationally. I reckon every band I’ve ever played in has done a show there.

5. What do you like about playing there?

I love the stage. It’s an awesome room to look at from the stage. Slightly tiered, narrow and cosy. You can see everyone who walks in and you can hear what people are ordering over the bar from the stage. It’s the sort of place you make friends in because you can’t escape just hanging out with everyone who’s there.

6. Were you happy to the responses to your album?

Yeah, I really was. I wrote a lot of the first album a long time ago, and it didn’t see the light of day until I recorded it. There’s a lot of nostalgia in it and I’m really happy with how it comes across as an album, so for it get good reviews and be popular in independent record stores, I was stoked.

7. What does it mean to connect with your fans?

For me it’s a live thing. I love it when strangers come up to me after a show and tell me they liked it… even if they don’t, sometimes you can tell if someone’s really enjoying it by how much they get lost in it. When you look up mid song and someone has lost all self-consciousness about the weird face they’re pulling at you, you know they’re engaged in what you’re doing.

8. If you could have anybody in a video clip who would it be?

My favourite film clip of all time is Paul Simon’s ‘You can call me Al.’ If DZ Deathrays hadn’t done that one with Arj Barker, I’d probably do a similar thing featuring Henry Wagons. Everybody is always wise crackin’ about how much I look like him, which, although I don’t believe this to be true, was backed up by a classic slap stick double take from a guy reading an Inpress with HW on the cover at the tram stop once… On the other hand, I’ve been a Jim Carey fan since Ace Ventura and he does awesome dramatic stuff, so he’d be pretty sweet to do some sort of heartbreaking over the top epic thing.

9. Who have you enjoyed playing with recently?

We’ve been doing this residency at the Old Bar this month, and all of the supports have been unreal. Some friends and some that we’d heard about in different ways… Big Smoke, Brave Face, Kashmere Club.really rocked out. Venice Music is an acoustic force to be reckoned with. Rob Muinos, who usually plays guitar in Saskwatch jumped up for a rare acoustic set of unreal songs in the second week and had the whole room dead silent. Another is Tully on Tully, who played our album launch last year and it was one of those “maybe we shouldn’t have booked such a good support” moment because they’re so good live. There’s so many in Melbourne at the moment that are great, it’s hard to stop…

10. What does 2013 mean to you?

I think growth and forward movement. Midnight Run is a bit of a change in direction in terms of songwriting for me and I think that’s naturally flowing into other aspects of the band and the direction we’re going in. I want to tick off a few things from the list this year, a couple of festivals I’d love the band to be a part of and recording another ablum, touring, all the good stuff.