A t the ABC Newcastle Music Awards, Bob Corbett had a night to remember. Six awards meant that he spent alot of time on stage thanking people, and looking slightly embarrassed by the attention. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.
You won six awards at the Newcastle ABC Awards and no doubt you secretly held high hopes for some. Were there any that were totally unexpected?
I don’t think anybody could have been prepared for 6 awards. It was a surreal experience. I had a good squiz at all of the entrants and their songs as I do every year, and I was convinced that the Blues and Roots award was going to Gail Paige and that the Pop award was going to Sarah Humphreys, turns out that I tied with Sarah. I was quite hopeful for ‘The Lambton Lights’ in the Folk category though. The Songwriter Recognition Award just blew my mind. With so many great songwriters in the room it was an honour to have even been mentioned.
Your speeches made reference to “a baby, two bananas and a beer”. Please describe the 24 hours prior to the awards ceremony. How did your wife react when you showed her your bundle of awards?
At 1am on the morning of the awards my wife gave birth to our second child Matilda. Kirrily had been in labour all night and her mother and I were by her side the whole time. It was an extraordinary experience. No words can describe how women can do what they do.
I got home from the hospital at 7am and had 3 hours sleep before I had to do things. I think I was so full of adrenalin and endorphins that I forgot to eat anything until it was time to go to the awards at 7pm that night. I grabbed two bananas while walking out the door. The beer came in the half time interval. I completely inhaled it. By the time I’d gotten back to my seat I was pissed. I was the cheapest drunk in the room. It wore off pretty quickly though but not before I had to accept the Pop award with Sarah. I’m glad that she did most of the talking.
Of course Kirrily was really happy for me when I told what happened at the awards. With all of the baby stuff going on, it was a couple of days after she had been home from the hospital that I remembered to show her the awards. They were stashed away so that my three-year-old son couldn’t get to the Kombi Bus Tour Award. I don’t blame him for wanting to play with it. It’s very cool.
In your thank you speeches you mentioned several ‘families’ in Newcastle and on the Central Coast. Who have been some key inspirational people in your life?
My inspirations have always come from close to home. The biggest inspiration throughout my musical journey has come from my long time colleague Dave Carter. Anyone who knows Dave will agree that he is an exceptional musician and performer. I have learnt more from Dave about live performance than I have from anyone else in this industry. The Screaming Jets also had a big impact on me and Silverchair smashed all of the limitations to bits.
In recent years I have drawn a lot of inspiration from the younger acts that are getting around. Acts like Grandvue, Jason Lowe, Sarah Humphreys, Vaudeville, Mark Wells and Morgan Evans are constantly redefining my conventions. It isn’t just musicians that inspire me though. I have been lucky to develop connections with people that share a common work ethic whether they are promoters, photographers, web designers, journalists, or sound guys. We are all trying to improve our industry and we all need each other to survive. That’s why I call them family.
Your music crosses quite a few genres, does this ever pose problems when it comes to describing your “style”?
Yes it does. It can be a mouthful explaining my folk, pop and roots music to a stranger in an elevator. I sometimes wish that I could release an album that is purely country or purely pop or whatever. Problem is that every time I try to make this type of album, I listen back to it and I get bored. I have genre ADD. It’s not all bad though. I’m glad that I don’t strive to make an album one-dimensional just so that it is easier for me to explain it to someone.
That’s why I am really happy with my album Storyboard. Although I cover a lot of ground on the album I don’t think that I am ever abandoning a common thread. I consciously used the same core instruments and recording philosophies for each song so that the album has its own timbre. This diversity in genres is also an asset when performing live. It furnishes my show with the dynamics to make it a journey.
What does winning the Newcastle ABC Awards mean to you?
It means that I am not completely deluded in thinking that my music that I write might just be OK. It means that I can justify the battles that I fight to get my music out to a wider audience. Most importantly it means that I have chosen the right path for me.
What would be your “dream come true” in terms of your music career?
My dream is to be able maintain a balance between my music and my family. My family is my music. If I can keep the food on the table and raise happy children while writing and performing my music then my dream will have come true. Recognition and success is needed for this to happen but my dreams aren’t founded on these things. Boringly pragmatic I know.
Finally, besides the ABC Awards you have also received recognition being in the top ten of the Music-Oz Awards, and your track ‘Share Crop Gone’ came 6th out of 3000 in the Australian Songwriting Contest. Where to from here? Overseas?
If an opportunity arises to go overseas then I would definitely consider it but right now my sights are firmly set on Australia. I am in such a great position to be able to use music as a means to see the country and hopefully widen my audience at the same time. Having just released ‘Storyboard’ the timing is right for me to get out there. December will see me performing seven dates in Adelaide and Melbourne. I will be heading to Western Australia, Tasmania, North NSW and Queensland in the first half of 2009.
Catch Bob Corbett at the View Factory December 7 supported by Jason Lowe.
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