Perth’s very own blues & slide guitar legend Dave Hole is closing in on the final few dates of his Australian tour in support his fantastic new album, “Goin’ Back Down”, with appearances at Queensland’s Blues On Broadbeach this coming weekend, before heading home to Perth to conclude at The Charles Hotel on 26th May. But the new album has some surprises in store for those fans expecting that customary Dave Hole sound, as Dave has tinkered (successfully I may add) with some different areas of the blues/rock genre, to come up with an album bursting with variety. The Rockpit managed to catch Dave in Melbourne for an interesting chat, not only about his new release, but also Dave’s venture into learning to use new technology, playing live and his memories of the Bindoon Rock Festival.
Sean: Hi Dave, how are you doing?
Dave: Really good thanks Sean.
Sean: Thanks for taking the time to have a talk to us here at The Rockpit. So how’s the tour been going so far?
Dave: Really good thanks. The new album has been well received so far. I’m in Melbourne at the moment, after playing a couple of shows here and some in Sydney, and then we’re off to Queensland tomorrow. All the shows are going good and to be honest I couldn’t be happier.
Sean: That must be a great feeling. The album has plenty of diversity on it and some sounds we haven’t heard on earlier albums of yours, “Arrows in the Dark” for example has a distinct 60’s sound. It’s just so different to some of your previous material.
Dave: Yes, it’s certainly a change of direction for me. And I even had some reservations about putting it on the album because it was so left-of-centre for me, but I liked the song – it was actually done as a bit of a side project. A friend of mine, Nic DiFalco, co-wrote it with me, so that’s partly why it’s a bit different. We came up with the song and I put it down in my studio, not really intending to use it on the album, but then a few people heard it and liked it so I thought I’d put it on there anyway.
Sean: The album opens with the track “Stompin’ Ground” which kicks us straight into that classic slide sound. Where were your old stomping grounds?
Dave: Well the title is a bit metaphorical because I’ve got a few (laughs). But one of the things I had in mind was some of the gigs I used to play in the early days around Perth. The White Sands, The Castle Hotel, The Raffles… all those places, they were kind of outrageous days when it was all great fun back then too. So that’s one of the things I had in mind when writing it but it also had a nod to the history of the blues. I touch on going back down south but that’s more metaphorical than literal. It’s got a nostalgic theme to it more than anything.
Sean: And the album closes with the second half of the song….
Dave: Yes, it does. It was getting a bit long (laughs). Certainly the guitar bits were getting too long, so I turned the second half of the song into an instrumental to close the album.
Sean: Can a guitar solo really ever be too long (laughs)?
Dave: Not in my view but we might be a bit biased there Sean (laughs).
Sean: Have you got a particular track that stands out for you more than others on the album?
Dave: Not particularly, no. But I do have some that I like a little better than others because I set out with this album, to make something I personally liked. I didn’t do it with any real view to what people might expect of me. That’s why “Arrows in the Dark” is on there and songs like the ballad, “Tears for no Reason” is too. It’s because I like them. I also like some songs for different reasons. So the second song “Too Little Too late” I think has the best solo guitar sound – when I hear the solo I think ‘this is good’ (laughs). The most representative track for me as an artist is “The Blues are here to Stay”, which is more typical of what I generally do, that Chicago Shuffle type blues. “Measure of a Man” I like because, again its different – it’s the one with the resonator guitar that’s mostly acoustic and the National Tricone going on throughout the song.
Sean: As well as “Tears for not Reason”, “Used to be” is another favourite of mine on there…
Dave: That’s my attempt to morph into BB King (laughs)… failed attempt I might add. But I loved trying. That was a Gibson 335 semi-acoustic I picked up there. BB played a 355 but they are the same kind of thing, so I was striving for something along the lines of what he did.
Sean: You did nearly everything yourself on this album, from producing through to mixing & engineering. I see it took almost 3 years to finish. Did you find that you felt less pressured as there was no timeframe as such, to get it recorded and released?
Dave: Some of the songs were written quite some time ago and I didn’t spend a lot of time writing them but with the freedom I had with it all going on for a while, I had the option to refine them a fair bit. I went back over a few of them and changed some lyrics that felt a bit weak. Most of the time was spent learning how to engineer the album myself and set up my home studio – that was a huge learning curve. There was probably only a few hours performance time and the rest of the 3 years was the technical stuff (laughs).
Sean: So how is the tech side now? Almost second nature?
Dave: I’m certainly no world class engineer by any stretch of the imagination (laughs). It took a while. But for most of my 9 previous albums I’ve been able to sit alongside the engineer during the mix process. So I got to know the software & protels fairly well, but when you go hands-on yourself, well that’s a different issue. It was an ongoing process and because it took 3 years there was a bit of evolution going on – every now and then some new piece of equipment would come out, so I’d get it and then then go back a re-record bits so I know I took longer than I really should have, but it was really enjoyable learning that side of the business.
Sean: We touched on the tour briefly at the beginning. Certainly festivals like Blues at Broadbeach open up a more varied age group that might get to see you play, that otherwise wouldn’t normally.
Dave: They do but I still mainly pull in the older audiences, sort of 35 upwards but certainly have noticed an increasing number of young kids – some dragged along by their parents (laughs), some are kids into guitar or just discovered blues and that’s really gratifying to see.
Sean: I certainly think blues based music is opening up to these younger audiences now, and that the Blues will always be quite a cool genre that will never die off, just reinvented from time to time.
Dave: It does change from generation to generation. If you look at your early blues players like Robert Johnson, the sounds that came off the plantations then moved through to the Chicago sound and they electrified it and that generation gave you Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf & Elmore James and probably Buddy Guy is the last of that generation. When Buddy stops playing, which I hope isn’t anytime soon, that particular style will be gone too. Then it will be down to us younger ones (laughs). And obviously you then have the likes of Joe Bonamassa too who’s doing great things.
Sean: Certainly the likes of Bonamassa have made Blues more accessible to the younger listeners.
Dave: He has. When we lost Stevie Ray (Vaughan), we lost a bit of steam there because he was dragging in guitar players at a rate of knots. Everyone wanted to be Stevie Ray. But I agree, Blues music will always be there in some shape or form.
Sean: So with ten albums under your belt is it getting harder to pick a set list for your shows?
Dave: I am finding it more difficult. I’m doing about half of the new album on this tour and then I still have 9 albums of songs to pick from – something like 120 songs – so you find it easier by selecting what to leave out. And inevitably whatever I do, someone will still come up and tell me I didn’t play their favourite (laughs). It can be a difficult decision every night.
Sean: Do you still manage to slip the odd cover song in there?
Dave: Yes I do because I love to do covers. It may sound strange, but it gets you out of yourself for a few minutes (laughs). I guess some of my songs have a similarity to them like any artist’s does, so I like to try to pick covers that are contrasting to my stuff. It also sparks things up for the band too.
Sean: Final night of the tour brings you home to Perth and The Charles Hotel on 26th May. Obviously looking forward to it?
Dave: Yes, The Charles is great and has almost a home away from home. So can’t wait to be back there in a few weeks. Always a great crowd there too.
Sean: I never thought I get to ask you this, but the first time I saw you play was at a certain weekend gathering up the road at the little town of Bindoon in 1993 & again in 1995. What were your memories of the Bindoon Rock Festivals?
Dave: Yeah, it’s a shame it’s gone because it was a great one. It dragged in international acts like Meatloaf & Canned Heat. The crowds were great too. And with it being a bit out of town it made it a bit more special because people went up and stayed the full weekend. I can’t remember exactly how many years I played there but it was quite a few and it was always great.
Sean: Any acts that you remember stood out? I remember seeing Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, Rose Tattoo & Screaming Jets to name a few.
Dave: The Screaming Jets have always been great.
Sean: They are also at Broadbeach this weekend coming funnily enough…
Dave: Yes so they are, will be good to see them. They are still a great band. And Perth’s own Jets, The Jets, they were always great to work with on something like Bindoon. I have great memories of that festival.
Sean: My final question Dave is a bit of a tough one…if you could be credited with writing any song, past or present, from any genre, what song would it be?
Dave: That is tough, so many great songs to choose from and so many ways to look at it… But as I say that, one song has come to mind and if you asked me tomorrow it might pick something else, but “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge. There’s something about that chord progression and that vocal line that is just sensational. So yes, that would be my mine.
Sean: What a great choice. And unexpected – I tried to guess and thought you’d have picked an old blues classic.
Dave: It was the first one that came to me.
Sean: On that note I’d just like to say thank you so much for your time and the fascinating insight into the new album & Blues in general. Have a great show at Blues on Broadbeach & looking forward to seeing you at The Charles Hotel in Perth in a week or so.
Dave: Make sure you come and say hi after the show. Be great to see you Sean.
Sean: Most definitely. Thanks Dave.
By Sean Bennett
