Some of the iconic sounds of the last four decades have involved wonderful keyboards & early synthesizers. From The Doors & The Animals to Procol Harum & Deep Purple and to more modern bands like Dutch psychedelic rockers DeWolff, the Hammond organ and various other keyed instruments have left their mark and continue to do so. Australian Hammond player Lachy Doley released his latest album ‘Make or Break’ earlier this year under the guise The Lachy Doley Group and it is already a contender for one of my top five Australian albums of 2019. The magic is not just the wonderful diversity of the tracks on the album but the incredible guitar work for all to hear – what is so special about these guitars that set this aside from other rock & blues albums, I hear you ask? Well, the main factor is that not a single guitar, other than a bass, strayed within 20 meters of the recording studio as the wonderful sounds are from Doley’s incredible Whammy Clavinet. The Rockpit managed to talk to Lachy about ‘Make or Break’, the marvel that is the whammy clav and almost meeting Jon Lord…
Sean: Hey Lachy, how are you doing?
Lachy: Good thanks Sean. I’m having a rare day off, so getting some work done and hanging out.
Sean: I won’t keep you too long as it’s your day off but we need to talk about this wonderful album you’ve released this year, ‘Make or Break’. It’s fantastic stuff.
Lachy: Thanks so much. I’m glad you like it.
Sean: I’ve been sharing this all over the socials and everyone says the same thing I first did, “Who’s playing the guitar?” And then I show them the live video version of ‘A Woman’ and they just can’t believe that sound is coming from you and that incredible whammy clavinet – it’s just magical.
Lachy: It sure is and it’s so much fun to play.
Sean: So how long have you been playing it?
Lachy: I think I got my hands on it around 2012 when ‘SOS’ came out so I’d only really been playing it for around three months when I played it on that album. It just seemed to come really naturally, really fast. It’s just been getting better and I’ve been more at ease with it ever since really. I’m discovering more things that I can do with it -it’s wild.
Sean: The album is full of fantastic tracks – I could run through every single one of them, that’s how much I’ve enjoyed them. We are just over halfway through the year already and here at The Rockpit we have been sent in some wonderful albums but for me this one is going to take some beating.
Lachy: Wow, that’s awesome. Thank you.
Sean: I love the funky feel in songs like ‘The Strut’ & ‘Cruel Cruel World’ and then there’s a bit of Motown and a bit of soul & blues… The album closer ‘Can’t Get Close to You’ is an incredible track – about three minutes thirty seconds in there is this wonderful Joe Cocker Hammond organ reminiscent of ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’ – the crescendo that builds holds so much power & punch…
Lachy: We’ve had some great feedback about that track and it seems to be doing really well. It’s funny you should pick that one though because for me it never felt like it was one of my favourites I’d written for the album & I certainly didn’t feel that it was the strongest one. But when we recorded it, it just came out so well and I have received such a positive response from that song – I’ve had positive feedback for so many different songs coming from different audiences but certainly on the streaming platforms like Spotify & Apple Music ‘Can’t Get Close to You’ has done really well.
Sean: Another track I have to mention is ‘The Greatest Blues’ which is such a classic blues track with wonderful guitar work but without a guitar [laughs]
Lachy: [laughs] I know its cool right? On the record I just got such a great sound out of the whammy clav. I had two amps going, one of which was feeding back into the clav at the same time. It just came back with this magical sound. A lot of people are unconvinced that it isn’t a proper guitar [laughs]
Sean: It’s only the fact you have released these video clips of you and the band performing these songs live that I now know it definitely isn’t a guitar. For a three piece, you guys get such a big sound. Jackie (Barnes) seems to be the hottest of drum properties in the country right now, working not only in your band but his dad’s also as well as with Angry and the boys in Rose Tattoo.
Lachy: He was with us last night then has flown to WA today to play with Rose Tattoo tonight and then he flies back to Melbourne tomorrow to be back with us again and gets back about an hour before we hit the stage tomorrow night. So let’s hope it all works out [laughs]
Sean: I don’t know much about the third member of the band, Joel Burton who plays bass. What can you tell me about Joel?
Lachy: Joel’s an incredible bass player from Sydney. He’s played with a heap of acts and he has his own band called Tenderfoot and they released an album last year. He’s always working and is just an incredible player so it’s been great having him on-board – he absolutely smashed it on the album.
Sean: As with a lot of artists, like yourself, I haven’t heard your previous work so I’m really looking forward to travelling back through your back catalogue and hearing how and if you’ve changed much over the years.
Lachy: Oh man, you’ve got a lot of good times ahead of you [laughs]. ‘SOS’ was a great album, as was ‘Conviction’ and then there is ‘Lovelight’ which is my least favourite and then ‘Make or Break’ which I feel is a step back in the right direction and in my opinion the best one. It will be interesting to see what you think.
Sean: I’ll let you know. While I was researching for our chat your name kept popping up linked with other musicians that I have interviewed this year – one of those was Russell Morris and I found that you & your brother (Clayton) had played in the backing band with Russell when he was inducted into ‘The Hall of Fame’.
Lachy: [Laughs] You will find me & my brother pop up in a lot of places in the last twenty years.
Sean: You have played with some fantastic musicians though – I remember the first time I saw you play live was during Glenn Hughes’s most recent tour… I was blown away by your energy but it also brought home just how important that Hammond organ sound was to that era – Songs like ‘Burn’ & ‘Highway Star’ were just incredible to hear live that night.
Lachy: Absolutely, all that Purple stuff doesn’t sound anything like Purple if you take the organ out.
Sean: Not only to get to play those momentous tracks but to do it alongside Glenn Hughes must be a bit special.
Lachy: It is incredible. He’s an amazing guy. He’s ageless. He puts any young cat to shame with the amount he puts out on stage – amazing. His voice is just better than it’s ever been.
Sean: Then I realised I’d seen you for a second time live and that was only this year, playing with Jimmy Barnes at Sandleford’s during the Red Hot Summer Tour. What an incredible set that was…
Lachy: Yeah, that’s a powerful band that Jimmy has there. It’s a relentless show and Jimmy is such a powerhouse.
READ REVIEW OF ‘MAKE OR BREAK’
Sean: So, if we have time I’d love to talk to you about where & when it all started for you?
Lachy: Well, I grew up in Adelaide. My mum was going out with a blues guitar player and he kind of exposed me and my brother to blues music. We had a piano in the house so we both started jamming along with these blues records that we had – Muddy Waters & Elmore James… all this cool stuff that we tried to mimic all the great piano players and from there we both discovered the organ and went on from there. Clayton moved to Sydney eventually, he’s about four years older than me and then I followed about four years later. We did a kind of bunch of stuff together and then we went our separate ways & honed our different skills that way.
Sean: So when did you first band come together?
Lachy: We had a sort of band in High School and we used to jam during lunchtimes, which was fun. I started working in a Blues Brothers cover band at the age of fifteen back in Adelaide and we played Thursday, Friday & Saturday nights, even though I was still at school then.
Sean: I picked a bit of Blues Brothers feel in ‘The Strut’ on ‘Make or Break’.
Lachy: Yeah those horns really bring that feel. They sound great.
Sean: So, you are only my second ever keyboard player that I’ve interviewed. I chatted to the guy from the Dutch band DeWolff last year.
Lachy: Robin Piso. We have yet to meet.
Sean: Funny thing Robin said was that he originally started learning the recorder which was so easy to carry around. He then ended up playing the Hammond organ which is the heaviest instrument in the band and they all have to drag it around Europe in their touring van [laughs]
Lachy: [laughs] Yeah they aren’t the lightest of things.
Sean: So what other instruments do you have in your arsenal?
Lachy: It’s really only the Hammond & whammy clav when I’m touring… not saying I wouldn’t like more [laughs]. That’s all I can physically carry. But at home I do have more – I have three clavs but without the whammy bar and a mini moog, which is the first kind of commercial synthesizer that was made in the 70’s. It’s an incredible sounding instrument – it’s on millions of recordings. In fact, they are just about to reissue it & remake it to spec but I have one of the original ones… it’s such an incredible thing. Unfortunately, I’ve had to sell a bunch of stuff over the years just to keep the Lachy Doley Group going really but I’ve always hoped that I can buy some better ones down the track one day.
Sean: Well, this album is just another example of the strength of Australian music right now. You are touring extensively around Europe & US this year.
Lachy: Yes, the amount of talent in this country is crazy and I think the world is finally catching on, you know. Certainly in my case, if it wasn’t for the internet I wouldn’t be travelling around doing these gigs in Europe, Canada and the like. That’s happening on a big scale – these wonderful bands in Australia are finally getting some recognition.
Sean: Bands like Massive & Dead City Ruins are becoming regular visitors to Europe which is great to see.
Lachy: It is and long may it continue.
Sean: You’ve been touring the album but we haven’t got to see you over here in WA. Can we expect you anytime soon?
Lachy: We love playing over there so hopefully we can get something sorted before the end of the year. Perth is a tricky one – it’s almost like flying international [laughs]. That’s one of things about being a Hammond player…because the gear is so massive either I have to drive it there or I have to have someone drive it for me and it becomes so expensive.
Sean: It makes it all the more worthwhile when you artists do come over. Just changing the subject slightly if, when we hung up this call, your phone rang and on the other end was a musician or songwriter asking to collaborate with you, who would you hope it would be?
Lachy: There’s so many… Someone who comes to mind is Stevie Winwood. I think he’s amazing. I love all the work he had done over the years. He’s such an incredible singer & organ player so I would love to do something with him. Don’t know if you know Cory Henry? He’s probably someone I rate as the best keyboard player in the world. Everything he does is just mind blowing.
Sean: Robin from DeWolff mentioned Cory as well, when we chatted.
Lachy: Yeah Cory’s done really well. In the past he was just known to musicians but now he’s put together this big funk band he’s very accessible to everyone.
Sean: I’ll have to have a listen to him. I’m interested to hear your answers to these next questions and see if there are any similarities to Robin’s. If I booked you a table at a restaurant and you could invite three guests from the music world, dead or alive, who would you invite to join you?
Lachy: [laughs] Definitely Jon Lord…
Sean: [laughs] That was Robin’s first answer…
Lachy: [laughs] I got so close to meeting Jon. I thought I was going to meet him when I was playing with Billy Thorpe. We did all the Deep Purple supports around Australia back in 2004 and I was expecting Jon Lord to be there… but it was the very first tour with Don Airey playing – it was great to meet Don Airey too but Jon had just quit. So I never got to meet him. Who else for dinner? Ray Charles would be another one for me. He is my favourite singer in the world.
Sean: He came on my playlist the other day. It was the duet he did with Billy Joel, ‘My Baby Grand’.
Lachy: I haven’t heard that. I’ll have to check that out. There are so many people to choose from… I’d love to have met James Brown and had a conversation with him.
Sean: A cool selection at the table. Robin had Jon Lord, Paul McCartney and Robert Plant, and then begged me to pull up an extra chair for Cory Henry [laughs]
Lachy: [laughs] I’d love to meet Cory Henry. I’m sure I will one day.
Sean: What was the last album you listened to?
Lachy: The last album I listened to that inspired me… I’ve been getting into a lot of Grand Funk Railroad lately. They are a killer band and they released a stack of albums. I was listening to ‘Born to Die’ but check out some of their other stuff too. They seem to be one of those bands that were really quite prolific but never really made it. Amazing songs and incredible players – there are some real gems on every album.
Sean: Cool stuff – another one I’ll be checking out. Final question, if you could be credited with writing any song ever written, what song would you choose?
Lachy: Man, where do I start? What did Robin choose? [laughs]
Sean: He picked ‘Made in Japan’ by Deep Purple. He said he couldn’t pick one song – it had to be the whole album.
Lachy: Oh really? [laughs] I hope to meet up with him one day – I’ve spoken with him a bunch of times. Love their band and I would really love their guitar player to come jam with me one day. I went and saw them when they were last over in Sydney. I didn’t even know who they were but my bass player at the time suggested we go see them. They were incredible. Back to the question though, there are so many to choose from but I would have to say ‘Light my Fire’ by The Doors. It’s just such a cool song – the lyrics, the melody, the organ intro & the long built up solo – outstanding.
Sean: A new song to the list so thank you for that. I really appreciate you giving up some of your relax time Lachy. I can genuinely say ‘Make or Break’ is going to be in my top five albums of the year and all of us at The Rockpit wish you all the success with it and safe travels on your extensive tour schedule throughout the rest of the year.
Lachy: Thanks Sean and thank you for the kind words & support and hope to see you at one of the shows.
