November 4, 2024 • 17 mins
Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians.
I chat with the iconic Australian singer-songwriter Pete Murray on the Still Rockin' It Podcast. Get ready to hear Pete's inspiring personal journey into music, which began unexpectedly at the age of 22. A pivotal moment—the sudden passing of his father—sparked Pete's passion for music and his appreciation for life's precious moments. Despite not having a musical background, Pete picked up a guitar and soon found himself performing Neil Young and Crowded House covers at barbecues. We explore the success of his breakout album "Feeler," which includes beloved track "So Beautiful."
But that's not all. Pete shares exciting details about his latest projects, including a humorous video idea with tennis stars and his uplifting new single, "Wouldn't It Be Good." He teases his upcoming tour across Australia and hints at his first-ever solo tour.
We discuss his musical inspirations, including those shared with his son, and his love for smooth rum on tour.
Don't miss out on the chance to have Pete perform in your own home through his "Play at Your Place" competition—a unique opportunity for fans to reconnect with this independent artist. Tune in for an engaging conversation that highlights Pete's unwavering connection with his audience and his ongoing musical evolution.
What has Pete Murray been up to lately? Let's find out!!
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
Visit: ThatRadioChick.com.au
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
That Radio Chick Cheryl Lee here.
Welcome to the Still Rocking itpodcast, where we'll have music
news, reviews and interviewswith some of our favourite
Australian musicians and artists.
Today we speak to one ofAustralia's most enduring and
endearing singer-songwriters,who has sold over 1.2 million
(00:23):
albums, amassed hundreds ofmillions of streams, released
three ARIA chart-topping albums,17 ARIA Award nominations
emerging with his debutfull-length album, the Game in
2001,.
His breakout sophomore album,feeler in 2003, cemented his
status as one of the all-timegreats, with hits along the way,
(00:46):
including Better Days, fieler,opportunity and so Beautiful.
I speak of the much-loved PeteMurray.
To catch up on podcasts fromother favourite artists, simply
go to thatradiochickcomau.
You're with Cheryl Lee andtoday I'd like to welcome into
(01:06):
our Zoom room Peter KennethMurray.
Thanks for joining us, pete.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah, nice to be, here.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
I think this is the first time we've ever sat down
and had a chat, so it's lovelyto meet you, I believe.
So, yeah, you too, and thankyou for spending some time with
us.
We've got some exciting thingsto talk about a new single, a
new video, a tour but if we'vegot time to make a quick trip
backwards before we go forward,love it, love the idea born in
chinchilla, then moved to brizzy.
(01:35):
Peter is music in your dna.
I know you're a little bit of alater starter than most, but
are you from a musical family no, no, it's never.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Uh, there's no music in my family at all.
Um, before I started, before Ipicked up a guitar.
So, uh, dad was a watchmakerjeweler and mom and dad worked
together in the shop there.
Mom said you used to play a bitof harmonica years ago.
That's about the only musical,and my sister learned a little
bit of a little bit of umkeyboards, but it didn't really
retain too much of thatknowledge, I think in the early
(02:07):
years.
But no other music.
My great-grandparents weretrapeze artists in the circus,
but just not music.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
But there's entertainment in your bones by
the sound of it.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
That's right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, as I said, you started to learn guitar at age
22, which for most pop stars,rock stars, country music stars
is actually quite late.
You sadly lost your father at18.
Now it it's never a good timeto lose a parent, but 18 as a
young man, how did that affectyou?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
yeah, I don't think it's any great age to lose a
parent, you know, I think.
But as a as a young man 18, andlosing your dad, I just was
starting to get to know himreally as a friend.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
And as an adult.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, as an adult and I think I had two months before
he died I went out for my mumand dad took me and a couple of
friends out for dinner and Iremember just having my first
alcoholic drink with him.
You know, and, and talking asan adult, I was in grade 12 and
I remember thinking that's, youknow, it's really cool to have
that different relationship withhim rather than what I've had
before in the past.
You know where you're, just theson and and the father.
(03:12):
So, uh, and then you know, twomonths later he was taken from
me.
So a different, difficult timeand something that, yeah, I
think for the next five years Ireally struggled quite a bit.
Actually it was pretty tough totry.
And you know, coming into theworld, you're out, you finish
school, there was no one therereally for me to get that advice
from, with anything that wentwrong, you know, and Dad sort of
(03:35):
made all the decisions with ourfamily, I guess, and so he
wasn't around anymore to bethere.
So you're just kind of flying alittle bit lost for a while.
You sort of lost that importantrole model.
Yeah, oh, absolutely.
And it's a shock too, becausehe had a heart attack, which is
very sudden for us.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So it's yeah, no time to say goodbye or anything no
time to prepare.
No, no time at all.
I think you've said in the pastthat that's when you realized
how precious time was.
Is that why you ultimatelypicked up the guitar?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
age 22, uh well, look , that was all kind of luck
really.
I remember just trying to.
I wanted to find a job that Ithat would give me time.
Uh, because dad worked hiswhole life.
He just sold the business isthe watchmaker jewelry shop that
he had.
He was just sold that and heworked for another guy for 12
months it was a part of the dealand then he was basically two
weeks after he sort of finishedthat, him and mama bought a
(04:23):
caravan.
They're about to go travelingaround the country and he had a
heart attack and died.
So for me I was like he'dworked his whole life, he's
about to enjoy it, the rewardsfor that, and then it didn't
happen.
So for me I thought that's notgonna happen to me.
I want to make sure that I'menjoying life and have time.
Time's the biggest thing thatyou don't have, I guess, when
people working so much, so like,how do I find a job that's
going to give me time?
I can still travel the world.
(04:43):
I love it.
So it doesn't feel like work.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
I didn't know what that was, but I was searching
for that.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
You are listening to Still Rocking it, the podcast
with Cheryl Lee.
I know when Pete worked up thecourage to take his guitar to a
barbecue singing songs for somemates, neil Young was one of the
artists that he covered.
Here's a great song from him1978, from the Greatest Hits
album.
Comes a Time Back to speak somemore to Pete after this.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Comes a time when you're drifting.
With that came music, I guessyou know, and it picked up a
guitar.
It was really just a passionthat I'd never had before.
So I didn't really think therewas going to be a career that
I've got.
I mean, I kind of thought Ijust loved playing at first and
I was playing at some friends'parties and then a couple of
friends said you should go andearn some money, you know, go
get a gig.
And so I went and did a gig fora while and different things,
(05:44):
and then just the story goes Iwas living in a flat, two
bedroom flat, with 19 otherAussies when I was backpacking
it's pretty standard back thenSleeping on the floor there was
a friend of mine who was playingguitar in the room, which is
actually Angus McDonald fromSneaky Sound System, if you know
Sneaky Sound System.
Yep, so Angus system.
Yep, so angus and I've beenmates for a long time and angus
was always playing.
He grew up playing guitar andwas very talented and he was
(06:06):
always.
He was singing original and Iwas playing a cover this
particular night and he'd playanother original.
I'd play a cover, and then oneof the girls where we lived she
said, oh, I placed one of yoursongs that you've written and I
said, oh, I don't, I don't writesongs.
And he's like, why not?
It's like I don't know, I justdon't do it.
She said, well, you should.
That moment, and it was onlythat thing that happened and
that made me start to writesongs, and years before that,
(06:28):
even picking up a guitar, I hadanother mate of mine that just
we were living together and hejust happened to come in my room
and say, look, you know, hey,I'm really excited, I'm going to
go get some guitar lessons.
I've always wanted to do it andI thought, oh well, I've never
done that.
That sounds great, I might dothe same thing.
So you know.
So, those two moments in mylife, pretty pivotal moments, of
sort of picking up a guitar andthen, you know, deciding to
(06:50):
write songs, we know that youwere quite the athlete in high
school.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
So once you decided that this was your passion and
the and what you wanted to dowith your life, did you then
ever have a plan b, like if thiswhole music thing hadn't panned
out?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
oh, I definitely have a plan b, always have a plan b.
I think um and I think a lot ofmusos can find themselves in
that situation where they don'thave a plan B and they don't
know how to stop trying to keephaving a career when it's not
going to happen for you.
So yeah, I was doing naturalmedicine, so I'd already started
studying that.
I had done a couple of yearsand then I went overseas.
And that's when I came backplaying music and I thought I
(07:28):
didn't have the passion to goand finish that off because I
think I was just exploring musicafter travelling overseas and
especially starting to write myown stuff.
I thought this is somethingthat I could really enjoy.
But then it got to the pointwhere I moved to Melbourne and
tried to make things happen andit was kind of difficult and
expensive.
Just being an independentartist, it was tricky and I
didn't think it was going towork.
So I, being an independentartist, it was tricky and I
(07:48):
didn't think it was going towork.
So I actually started to.
I was reapplying back into unito finish off this course
because I thought that's whatI'm, I need to do that.
So I don't think music's goingto work.
And then it just all happened.
You know, one thing led toanother and then it's just like
step after step after step, andthen music took off.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
And the rest, as they say, is history Still rocking.
The rest, as they say, ishistory still rocking.
The podcast with that radiochick, cheryl lee.
I know the other band that petemurray started singing songs of
all those years ago was crowdedhouse.
Let's have, don't dream it'sover'd better get on to the
(08:30):
exciting new news Brand newsingle and video, wouldn't it Be
Good?
It started as a little riff andit's a slightly new territory
for you.
Tell us about the percolationof this song.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Yeah, well, look, I wrote this song just on acoustic
guitar, played it to a fewpeople.
There was quite a few peoplejust saying, oh, that's very
John Lennon referring to, Iguess you know John used to sing
a lot of songs about peace andlove, and this song really is
about looking at what we'redoing and where we're going in
life, and wouldn't it be good ifwe could change.
You know and no one has anypain anymore as humans, it just
(09:07):
seems to be something that wecontinue to do to each other.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
The human condition.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yeah.
So the song lyrically is, youknow, a positive way of thinking
and a way of change.
And great to have thatreference of John Lennon of
course it's such a big name inmusic and anything like that.
When someone says, oh, itreminds me of that, it's like
that's pretty cool, that's acompliment.
Take that, it is.
Yeah.
And I think the other part ofthe song is I just really
started off.
(09:31):
I wanted to write a verse thathad a nice groove to it, a nice
rhythm, and I was kind oflistening to some tim buckley,
you know some 70 stuff, andgetting the ideas of how they
played their stuff.
Simple, it's just two chordsfor the, for the verse, and
getting that nice rhythm, andthen everything just seemed to
felt full into place lyrically,just all came together.
I never thought that the, thechorus, I think, came first.
I thought that's not reallystrong enough chorus.
(09:52):
But once I put the lyrics andthe verse together then it was
like, okay, now this makes sense.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
So it all sort of happened that way it's been
described as john lennon meetsjack, johnson and rodriguez I
love rodriguez.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
So a lot of people probably don't know rodriguez so
much, but there's a great docoon Rodriguez, I think it's
called Finding Sugar man.
You know, rodriguez is a veryunderground artist but he's got
some great songs, very, verygood grooves and very chilled
music.
You know, I think those artistsJohn Lennon, jack Johnson,
rodriguez are really probablythe three artists that would
describe this song the best.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Yeah, you could take that as three compliments, I
would.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
There's a great video along with it, which is just a
really nice relaxed video of youguys playing it out in the
studio, but I'm looking for ascoop here, Pete.
Now apparently you've got anidea for another video involving
a famous tennis player.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Just a funny idea I had.
There's a couple of well-knowntennis players that I know.
I'm just trying to get thatidea together and see if they're
interested in doing that withme.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Watch this space.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
You talk about this, you know doing some sort of
little video.
Funny video to the guys thatare tennis players and suddenly
they go oh, I'm not sure aboutthat.
Funny video to the guys thatthey have tennis players and
suddenly they're going oh, Idon't know, I'm not sure about
that.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
You know, the guys I'm thinking of would be very
funny for this if, if ithappens- we'll stay tuned stay
tuned for that one you arelistening to still rocking it
the podcast with cheryl lee well, I think it's about time we had
a listen to the fabulous newsong.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
wouldn't it be good, soaked in sunny melodies,
powerfully soothing vocals, andthen back to find out what else
is going on with Pete Murrayafter this?
Wouldn't it be good to stay sohigh and help the world as we
pass by?
Wouldn't it be nice?
You are off on a tour startingin December, all through
(11:38):
December and January.
You're not coming to Adelaideyet.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Well, yeah, it's so funny because I often get, if
Adelaide's ever left off a tour,like oh, you're not coming to
Adelaide, adelaide, we alwaysmiss out.
And I was like I'm always goingto Adelaide, but this is a
coastal run, it's a summerholiday run, so it's east coast
and west coast, but I am playingthe Hand handpicked festival,
which is, I think, an hour and ahalf drive from adelaide what
festival the hand picked?
very good, so get onto thegoogleometer and track that down
(12:04):
if you want to see pete,because he's not coming to our
town I haven't forgotten aboutadelaide always done some
amazing shows there, so we'realready talking about talking
about doing maybe my first eversolo tour of this country, and
that will involve adelaide i'm'mjust teasing you.
I know you are.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Get onto PeteMurraycom for all the dates
to see when Pete is heading his.
Wouldn't it be good summer tourwhen he's heading to a town
near you and you did hear itfirst here.
There is a first ever solo tourin the pipeline when you can
listen to whatever you like car,in the shower or wherever you
(12:41):
get to listen to music.
What's on your playlist?
What do you like to listen to?
You know what?
Speaker 2 (12:46):
I was in the car with my son.
My son turns 21 on New Year'sEve.
He's great because he justgives me all this new music that
I haven't heard of before.
I got some stuff last night andalso I'm giving him music that
he hasn't heard of before andhe's like oh, this is great, dad
.
So, yeah, I know.
So we're sort of sitting therein the car having that moment as
father and son and, you know,as great mates as well, and
talking about lots of stuff anddifferent music.
And the new music I was reallyliking was a band called um wild
(13:10):
rivers.
Yeah, american kind of folk,country-ish kind of I would say,
more folk, little country intheir trio.
They were great.
I really thought that I wasimpressed with.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
We might play one of their songs.
I reckon what's on your rider?
Have you got a non-negotiablethat you just have to have in
your green room?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
I'm not too hardcore like that, hey, but it is nice.
I do like a nice rum.
I do like having like a Havanarum, jamaican rum, it's just a
smooth rum which is really nice.
I don't drink a lot of alcoholbut I do like rum and soda and
crammy with a lime, which is areally kind of fresh.
So I don't like cheap rum.
So sometimes I'll go on therare occasion when you do get a
(13:48):
cheap rum there or somethingdifferent, it's like, oh, I
don't like that.
But I don't kick up too much ofa fuss.
I'm kind of like a prettycruisy person.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
So no spinal tap moments, moments then Still
rocking the podcast, with thatradio chick, cheryl Lee, going
to have one of my favourite PeteMurray songs.
Now Opportunity, and this isactually the version from the
2010 album A Day on the Greencelebrating 10 years.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
I think we've all seen Pete at A Day on the Green
somewhere in this big brown landof ours, and then we're back
with some really really excitingnews to share.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
I love this concept and I have actually entered this
competition already, so maybeyou'll be coming to Adelaide to
my house.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
I could very well be, who knows?
Speaker 1 (14:37):
You've got a competition running at the
moment called Play at your Place, offering fans a chance to go
into the running to have PeteMurray play an intimate private
performance in their own home.
I love that idea.
Where did that come from?
Tell us a bit more about that.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, sure.
Well, look, I did that about 20years ago when I first started.
I was just talking withmanagement the other day about
how good that was and how much Ithink the fans got out of that,
because I'm an independentartist now.
I started as an independentartist and I'm now back fully,
100% independent.
But when you leave the label,you don't have any data.
Basically, they keep all thedata.
So you're starting again.
So, for me, I'm trying to buildup my data so I can have direct
(15:13):
contact with the fans and indoing so, I'm going to be doing
things like this you getsomething because you've joined
up to the mailing list.
I can have direct contact withyou guys, but you're going to
get the benefits of doing thiscompetition where I'm going to
come and play at your place.
All you have to do is sign upand be part of this.
You're going to get emailsabout you know, not that often,
but occasionally when we'redoing shows.
You'll be the first people toknow what's going on and be part
(15:41):
of that.
It's just building up thatrelationship again, um, with
those guys, and something likethis is a really special thing
because you got your hardcorefans that that's their time.
So I'm going to go and playlike a half an hour set acoustic
songs.
You tell me what you want tohear, I'll learn it and I'll be
there and I'm your act and yourplace with you and your friends
and your family for that time.
And it's pretty amazing.
(16:02):
So, wherever it is, I've got toget there.
I don't know where I'm going toend up yet, but that's the
exciting thing too, like I don'tknow where I'm going to be.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
You could be anywhere , man.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
I know, I know.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Was there anything else that you wanted to mention,
Pete?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
No song, and there'll be a new album coming out next
year as well.
So that's the uh, probably theonly thing to let people know.
There'll be more singles comingoff this and the album will be
released.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
We're looking at maybe october next year, you
know so stay tuned october 2025as well for the new album and in
the meantime, get yourselfalong to a pete murray, wouldn't
it be good?
Summer tour gig.
You never know, I might see youdown the front if I can get
along to one of the other dates,because hubby and I've got a he
rides it, I just sort of hangon.
(16:44):
So quite often we'll get on theharley and head off to an
interstate gig.
So you never know.
So I really appreciate yousitting down with me today and
having a chat.
All the best with the single,the tour, the new album, and
thanks again for spending someof your precious time in the
zoom room with us today.
All right?
Speaker 2 (17:01):
well, nice to talk to you.
Might even see you at yourplace if you win the competition
.
There you go.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Oh yes, I've got fingers, toes, arms, legs
everything crossed.
That would be awesome.
Good luck to everyone else whoenters.
Don't forget to invite me whenyou win.
Exactly good point.
Thanks a lot, pete.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
You are listening to Still Rocking it.
The podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Well, I promised, pete, we'd play something by
Wild Rivers, so here's abeautiful song of theirs Heart
Attack.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Good gracious you're a heart attack.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
You're with Cheryl Lee, that radio chick.
Thank you so much for joiningme on the Still Rocking it
podcast.
Hope to catch you again nexttime.
Get out when you can supportAussie music and I'll see you
down the front.
That Radio Chick Cheryl Lee here.
Welcome to the Still Rocking itpodcast, where we'll have music
news, reviews and interviewswith some of our favourite
Australian musicians and artists.
Today we speak to one ofAustralia's most enduring and
endearing singer-songwriters,who has sold over 1.2 million
(00:23):
albums, amassed hundreds ofmillions of streams, released
three ARIA chart-topping albums,17 ARIA Award nominations
emerging with his debutfull-length album, the Game in
2001,.
His breakout sophomore album,feeler in 2003, cemented his
status as one of the all-timegreats, with hits along the way,
(00:46):
including Better Days, fieler,opportunity and so Beautiful.
I speak of the much-loved PeteMurray.
To catch up on podcasts fromother favourite artists, simply
go to thatradiochickcomau.
You're with Cheryl Lee andtoday I'd like to welcome into
(01:06):
our Zoom room Peter KennethMurray.
Thanks for joining us, pete.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Yeah, nice to be, here.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
I think this is the first time we've ever sat down
and had a chat, so it's lovelyto meet you, I believe.
So, yeah, you too, and thankyou for spending some time with
us.
We've got some exciting thingsto talk about a new single, a
new video, a tour but if we'vegot time to make a quick trip
backwards before we go forward,love it, love the idea born in
chinchilla, then moved to brizzy.
(01:35):
Peter is music in your dna.
I know you're a little bit of alater starter than most, but
are you from a musical family no, no, it's never.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Uh, there's no music in my family at all.
Um, before I started, before Ipicked up a guitar.
So, uh, dad was a watchmakerjeweler and mom and dad worked
together in the shop there.
Mom said you used to play a bitof harmonica years ago.
That's about the only musical,and my sister learned a little
bit of a little bit of umkeyboards, but it didn't really
retain too much of thatknowledge, I think in the early
(02:07):
years.
But no other music.
My great-grandparents weretrapeze artists in the circus,
but just not music.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
But there's entertainment in your bones by
the sound of it.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
That's right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, as I said, you started to learn guitar at age
22, which for most pop stars,rock stars, country music stars
is actually quite late.
You sadly lost your father at18.
Now it it's never a good timeto lose a parent, but 18 as a
young man, how did that affectyou?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
yeah, I don't think it's any great age to lose a
parent, you know, I think.
But as a as a young man 18, andlosing your dad, I just was
starting to get to know himreally as a friend.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
And as an adult.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yeah, as an adult and I think I had two months before
he died I went out for my mumand dad took me and a couple of
friends out for dinner and Iremember just having my first
alcoholic drink with him.
You know, and, and talking asan adult, I was in grade 12 and
I remember thinking that's, youknow, it's really cool to have
that different relationship withhim rather than what I've had
before in the past.
You know where you're, just theson and and the father.
(03:12):
So, uh, and then you know, twomonths later he was taken from
me.
So a different, difficult timeand something that, yeah, I
think for the next five years Ireally struggled quite a bit.
Actually it was pretty tough totry.
And you know, coming into theworld, you're out, you finish
school, there was no one therereally for me to get that advice
from, with anything that wentwrong, you know, and Dad sort of
(03:35):
made all the decisions with ourfamily, I guess, and so he
wasn't around anymore to bethere.
So you're just kind of flying alittle bit lost for a while.
You sort of lost that importantrole model.
Yeah, oh, absolutely.
And it's a shock too, becausehe had a heart attack, which is
very sudden for us.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
So it's yeah, no time to say goodbye or anything no
time to prepare.
No, no time at all.
I think you've said in the pastthat that's when you realized
how precious time was.
Is that why you ultimatelypicked up the guitar?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
age 22, uh well, look , that was all kind of luck
really.
I remember just trying to.
I wanted to find a job that Ithat would give me time.
Uh, because dad worked hiswhole life.
He just sold the business isthe watchmaker jewelry shop that
he had.
He was just sold that and heworked for another guy for 12
months it was a part of the dealand then he was basically two
weeks after he sort of finishedthat, him and mama bought a
(04:23):
caravan.
They're about to go travelingaround the country and he had a
heart attack and died.
So for me I was like he'dworked his whole life, he's
about to enjoy it, the rewardsfor that, and then it didn't
happen.
So for me I thought that's notgonna happen to me.
I want to make sure that I'menjoying life and have time.
Time's the biggest thing thatyou don't have, I guess, when
people working so much, so like,how do I find a job that's
going to give me time?
I can still travel the world.
(04:43):
I love it.
So it doesn't feel like work.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
I didn't know what that was, but I was searching
for that.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
You are listening to Still Rocking it, the podcast
with Cheryl Lee.
I know when Pete worked up thecourage to take his guitar to a
barbecue singing songs for somemates, neil Young was one of the
artists that he covered.
Here's a great song from him1978, from the Greatest Hits
album.
Comes a Time Back to speak somemore to Pete after this.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Comes a time when you're drifting.
With that came music, I guessyou know, and it picked up a
guitar.
It was really just a passionthat I'd never had before.
So I didn't really think therewas going to be a career that
I've got.
I mean, I kind of thought Ijust loved playing at first and
I was playing at some friends'parties and then a couple of
friends said you should go andearn some money, you know, go
get a gig.
And so I went and did a gig fora while and different things,
(05:44):
and then just the story goes Iwas living in a flat, two
bedroom flat, with 19 otherAussies when I was backpacking
it's pretty standard back thenSleeping on the floor there was
a friend of mine who was playingguitar in the room, which is
actually Angus McDonald fromSneaky Sound System, if you know
Sneaky Sound System.
Yep, so Angus system.
Yep, so angus and I've beenmates for a long time and angus
was always playing.
He grew up playing guitar andwas very talented and he was
(06:06):
always.
He was singing original and Iwas playing a cover this
particular night and he'd playanother original.
I'd play a cover, and then oneof the girls where we lived she
said, oh, I placed one of yoursongs that you've written and I
said, oh, I don't, I don't writesongs.
And he's like, why not?
It's like I don't know, I justdon't do it.
She said, well, you should.
That moment, and it was onlythat thing that happened and
that made me start to writesongs, and years before that,
(06:28):
even picking up a guitar, I hadanother mate of mine that just
we were living together and hejust happened to come in my room
and say, look, you know, hey,I'm really excited, I'm going to
go get some guitar lessons.
I've always wanted to do it andI thought, oh well, I've never
done that.
That sounds great, I might dothe same thing.
So you know.
So, those two moments in mylife, pretty pivotal moments, of
sort of picking up a guitar andthen, you know, deciding to
(06:50):
write songs, we know that youwere quite the athlete in high
school.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
So once you decided that this was your passion and
the and what you wanted to dowith your life, did you then
ever have a plan b, like if thiswhole music thing hadn't panned
out?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
oh, I definitely have a plan b, always have a plan b.
I think um and I think a lot ofmusos can find themselves in
that situation where they don'thave a plan B and they don't
know how to stop trying to keephaving a career when it's not
going to happen for you.
So yeah, I was doing naturalmedicine, so I'd already started
studying that.
I had done a couple of yearsand then I went overseas.
And that's when I came backplaying music and I thought I
(07:28):
didn't have the passion to goand finish that off because I
think I was just exploring musicafter travelling overseas and
especially starting to write myown stuff.
I thought this is somethingthat I could really enjoy.
But then it got to the pointwhere I moved to Melbourne and
tried to make things happen andit was kind of difficult and
expensive.
Just being an independentartist, it was tricky and I
didn't think it was going towork.
So I, being an independentartist, it was tricky and I
(07:48):
didn't think it was going towork.
So I actually started to.
I was reapplying back into unito finish off this course
because I thought that's whatI'm, I need to do that.
So I don't think music's goingto work.
And then it just all happened.
You know, one thing led toanother and then it's just like
step after step after step, andthen music took off.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
And the rest, as they say, is history Still rocking.
The rest, as they say, ishistory still rocking.
The podcast with that radiochick, cheryl lee.
I know the other band that petemurray started singing songs of
all those years ago was crowdedhouse.
Let's have, don't dream it'sover'd better get on to the
(08:30):
exciting new news Brand newsingle and video, wouldn't it Be
Good?
It started as a little riff andit's a slightly new territory
for you.
Tell us about the percolationof this song.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Yeah, well, look, I wrote this song just on acoustic
guitar, played it to a fewpeople.
There was quite a few peoplejust saying, oh, that's very
John Lennon referring to, Iguess you know John used to sing
a lot of songs about peace andlove, and this song really is
about looking at what we'redoing and where we're going in
life, and wouldn't it be good ifwe could change.
You know and no one has anypain anymore as humans, it just
(09:07):
seems to be something that wecontinue to do to each other.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
The human condition.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yeah.
So the song lyrically is, youknow, a positive way of thinking
and a way of change.
And great to have thatreference of John Lennon of
course it's such a big name inmusic and anything like that.
When someone says, oh, itreminds me of that, it's like
that's pretty cool, that's acompliment.
Take that, it is.
Yeah.
And I think the other part ofthe song is I just really
started off.
(09:31):
I wanted to write a verse thathad a nice groove to it, a nice
rhythm, and I was kind oflistening to some tim buckley,
you know some 70 stuff, andgetting the ideas of how they
played their stuff.
Simple, it's just two chordsfor the, for the verse, and
getting that nice rhythm, andthen everything just seemed to
felt full into place lyrically,just all came together.
I never thought that the, thechorus, I think, came first.
I thought that's not reallystrong enough chorus.
(09:52):
But once I put the lyrics andthe verse together then it was
like, okay, now this makes sense.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
So it all sort of happened that way it's been
described as john lennon meetsjack, johnson and rodriguez I
love rodriguez.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
So a lot of people probably don't know rodriguez so
much, but there's a great docoon Rodriguez, I think it's
called Finding Sugar man.
You know, rodriguez is a veryunderground artist but he's got
some great songs, very, verygood grooves and very chilled
music.
You know, I think those artistsJohn Lennon, jack Johnson,
rodriguez are really probablythe three artists that would
describe this song the best.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Yeah, you could take that as three compliments, I
would.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
There's a great video along with it, which is just a
really nice relaxed video of youguys playing it out in the
studio, but I'm looking for ascoop here, Pete.
Now apparently you've got anidea for another video involving
a famous tennis player.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Just a funny idea I had.
There's a couple of well-knowntennis players that I know.
I'm just trying to get thatidea together and see if they're
interested in doing that withme.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Watch this space.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
You talk about this, you know doing some sort of
little video.
Funny video to the guys thatare tennis players and suddenly
they go oh, I'm not sure aboutthat.
Funny video to the guys thatthey have tennis players and
suddenly they're going oh, Idon't know, I'm not sure about
that.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
You know, the guys I'm thinking of would be very
funny for this if, if ithappens- we'll stay tuned stay
tuned for that one you arelistening to still rocking it
the podcast with cheryl lee well, I think it's about time we had
a listen to the fabulous newsong.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
wouldn't it be good, soaked in sunny melodies,
powerfully soothing vocals, andthen back to find out what else
is going on with Pete Murrayafter this?
Wouldn't it be good to stay sohigh and help the world as we
pass by?
Wouldn't it be nice?
You are off on a tour startingin December, all through
(11:38):
December and January.
You're not coming to Adelaideyet.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Well, yeah, it's so funny because I often get, if
Adelaide's ever left off a tour,like oh, you're not coming to
Adelaide, adelaide, we alwaysmiss out.
And I was like I'm always goingto Adelaide, but this is a
coastal run, it's a summerholiday run, so it's east coast
and west coast, but I am playingthe Hand handpicked festival,
which is, I think, an hour and ahalf drive from adelaide what
festival the hand picked?
very good, so get onto thegoogleometer and track that down
(12:04):
if you want to see pete,because he's not coming to our
town I haven't forgotten aboutadelaide always done some
amazing shows there, so we'realready talking about talking
about doing maybe my first eversolo tour of this country, and
that will involve adelaide i'm'mjust teasing you.
I know you are.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Get onto PeteMurraycom for all the dates
to see when Pete is heading his.
Wouldn't it be good summer tourwhen he's heading to a town
near you and you did hear itfirst here.
There is a first ever solo tourin the pipeline when you can
listen to whatever you like car,in the shower or wherever you
(12:41):
get to listen to music.
What's on your playlist?
What do you like to listen to?
You know what?
Speaker 2 (12:46):
I was in the car with my son.
My son turns 21 on New Year'sEve.
He's great because he justgives me all this new music that
I haven't heard of before.
I got some stuff last night andalso I'm giving him music that
he hasn't heard of before andhe's like oh, this is great, dad
.
So, yeah, I know.
So we're sort of sitting therein the car having that moment as
father and son and, you know,as great mates as well, and
talking about lots of stuff anddifferent music.
And the new music I was reallyliking was a band called um wild
(13:10):
rivers.
Yeah, american kind of folk,country-ish kind of I would say,
more folk, little country intheir trio.
They were great.
I really thought that I wasimpressed with.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
We might play one of their songs.
I reckon what's on your rider?
Have you got a non-negotiablethat you just have to have in
your green room?
Speaker 2 (13:28):
I'm not too hardcore like that, hey, but it is nice.
I do like a nice rum.
I do like having like a Havanarum, jamaican rum, it's just a
smooth rum which is really nice.
I don't drink a lot of alcoholbut I do like rum and soda and
crammy with a lime, which is areally kind of fresh.
So I don't like cheap rum.
So sometimes I'll go on therare occasion when you do get a
(13:48):
cheap rum there or somethingdifferent, it's like, oh, I
don't like that.
But I don't kick up too much ofa fuss.
I'm kind of like a prettycruisy person.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
So no spinal tap moments, moments then Still
rocking the podcast, with thatradio chick, cheryl Lee, going
to have one of my favourite PeteMurray songs.
Now Opportunity, and this isactually the version from the
2010 album A Day on the Greencelebrating 10 years.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
I think we've all seen Pete at A Day on the Green
somewhere in this big brown landof ours, and then we're back
with some really really excitingnews to share.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
I love this concept and I have actually entered this
competition already, so maybeyou'll be coming to Adelaide to
my house.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
I could very well be, who knows?
Speaker 1 (14:37):
You've got a competition running at the
moment called Play at your Place, offering fans a chance to go
into the running to have PeteMurray play an intimate private
performance in their own home.
I love that idea.
Where did that come from?
Tell us a bit more about that.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Yeah, sure.
Well, look, I did that about 20years ago when I first started.
I was just talking withmanagement the other day about
how good that was and how much Ithink the fans got out of that,
because I'm an independentartist now.
I started as an independentartist and I'm now back fully,
100% independent.
But when you leave the label,you don't have any data.
Basically, they keep all thedata.
So you're starting again.
So, for me, I'm trying to buildup my data so I can have direct
(15:13):
contact with the fans and indoing so, I'm going to be doing
things like this you getsomething because you've joined
up to the mailing list.
I can have direct contact withyou guys, but you're going to
get the benefits of doing thiscompetition where I'm going to
come and play at your place.
All you have to do is sign upand be part of this.
You're going to get emailsabout you know, not that often,
but occasionally when we'redoing shows.
You'll be the first people toknow what's going on and be part
(15:41):
of that.
It's just building up thatrelationship again, um, with
those guys, and something likethis is a really special thing
because you got your hardcorefans that that's their time.
So I'm going to go and playlike a half an hour set acoustic
songs.
You tell me what you want tohear, I'll learn it and I'll be
there and I'm your act and yourplace with you and your friends
and your family for that time.
And it's pretty amazing.
(16:02):
So, wherever it is, I've got toget there.
I don't know where I'm going toend up yet, but that's the
exciting thing too, like I don'tknow where I'm going to be.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
You could be anywhere , man.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
I know, I know.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Was there anything else that you wanted to mention,
Pete?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
No song, and there'll be a new album coming out next
year as well.
So that's the uh, probably theonly thing to let people know.
There'll be more singles comingoff this and the album will be
released.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
We're looking at maybe october next year, you
know so stay tuned october 2025as well for the new album and in
the meantime, get yourselfalong to a pete murray, wouldn't
it be good?
Summer tour gig.
You never know, I might see youdown the front if I can get
along to one of the other dates,because hubby and I've got a he
rides it, I just sort of hangon.
(16:44):
So quite often we'll get on theharley and head off to an
interstate gig.
So you never know.
So I really appreciate yousitting down with me today and
having a chat.
All the best with the single,the tour, the new album, and
thanks again for spending someof your precious time in the
zoom room with us today.
All right?
Speaker 2 (17:01):
well, nice to talk to you.
Might even see you at yourplace if you win the competition
.
There you go.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Oh yes, I've got fingers, toes, arms, legs
everything crossed.
That would be awesome.
Good luck to everyone else whoenters.
Don't forget to invite me whenyou win.
Exactly good point.
Thanks a lot, pete.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
You are listening to Still Rocking it.
The podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Well, I promised, pete, we'd play something by
Wild Rivers, so here's abeautiful song of theirs Heart
Attack.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Good gracious you're a heart attack.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
You're with Cheryl Lee, that radio chick.
Thank you so much for joiningme on the Still Rocking it
podcast.
Hope to catch you again nexttime.
Get out when you can supportAussie music and I'll see you
down the front.
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