It's been 15 years since John Butler release 'Zebra', his debut record.
I still remember hearing it at the first concert I ever went to.
Since then, he's released seven studio albums, four of which have gone number one in Australia
Throughout his career he's always used platform to speak out
about a whole different range of issues but I'm interested to find out whether
during that time, he thinks, the people with the power have actually listened.
When you hear people make promises and they're false or they're hollow.
Yeah, that's heartbreaking and I think you know we elect our leaders to
represent our morals and our ethics and our values and when they say one thing
and do the other, yeah, I think it erodes our appreciation and our belief in
democracy and that's a that's a sad indictment because it's one of the best
working kind of systems on the planet. As far as making sure that the majority, you know, are represented.
Over 20 years since writing some of your
first songs that could be classified as protest songs. Have you been ever
disheartened by the fact that some of those campaigns haven't succeeded?
I've been actually very heartened by the fact that a lot of them have succeeded.
Whether it's the sticks valley or the well valley or the south west campaigns
and the Kimberley campaigns. There's been a lot that has and I've been extremely
inspired by what happens when a community bands together.
It brings the best out of the community
I was born in LA in 1975 and I moved to Pinjarra in 1986. On the Murray River
the Western Australian Murray River and yeah, it was a beautiful part of the world to
kind of grow up in. You know, strangely enough, 20, 30 years later after moving
there I did this program called 'Who Do You Think You Are?' and I found out that my
great-great-grandfather was buried in an unmarked grave in Pinjarra.
We didn't move to Pinjarra for any other reason than it was cheap.
It was just a random thing that we moved to Pinjarra and then, you know,
we find out you know 20, 30 years later that my great-great grandfather is buried there.
So it's like salmon swimming swimming back upstream.
You're coming up to the 15th anniversary of 'Zebra' being released. Can you reflect on that time
when your first single came out and the reaction it had and really where everything's gone since then?
'Zebra' was the song that wasn't gonna be on the album.
It was the last song that I brought to the band. I didn't have lyrics
I just had the whole musical idea and I remember my daughter being born around
that time and I wrote the lyrics as I was trying to put her to sleep every night.
It was nothing about banjo but it was this idea that I am
duality incarnate, you know, yeah I could be nice but I can be a jerk.
I can be I can be generous so it could be greedy.
I think we're all that way. So yeah, I was a spin out and then I thought to
put on the album that in my manager was like that should be the single.
I don't know, I wasn't gonna put it on the album okay I happen to be THE song,
you know, which is so funny
I've heard that you're not running protest songs at the moment?
you're writing love songs, is that true? - I write more love songs, I write songs about people
How's that going for you?
It's a lot more interesting! How many songs can you write about, you know, dodgy
crew coming into good communities and taking over. - History keeps repeating
It does keep repeating itself and I guess I find that these political issues,
the war without it actually reflects the world within and people only do bad
things to other people because they're feeling bad about themselves and so I
kinda I find that the interesting story. Yeah, you can talk about yeah egotistical
misogynistic, you know, leader of the world, sure, but like I'd rather talk
about how a young boy wasn't told he was loved by his father and how he became a
tyrant, you know. That sounds more of an interesting story and more of a story that's more relatable.
What I've seen you perform on stage sometimes I'm always kind of drawn to your nails
(both laugh) - What nails?!
-Do other guitarists have these longer... - Talons? Vampiric?
Is it really because you lay it down sometimes and play on like slide?
- No, it's because I finger pick, it's because I finger pick - They're your are nails?
No, they're fake nails. So when I was busking 20 years ago
on the streets of Fremantle I still finger pick
the 12 string guitar and back then I was too but I just would kill my nails.
To the point where I was just kind of bleeding and then I saw this busker
one day and he had these bright nails, really thick and I remember saying
"What do you do? are you taking some kind of supplements?" There's another
fake! You get into Shanee beauty clinic, they'll whack him on for you and I was
like "That's brilliant!" and I went down the Shanee clinic and I put on these big old ugly nails.
Do you still go down to beauty clinics?
No, I do not. I've been doing my nails for the last 15 years - left-handed, folks, left-handed - and
they've been like amazing tools. They scare people and children yeah.
- What about your own children? - Well, they've grown up with it.
John, thank you so much for joining me out here in the bush.
- Looking forward to hearing you play. - Thanks for having us, Marty, I appreciate it.