Interview with John Schumann, The Waifs, Shane Nicholson about re-recording Redgum's I Was Only 19 | The Senior | September 9, 2023 - video Dailymotion

The Senior

John Schumann, The Waifs and producer Shane Nicholson discuss re-recording Redgum's I Was Only 19 on the 40th anniversary of the track.

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:06 You write this stuff and you never know where it's going to go or what it's going to do.

00:12 You know, there are lots of people who think that I Was Only 19 is the only song I ever wrote.

00:17 You know, and not unreasonably, but if it was the only song I ever wrote, and it's not,

00:25 I'd still be very, very proud. I don't mind having that on my tombstone.

00:29 I mean, this is one of the greatest songs ever written.

00:33 [Laughs]

00:36 Shane being mates with Josh, he suggested The Waifs and I went, "Absolutely fantastic."

00:41 I remember first hearing I Was Only 19 when I was a high school student,

00:45 and I'd just started playing music and I got a gig in the school band to play I Was Only 19

00:51 at the Anzac Day service. I just remember being struck at that young age by what a powerful song it was.

00:56 I think I'd heard the song around the campfire a million times.

01:01 Growing up on a salmon fishing camp with a lot of war vets, the guys that came back from Vietnam,

01:09 and Vicki and I were learning to play guitar and they'd say, "Play that, play that," you know,

01:14 and we'd play that song and they'd all cry.

01:17 My sister Donna brought back a Red Gum album from Bali, a pirated version.

01:24 [Laughs]

01:26 Sorry, I did.

01:28 And we shared a bedroom so she would play it and I think she was probably learning to sing it,

01:33 and I wanted to copy everything Donna did so I learned to.

01:37 I was listening to Red Gum as a kid, like I grew up listening to it.

01:40 I was playing air guitar to Red Gum in the mirror, which I still remember vividly.

01:45 It's not just a collection of words and music, it's like a really heavy story.

01:52 And then John floated the idea of The Waste being involved.

01:55 There was no hesitation at all, it was absolutely, I think I answered on behalf of the girls without even consulting them.

02:00 I thought, "Why me, why us?"

02:04 And John actually, I called him straight away, I got his phone number and he said,

02:08 "Oh, I couldn't think of anyone bloody better."

02:11 And I just thought, "Phew."

02:15 I mean, it's a big one, it's a real honour.

02:19 They'll bring a new dimension to it, I absolutely know that.

02:22 You know, Shane's produced the track obviously.

02:25 I was surprised how keen he was actually, I expected him to tell me to piss off, but no, he loved it.

02:31 My missus, who is not short of an opinion, listened to it and she started to cry.

02:38 She said that was absolutely fantastic.

02:40 The wave sound and the song, which is very iconic, it's very iconically Australian,

02:45 we're kind of, I guess we're known for a bit of that flavour as well, so it felt like a great fit.

02:50 My voice and John's voice is very much in the same timber.

02:55 She's got such a distinctive voice, a bit like mine.

02:58 Taking on the role of Denny, John's told me that she was about 14 when she stood on the side of the road

03:06 and watched her brother march away to war.

03:12 So how do I feel about that? Just take a look at me!

03:16 Look, there's a lot of stuff that the Waves will bring to the version, obviously along with Shane,

03:21 but I think what will nail it to the wall is Donna's first verse.

03:27 Gravelly vocal with female vocals, everything about it just seemed to kind of make sense.

03:32 There's a lot of grit and a lot of angst and a lot of weight in it as well,

03:36 so I think in particularly the electric guitar tracks that I added to it, I wanted to kind of get a sense of that.

03:41 I'm really hoping I can fit some harmonica on this track.

03:45 It's actually got some sort of weird ass minor chords that throw me a little bit,

03:50 but I'm going to try and squeeze some licks in there.

03:53 I was never not going to put banjo on it. I put banjo on everything. Banjo belongs on everything.

03:59 I think once this song goes out into the world, hopefully it's just going to give it a whole other new life.

04:04 I mean, I guess it's still existing on its first life. It's a song that never dies.

04:08 It's always relevant and it's always just part of the fabric of Australian music and culture.

04:14 It describes a really important part of world history and Australian history,

04:18 so I think it's important for generations to sort of know that history.

04:25 I think the Commando Welfare Trust, we're really happy that the royalties are going to that organisation

04:29 because they do a very important work. I mean, regardless of where you sit on the issue of war,

04:36 the fact is wars happen, people serve and there's just tragedies all around there.

04:42 The Commando Welfare Trust, they provide support for a lot of those families, widows and children.

04:48 Things like the school camp, things like the footy uniform, things like the music lessons,

04:53 things that those kids wouldn't ordinarily get to go on because Dad's not there to earn the money.

05:01 Once the song is released and out there, I'm sure that the Waves would include it in our set.

05:05 I mean, it's one of those songs that you could put it in any live set in this country and it'd go down well.

05:11 If John's at a gig, I'm going to lasso the guy and he's coming on stage to sing it with us.

05:16 My God, he could never be at a Waves show without coming up and singing and sharing this song.

05:24 I'd love to do it with the Waves. I mean, we've just got to make sure that the planets align and all the shit gets in a pile.

05:32 Absolutely, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Absolutely.

05:35 And I really like the man. We've met him on FaceTime and that, and then here he just seems like an old uncle already.

05:45 [Music]

05:51 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Interview with John Schumann, The Waifs, Shane Nicholson about re-recording Redgum's I Was Only 19 | The Senior | September 9, 2023

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