- 7 hours ago
Reality Plus TV
"If you enjoyed this video and want to support our team by helping us fund our late-night coffee needs, please donate via PayPal! ☕️
A small act – a big impact. Thank you all so much! ❤️"
Donate at: [https://www.paypal.me/ngaxo]
"If you enjoyed this video and want to support our team by helping us fund our late-night coffee needs, please donate via PayPal! ☕️
A small act – a big impact. Thank you all so much! ❤️"
Donate at: [https://www.paypal.me/ngaxo]
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:06Jimmy hi nice to talk to you I'm really well well it's going to be a really great chat because
00:16it's
00:16going to be all about your really rich and varied creative life because you're relentless you don't
00:22like to stop do you I find that if I'm not keeping my mind busy a second bored and running
00:28off a
00:28tangent and thinking about the wrong things so it's just good for me to stay focused to stay
00:32working that restlessness that relentlessness of yours that actually is creativity for you
00:38yeah I'm constantly trying to find stimulation and when I've got something that appeals to me
00:43I'm like a rabid dog well I'm coming to see you in a place that you can still fill every
00:48single
00:49seat and fill it with that enormous voice of yours too I can feel anywhere I'm a loud person I'll
00:56see
00:56you soon I'm Virginia Trioli and I've spent my life paying attention to creative Australians and
01:06wondering what is going on in that wild mind of theirs in this series I'll showcase artists and
01:14performers at the peak of their powers and tell the story of their triumphs their stumbles and
01:20why they make the glorious work we love so much Jimmy Barnes is one of the most beloved figures in
01:29Australian cultural life both as a singer and a writer his music has become our national soundtrack and
01:41he's forged an unbreakable bond with generations of fans I'm thrilled to be unashamedly celebrating the
01:54art of making because we are a country of so many brilliant creative types
02:10Jimmy how are you we found a stadium big enough for your voice and I know that this this place
02:18kind
02:19of feels like a bit of a home ground huh it's a bit of a home ground I played here
02:22quite a lot it's
02:23normally a bit fuller when I've been here in the past Jimmy what's your connection to this stadium or
02:38how many connections do you have I've got a lot as a fan as a as a football fan and
02:43I've been here to see
02:44the Matildas I've watched the grand finals I've sang at many grand finals State of Origins I've sang at the
02:50Olympics here I love doing it because it's a great discipline but I love playing in clubs where there's
02:55walls because you can really just crank it up and go strip the paint off the walls but in saying
03:02that
03:02it is there is something really great when you do get that that balance of that tempo and that power
03:07and and have that connection then it just becomes a really special thing playing live is everything for
03:12you isn't it absolutely I mean I'm I'd literally make records as a reason to go out live you know
03:17it's okay so I can put new songs in the set my connection to an audience has always been live
03:29there's something about when I stand in front of an audience and sing that I feel that it makes me
03:33a
03:33better singer and makes me a better performer and I feel more connected I literally feel like my feet are
03:38more solid but on the ground you've always spoken and written about how you want music to be powerful
03:52to be heavy to smash you in the face and to move you and to move you yeah I want
03:57people to not be
03:58able to ignore and to physically experience the music I like bands that you know that you can
04:04actually feel the tenacity of yeah you know it's about it's about an attitude that good bands play
04:10with that make the thing powerful I think one of the things about Jim's work is that he's always been
04:25absolutely in the moment which you need to be to perform at that level from you know the time the
04:32first chord rings out till the time the last symbol smashes and everyone departs the stage you know
04:37covered in sweat with people screaming for more but it was also very earthy and very upfront and
04:43very honest if you like and I think a really powerful powerful combination of talents
04:51my band you know before we go on I make jokes about it go out there you know don't take
04:55any
04:55prisoners you know hit them hard if they get up hit them again and and so my band like they're
05:01so used
05:01to walking on stage and going one two three four and we're in the deep end and so that's what
05:06I
05:06expect my man to do every night well talking of hit them hard I've been watching some footage of the
05:17the final goodbye yeah you sang your vocal chords to shreds during that show didn't you
05:26by the time we could Adelaide which was our hometown I remember you know done a bunch of shows there
05:30and
05:31the last show I was literally singing and spreading blood out from my throat as I was singing and at
05:35the end of the show I couldn't speak and it took weeks and weeks for it to come back and
05:39for a while
05:40I thought you've done it this time you've gone too far yeah so it was really it was a frightening
05:45time
05:46but when I came back for the last shows in Sydney I just felt I'll be good I promise I
05:52lied
06:05the origins of cold chisel and Jimmy's own musical education both took place on the road the hundreds
06:13of hours spent going from town to town on the road for oh my god years and years and thousands
06:31of gigs
06:32that's where you learnt to be a musician yeah basically you get out there and you you try your
06:37things out and every time you know sometimes you get run out of town because you didn't quite get
06:42it right and then you learn and you do the next show and you get better as you go and
06:45this environment
06:46here is where you spent you know a lot of time you know honing what your musical tastes were and
06:51yeah
06:52where you wanted to take it as an artist you know the car could get very volatile at times it
06:56could
06:57you know there was there's a place where we sort of not only worked out musically what we're doing but
07:02uh emotionally how we were going to stay together and you know as the road went on forever it got
07:08harder and harder because you know you don't want to be too close to especially a drunken Scotsman you
07:12know with a bad temper whoever was the best prepared had the best mixtapes would be slamming it in the
07:21car deck and you'd be driving there going oh I'm not jazz again mossy you know please no more jazz
07:25not
07:26grab it throw it at the window it thought he must have hated you do that you know they were
07:29busy
07:30driving so I'd for two free hands and absolutely no self-control that should be the title of the
07:37next three hands control well Jimmy I made you a mixtape so see what you think of these you know
07:47this could cause many a fight in the band if you don't like the music here we go very cool
08:00I love
08:01Thorpe I miss him miss him dearly well he was really important for you wasn't he Billy Thorpe because well
08:07yeah he was my hero you know yeah for a long time just because he like he did things his
08:11own way I used
08:12to go see him and he played louder than anybody else you know he loved it pushed his band to
08:16the limit
08:17he pushed himself to the limit yeah pushed his guitar amps to the limit all right so here's a musician
08:37who everyone reviews and I think it's got an importance to your history have a listen muddy waters oh yeah
08:44how
08:45fast is this though I mean it's a really fast rhythm it's like the church yeah so I use those
09:01the muddy
09:01waters when I was really young because my brother John Swanee I was Mike he's my big influence when
09:07I was a young singer because one he had great records it was in blues bands and when he was
09:11you know 12 and
09:1213 he had great musical taste he had great musical taste so I used to hear this coming out of
09:16his
09:16bedroom and then and you know I'd try to sneak in when he's playing it he'd throw me out but
09:20uh when
09:20he'd leave I'm with the guy I'd be in there playing these records to my friends you know and turning
09:24them
09:25all on the blues muddy waters is one of his favorites so that was my early sort of because I
09:29listened to
09:29Little Richard muddy waters you know Otis Redding oh mainly black singers yeah and then and then when I
09:35turned about 13 I started you know like most young boys are starting full of testosterone I like you know
09:40hard rock bands yes well if we're talking about driving and life on the road there's really one
09:52very important song I think we need to play here have a listen to this it's a good driving song
10:01it's a
10:01good driving song is it still nice to hear it you know what it's one of my of all the
10:06chisel so I love
10:07chisel but it's one of my favorite songs to sing in the world
10:10time to book a room and stay tonight
10:15people stop me in the street and say you know um you know I played this song I danced with
10:21my dad at my
10:22wedding to this song yeah you know I you know buried my son to this song yeah this first a
10:28song to have
10:28touched so many people it's an extraordinary way so just yeah yeah I really makes you realize that you
10:33know you know you're not on this it's not a journey just about yourself it's something you're sharing with
10:37people and be and being around for 50 years yeah you should get to share a lot with people
10:43but it's it's modern Australian poetry this yeah
10:48Don's a great poet yeah I I feel like I wouldn't be the singer I am if I hadn't have
10:54lucked out and joined that band in 1973 just to you know be the guy who gets to sing Don
11:00Walker songs I
11:01think that that's that was my job and it was so special
11:04and there's nothing else can set fire to stand
11:11The way Jim sings really was was a foundational influence on the way I write songs
11:18I really like his voice I've tried to tell him over the years because occasionally he gets drawn into the
11:26acrobatics of what he can do and I try to tell him mate the magic in your voice is just
11:33the sound of it
11:33when you're seeing one note nobody can match that
11:42When I sing this light all these people were saying you know you have to always sing so loud you
11:46scream so much
11:47yes I do I like it that's why I was put here
11:51yes this is my job
11:53there's no change there's no place
11:56everything within
11:58its race
12:00just makes it harder
12:01to believe
12:03that she won't be
12:06around
12:21Jimmy you and I were talking in the car about the nature of your
12:25writing and creative relationship with Don Walker
12:28tell me about that what what is the nature of that relationship why does it work so well
12:32as a boy I'm you know obviously my dad was not in the picture a lot he spent a lot
12:36of time in the pub when when he was there
12:38and when he left when you know when I was about 10 you know he disappeared for many many years
12:43so I didn't have a lot of good male role models in my life
12:47I've done felt like my like since the day I joined the band he felt like my big brother and
12:51was always caring for me you know
12:52there's times literally where I've thought he must have been reading my mail
12:55because I'd be going through something in my head you know and it's been driving me crazy and bubbling up
13:00and
13:00suddenly there'd be something in a song would just point to it you know just the melodies alone
13:04I mean I think I made I'm a better singer because I'm singing John's melodies
13:08and and this is about his incredible range and what he asked of you as a singer in the rest
13:13of the band
13:13in this song I mean this is a really beautiful bit of cinema verite by Richard Lowenstein
13:19Saturday night and of course it's you and Ian wending your way through the crowds and you chance upon the
13:24Mardi Gras parade
13:25and I know it's got great meaning for you but that becomes this wonderful moment of discovery and
13:30welcoming and acceptance in a really unusual place
13:41You know Don was writing to suit Ian and myself who are total different singers
13:48So it's a great juxtaposition all the time between when Ian sings these nice soft swoops and sweeping melodies
13:53and then I sort of come in and tear the paint off the walls
13:55Yes
14:04And it was incredible many years later when I did the Mardi Gras
14:08You were invited to sing it
14:09I was invited to sing the Mardi Gras which I thought was a huge honour
14:12and I took it very seriously
14:13I went there and there was all these men I met who said
14:17like some of the drag queens on the stands as they go past
14:20are no longer with them because they lost a lot of friends you know from suicide and AIDS
14:24and all sorts of things through there
14:25and the only film of them in full bloom so to speak is in our film clip
14:31Oh really?
14:31And they said it makes them cry when they see the song
14:33That's amazing
14:34Working hard to make a living
14:36After the break up of Cold Chisel in 1983
14:39Jimmy embarked on a hugely successful solo career
14:43Left to carry out blue denim in his veins
14:48Embracing rock, soul and R&B
14:51Digging deep into the musical influences of his childhood
14:56I want to go back to a key influence for you though
14:59and I know this was a real awakening moment for you musically
15:02when you watched the Douglas Sirk movie Imitation of Life
15:06Yes, yeah
15:07With your father
15:08which featured an incendiary performance by Mahalia Jackson
15:12Unbelievable
15:13Unbelievable, who was singing in the funeral scene
15:15Yeah
15:15And that song was so affecting for you as I understand it
15:18just because of what it could indicate that a powerful voice can do
15:22Shall we have a look?
15:25Trouble lord of the world
15:29I'll sooner
15:31We'll
15:32She's so beautiful
15:33Yeah
15:35Trouble lord of the world
15:39I'm going to hardly
15:42At this point, you know, I was sort of snuggling next to my dad
15:45because it was an excuse to sit with him and do something with him
15:48And so I'm sitting with him and I'm sort of just snuggling into him
15:51and suddenly this woman started singing and I was like
15:53You know, I was eight or something
15:55I sat up
15:56What did it do to you?
15:57I was so moved and it was so powerful
15:59Yeah
15:59I was sitting there going, man, this is something special
16:01and I remember, you know, I literally waited for the credits
16:05and at the credits rolled it said Mahalia Jackson
16:08and I thought to myself, I want to call my first daughter Mahalia
16:12How would you describe Jimmy Barnes as a musician? What impresses you?
16:15Well, he loves his music and he knows it very well
16:18He's got a very deep knowledge of like the musical canon
16:21He's somebody who attacks the song literally
16:24but technically as well
16:26and then you've just got something which you can listen to time and time again
16:29you know, and get more and more out of when you do listen to it
16:34Despite enjoying immense success professionally
16:38Jimmy's ghosts were catching up with him
16:40and he was spiralling
16:44What was happening to you in your life when you got to that point?
16:47Well, by the time I was falling apart, you know
16:50I mean, I was absolutely out of control of the amount of drugs I was taking
16:54You know, I don't want to document it because it glorifies it
16:57but it was just stupid amounts
17:00and you know, and I look at, you know, Michael
17:02and you know, I've lost friends, you know, along the way
17:05and I just thought, you know, I don't want to be like that
17:11So then when you sat down to pour this pain out
17:15in these celebrated books that we've got here
17:17Yeah
17:18It seems like it poured out of you and it almost came out word perfect
17:23It was a difficult time, so I started seeing a therapist, you know
17:26and I don't do anything in half measures
17:28when I started going
17:29I ended up going, you know, five days a week, you know
17:32for an hour a day
17:33and he was going, we've got a lot to do here
17:35Yeah
17:35We've got a lot to work on
17:36and then as the book progressed
17:38I started having to ring my therapist
17:40like at the end of each day
17:41because it would stir up so much pain and stuff in me
17:44and I'd talk to him
17:45and I remember once I was talking about my mum
17:47throwing pots across the bloody
17:49the kitchen at my father and all this sort of stuff
17:52and it was a particularly traumatic day
17:54and I rang him
17:55I said, it just seems like there's something more
17:57and I just, I don't know what it is
17:59and you know, the violence that we're seeing in the house
18:02and all he said was, what did the kitchen smell like?
18:06and suddenly that sense just brought back all these other memories of the home
18:11the power of sense memory
18:13yeah, the smell
18:14yeah, oh shit, I hadn't even thought of that
18:16and so I rewrote that whole thing
18:18you know, and when I released it
18:20I realised that there's so many, particularly men
18:22who'd gone through so much of the same stuff
18:24and didn't want to talk about it
18:25and it was killing them just like it was killing me
18:29he's a very good writer
18:30I think when he put out Working Class Boy
18:33someone in my family who had a literary background said
18:38so, who's writing this?
18:41and she had known Jim for many decades at that stage
18:45and I said, well, it's Jim
18:46and she said, are you sure?
18:50because it's very, very good
18:51I said, no, he's not, this isn't ghost written, this is him
18:54when you talk to him
18:56you very quickly realise
18:58yeah, the guy I've seen on the page
19:00I'm talking to them now
19:03Were there any similarities, any parallels with songwriting
19:07with the deep digging you had to do with these books
19:09to the kind of creative work you do with songs?
19:12The main thing I noticed
19:14particularly after writing that first book
19:16my songs, they weren't as shallow
19:19yeah, because I'd write
19:20you unlocked something
19:21I'd write rock songs and it'd be about being aggressive
19:23and I did a lot of press talking about this book
19:26where I think I went from being brave
19:28you know, like bravado beating my chest
19:30and you know, I'm not afraid of you
19:31when I was afraid of Everton
19:32to being courageous
19:33and you know, the courage
19:35courage to ask for help, you know
19:36and the first time I let my guard down
19:39and that applied to songs
19:40I went from writing songs about, you know
19:42you got nothing I want, angry
19:44or you know, yeah, I love you so much
19:46you know, without even thinking about what love is
19:48you know, to writing songs about feelings
19:50about things with substance and more depth
20:03So this is our home studio
20:04Ah, you've got your own studio here
20:07and it sort of, it started out because it was a photo studio when I bought the place
20:10Yep
20:11so we decided, you know, we weren't taking a lot of photos
20:13we were making music
20:14so we soundproofed the place
20:15Yeah
20:15and that way we can, you know, it's got floating floors and walls
20:18It's a beautifully dead room, isn't it?
20:20Dead room, yeah
20:21and so we can make noise all night without
20:22the neighbours crazy
20:24Most young kids know you can make a record in your garage
20:27Yes
20:28with a laptop
20:28Yep
20:29So it's somewhere between that and one of the big super studios
20:32and you can do anything you want in here
20:33I've made about, I must have made about ten albums in here
20:36Look, it's an interesting contrast, isn't it?
20:38because, you know, you love live
20:40live is your thing
20:41but you've ended up actually being quite at home
20:43and very successful in a studio
20:45Yeah, but I don't spend a lot of time mucking about in the studio
20:49I like to do preparation, get in the studio and play live
20:53What's that there?
20:54Come and I will show you, walk this way
20:56I can see something through there
20:57This is very special
20:58That looks really intriguing
21:00So this
21:03This, it looks absolutely fabulous, I must say
21:07When coaches were, I think we were doing the perfect crime or something like that
21:10Yeah
21:10We went into 301 Studios
21:13and we all set up to play live
21:14and Dom sat at this beautiful grand piano
21:17and he's playing it and he could see he was like fidgety
21:20and it didn't sound right for him, wasn't sort of edgy enough
21:22and he's going, I don't like it
21:23Can I use that piano over there?
21:25And they said, oh, that's not really a recording piano
21:27It belonged to Hillsong
21:29Yeah
21:29And Dom said, just bring it over here
21:31but let me try it
21:32We tried it and it was the best sounding piano ever
21:38Very bright, aggressive
21:39Yeah
21:39Dom plays piano like he's got boxing gloves on
21:41He plays really heavy, it's good
21:43And at the end of the sessions we said, look
21:45we'd love to buy that piano
21:46He said, oh, you'd have to give them what they paid for it
21:49and we said, okay, how much did they pay?
21:50They said, $200
21:52Oh no
21:54And that's literally been here
21:55and Dom uses it when he records
21:57he records quite a bit here
21:58and I just love the fact that it's Don's
22:01and we get to use it all the time
22:02and every time we play it, it sounds like Don
22:04Oh, and you've got a little bit of Don here
22:05I've got a little bit of Don with me all the time
22:07That's nice
22:14How does a song start for you?
22:17I've got books everywhere but this one
22:19In a tartan, excuse me, of course
22:22Of course, yeah
22:22I've tarted up my lyrics
22:26I had this book since about 2000, year 2000
22:29Oh yeah, right
22:29You can see at the front here
22:30It was going to be a diary
22:32Oh yeah
22:33But then I didn't want anybody to read it
22:35So I turned it over
22:36Flipped it over
22:37I flicked it over and started writing lyrics
22:38And I just thought anything that comes to mind
22:40I've got set lists, I've got ideas for song titles
22:43I've got things
22:44There's lyrics in here that I don't want anybody to ever see
22:47And some because they're so bad
22:48Some because they're so drug crazed
22:50Some because they're so personal
22:52And some because I was in the process of working out what I felt
22:56But since that time, I've done, you know, at least ten albums
23:00And this book's represented on nearly every album
23:02That's amazing
23:03Water wash all over me
23:05Squeeze me till I cannot breathe
23:06Blime me so I cannot see
23:09What else have we got?
23:10Fuck love
23:12Well, we've all been there
23:13I want to talk to you about collaboration
23:15Because that's been a huge part of your musical life
23:18You collaborate a lot
23:19What do you get from that?
23:21And what are you reaching out for
23:22When you might think about a collaboration?
23:25I haven't sang with a singer that I haven't learned something from
23:28Whether it's something not to do
23:29Or something to do
23:30You know, like, you know, look at Tina
23:32You know, I remember singing with her
23:34And her ability to switch it on on a dime
23:37Singing with Hutch, you know, I just
23:39Good Times, that was a song that we picked together
23:42Because Glen A. Baker sent us a version of Good Times
23:45Which is a, it was an easy beats B song
23:48That's right
23:48And singing with Michael just made me sing different notes
23:53It was a happy surprise that this easy beats classic lent itself so well
23:57To the contrasting voices of two revered Australian singers
24:01Creating a new energy
24:03And requiring much more of the artists
24:12They were a band that had serious groove
24:15It sounded just like them
24:16And to get a foot in the door and actually be a part of that sound for a minute was
24:20really special
24:21Interesting you should mention that song because it's something that you actually did with your lovely daughter Mahalia as well
24:28I do a long time, yeah
24:29I do a long time, yeah
24:30Let's have a look
24:31I wanna have a good time tonight
24:46I gave her the high parts
24:49I'm getting old
24:56What does it feel like singing with your daughter?
24:58It's incredible
24:59Mahalia sang with me in the band since she was about 14
25:02And you know all the girls have been in and out of the band
25:07It's something about family singing together
25:10It's a beautiful thing
25:11It's a lovely thing
25:27Cultures are really in a sense
25:29Will am I right in saying always continue to exist in one form or another?
25:34As long as we're standing and we can play loud and proud, we'll play
25:38You know, when Steve passed, you know, we literally, we took the wind out of all of ourselves
25:42We didn't think we'd ever play again as a band
25:44And it was so strange because we were brothers
25:48And I couldn't imagine another drummer fitting in for Steve, you know
25:52And then after a little while, somebody said, oh, have we thought about, you know, Charlie Drayton
25:57And Charlie told me a story that the day Steve died, when the news came out
26:02He and Chrissy, because Chrissy was his partner
26:05Chrissy Amflit?
26:06Chrissy Amflit was a fantastic friend of mine, dear friend of mine
26:09When the news came out, you know, she said to Charlie, said, you know
26:12I think if they're going to play again, you're going to get a call
26:14And he went, don't be silly
26:16And then about four or five months later, you know, somebody said, you should try Charlie
26:21And so we rang and he said, I was waiting for your call
26:25Wow
26:25And so he never tried to play like Steve, but he always paid homage to Steve
26:29And took the band to a new place
26:32You know, I can't say that it's better than it was
26:35Because there's something about Steve's Liverpool aggression that I loved that's missing
26:40But I think Charlie brought more swing to the band
26:44Which is really interesting because we're not quite as heavy as we used to be
26:48But we swing in like a rusty gate
26:51It's really, really great
26:53It's not about bludgeoning people to death anymore
26:55It's more about, you know, killing people softly with the grooves, you know
26:59I love it
26:59And I think that gives us
27:00That means we've got another 20 years that we've still got to experiment with that, you know
27:07There's a certain swagger when you walk on stage with the best guitar player, maybe in the world
27:12Certainly in this country
27:14And the best two singers
27:19And when I get to sit next to Charlie Drayton
27:21Who everybody in America wants to play with
27:24You feel like the king for a little, for a short moment
27:28And she won't be around
27:33Thank you!
Comments