In the Chair is a regular feature on Eventalaide, highlighting artists from across Australia and occasionally overseas. Everyone gets the same questions. It is just meant to be a bit of fun so please treat it as such.
Questions by Geoff Jenke
A staple of the Australian music scene for more than two-and-a-half decades, Rich Webb has curated a career as a truly mesmerising artist whose reputation precedes him. With numerous albums to his name, Rich’s inimitable command of music and lyrics has seen him attract global attention throughout his storied career, with 2019 even bringing with awards for Alt-Country Album of The Year and Alt-Country Single of The Year at the Independent Music Awards in New York.
Now, four years on from the release of his last album, Le Rayon Vert, Rich is set to unveil his next record, RIGHT!, later in the year. Preceded by February’s Love Someone, 2022 is unfolding as a banner year in the career of one of the country’s most revered artists.
Name: Rich Webb
Alias: Spider
In
less than 50 words describe your music, your band and yourself.
I always seem to have another line when everyone else thinks
it’s finished. Not tall.
________________________________________________________________________________
What
was the first record you bought with your own money and where from?
Cum on Feel the Noize by Slade, and it was from Record Village,
Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, Blighty
60’s
or 70’s Music:
70s. More glitter and eyeliner
What
music are you currently listening to?
Elliott Smith, Big Thief, Frazey Ford, Tom Tom Club, Khruangbin,
Convoy – CW McCall
The
Best live artist/band you’ve seen:
Prince
Your
“In the mood for love” song:
Your the first, my last, my everything – Bazzer
White
Your
favourite Saturday night party record?
See above – parties kind of do that thing for me.
Your
favourite Sunday morning chill out record?
Blue Train – John Coltrane
Which
song do you wish you had written?
Half the World Away – Oasis..so I could be at the start of every
episode of The Royle Family.
Roger
Daltry once said “Rock N Roll has no future”. Do you agree with him?
Nah, boring old fart is Rodg.
Vinyl,
CD or Streaming?
Cassettes are better than CDs, particularly when they start to
get a bit smudgy.
If
you could record or play live with any artist (dead or alive), who would it be?
Right now, probably David Bowie. Still don’t know why I didn’t
get to see him sing live.
What
is the most useless talent you have?
Failure at the most vital and inopportune moment.
Your
finest recorded moment?
My Mum and Dad had a reel-to-reel machine where, at the age of
5, I apparently recorded a fine story about a fire engine and a million pounds.
Definitely my most talked about anyway.
If
you could open a show for any artist/band, who would it be?
Queen, so I could hang out with Freddie Mercury.
Stuck
on a desert island for a year and can only take three albums. What would they
be?
Tom Waits – Swordfishtrombones
Bob Marley and the Wailers – Exodus
PJ Harvey – Dry
Favourite
all time movie:
Withnail & I
Did
you learn any new skills or take up a new hobby during lockdown?
Just patience, the waiting kind.
Who
would you rather be for a day, Mick Jagger or Keith Richard?
Mick, any time.
Best
show you have ever played in your career:
The last one.
Paul
McCartney or Neil Young?
That is a tough one – love them both. McCartney, I think, but
just so I could have been part of all those Beatles sessions. The Get Back doco
was sensational.
Who
is the nicest person in Rock n Roll at the moment?
The person who books my next show.
What
do you hope the next 12 months holds for you?
Loads
more gigs, loads more new music and loads more loving.
Just a few months on from his most recent release, critically-acclaimed Melbourne alt-country singer/songwriter Rich Webb has returned with another stellar single, sharing the summery I Don’t Mind At All. The latest taste from his forthcoming album, RIGHT!, I Don’t Mind At All shimmers with the visceral, welcoming warmth of the summer months, evoking imagery of hazy, sun-kissed days spent with a sense of clear-eyed freedom and warmth.
Powered along by lyrics that reside within the inner recesses of our memories, and instrumentation as dreamy and carefree as the subject matter itself, I Don’t Mind At All focuses on the little things that make up our mighty memories. Working with his talented band (including Matt Dixon, and Oh Mercy’s Rohan Sforcina, to name a few), and with Sforcina and Wakeman joining Rich on production duties, the resulting track transports the listener back to “a certain place and a certain time”. Inspired by the likes of Khruangbin, Dirty Projectors, Rickie Lee Jones, and Jack Johnson, Rich channels the effortless abilities of these artists to succinctly capture emotion and feeling through song, taking the listener back to the seemingly inconsequential moments which resonate forever. As Rich explains, “It tries to capture that feeling of the sun and the freedom that can come in summer and with summer holidays. About those times where you leave everything behind and live in the moment – these moments can feel like they last forever. It’s about that feeling of freedom, connection, and fun you get on holidays with people you love.”
As heartfelt as it is emotive, I Don’t Mind At All is bathed in the youthful sheen of early nostalgia, where those formative memories are first planted, and remain to this very day. As its subtitle – Bring On Summer – indicates, the majority of its focus is on the summer months, which traditionally hold a sense of comfort and youthful peace. As Rich recalls, the idyllic nature of these summer months have followed him around the world and throughout his life, informing his outlook all the while, “When I was a kid, that used to be three weeks or so in an orange family tent with my Mum and Dad and two brothers, often beside a beach in Wales. Here, it’s been heading out in an old column shift Ford Falcon
down the Great Ocean Road for a few weeks when my brother and best mate came over, or the other way with my family to Marlo or Mallacoota. Just lovely dreamy times where you forget about work and the things that bug you or get in the way, and spend time together, just living for the moment and having fun.”
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