If you want to listen to music that touches your soul and takes you back to a time where there were no fences, fewer cars on the road and more beauty in your surroundings, you have to listen to Archer.
Potato and garlic farmer by day, singer-songwriter everywhere else in between, his voice will take you on a journey back to the 1950s and even further than that, with an appreciation of the flora and fauna that rural and outback Australia has to offer.
Archer is distracted and excited by the wind, the birds and the rain, but he's also excited for his Australian tour, which started last month in Bendigo and showcases what he defines as “somethin' and nothin' music”.
First exposed to music as a young child, the gentle voiced sing-song man and writer says he continues performing music because besides “making a quid”, he's hoping his music will inspire or create something for people's souls. “I think all children are fairly musical and then maybe… I don’t know why a lot of people stop.
{youtube}Dk1M-e8colw{/youtube}
“Why do a lot of things stop when you become an adult or start growing up a bit? I was just always singin’ when I was a kid and I guess maybe I didn’t mentally mature enough… I just kept on singin’, writing songs and stuff.”
His latest single, 'My Sweet Little Aussie Sweetheart', is a remake of the original 1950s song by Mike O'Malley and depicts the true Archer style with his natural ability mesmerising, taking you on a journey through country Australia. “[Mike O'Malley] is about 90-odd-years old now and still kickin’ around the joint, God bless him, he’s still singing’,” Archer says.
“I had the pleasure of singing with him a little while ago thanks to my buddy Kenny Joe Blake.”
It’s not just his music that’s authentic Australian, it’s his whole make-up as a person. You can hear it in his voice when he talks. When he describes something to you. When he intently listens to you. He’s not just seeing his surroundings, he takes all of it in without over analysing any of it and creates music.
“I like the natural world, the things that haven't been tamed under the yoke of man… I definitely draw a lot of inspiration from the wind or the birds in the sky,” he says.
{youtube}WTo382CzgCg{/youtube}
Archer's written many songs inspired by the birds and the wind, something so simple that most of us would miss it, too distracted by the noise that we become consumed by our surroundings. For Archer, he feels everything. Where he lives most of the time, there’s no TV to watch for inspiration.
“I think a lot of people who write songs, songs kind of come out of nowhere and just pour into you,” Archer says.
“There's this thing of 'are you writing a song or is it writing you', and I guess if the wind's blowing all through you maybe you get a song from the wind or something where as if you're writing a song in front of the TV, maybe you're getting a TV song,” he laughs.
But it’s true.
“It just feels damn good you know if you're trying to stand outside and the wind's kind of blowing all through and around you… If I want to write a song about the rain, I'll have to be drenched by the rain,” Archer says.
Click here to see the full list of Archer show dates.
