Worlds collide and cultures connect on 'The Great Divide', the new album from Australian duo Busby Marou.
To make the album, Tom Busby and Jeremy Marou crossed the great divide between mainland Australia and Torres Strait Islands to visit Jeremy's father's village on Mer (Murray Island).
“Jeremy said he grew up a black fella in a white fella's world, and I got to experience being a white fella in a black fella's land,” Tom explains.
“Everyone was just beautiful, they took me in as their own, they called me their son and uncle and father. I really felt the connection there.
“We got a lot of inspiration that's drawn from the island, particularly that trip, you can hear it in our music. We captured vocals, local drums and all those awesome instruments Jeremy grew up playing and singing and exploring with; we've put that all through the album. Hopefully we can connect that part of Jeremy's life, that part of his culture to all our fans.”
'The Great Divide' follows on from Busby Marou's third album 'Postcards From The Shell House', which was released in 2017 and became a significant instalment in their discography.
“That last album was a really important one for us,” Tom says, “because, at the end of the day, Busby Marou are about a couple of guitars and vocals and harmonies and lyrics. You know, it's all about the storytelling that's in that and then your production comes after that.
“Music has connected us as best mates, and not only connected us, it's connected our families and all our friends.” - Tom Busby
“With 'Postcards', it was quite a produced album; it wasn't over-produced by any means but it was definitely more commercially viable. We let that happen, we wanted to explore that and it was really fun; it broadened our audience, it gained us a lot of radio play and our fan base grew.”
For 'The Great Divide', Busby Marou were given a larger scope by their label in which to work that Tom says resulted in a more mature musical offering. “This time we feel a lot more grown up,” he says.
“We feel like we can actually do what we wanted to. In fact, we were encouraged by the record company and by management to do what we want; don't feel the pressure of radio, don't feel the pressure of anything, which is pretty rare for artists these days that are signed to big labels.”
In order to make 'The Great Divide' the album they wanted it to be, Busby Marou enlisted the help of producer Oscar Dawson from Holy Holy. “We wanted to make sure we were recording real music around our real songs, that just made sense,” Tom says.
“Oscar's got this ability to really texture and layer music with his production [abilities], with his production style; making it so big and almost in a way anthemic if you wanted to, without taking away from it being organic, so he captured that.
“In a way, we went back to being true and recording real instruments, and the recording process was how it's meant to be – long and steady, and fun. It was the most enjoyable process we've ever had in the studio. And double that down with the fact that we are now better as songwriters; just over time, you get better at anything you're working at.”
A search for connection has always been at the heart of the songwriting relationship between Tom and Jeremy, with Tom lauding the ability music has to transcend the limits humans impose on themselves and others.
“With music there's no wrong answer, you can do whatever you want, it's all about connecting,” he says. “Most importantly you need to love the music yourself, you need to connect to it. You need to be fist-pumping in the studio and high-fiving while you listen to it.”
For anyone interested, Tom additionally reports that he and Jeremy were indeed fist-pumping as they listened back to 'The Great Divide' in the studio.
“What music has done for Jeremy and I has connected us – people from two different walks of life, two different cultures, one black, one white. It's connected us as best mates, and not only connected us, it's connected our families and all our friends; music has done that and that's what this album is all about. That's the beauty of it. We don't try to force it, it just comes naturally.”
Tom and Jeremy will be doing what comes naturally to Busby Marou when they hit the road in October and November on a national tour to promote 'The Great Divide', with Tom championing a balanced set of new material, old songs and audience requests. “Obviously we're going to be revisiting all the old songs from the past,” he says.
“We're going to play a few new ones if [the audience] allow us to, but we'll be guided by them. Our sets always work hand-in-hand with our audience. If they want to hear us play a song and they shout it out, we'll play it. In terms of production and the show, it's been different in the past; it's going to be so much bigger.”
‘The Great Divide’ is available now.
Busby Marou 2019 Tour Dates
Fri 25 Oct - The Tivoli Theatre (Brisbane)Sat 26 oct - Venue 114 (Sunshine Coast)
Sun 27 Oct - HOTA (Gold Coast)
Thu 31 Oct - Lion Arts Factory (Adelaide)
Fri 1 Nov - Freo.Social (Fremantle)
Sat 2 Nov - The River (Margaret River)
Fri 8 Nov - Palais Hepburn (Hepburn Springs)
Sat 9 Nov - The Corner Hotel (Melbourne)
Thu 14 Nov - The Cambridge (Newcastle)
Fri 15 Nov - The Factory Theatre (Sydney)
Sat 16 Nov - Ettamogah Hotel (Sydney)
Fri 22 Nov - The Jack (Cairns)
Sat 23 Nov - Kirwan Tavern (Townsville)
Sat 30 Nov - Armatree Hotel (Armatree, NSW)
