All singer-songwriter Carl Wockner wants for Christmas is a new guitar... and for you to listen to his new festive EP, 'Jingle Bell Wock'.
“The EP was going to be called 'It's Beginning To Wock A Lot Like Christmas' but it was too long so I went with 'Jingle Bell Wock',” Carl says.
“I had 'Wocking Around The Christmas Tree', but there's so many.”
"We're not super religious.”
On 'Jingle Bell Wock', Carl presents a merry collection of both original songs and his own versions of some beloved classics given a sprinkle of his trademark musical flourish. “It's not in a mash-up style, but it's certainly in an acoustic change-it-up style,” Carl explains.
“The EP is six tracks and there are two full original songs I've written for it and then two of the songs are ninety nine per cent just cover songs but I've changed one line here and there, and then two of them are classic hits but I've changed the verses of them.”
The new record is the second release for Carl this year after his 'Life In Colour' EP came out in January as a follow-up to his 2015 debut album 'Crayon Days'. “I had a few songs I had written after I had already recorded 'Crayon Days' that could have easily gone on that album,” he says.
“Once you've released some kind of work, you're inspired and pumped about doing it. After I recorded 'Crayon Days' I was really into it and wrote a bunch of songs and I'm like 'oh man, I wish I'd put this on 'Crayon Days''.”
Carl says 'Jingle Bell Wock' is not a Christmas album in the traditional sense but more of a modern take on the holiday, which for many people has become about spending time with family rather than a strictly religious affair. “We're not super religious,” he says.
“Our main religion is our family, but like a lot of people we adopt Christmas as the holiday season and the time to spend with your family and loved ones and appreciate what you've got. So I wanted to keep it open-ended enough that it was more of a holiday EP to everyone.”
Perhaps one of Carl's finest achievements on 'Jingle Bell Wock' is the fact he's managed to write not one, but two all-new original Christmas songs. “One of the songs is a more serious one and the other is more in the holiday, festive style,” Carl says.
“It's tricky because there are so many Christmas songs and not too many new things to write about in terms of Christmas.
“One of the songs is called 'Santa Selfie' and that's a funny one about me being determined to prove to my friends that Santa exists, and I'm going to stay up late to take a photo with Santa and hashtag #santaselfie. It's just a funny song.
“Then the other one is more memories of Christmas in terms of how every year it changes. I remember when I was a kid and I grazed my knees running around the Christmas tree chasing after my sister.
“Then flash forward to when we were teenagers and bringing home girlfriends and boyfriends to the house and Mum was making the same meals she always did. Then flash forward to now where we've got our own Christmas tree and we're doing our own tradition.”
