For guitarist Danny Widdicombe, succeeding in the music industry has been a battle of epic proportions.
Remarkably, Widdicombe managed to make it in the cut-throat world of the music industry while battling leukaemia at the same time. His first album 'The Transplant Tapes' is an intimate and personal reflection of his battle with cancer, much of which was written from within the confines of hospital walls.
After making a recovery, Widdicombe released a second album which received widespread critical acclaim before travelling to Europe to begin working on his third album. Tragically though, before the album was finished, the leukaemia had started to relapse.
Your third album 'Find Someone' wasn't quite finished when you were diagnosed with leukaemia for the second time. Do you think the overall feel of 'Find Someone' ended up changing because of the news of your cancer returning?
There’s a balcony at the RBH for haematology patients and their families to give everyone some fresh air – it’s as lovely a space as you can get in a hospital environment. One day Tylea (songwriter, singer, artist and local legend) suddenly appeared on said deck with one of her paintings and said that she and Magoo (music producer) would be happy to create an album out of the new demos I had on my hard drive. I still have no idea how they knew I had the songs lying around and that I’d been thinking of making a new album. It was one of those moments that I’ll never forget. Some people are just so generous and loving that it makes you want to be more like that yourself. I accepted their offer and what ensued was quite an intense period for both parties. Magoo would pop around to the ward with new mixes and I’d be in all sorts of different stages of dealing with chemo treatment and all the side effects that come along with that. I think there were some moments that were probably a bit confronting for someone who wasn’t part of my immediate family, and those moments brought us pretty close together. I’m still very grateful for their support during that time – it gave me a reason to get out of bed and try to be active everyday.
How did the hospital staff deal with you putting an album together while you were undergoing treatment?
As soon as I arrived at the hospital, which was literally straight from a flight from London, the doctors told me to get my affairs in order. I remember hugging my family, signing wills, deciding whether or not to go ahead with the treatment and getting in touch with friends. It was a very intense, scary time for my family and I. In those circumstances, all the hospital staff bend over backwards to do what they can. The nurses in particular are your lifeline to having a future, so you become quite close. They were more than happy to provide a room to record in and have friends drop around. A lot of patients would gather at the window to the radiation suite we were given to see what was going on. It gave the ward a sense of excitement.
Before your illness cut your European trip short, your trip twas initially intended to help build up your European fan base. How was the tour of Europe coming along?
The Europe trip was the result of winning the 2010 Grant McLennan Fellowship with band mate Andrew ‘Moz' Morris. The two of us went galavanting around Berlin and Prague etc. playing a truckload of gigs and trying to use our experiences to write better songs. The people that saw us play seemed to like what they heard and we managed to hook up with BMG Publishing over in Berlin. We didn’t exactly become stars in Germany; David Hasselhoff is still the dude over there, but we had a great time and I thought the music was alright.
It's been a couple of years since that happened now. You'e back in Europe at the moment, right?
I’ve just arrived in London after an astronomical tour to the Faroe Islands for the Total Solar Eclipse and also to Iceland to try and capture the Northern Lights - Aurora Borealis. I had an amazing amount of luck with the weather - the clouds literally parted in the cloudiest place on Earth, unveiling the eclipse just after first contact and then through totality. Truly awesome. There was a lot of pressure trying to get it on camera - there’s no time for standing around pondering the meaning of it all; it was hectic in a thrilling kind of way. I also caught the Northern Lights in a town called Vik in Iceland. It was -3 degrees and a beautifully clear night. The air is so pure there. We drove up to a church where it was dark and then a magical, fluorescent green light started dancing between two mountains. They’re kind of like seeing a rainbow in that you can see them but you can’t really place exactly where they are and you know it’s real and why it’s there but the beauty of it makes it seem like it’s from another world. I did manage to squeeze in a gig in Paris before all this (really sound like a wanker now) but really, this was about my wife and I finishing the overseas trip we didn’t get to start because of that bloody leukaemia.
You also play in the successful Wilson Pickers band which has done well with nominations from ARIA and played numerous big gigs around the country. Is playing in the Wilson Pickers your main focus these days?
My main focus lately in music has been a fun outfit with mates called The Good Ol’ Boys with Ben Carstens, Dan Mansfield and Ant Aggs. We have such a great time playing my songs and old country/ blues/ soul tunes. Brisbane has exploded over the last few years with new venues and I’m so lucky to be able to make a living playing my guitar. The Wilson Pickers look like doing a few things this year which is good news for me because I love making music with those chaps too.
How do you manage to find the time to produce your solo work as well as playing in a busy, successful band?
I don’t know how I find time to do anything with two kids. They come first, then everything else is a scramble to the finish line.
You're also doing some interesting gigs like covering Jimi Hendrix's album 'Axis: Bold As Love' last year. Where did the idea to play that show come from? It seems like a bit of a step away from the country music that you're more associated with.
The wonderful Deb Suckling asked me if I’d like to perform an album at one of her Long Player sessions and I suggested either Neil Young’s ‘On The Beach’ or Jimi’s ‘Axis Bold As Love’. Along with probably 90 percent of guitar players, I learnt to play by trying to work out how the hell Jimi did what he did, so I’d been trying to play that album for a very long time. I had Ben and Dan with me that night and we’re really proud of our attempt to recreate that album as a trio in our very limited way. As for stepping away from country music, I love and play pretty much every style of music.
Can you tell us a bit about the concept behind the up and coming Jimi Hendrix vs. The Doors show that you're a part of? Is the show an evolution of the 'Axis:Bold As Love' gig?
This night is the baby of John Meyer - he knows what the people want to hear. Jimi and The Doors obviously come from that explosive era of social unrest about racial discrimination and segregation, the liberation of women, sexual freedom, psychedelic drugs and incredible music, so they are definitely a good match when putting on a themed evening of music. Jimi and Jim were both terrifically flamboyant and entertaining frontmen and they both have such a cult status that it’s fun to bring the music to life in a different way - we all know so intimately the way they moved and spoke and acted on stage so it’s always interesting to see how local musicians portray their love of this music with their own individual style.
Where does the 'versus' come in to it? Is it more than just a covers show? Some form of battle?
I think that’s there because of Australia’s innate love of sport. The only battle I’ve had with musicians is who can finish the rider first.
You'll be playing alongside Zed Charles, Golden Age Of Ballooning and The Strange Collective. How will you be dividing up the set list? Will you get the chance to play some Doors songs, or will you stick with Hendrix?
Everyone will be playing songs from both artists and we’ll be relying on our addiction to our electronic devices to sort out who’ll be playing what.
Who's your favourite of the two, Jimi or The Doors?
I used to work at a record shop in Melbourne years ago called Gaslight Records and we had Ray Manzarek come in for an in-store one day. It was a buzz to be standing right next to the man himself and you could feel the growing crowd taking in every word. There was the typical MC with the Triple M voice asking Ray questions and you could tell that Ray was getting really tired of this paradigm - really quick. That’s when he stopped the live interview and just said: “Look, I only have four words of advice for all you youngsters out there today - don’t do crystal meth!”. Then he went about signing all of our albums. I thought that was the coolest thing I’d ever heard, so The Doors became very much the equal of Jimi in my estimations.
What are you working on at the moment? Have you got a fourth album in the pipeline?
I’m currently editing photos from my arctic adventures to send to my very generous Pozible donators that helped me make it overseas. I’m also making a soundscape to go with those pics - very much a Brian Eno type of ambient, electronic instrumental thing. Once I’ve done that, I really want to record the stuff I’ve been doing with The Good Ol’ Boys and then there are a few festivals locked in for The Wilson Pickers.
'The Transplant Tapes', 'Dominoes' and 'Find Someone' are all very different from each other. Where do you see your style headed in the future? Will it continue to evolve?
In the whole scheme of things, there aren’t really that many people that hear my solo albums, so they’re very much a labour of love. I’m not tied exclusively to any genre and I’ll keep writing and recording whatever I want to write and record. My label ABC support what ever I want to do, maybe this Iceland soundscape might be the next album? The important thing is to keep at it, to write and perform music that I enjoy and to chip away at the craft of expressing myself through music.
Danny Widdicombe will play the Choose Your Weapon: Jimi Hendrix vs The Doors event at the New Globe Theatre 24 April.
