Good Oak Are Branching Out

From drunken jams on the verandah of a Brisbane sharehouse, Good Oak are fast becoming a popular local act and will launch their debut album, ‘Public Service’, in July.

Comprised of Tom Busby (Busby Marou), guitarist Stephen Ryan and vocalist/ harmonica player Brett Gibson, Good Oak had humble beginnings in a good ol’ fashioned jam session with mates. “Basically Good Oak started with myself, Tom Busby and Stephen Ryan,” Brett says.

“So I grew up with Tom Busby back from the Rockhampton days. Basically we moved to Brisbane many years ago … we were moving into a new house, Tom said: ‘I’ve met this guy Steve Ryan, let’s move in’.

“Ryan-o is an awesome songwriter and we loved his voice and everything he did and Tom and I always jammed and wrote songs along the way and we were like ‘this is pretty cool’; a few drunken jams on the deck and all of a sudden we were thinking 'shit, we should just start a band’. A bit of a side-project for Tom and an outlet for Ryan and myself, so that’s how Good Oak was born essentially.”



After playing a few smaller shows and attaining a loyal following, it was time for Good Oak to get in the studio to record their self-titled EP, which was produced by Mark Myers ex-The Middle East (the band, not the geographical region). “A friend of ours in Sydney said a guy who would get what we’re doing and what we’re about is Mark Myers.

"He was getting into some producing after The Middle East stopped doing stuff, so we went up to Cairns and spent three days with Mark, never met him before and with not a real good idea of what we were going to do but the songs we had we put together and released a five-song EP.

“People liked it and we thought ‘oh well, we’ll keep going with this’. Three good mates: AJ Hall, Tim Sladden and Damon Joel Syme (‘DJ’), who’s the drummer for the Busby Marou guys, we got them together and that’s Good Oak now and we don’t like playing without any of those members, it’s a bit of a family now.”

‘Public Service’ will see Good Oak take the grand leap from rag-tag jam band to legitimate roots/ rock outfit when the album is launched on July 17 at The Triffid, a venue which holds a special place for Brett, whose professional background is in venue management. “The Triffid, particularly for me, I was involved in setting up The Triffid with John Collins [ex-Powderfinger].

"I put a big bit of my heart and soul into that joint, so it’s a real home game for us. It’s probably the biggest gig we’re going to play to date and we can’t wait.”

With a rich sound that combines roots, blues, country and rock & roll, the most important thing for Good Oak is their live performances, something which Brett says can make or break a band. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about great songs and great music but I’ve been to a lot of shows where I love their music and I would buy their album any day but I didn’t like the show.

"We like to yahoo, there’s a few swear words in there when we get carried away … we’re rowdy, we’re having fun and we try not to think about it too much at the end of the day.”

Good Oak launch ‘Public Service’ at The Triffid 17 July. They also play the Currumbin Creek Tavern 18 July and The Woombye Pub 19 July.