If you make up one quarter of a 'slacker country' blues band singing about failed relationships, hopelessness love and the benefits alcohol, it's pretty fair to say you don't mind the age-old combination of water, hops, yeast and barely.
For most, beer is a social drink — a lubricant to ease the anxieties of interaction or a good dose of Dutch courage. But for Melbourne beatniks The Glorious North, a humble combination of carbonated ales provide the country and blues band all the inspiration they need to write music until the early hours of the morning. “Most of ours songs are written about drinking,” the band's guitarist, Cameron Peterson, says.
“It's all about drinking too much, whether that be beer or whiskey, and as a result it's pretty much the muse of our band... It's turned out quite fortuitous that our first time is Queensland we are playing a beer festival.”
Cameron (known as 'Tele' within the band) is referring to The Beer InCider Experience; an outdoor festival ‘celebrating craft beer & cider, great tunes, burlesque, fine food and spring in Brisbane’ that is to be held this weekend. “The band has only been around since the end of last year, so this will be our first time up here as a band,” Tele says.
“We've been cutting our teeth down here in Melbourne and the opportunity came up to play this festival, so we jumped at it.”
Although the Beer InCider Experience will signify the first official north-of-the-border gig for The Glorious North, Tele and his band of merry musos “have been playing in bands for quite some time”.
“We've been playing together since we were teenagers,” he says. “Darren our drummer used to be in a pop-punk band here in Melbourne called Klinger and we knew Loretta through a mutual friend of ours... we wanted a female bass player to try and get those beautiful country harmonies.”
Their debut EP – titled 'Dang' – is the culmination of ten months worth of spontaneous jamming, playing, writing, singing, sitting and drinking; it’s the unofficial soundtrack when you’re bootscootin' your way into the whiskey-stained heart of that someone special. “It is actually being pressed right now,” says Tele. “Queensland will have the first chance to listen to it and buy it at these shows.”
To celebrate the band breaking their Brisbane virginity I asked Tele a few beer-related questions.
Favourite beer? Stone and Wood Lager from Byron Bay.
Best beer to watch live music to? Coopers Pale Ale, green label.
Best beer to play music too? Dos Equis 'XX' – the Mexican beer.
If The Glorious North were a beer? Coopers Pale Ale, red label, because it goes down easy but you feel the effects the next day.
What is the best alcoholic beverage to drink while listening to 'Dang'? I would pour myself a tall drink of single malt scotch and pull myself up to a speaker and listen to it like that.
