Brisbane musician Graham Moes has released a new single ‘Heartwork’, which captures the inner conflict of trying to achieve a work-life balance as a busy creative.
“I wrote the song at a time when I was thinking about this stuff and it’s really relevant now,” Graham says.
“It’s an ongoing thing. As a creative and full-time musician you don’t really have defined work hours. It’s not like at 5pm you put down the phone and that’s it for the day, if something needs to be done it needs to be done. If you keep taking on projects because you’re enthusiastic and you love what you do, that time can sometimes never end.
“After a while it starts to add up and if you don’t have any days off you can really burn yourself out. I think it’s really important that we find that balance and sometimes it’s easier for me to let it out into a song and that song was ‘Heartwork’.”
‘Heartwork’ has been released under the band name Graham Moes & The Petrichor, which features a three-piece horn section that drives the group’s funk rhythms. The song comes in quick succession after their previous single ‘The Helm’ that came out in April.
Initially a solo musician (he's also a member of Fat Picnic), Graham released a debut album called ‘Time & Tide’ back in 2015, which served as the basis for his current project with The Petrichor. “It’s been in the works for quite a long time,” Graham says of the band.
“I wrote and recorded my own album at home a couple of years ago; over a period of two or three years I put together an album. When I released that I just had a backyard album launch and I really wanted to put it into a live-band sound… and I really wanted some horns. I converted a lot of the electronic elements into horn lines and it became a band.”
With ‘Heartwork’ Graham says he feels like he has captured the sound and style he has been chasing as a musician. “I feel like this song is definitely my home sound, this kind of groove and tight rhythm section is the music I love and could just pay all day,” he says.
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“It was really exciting. I really felt that flavour and felt that the whole band could follow that sound. I didn’t expect it to come together so well but it did and I’m really happy I’ve got a single that shows that off.”
Graham Moes & The Petrichor will tour for ‘Heartwork’ in September, with a home town launch show next month. “I feel like The Bearded Lady [Brisbane launch] is such a central place in West End and I end up there a lot at other people’s projects, acts and gigs or just on a Sunday for one of the [Church] sessions,” Graham says.
“It seems to be a centre-point for a lot of my musical community and my friends, so it’s really nice to be playing a show there and it can get nice and intimate but also loud and sweaty. It’s going to be a really nice gig.”
Graham Moes & The Petrichor Tour Dates
Thu 24 Aug - The Bearded Lady (Brisbane)Sun 10 Sep - Hotel Brunswick (Brunswick Heads)
Sat 23 Sep - The Treehouse (Byron Bay)
