From the rolling hills of the Darling Downs comes Pepper Jane, a singer-songwriter whose knack for crafting catchy folk tunes is matched only by her talent for wit and whimsy.
Pepper is a regular on stages around the country, from regional country gatherings to big city showings. With a guitar on her back and a song always at the ready, Pepper Jane is the quintessential 'folkslinger'.
Tell us a little about Pepper Jane as an artist and performer?
Somewhere in between complete ‘oversharedom’ and nothingness is a mystical cotton field where I live with my truth fairies and sometimes we take the show on the road. I think looping pedals may well be against my religion, so I just try to be real and let you see glimpses of my beating heart in the space between setup and pack down.
The video for your song 'Keys' was premiered on scenestr back in September; firstly, how have you found the response so far?
Educational (laughs). Maybe people find dental hygiene something to stay away from. That debilitating fear aside, brave members of the population seem to like the song.
What is the song about and how did it start?
I picked up my keys off the counter in a dark, silent kitchen and the obnoxiousness of the sound ignited the old leprechaun in my chest that writes the songs. He’s a strange little revhead that one; invents a few stories, but sure does like to tell the truth.
What else have you been working on this year?
Breathing. The leprechaun doesn’t leave much room, particularly if he’s ANXIOUS and SHOUTING. (Shut up, leprechaun). Seriously though, I got a tip about breathing from my mates in ethnic folk hotpot MZAZA (just announced to play at Woodford Folk Fest), and after seeing Celine Dion live and paying attention to Ariana Grande, I’ve raised my personal bar of expectation.
I’ve decided Katie Noonan is pretty much unattainable. If you meant songs, I’m almost always writing, occasionally finishing.
You recorded an album as part of Anywhere Festival last year; did you enjoy the experience of recording live?
Yes, but the audience might have felt weird about it. I just didn’t finish writing the songs, so I haven’t got around to the occasionally finished part.
When do you expect the album to be finished?
When the leprechaun stops trying to strangle me and lays off the sugar long enough to finish a senten- oh look, a butterfly…
Do you remember the first song you ever wrote and what it was about?
Ha ha. I wrote a war cry in about grade five, it won our Student Council competition and we sang it at Quinalow Interschool Sports Carnival: “One for the training, two for the race, three for Jondaryan we’ll set the pace… We can do it, if we try, c’mon Jondaryan, fly fly fly!” Ha ha.
A little later in primary school we had to design an ad for radio and I made a ditty about my pretend landscaping company ‘Teri’s Trees’. It was pretty hilarious. Then in grade 8 I wrote a bit of one about a girl in my grade’s dad who was sadly another rural life ended early. She didn’t know I knew that part.
The first song I actually finished, near the end of high school, was originally a poem I wrote for someone else’s drama class performance about racism, then I changed it to be about bullying so I could sing it. It still doesn’t have a title and rarely gets played (when I played it at my private all-girls school they thought it was meant to be funny, they didn’t get that that just compounded the truth - joke’s on them).
I did play it at the end of a gig at Eumundi markets once when I’d had about 50 minutes sleep the night before, and I was full-tilt emotional: the crowd cried, I welled up, it was intense, like the sacred sharing of music is meant to be.
Coming from the Darling Downs, how does the region's live music scene compare with that in Brisbane?
Oh man, that’s a bit of a delicate issue, I mean, it’s a bit harder to get people to come out in Toowoomba. There are a couple of alt rock/punk bands doing really great things – Something Something Explosion and Venice On Fire are both about to tour down the east coast, and country stadium rock dudes 8 Second Ride are tearing it up around the country.
You probably have a better chance of getting a crowd if you’re country or blues out here but I don’t know of any listening rooms. That’s why I love playing at farmers markets - there’s plenty of love there, and a diverse, sober audience.
Where do you see your songwriting and performing taking you over the next few years?
To parts of myself no one might want to go, repeatedly. Also around the world to house concerts and Matchbox stadiums.
How are you feeling about your upcoming national tour, and what can audiences expect from the shows?
I always feel most at peace whenever I’m on my way to play a show – whether it’s a half-hour trip or a two-day one. Lately I’ve been cultivating the part where saturation of the feels is maintained when I play each track. Sounds expectable, but it’s easy to forget when these songs are such old toys of yours, particularly if you’ve done covers for a few years.
That’s a snarey trap of staleness to extract yourself from. I’m stoked to get back to most of the west coast though – they pretty much dig whatever you’re doing and Perth is growing itself quite a tasty thicket of talent. Keen to finally play the iconic spots Wesley Anne (Melbourne) and Grace Emily (Adelaide) too.
Any plans for performing overseas?
Absolutely, I’ve been asked to go to Alaska before and currently in talks with a festival in Norway in July. Two years ago I met up with a bunch of other songwriters from the free online songwriting community Songfight in New York (who I appreciate for their brutal feedback) so I hope to make it to their gathering next year too. So many unfinished song-babies, including a few international collabs I’d like to get back into.
Is there another recording coming soon?
Absolutely, as well as exhuming other recordings from the vault, throwing a hat on them and pushing them into the sunlight. You gotta ‘Slip Slop Slap’ in this wide open – oh look, a butterfly...
Pepper Jane Tour 2018
23 Oct - Equinox Boogie (Toogoolawah)24 Oct - The Triffid (Brisbane)
27 Oct - Woolshed Inn (Bordertown)
28 Oct - Live at the Chapel (Sunbury)
31 Oct - Live in studio during The Dotted Line, 3MDR 97.1FM (Melbourne radio show)
1 Nov - Wesley Anne (Melbourne)
2 Nov - Mr Henderson (Brisbane)
9 Nov - XXXX Alehouse, (Brisbane)
10 Nov - Ground N Sound, (Gold Coast)
14 Nov - Grace Emily (Adelaide)
16 Nov - Old Ambulance Station (Nambour)
25 Nov - Mystic Palooza (North Fremantle)
29 Nov - Froth Craft (Exmouth)
30 Nov - Ningaloo Reef Resort (Coral Bay)
1 Dec - Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort
2 Dec - Finlay’s (Kalbarri)
11 Dec - Daily Planet Cafe (Brisbane)
21 Dec - XXXX Alehouse (Brisbane)
29 Dec - Peregian Beach Hotel (Sunshine Coast)
