Ahead of his Australian tour, including a performance at Music by the Sea with The Opposite of Everything in January, international violin virtuoso Jaron Freeman-Fox chats about all things music, escaping the Canadian winter and being electrocuted by his own violin.
You are performing at Music by the Sea in January. How did that come about?
Mostly from the work of wonderful agent Cathy Kirkpatrick! When we started booking this tour, the fine folks at Music by the Sea were among the first to hop on board.
Is this your first time in Australia?
I was over for a month last year touring with a couple of Canadian groups; my fine bearded comrade Ben Caplan, and the bhangra-electronica outfit Delhi2Dublin, who I'll be joining again this year at Woodford Folk Fest before meeting the rest of my band for our tour. I also had the delight of guesting with a few great Australian musos while over there, including Jordie Lane, and Wilde Marmalade.
What are you most looking forward to when visiting Australia?
I think the initial gut response is escaping Canadian winter! I've been lucky enough to have at least one tour per winter in Asia or Australia for the last several years, but a full winter in Toronto is what leads folks to ice-skate massacres!
On a less graphic note, I'd say the most amazing part about touring another relatively young colony like Australia, is that one gets this kind of arms-length perspective on our own country and culture, especially within the arts. Personally, I find the parallels between Canadian and Australian culture simultaneously fascinating, comforting and terrifying!
What can people expect from your performance at Music by the Sea?
Well, I always recommend that folks come with no expectations other than to hear something like you've never heard before!
How did you first get started in music?
I've been playing for as long as my brain has been making memories, so I don't clearly remember how this madness was instigated in the first place. That said, I grew up in Northern BC, near Alaska (picture a 20-hour drive north from Perth!) so those first years were largely self-taught, and being left to my own devices lent itself to a lot of exploration. My family were in recreational bands, who would tour the folk festival circuit every summer, so my first exposure to most music from around the world was in the midst of scampering around backstage, sneaking off the grounds to wherever the closest mud-hole was, and causing a general ruckus.
The specific training came much later when I was a teenager. At around age 14, I became an apprentice of a great violinist/composer in Toronto, and I would go live with him for short chunks of time, and delve into the freakier side of the violin's possibilities. This apprenticeship lasted until my guru passed away in 2008, leaving me his 5-string viola, which I still play.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing?
Not sure, probably a Vegan Taxidermist.
Who are your musical influences?
I'm a devout believer in the small-time, so a lot of unknown bands in Toronto, Brooklyn, Berlin and Stockholm have been some of my biggest influences of late, but the heroes are: Zappa, Tom Waits, L Shankar, Ali Farka Touré, The Punch Brothers, Yat Kha (the Mongolian convict throat singing cover band), Stravinsky, lots of traditional music from Scandinavia, and Indonesia, Tahitian Choral music, and a couple of non-music gems for good measure: Salvador Dali, Charles Bukowski and R Buckminster Fuller.
How much time do you spend rehearsing?
The musicians in The Opposite of Everything are from all over the country (and sometimes all over the world) so the rehearsal period usually happens in an extremely concentrated period of time. We have a kind of specific rehearsal process, where we try and turn these complex strange compositions into folk songs that have simply been deranged over the years, almost like we're trying to accelerate a 100-year process into the span of a few hours.
You’ve toured extensively throughout America. What is it you enjoy most about touring?
It's been a busy 4 years, touring all over Canada, the US, Europe, south Asia, and of course Australia. I've been home for about 5 weeks per year, so the things I enjoy most about touring life vs general life have essentially become one and the same! That said, I do love exploring new places, as well as revisiting where I've played before, and cultivating the feeling of a global community.
Do you have any particular places you like to visit whilst on tour?
The woods, the ocean and the local thrift store! When you aren’t on tour, how do you like to spend your time?
I produce records for other people, and do a lot of production work on our own music, but mostly I just eat take-out pho at 4am and practise Scruggs banjo.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians?
Listen to what you're playing.
Remember that music and the business of music have zero things in common (and it's likely that if something is good for your music, it's probably bad for your business and vice versa!). It's fantastic to want to improve at both, but if you try and believe that one equals the other, you're walking down a tormented path. Always respond to journalist's emails in a timely fashion! [Ed: Jaron missed these e-questions on his busy schedule!]
What are some of the highlights and lowlights of your career so far?
Some great career highlights include playing for 300,000 folks including the ever-popular royal Will and Kate, which was quite an experience. Also, getting sent to India by the Canadian Embassy to collaborate with a troupe of nomadic Rajasthani Gypsies (the inspiration behind THIS video
Or performing with TV Gopalakrishnan (who used to play in a quartet with Ravi Shankar, George Harrison, and Zakir Hussain’s father, Allah Rakha). But to be perfectly honest, the true career highlights for me are when I get to play every night with The Opposite of Everything, who are undeniably some of my favourite musicians in the world, who create music with my ideal balance of orchestration, improvisation and spontaneity!
Most of the lowlights are probably too incriminating for print! But a few shows stick out:
• the times when I've been electrocuted on stage by my own violin,
• the times (yes more than once!) when I've unintentionally broken my violin on stage (which was the inspiration behind this video:)
• and the one tour up to the tar sands in Canada where I lost 100% of my voice.
• Also every time someone has requested The Devil Went Down to Georgia.
What’s the epitome of success for you?
Making a living playing one's favourite music without writing emails! I guess my first step would be to learn how to use a pen...
If you could perform with anyone in the industry, who would it be?
Tom Waits, Bela Fleck, L Shankar, or Tuneyards!
Written by Jackie Smith
Jaron Freeman-Fox Australian Tour Dates
December 27-Jan 1 – Woodford Folk Festival – Woodford, Australia (with Delhi2Dublin)January 9 - Music By the Sea Festival – Brisbane
January 10-11 – Cygnet Folk Festival, Tasmania
January 12 - Hobart MONA – Tasmania
January 14 – Sunset Studio – Newcastle
January 15 – Camelot Lounge – Sydney
January 16-17 – Illawarra Folk Festival – Wollongong
January 18 – Humph Hall – Northern Sydney
January 21 – Smith’s Alternative Bookshop – Canberra
January 25 – Pizza and Wine Club – Kyneton, VIC
January 26 – Globe to Globe Festival – Moorabbin, VIC
January 28 - Ararat Hotel Red Room – Ararat, VIC (double bill w/ Scott Cook)
January 29 – Open Studio – Melbourne
January 30 - Flying Saucer Club – Melbourne (double bill w/ VulgarGrad)
January 31 – Hotel Gearin – Katoomba, NSW
