South Australian blues band, 63 Deluxe have turned tragedy into triumph with the release of their debut self-titled album.
Born from brotherhood and a shared love of blues music in all its forms, 63 Deluxe distilled their jam band origins into a "purposefully eclectic" sound to craft their first record. "We're three blokes who are best mates turned band members writing modern, blues-tinged music," drummer Jack Thomson says. "For many years, we would get together for mateship and our own form of music therapy and just to hang out. We've pooled all our different influences and our love for blues and rock trios and put it all together.
"Bret [Hann, bassist] comes from a long line of blues and enjoying jam bands like Gov't Mule and Grand Funk Railroad. I come from more of a jazz leaning and modern rock influences, and Scott [Anthony, guitarist and vocalist] lies in between. We're not just purely blues, we're crossing genres."
From jamming together as mates to writing and recording an entire album, Jack says the band has very much taken on a life of its own and that the music has become part of their therapy.
"Through break-ups, through deaths within the family unit and the whole bunch of mental health issues that come along with it, we decided that we were going to stick together through it and help each other out as mates," he says.
"As much as it was our reason to write music, it was also the reason to have a bit of a boy's club and advocate for the fact that music has its own healing properties. Whether it's for the music itself or the joy of getting together with your bandmates, being in that environment, writing music and hanging out."
Traversing a broad terrain of blues-based music, 63 Deluxe's debut album incorporates elements of jazz, rock, funk and fusion, placing it neatly in a modern frame. "The roots of everything we're doing you can trace back to the blues," Jack says.
"In terms of guitar licks, you can trace it back to Robert Johnson, and everyone borrows all their stuff from those original guys. We're taking what we like from all of those original elements and putting a modernised take on it.
"It's not just blues blues – it's jazz blues, it's funk blues, it's rock blues. It's all sorts and we're putting our own little bow on it that says '63 Deluxe'."
63 Deluxe launch their album at the Port Noarlunga Blues Festival in late November, before jetting off to Nashville, America, next year to record their second album. They will also be representing Australia at the 2025 International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
"We want to make sure going over there, representing South Australia and in a broader sense Australia as well; we want to make sure that we are giving the correct representation," Jack says.
"Australian blues tends to be maybe a little bit rougher around the edges. It has a little more rough-and-ready feel compared to American blues counterparts, which tend to be quite slick, that's for sure."
'63 Deluxe' is available now. 63 Deluxe play Port Noarlunga Blues Festival on 29 November.
