Christian Tryhorn pulls double duty this March as Mojo Burning organiser and featured act with his band Transvaal Diamond Syndicate (TDS).
As well as Mojo Burning, Christian founded management/production outfit Beats Cartel. “Yeah I've got my fingers in a few pies, mate.”
Mojo Burning came about from Christian being on the road with TDS and meeting bands who weren't getting mainstream radio play and were struggling to make a living as a result. “Now each year we try and find the best blues/ rock bands from all over the country and bring them together; unite the team a little bit.”
Even though there may be similar blues-focussed events on a bigger scale, Christian says there's nothing really focussed on young blues-influenced rock bands. “There are so many of those bands out there, and they don't get any attention from the likes of Triple J.”
Mojo Burning has grown in popularity the past couple of years despite not having massive names on the bill. Even though it's a slow burn, Christian says he's happy for it to grow little by little. “Hopefully in a few years we can take it outdoors, do something like that. Make it even bigger.”
Christian says TDS's new music is very different to what they've previously done. TDS are working on the second part of a double EP, which combines a mass of different styles: funk, reggae, blues, and rock. “It's pretty expansive, it's stuff we haven't really tried in the past.”
The EP should be complete in time for the band's upcoming tour in April, as part of the release of their new single 'Thicker Than Water'. “I think 'Thicker Than Water' is a standout song, it's the one we probably have the most fun playing live.”
More than happy with how the song came out in the studio, Christian says they're kicking around ideas for a film clip to do the song some justice.
When talking about horror stories of life on the road, Christian says there's always something going wrong: more often than not it's an issue with transportation. “We broke three vans on the way to a weekend of gigs once, and rocked up to one of the gigs in a tow truck because of it.”
That's life on the road. The band's recently bought a new bus which they're living in at the moment. The plan is to set it up as a sort of “guerilla stage on the side of the bus, to pop up at festivals.”
Radio play is invaluable to smaller bands trying to get their start, and Christian's always had a love/hate relationship with outlets like Triple J. “Community stations are more than catering towards the underground up and coming, lower level bands,” he says, adding that they give the bands a great start, “but the sad part is to get that big traction you really need the support of Triple J and the commercial radio stations.”
As Christian well knows, the commercial stations rarely touch anything that isn't pop, but he says that with TDS and with every other band he works with, you've just got to keep throwing songs at them and “keep your hat in the ring.”
Transvaal Diamond Syndicate play Mojo Burning at Hamilton Hotel 12 March. They also play Helm Bar 8 April as well as the Big Pineapple Music Festival 28 May.
