Music From The Gut

When we really want to make sure that we are connecting to our personality as a whole, our central nervous system, brain, we ensure sort of massive enervation, a massive nerve that goes straight to our guts. The gut efficiency sometimes depends on outside factors that inflame our imagination, the better we are going to be, the better we improve and the brain has a direct effect on the stomach. This is what it’s like with me when I hear music that I really like. For example, the very thought of my favorite music can release the stomach’s juices before you hear it. The connection goes both ways, the memory sends signals to the brain, just as a troubled brain can send signals to the gut. This is what musicians are actually responding to when they feel the audience.

There so many artists and musicians out there in the world, like a breed, rare artists/musicians that actually make a living outside of their birth country. It is for instance very difficult to make a career for Australians outside of Australia. All this may be different now with the technology involved yes, but doing gigs outside of your home country takes money and it may be a more difficult process than we actually think. But mind you no-one knew who was Mick Harvey, Nick Cave and The Birthday Party were when they arrived to America in 1981. The post-punk white scene had lots of little labels springing up everywhere, recording vinyl, and the bands were mainly coming from England. At that time, there were many shops that would buy vinyl directly from the band. It was the time when the band was able to simply ring up record stores in the U.S. and make a date with radio stations. And for the band at that time it became large when John Peel, the well-known UK radio DJ played one of The Birthday Party singles. This is how Mick Harvey and nowadays the celebrated indie god Nick Cave became to be known in America. That was a time entirely different from today of course and today there are not less celebrated white indie musicians other than Nick Cave. „There has always been imperative with Australians in any creative field to get out of Australia and find a wider audience. This was probably, even more, the case in years gone by when the internet didn’t exist but is a condition that persists until now. Becoming successful has many facets. There is the public acclaim aspect, the financial security aspect and also the artistic satisfaction and development area – all of these are impacted strongly, in most cases,by Australian artists and musicians leaving Australia and gaining a
foothold in larger markets. So it’s not just about fame and money. For
Australians the experience of interacting with the wider world can be critical to expanding the quality of the art as well,“ Harvey explained in his interview.

As European, white culture origin, indie music fan I have seen many concerts and live performances and I have been brought up to like and know different kinds of music. But for this one, I am particularly glad. Well, I could say this, Mick Harvey, however, is carrying a different kind of energy, he may be not that massive and somewhat aggressive with his gothic rocker, indie, white music image as Cave but he is a carrier of this kind and soft energy. For many indies music fans out there, this music makes the body pumps out the hormones of adrenaline as part of what is known as the fight response in the brain and general revolt and respond to society. Many body functions change, including heart rate, blood pressure, etc, while modern lifestyles expose people to constant impulses and different responses to music, responses that feed the brain with energy. Every single person on the planet Earth has his/her own music to respond to, depending on the origin, personality, environment, and social belonging. Australian born, white, indie musician Mick Harvey https://www.mickharvey.com, founder of the post-punk The Birthday Party and one of the main authors of the most welcomed Australian indie band ever Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Steve Shelley drummer of the New York-based, equally celebrated, band Sonic Youth, JP Shilo and Glenn Lewis and his wife were performing together in Europe, just recently at the end of the last year. Harvey today is a perfect example of self-managed, self-funding indie alternative white music and an indie culture master craftsman of many musical projects. In Europe however, Mick Harvey is the name that is mainly related to a The Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and The Birthday Party because with those bands Harvey and Cave got out of Australia, and made their name out there.

Mick Harvey alone returned to Europe in October 2019 to present songs from his four solo albums after a few years of live shows focusing on his Serge Gainsbourg interpretations and a world tour with indie music queen from England PJ Harvey. This time he was in the company with J.P. Shilo (Hungry Ghosts/Rowland S. Howard/The Blackeyed Susans), Glenn Lewis (Cambodian Space Project) on bass and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth) on drums. J.P. Shilo first appeared on the scene in the 90s with his instrumental group Hungry Ghosts, starting with Rowland S. Howard who was also one of the members of the punk band The Birthday Party in the 80s produced their first LP. Soon they did in the Sonic Youth studios recording a follow-up album entitled „Alone, Alone“; created the “sound” of numerous Australian albums, including Adalita Official’s award-winning debut solo album, „Close Your Eyes“ and See LP from „The Blackeyed Susans“ and five of Mick Harvey’s LPs, including the latest batch of Serge Gainsbourg interpretations, “Delirium Tremens“ and „Intoxicated Women“ etc. Just recently he was commissioned by The City of Melbourne to create a new work for Melbourne Town Hall Grand Organ Jubjoté premiered on November 8th, 2018. Also an important part of the whole bunch was Steve Shelley known as a drummer of the N Y Sonic Youth.

And let me say one thing, I think that this wonderful, spontaneous, out of the control music built the music history today, well at least part of it. And after so many gigs that I have seen, and different genre music that I have reviewed, I can say one thing. It required the particular chemistry of the band members as well as to be at the right time, at the right place to create a certain moment in time to remember. The band function I may say with strange intensity to build the unique atmosphere, an ingenious feeling of the moment, so powerful, and splendid.