Australian songwriter TB Whiteside is a great believer in genuineness. Inspired by the legendary storytellers of rock, folk, alt-country, and blues, this place features just honesty instead of smoke and mirrors. Equipped with a six-string guitar and a catchy tune, he performs unadulterated songs inspired by the wide, open spaces of western Victoria. Come on over, grab a seat, and enjoy a little taste of life! Check out the exclusive interview below:
1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
TB WHITESIDE: Born and raised in a town called Rainbow (pop. 500), which is in the southeastern region of Australia. A five-hour drive to the nearest major cities (Melbourne or Adelaide), or a one-hour drive to the outback. I was a late starter to the music game. After retiring from playing football in my late twenties, I was looking for a hobby that required less visits to the hospital.
2. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
TB WHITESIDE: I think with most of my songs, the fans won’t have to do too much interpreting, as they are mostly story songs. The mystery lies in the inspiration about how the song came about, and what sort of feelings it invokes in the listener. It’s been very interesting getting feedback from people that have heard the album; everyone likes different songs, for different reasons. People have laughed and people have shed a tear. That’s pretty much life in a nutshell. Whilst the songs may have been inspired by certain events, places or people, I try and write them in a way that they can be related to, no matter where you are in the world. If you buy the CD, as well as the lyrics, you also get a bit of a story about how I came up with a song, so some of the mystery is removed a little bit. But when I say ‘story’, that’s what it is. I never let the truth get in the way of a good story ;)
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘TB WHITESIDE?
TB WHITESIDE: In my late teens, I was a member of “The International Queen Fan Club” and used to get a fan magazine posted out from the UK every few months. I guess these days, that’s the equivalent to being in a Facebook Fan Group :) I was a big fan of their musical diversity, and the different sounds that four individuals could make collectively. In amongst that, I loved the sound of a pure acoustic guitar, so while everyone was going nuts about Bohemian Rhapsody, I was in bliss listening to the 12-string acoustic guitar on their song ’39. Queen were doing ‘Folk with a Beat’ way before Mumford & Sons came along! Then, I remember very clearly around that time, I was lying on my bedroom floor and Copperhead Road by Steve Earle came on the radio. The mandolin playing against heavy rock drums hooked me, and then came the story in the song. So, I went down the rabbit hole of singer songwriters…Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Tom Petty, John Prine, Todd Snider, Paul Thorn, Lucinda Williams, Johnny Cash Kevin Welch, Buddy Miller, Patty Griffin etc. Why the name TB Whiteside? Well, I guess you will have to ask Mr & Mrs Whiteside about that. I think at the time that I came on the scene, they were just short of vowels. Apparently, I was a bit of a handful when I was young, so maybe they had a premonition, and TB stands for “Totally Bad”?
4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
TB WHITESIDE: I have always struggled to describe my sound. The best I can describe it is ‘real’. I like all sorts of genres. I like contrast. I like light and shade. I like happy and sad. I like stories. I like the down and dirty tones of a lap steel guitar played through a vintage amp. I like the sound of an intimately picked acoustic guitar. I like the sound of a grand piano. I like the sound of a wailing harmonica. I like the sound of vocal harmonies. The list goes on. If I like the sound and I have the resources and people around to make it happen, then giddy up! Townes Van Zandt once said there are only two types of music in the world: the Blues, and Zippity Doo Da. My music is not the latter! People resonate with music for all sorts of different reasons, but I think it is generally broken down into either the lyrics, the melody, the instrumentation, or a mix of all three. It is the combination of those three elements that hits a home run for me.
5. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
TB WHITESIDE:
Creating this album
6. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
TB WHITESIDE: I had a few guitar lessons when I first bought a guitar, but after I learnt a few chords, that was enough theory for me and away I went. I can’t read music. It’s more of a feel thing for me, listen, work out the notes, chords, picking patterns, and let the magic happen after that. Ironically, I was the only one out of five siblings in my family that was able to get out of doing music classes at school. In hindsight, they probably would have come in handy!
7. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style?
TB WHITESIDE: There have been a lot of years playing cover versions of songs in pubs, racecourses, backyards, vineyards, on the back of trucks, on car hoists, and everywhere else you can think of. So, you quickly learn to play what people want to hear. But, you know, eventually, you get tired of that, because no matter how well you do the cover, it will never be as good as the original. For me, the answer was to then write and perform original songs, because then you can’t be compared to anybody else. The downside of course, is that nobody knows the songs, so you lose the crowd pretty quickly! But, if you persist and keep honing your songs to a point where you truly believe in them, then there will be one or two people right up the back of the bar that will be hanging on every word you sing, and they will come up to you at the end of the night and ask you who wrote that song. And then you say, “I wrote it”. That’s the reward. My musical style is obviously influenced by all of the other great singer songwriters that came before me. Bob Dylan stole from Woody Guthrie. Todd Snider stole from Bob Dylan. I’m not ashamed to say that I have stolen from Todd Snider, Steve Earle, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Tom Petty, and so on. But what I haven’t stolen is the words that make up the songs. They appeared due to some feeling, emotion, observation, or a story that I may have heard. That’s where the magic is. Prior to writing that song, that combination of words had never appeared. Now they do. That’s the magic!
8. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
TB WHITESIDE: For me, music is a way of helping me get through life, all of the ups and downs, the emotional rollercoasters, it’s like the great ‘leveler’ in life. No matter what mood or state of mind you are in, there will be a song that will hit the spot for you somewhere. I understand how powerful music can be. You only have to see that in a heaving stadium of one hundred thousand people hanging on every word of an artist up on stage. The Taylor Swift concert in Melbourne recently is a classic example of that. So, it is a pretty good fit to then use it to help political/cultural/spiritual/social narratives. But, it’s not for me to try and convince people to think a certain way about those things. I’d rather have you thinking about how I came up with a line, why did that make you smile, tear up, miss a loved one, tap your foot, and so forth. I like to bring it back to the roots of life; your heart and your head. And believe me, there is a lot of political stuff that goes on between those two!! Having said that, it is in every folk singer’s DNA to have a political streak. I do have a political themed song on the album, but it is very much tongue in cheek. If you want to check it out, you will need to buy the CD to hear it, as it is one of two tracks that weren’t released on digital platforms.
9. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
TB WHITESIDE: Making this album was a massive undertaking for me in every sense of the word. Financially, logistically, emotionally, creatively. But probably every artist will tell you that. If I could tell you some of the stories that went on behind the scenes to get this bad boy out in the world, it would curl your toes! But the reward at the end of the day when the album landed in my hands was priceless. It has paid me back tenfold as far as my soul goes. No regrets, I wouldn’t change a thing, and I could not be prouder of the finished result. My daughters received a personalised copy of the album for Christmas. They now have that as a keepsake that they can take with them wherever they end up in the world, as a reminder of their crazy Dad, long after I have pulled the plug on my final gig. People measure success in all sorts of different ways; financial, awards, reviews, recognition, etc. Creating an album after 25 years of thinking about it – that is winning (for me anyway), regardless of what happens after it is released out into the world.
10. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?
TB WHITESIDE: My songwriting process always starts with the lyrics. Getting the main body of the story down in words is a key milestone. After that, I then think about what sort of style or feel the song has. It will then be a bit of backwards and forwards, after the melody has appeared, fine tuning the words to fit in, making sure the rhythm and flow of the words fits with the music. After it has all been locked into place, I then think about texture, light, and shade, what sort of instrumentation would work with the song, and so forth. At the end of the day though, every song is created with a thought and an acoustic guitar. As far as the writing goes, I tend to find that is a personal thing, and I don’t collaborate on that part of a song. But when the structure of the song has been created, that’s when I go into collaboration mode and the real fun begins. I have been so fortunate to have played with some of the most talented amateur musicians in Australia. We throw the songs around a bit, different sounds, instrumentation, and harmonies are offered up, and then we get to work and apply the glue and make it all stick. That’s how the album came to be. With the help of my hugely talented bandmates, my simple acoustic songs were sent on the rides of their lives! I am so proud that we didn’t use any session musicians – it was just the guys that I had been playing cover songs with for years. I always knew they were something special. We’ve now got something tangible to show for it.
11. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
TB WHITESIDE: Creating this album
12. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?
TB WHITESIDE: Well, up until this point, I haven’t been subject to any social media warriors casting negative comments my way. That may all be about to change though! It is a scary thing, when you release something out into the world that is so personal. And to be honest, I am my harshest critic. But sometimes, you just do what you need to do, and making this album was something that I needed to do, for a whole lot of reasons. So, I must be prepared for anything that is thrown my way, good, bad or otherwise. I just wish that people would use the old rule “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all” The social media landscape would be such a better place to hang out in, if everyone adopted that rule. I do lament how the music industry has gone, and no-one buys music anymore; we just rent it off the various platforms and never fully take ownership of it. I know, when I die, my kids will inherit a massive album collection, and it will be a window into my soul, of all the sounds that got me through life. What happens in the next generation – do the ones left behind just get assigned a bunch of playlists? It seems now, our attention span is limited to ten seconds – if a song doesn’t hit us in that time, we just skip to the next track. Some of my most favorite songs have been deep album cuts, and it may have taken a few listens for the song to finally ‘click in’. When it does though, it is like a little shooting star passing through your ear drums. Music has become very one-dimensional now, all we use is our ears. I like the three-dimensional experience, using my ears to hear it, using my eyes to read all the lyrics and liner notes, and using my hands to feel the package, open it up, and flick through it. And if you want to get a little bit crazy, then you can use a fourth dimension and involve your mouth, to savor your favorite drink while doing all of the above! Anyway, I could have saved myself quite a few dollars on this project if I didn’t get a bunch of CD’s manufactured, as well as get all of the graphic design work done that goes with it. But, it would not have been the same, just having some digital files floating around on the interweb, and nothing else to show for it.
13. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?
TB WHITESIDE: That’s a hard one. Up until recently, I had only experienced creative work in a home environment and interacting with a live audience. Coming up with lyrics and songs is fun; I have always done that. And I have tried recording at home. You know, people say that for maybe a thousand dollars, you can get some good mics, some software and an audio interface and you can knock out some studio quality sounds from your bedroom. Well, from my recent experience that ain’t ever going to happen! Putting this album together was the first time I have experienced a proper studio environment. And you quickly work out that when you are singing into a vocal line that is worth more than your entire instrument collection, the studio environment is a whole other level. Then you add in the mixing and mastering processes, which can only be best described as ‘dark magic’. I don’t understand how the engineers do it, but I am in absolute awe of what they do. It blows my mind! Playing to a live audience is also a blast, especially when the room is pumping, the boys in the band are locked in tight, you nail the harmonies, and everyone hits that final note or chord of the song in unison. You just look over at your bandmate with a grin and just nod…. that’s a special feeling.
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