“I had no desire to have a band under my name,that has only emerged with the CD, with permission from the other members. I firmly believe in the collective spirit and contribution of all in which music can be performed and I think that in this instance that is a good part of resultant album.”
“I wrote a song as a dedication to this particular genre of song and to Johnny Mercer, it’s called ‘Last Call’.
It’s a great thrill for me that I recorded the song with orchestra in studio A at Capitol Records in Los Angeles, the studio where Sinatra recorded so many saloon bar songs, and Johnny Mercer was one of the founders of Capitol Records. That’s poetry in action.”
“I’m not interested in doing something for fame’s sake. I’m interested in doing something that I respect and think its a good idea. I’d get a lot of fans if I collaborated with Justin Bieber but I have no connection with him musically, so I don’t go in that direction. I’m not going to collaborate with someone I don’t have real connection with. “
“I’m telling a multitude of stories with this project and I suppose that’s an overarching story; that everyone has a story worth listening to if you take the time to hear them. And that story might come through words or sounds or body movements or other forms of expression. With the three guitarists I’ll be sharing timeless stories from many cultures by performing pieces from the jazz, nueva cancion, chanson, pop and bossa nova traditions.”
“I noticed a few themes emerging as I was writing and have just finished cataloguing all the pieces to try and select a cohesive set to record. While going back over them, I was surprised how much the songs were like a diary, reflecting my daily life as I moved through the project. I was more often than not writing about imaginary characters, but I still ended up with a lot of myself in the songs.”
“Our approach to music making is very open. Whatever the members bring to the group is welcome. We each lead diverse music lives outside of the band and when we come together the things we’ve been doing individually find voice in the overall sound. This is intuitive and encouraged and it means that the sound of the group is changing in ways that keep things interesting. We always sound like the Necks, but we also sound different from tour to tour – in ways that we can’t predict.”
” I believe that is one of the primary purposes of music: To offer a portal for release and escape, and hopefully healing, even if only for a few seconds. What better way than by celebrating music from around the world and through the ages, whose message is struggle for unification and equality?”
– What makes a torch song?
– Truth. The lyric is poetic truth, and the music frames the words and creates the mood.
“My Dad’s music was a statement against dictatorship, injustice, intolerance, and against the destruction of democracy. The music remains relevant to our time and current administration. That’s why it continues to be important.”
“Charlie Haden is a significant figure in 20th Century music and has been a huge influence on me throughout my career. The theme of songs of protest that we are presenting at the festival also fits well with Haden’s music we will be performing – LMO music inspired by the Spanish Civil war and the Cuban revolution amongst others, as well as some Australian songs of protest by the likes of Midnight Oil and Archie Roach.”
