Kaurna Cronin Gotta Get Outta This Place Interview

Gotta Get Outta This Place is out May 31st, 2019

Multi award-winning folk troubadour Kaurna Cronin has announced his emotive new single and video Gotta Get Outta This Place, a song about longing for the road, and a desire to be flung outside of ones' comfort zone, our May 31. In fact, Kaurna is no stranger to the road, having performed over 400 shows across the U.K, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic, America, Denmark, Russia, India and Sweden. Kaurna will be returning to Australia in June to perform a run of exclusive shows to celebrate Gotta Get Outta This Place, kicking off at The Toff in Town in Melbourne, moving through Sydney, and wrapping up at Chataeu Apollo in Adelaide on June 14.

Gotta Get Outta This Place is a familiar title for a familiar feeling – and this song captures that feeling with true understanding, grace and lyrical intricacy. Evocative of Australian greats Paul Kelly and The Go-Betweens, the track arcs beautifully from a stark opening, showcasing Kaurna's unique, quietly commanding vocal, to a percussive jam buoyed by laid back guitar and gentle vocal harmonies. Speaking on the inspiration behind the song, Kaurna reflects, "This song is one I've been wanting to write for a long time but had never really managed to get the tone quite right. It's a song about internal battles of a sense of belonging and love for the idea of 'ones home' and the ongoing feeling of needing to get away from home to experience the unknown to be inspired by different places, people and ideas. It was important for me to try and capture the sense of passion and inspiration in ones home and not dismiss that – it's about the conflict of urges that one can associate with not wanting to feel 'comfort' anymore."

The clip for Gotta Get Outta This Place is minimalistic and eerie; it visually represents a feeling of dull routine, and how that dull routine can begin to numb the mind and senses. The same old merry-go-round that Kaurna talks about in the song is reflected here in mundane tasks – brushing his teeth, dressing, undressing, eating a bowl of soup – but they become inverted; playing and replaying backwards and forwards as the song goes on. Reflecting on the ideas behind the clip, Kaurna says, "Myself and Cooper (CW Creative Productions) tossed around a number of ideas but essentially we just kept coming back to it being such a personal experience for everyone - the sense of wanting to escape their daily routines - so focussing on the moods and movement became the focus of the clip. Obviously having the musical and lyrical tension with distinct changes of pace had to be reflected in the dynamic of the video – whilst keeping it black and white allowed the focus to be on the emotive mood and expression of the clip."

After spending many years travelling the globe and performing his music to countless people around the world, Kaurna is thrilled to return to Australia to play a run of shows celebrating Gotta Get Outta This Place, as he gives an insight into his life on the road, "My first years in Europe I was based in Germany, I spent a while busking in the streets of Berlin in 2011 developing songs which I would later create my first LP with partly in a Berlin studio and at my home studio in Australia. Every year I have been travelling back to Europe, playing in new countries every year including Germany, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Belgium, France, Denmark, Lithuania, Czech Republic and Austria. It has been a gradual and constant evolution of building audiences from performing on the streets, to cafes, to venues, to festivals in most countries throughout Europe. There is no "shooting to success" story by any means, but performing live to audiences all over the world has become my life."

Kaurna Cronin 'Gotta Get Outta This Place' National Tour

THURS 06 JUN | THE TOFF IN TOWN, MELBOURNE VIC | 18+
Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au | 1300 GET TIX | All Moshtix Outlets Online here

SAT 08 JUN | LOW 302, SYDNEY NSW | 18+
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au | 132 849 | All Ticketek Outlets | Online here

SAT 14 JUN | CHATEAU APOLLO, ADELAIDE SA | 18+
Tickets available from https://www.eventbrite.com.au or via www.kaurnacronin.com

Interview with Kaurna Cronin

Question: How would you describe your music?

Kaurna Cronin: Over the last few years the music has developed into sonic landscapes for stories and people to traverse. Lyrically the focus is very much on emotive narratives and exploring a wide range of emotions and ideas, musically I am focusing on trying to create the most suitable mattresses for these ideas and characters to dream and float away upon.


Question: What inspired the song, Gotta Get Outta This Place?

Kaurna Cronin: This song is one I've wanted to write for a long time but had never really managed to get the tone quite right. It's a song about internal battles and the conflict between desiring a sense of belonging and the idea of 'home' and how that reacts to our sense of adventure, curiosity, the desire for freedom and the need to develop beyond ones comfort zone. It was important for me to try and capture the sense of passion and inspiration in one's home and not dismiss that – it's about the conflict of urges that one can associate with not wanting to feel 'comfort' anymore.


Question: Can you tell us about the idea for the accompanying clip?

Kaurna Cronin: Myself and Cooper (CW Creative Productions) tossed around a number of ideas but essentially we just kept coming back to it being such a personal experience for everyone, the sense of wanting to escape their daily routines, so focusing on the moods and movement became the focus of the clip. Obviously having the musical and lyrical tension with distinct changes of pace had to be reflected in the dynamic of the video – whilst keeping it Black & White allowed the focus to be on the emotive mood and expression of the clip.


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Kaurna Cronin: I am always motivated by stories, wonderful stories of people and place. The ability that songwriting, poetry and music have to create imagery and emotion to articulate ideas and moods and help people connect with themselves and those around them. This is the greatest motivation. I know, growing up attending all the folk festivals, hearing great stories and incredibly moving and meaningful songs, the importance of sharing in song and the impact that music and songwriting can have on someone.


Question: What should we expect from your upcoming tour?

Kaurna Cronin: This whole new record has seen a refinement of many ideas and a collection of songs written and recorded in many parts of the globe. I am particularly excited to be sharing these new songs live in Australia as we've been touring the tunes a lot overseas but the whole album we hope to share upon our national touring in Australia.

Question: Which is your favourite song to perform live and why?

Kaurna Cronin: This past European Tour was the first time we were premiering a lot of the new songs from the latest album live. I really enjoyed playing this single "Gotta Get Outta This Place" the changes of pace and builds are really enjoyable to play with in a live format. It's also always gets people moving, which brings such a great energy in a room or tent full of people.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Kaurna Cronin: They are so different, I could never choose. Recording for me appeals to the introspective, solitary and detail focused aspects of my personality where I love sitting on emotions, ideas and developing trains of thoughts for days and weeks and sharing that experience with other creatives to produce new and fun ideas into something meaningful. Performing music appeals to the extrovert, adventurer and the fundamental desire of connecting with people. When I am performing relentlessly every night to new audiences in new places creating new experiences or in a studio constantly chasing leads, developing ideas and going on wild tangents that is when I am at my most happy. Strangely, for how different both aspects are, the fundamental aspects.


Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

Kaurna Cronin: At the moment from Australia I am digging Tom West, Delia Obst, Timothy Nelson, Banjo Jackson, Ro, Ben Whiting, The Maes, Timberwolf, Oh Pep!, Loren Kate, Max Savage, Kelly Menhennet and Aaron Thomas. I've been getting back into Simon & Garfunkel and Jackson Browne recently as well as Paul Simon and Sting.


Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Kaurna Cronin: I grew up with my mother and father, my mother was a textile artist and my father was a clown. I loved performing from a young age – mainly circus skills and theatre. My parents would work at the many folk festivals around Australia – we were at Port Fairy Folk Festival and many others annually and I grew up being inspired by the craft of songwriting, story-telling and performing along with the love of acoustic singer-songwriter music. Growing up in the 90's and 2000's I was influenced by a lot of different music – Aussie Hip Hop, Rock & Roll & Pop but always found myself coming back to artists such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon and Jackson Browne. These singer-songwriters and many more became the bedrock for my love of music.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?
Kaurna Cronin: At the moment I am really enjoying cross disciplinary collaboration to explore new ways of approaching songwriting and producing creatively. I think working with Tim Winton or an artist such as Banksy would be inspiring. Musically I think Paul Simon or Ryan Adams would be fun to collaborate with otherwise artists or producers from different genres such as Quincy Jones, Bruno Mars or Beyonce.


Question: What has been your favourite part of becoming a music artist?

Kaurna Cronin: Being able to share creative energy with others to develop ideas that have meaning and connect with people. From this, the experience of touring throughout many different cultures over the past years, from tours through Russia, India, Sweden, Germany, Italy and The Baltics it's been an incredibly diverse collection of shows and audiences and every place has had its own very unique experiences. Connecting with so many people through music, feeling the energy and emotion it can draw from people all over the world has been the greatest pleasure of all.


Interview by Brooke Hunter