NAS 10 Questions with Gavan Waldby

[Interview Number 46]

This time, we get to know Gavan Waldby. His brand new track "The Chase" is featured in the New Artist Spotlight Family of Playlists.

Link To New Artist Spotlight Playlists:

https://www.newartistspotlight.org/playlists

Okay, let’s get into the Ten questions for Gavan Waldby!

𝟭. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗯𝗯𝘆?

I am from Brisbane, Australia. Lived here all my life. We really are the Lucky Country. My hobby is hopping in my FjCruiser with my wife and exploring all the amazing off road places that exist near me. Currently I am obsessed Fraser Island which is 4 hours north of me. Its the largest sand island in the world and it is a truly amazing place, it's like going to another planet. There is footage on my Instagram account if you would like to see it.

𝟮. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰/𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻?

My sister was given a guitar when I was about 14. She was never interested but I started noodling around with it. I then heard Neil Diamonds "Hot August Night" and I thought his rhythm guitar work was the greatest thing ever, so I started trying to copy him. That's when I realised music is joyful. Then came The Beatles and I was completely hooked.

𝟯. 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀?

There are so many, The Beatles, Paul McCartney, Neil Finn, Split Enz, Tommy Emmanuel, James Taylor, Carol King, Cat Stevens, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Mozart, Beethoven.

𝟰. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰?

A few years later I started getting guitar lessons, then I started giving guitar lessons. I started playing in bands of many different varieties. I then studied music at Queensland University followed by a gig in a theatre restaurant which was so much fun. At that point I started to understand how important it is to be entertaining as opposed to being a fancy musician. So I started up my musical comedy duo called "Chalk and Cheese" with a friend of mine. We played together for 15 years putting on a real show to entertain people. Again it was a joyful experience.

Then I took on the ultimate challenge, to become a reading guitar player. I wanted to play in big bands and do sessions which meant you had to be able to sight read music. On the guitar that is really really hard to do. I practised for thousands of hours learning how to do it. It paid off. (Mostly)

Recording wise I only started a couple of years ago. I kept coming up with good ideas for songs and instrumentals and thinking I should record that, so I finally did. I love working in the studio, it is so much fun. Even though I am a very experienced musician its a completely different process to playing live so I am still on a big learning curve. Plucking an idea out of the air and turning it into a song is such a satisfying thing to do.

𝟱. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆?

To write good quality music and get people to listen to it. I am learning that doing both those things is really hard.

𝟲. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲?

That's easy, around the campfire with my acoustic guitar. A bunch of friends, a bottle of red, in a remote peaceful location, under the stars, there is no vibe like it.

𝟳. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗴?

I would have to go with "Hey Jude" because its such a brilliant live song. I saw Paul McCartney in Brisbane a few years ago. 40000 people at Suncorp Stadium all singing the Nah Nah Nah part was just awesome.

𝟴. 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁?

I mentioned earlier how I became a reading guitar player. When you are playing in a Big Band reading charts you have never seen before anything can go wrong. So I got called to do this gig for a band that I had not worked for before. Things were going ok and I was handling the charts. Then then next song was "La Bamba", but not in the original key of C it was in Bb! Now many of you guitar players out there can probably play the guitar intro in C its not that hard to play. Try doing it in Bb. Its a nightmare if you haven't practised it. I blew it big time. Of course no one says anything but I could sense the disapproval from the other musicians. I wanted to hide under a rock!

𝟵. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁?

The first time I got called to play in a Big Band was a different experience. The Alan Brown Big Band was Brisbane's premier band and they needed a guitar player to fill in for a gig at the Gold Coast casino on the Saturday night. Alan Brown offered to give me the charts early if I wanted to practise them. I picked them up on Thursday night. I took them home and basically freaked out, they were so hard! I started practising. By Friday mid morning I was panicking I was very close to picking up the phone and pulling out. But a voice inside my head said "you can do this" so I persisted and practised all that day and all that night. I never worked so hard in my life.

By Saturday lunchtime I had it under control. So off I went to the Gold coast casino, met the rest of the band and a few hours later we started the show. I will never forget the moment the brass kicked in on the first song it was like being lifted and carried away. Brass instruments are so powerful, suddenly I was playing at a level I had never felt before. The rest of the night went well, I was very happy. After the show in the dressing room Alan Brown gathered the band together and they gave me a round of applause. He followed up on the Monday with another booking. My feet didn't touch the ground for a couple of weeks after that.

𝟭𝟬. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲?

My dream collaboration would be with Tommy Emmanuel. He is the master of the acoustic guitar and I admire him enormously. He is also an Aussie like me. I have never met him and would be totally intimidated if I did, but he is the type of musician that brings the best out in everybody around him. I have learnt so much from watching him, playing with him would be amazing.

"The Chase" on Spotify

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/gavanwaldby/the-chase

and follow his socials

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gavanwaldby/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GavanWaldby

You will not be disappointed!

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