Die Sonne verschwindet langsam hinterm Horizont als wir den Australier Fraser A.Gorman zum Interview an der Spree treffen. Der 24-jährige hat gerade eine erfolgreiche UK Tour beendet und hilft sich mit Ingwertee über den Restkater des Tourlebens hinweg. Ende Juni erscheint nun sein erstes Album ‘Slow Gum‘, welches mit easy-going Outback-Country-Rockklängen und seinem lakonischen Sington, auch Bob Dylan Fanherzen höher schlagen lassen könnte.
You just finished touring the UK, how did it go?
Great! We were touring with a band called Kid Wave and I it was a lot of fun. I partied a bit too hard but I had a blast!
Bob Dylan is a big thing for you, huh?
I’ve been told I look like him since I was 14, when I hit early adulthood my hair became really curly and I started playing guitar too. I’ve listened to Bob Dillon since I was 10, it is weird when you love someone so much and you kind of look like them. I don’t really know anything different so..
Do you ever get sick of the comparison?
Not really. Someone once told me I look a bit like Leo Sayer so I’d take Dillon over him for sure!
What was the starting point for your musical interest?
I got into music because I stutter when I talk. When I was young my mom sent me to singing lessons. It didn’t really help with the stutter, but it was so much fun! I loved it! My teacher had a Beatles’ songbook and she would play the guitar and I’d sing, which was a big part of my musical growing up. Most of the songs I had never heard played by the Beatles, just by her singing them to me and me singing back. Then I got into Dillon and Neil Young and the more music you get to hear, the more you realize it’s a super fun world.
You’re from Australia and the typical stereotype would be, that you have to be super interested in surfing.
I grew up in the surfing capital of Victoria. Surfing was always directly around me and I didn’t like it because I found it rather scary. Waves are big and surfing is scary- humans belong on the land. When your under water or flying you’re kind of pushing your luck.
You made a super chill, country, sort of ‘slowly driving through a nice landscape’ kind of album.
That is exactly what I make music for! That is actually a super nice thing to say, thank you. A lot of artists that I like are perfect for driving around in your car.
There is actually a moment in one of the song where someone is laughing in the background and in one song a backup singer coughs, I think it adds character. I like records that sound a bit live and alive. A record that really sounds like a band is playing the songs. Take an example of the song ‘ Girl from the north country’ which is a duet with Johnny Cash, one of them fucks up the words to the song and they both just chuckle and laugh about it and it’s so interesting. I think when things are perfect they kind of suck! In conclusion: keep it real!
Talking about keeping it real. How do you feel about auto tune?
I don’t think anything about it. It’s not really music or anything. The best thing about music is imperfection, it’s what sets people apart. Bob Dillon can’t really sing that good, neither can Neil Young. If Neil Young could sing like Cheryl Crow it would be fucking boring.
Some songs on the album are already up to 5 years old, when did you start to put it together?
I first moved to Melbourne when I was 18 and I grew up in a really small town. It was a wild time, being so young and being introduced to all these cool musicians and drinking and drugs. The album is a depiction of that time and it probably makes a lot more sense to me, than to people who listen to it but it is still a little insight of that time. It’s m giving a little snapshot into my life without sharing too much.
Which song do you relate to most at the moment?
That would be ‘Broken Hands’ which I wrote when I was 19 maybe 20. Four years ago which, for a young person, is pretty old. But the more I play that song the more I find little things that I like about it. Songs can evolve and you rely to them differently.
Your albums title is ‘ Slow Gum’. Can you explain what ‘Slow Gum’ means to you?
Slow Gum is me making fun of myself. Like I said, I stutter when I talk-not when I sing thank god- but I thought, how can I make fun of that without actually saying it in the title. Also, the record took such a long time to finish and in Australia we have Gum trees. It has a little bit of an Australian sound to it. I like that.
Last question: What is the dream?
The dream? I am living the dream right now. I am like 24, touring, rock’n’roll singer who stutters and gets to play all over the world and talk to you, so that’s great!
