A Quick Chat with The Runaway Strings

What are the origins of The Runaway Strings? Where and how did the band form?

Jiah and I are married, and we have played music together and we had another fiddle player for a while but this current incarnation formed on Halloween 2023. I was dressed as a skeleton, sitting on my front porch, playing banjo because obviously if you play the banjo this is a reasonable thing to do, and this car pulls up. I can see this bloke looking at me from the car and then he emerged holding a banjo over his head like He-man brandishing the sword of power and I thought, “cool, we’re either about to jam or fight to the death with banjos, what a way to go!” Luckily it turned out to be the former, that was Lionel, and the three of us bonded over our love of all things musical from there.

Tell us a bit about ‘Big Gold Watch’. What’s the story behind it?

Big Gold Watch is about that feeling of frustration at having a job that you’ve got to drag yourself off to on a Monday morning. I reckon I wrote it in as much time as it takes to sing it. I woke up and thought, “20 more years of this shit and I get a big gold watch” and then I sat down and wrote the rest out, just that kind of sarcastic cynicism I guess where you’re dragging yourself in there for the pay packet. I was late for work as a result. I don’t work there anymore, which is slightly ironic I guess, because the song is about that kind of begrudging acceptance of a situation you can’t change in the short term.

Are there any inspirations you look to beyond music when writing or performing?

I am a sucker for a good book, theatre and visual art. Anything with a bit of a story and a bit of humour behind it. I love the way that you can look at a painting and see the rhythm in it, or a well written story that crosses between tragedy and comedy. Mainly I guess I just find inspiration in the farcical nature of life, the weird moments we all experience from time to time.

Name the five songs that have informed your song writing more than any others.

Don’t think twice it’s alright - Bob Dylan
When I first met your ma - Paul Kelly
Hotel Yorba - The White Stripes
I’m so lonesome I could cry - Hank Williams
Long Black Veil - (The Band’s version), written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin

What Australian artists are you listening to at the moment?

Valley Road, they are a fantastic folk/acoustic duo from regional Victoria, just near us, incredible lush harmonies and wonderfully personal songs with great stories behind them. I am a massive Amyl and the Sniffers fan, which doesn’t exactly put me in the minority but I just love the immediacy and the energy that they bring. Nick Cave is a staple of my listening, as is Paul Kelly. Anna Scionti for some good blues. The Chats for a road trip.

How do you hope your music might impact listeners?

I hope it makes people listen and enjoy the fact that it’s a live take, there’s no AI, there’s no autotune, music can still be a thing that you just bash out in your loungeroom with some fun ideas and a bit of practice. I was always drawn to artists like Jack White who write amazing, simple songs, but you can hear the fun and the passion in the recordings. I want people to listen to it and want to pick up an instrument and pen something that matters to them. Find whatever slice of your life or experience you want to share, that’s the impact that I hope they get. Or they just nod their head waiting in traffic to get to work, that’s pretty good too.