A Quick Chat With Whiskey Jack
With his warming Americana meets Australiana, Perth’s Whiskey Jack has graced us with a serene and hearty single ‘One Track Mind’. The humble WA artist released his debut EP last year, and has been release gem after gem since so far in 2024. A perfect track to mellow out a hard day with the setting sun, this one is made up of dusty acoustic guitars, breezy electric guitar refrains and waves of pedal steel, all topped off by the whiskeyed tones of Jack Dacheff. Whiskey Jack can easily be recommended to fans of The Dreggs and Leon Bridges collab with Khruangbin. We caught up with him to find out more about the track, his songwriting process and more.
Can you tell us what this track means to you and what you want people to take away from it?
I tend not to reveal too much regarding specific song meanings; I feel like that’s part of the magic in discovering a song and connecting with it.
But to summarise, One Track Mind is about overthinking and social anxiety. It’s a human experience, and there’s some solace in that. I hope the song brings some good vibes to the road trip, back porch bevy’s, daily commute or dinner time cook up.
Who are some of your influences and why?
So many musical influences, I’m a massive fan of Gregory Alan Isakov, his writing style, instrumentation, and production choices - so good. I like to read too, huge John Steinbeck fan.
What's the creative process for you, from writing through to recording?
Song ideas usually start in the book, but this one started with a guitar riff. During the writing process, I will uncover where the song is headed along the way. It’s a bit of detective work to find out what my subconscious is getting at.
When the bones are there I’ll record a voice memo and let it rest, and maybe test it out on stage. If it still feels good I’ll add it to the potential record it list.
What do you think makes a great song?
I’m a lyrically driven listener so for me a great song captures a feeling or paints a picture. I like to think of songs like places, they take you somewhere—and I like going places.
If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?
Ive been a Ben Howard fan since high school, Id love to work on a song mostly to hang out and see how he goes about it.
When not working on music, what other creative outlet/s do you have?
I work part time as an Enviro which keeps me busy throughout the week. I like hiking, anything great outdoors is up my ally.
Who are some local bands we should check out?
There’s so much good music going on right now. I’d say go check out Kiera Jas and Brandon Poletti.
Winter or summer and why?
I appreciate all the seasons, I’ll go with the Goldilocks answer - I love the shoulders, spring and fall.
What else do you have planned for 2024?
More releases for this EP to come, the rest is under the hood so stay tuned ;)
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