Mick Hart is one of those musicians that is so full of soul
and raw emotion that you can’t help but love him. His
live experiences draw you in slowly, building with every note
he plays, until finally, everything explodes and you’re
left hanging in the air, feeling like you’re in heaven.
It’s moments like these you wish could last forever.
Back from 8 months overseas, Mick Hart spoke to me about music,
his time in France, and truth, beauty and life.
Your new EP is a collection of live songs you performed
when you were overseas. What finally persuaded you to release
a live record?
Largely, the beautiful fans and friends that have been asking
for it for ages. It’s got this cruisey, take-you-away
vibe, and I just thought that felt nice as an EP. The whole
overseas experience was just so wonderful that I just felt
like sharing some kind of taste with it with everyone back
home. For me, I just hope people love it and get connected
to it.
Do you think you’ve been compared to people like
Ben Harper and Jeff Buckley because there’s a really
strong connection between the performer and the audience?
Definitely. When you’re doing your studio stuff, you’re
hoping that you’re getting closer and closer to that
[live experience] each time, but nothing can beat the live
experience because the people in the audience help make the
sound of the gig and make the atmosphere. It’s that
unspoken feeling in the room - it could be down to the temperature
of the night, the amount of people in the room, the lighting,
the candles, the whole thing just makes this experience and
then it’s just thrown out to the crowd and the crowd
feels something and the energy comes back.
You spent about 8 months in Europe. What was it like?
It was just a dream, dream holiday experience. I went to Paris
first off and booked a hotel for two weeks and ended up staying
in France for 8 months. It was just so amazing there –
the life, the culture, the music, everything. I wanted to
get there and just be immersed in another culture and learn
the language, and just seeing creatively where I could go
and what would inspire me.
What’s the best thing you like about France?
In a nutshell, the culture, but within the culture is the
people, the romance, the love, the way they treat the little
things in life with such importance – that’s what
really touches me the most. It’s such an enchanting
kind of lifestyle there – it really takes you away.
You almost feel like a creature from another planet when you’re
this twisted Australian singer/songwriter trying to make a
life in Paris, but it’s so exciting.
What you said reminds me of a French film called Amelie,
who appreciates all the little things in life.
It almost changed my life, that movie. To tell you the truth,
it was a big part in me going. I always wanted to go, but
I had never really just made that cut decision and said, “right,
I’m going.” I saw Amelie early last year when
it came out, and I just walked out and said, “that’s
it, I’m doing it, I’m going to France,”
and I almost went then and there.
It just touched me so much [Amelie], and the way that film
speaks to you in the importance of all the little things and
how if you make the most of those beautiful little opportunities,
they can change your life. It’s nice that you kind of
tapped into that because it’s the truth, it really is.
Do you think you’ve gained the most exposure by
word-of-mouth, because you seem to have really passionate
fans?
Totally. [Word-of-mouth] has just meant so much to me and
my career from the first day, and it still does. The true
fans and friends are just like gold to me, and they’re
the ones that open the doors. For example, in France, I don’t
know how it started, but word-of-mouth somehow got me mentioned
on Ben Harper’s French website, and then a couple of
his fans came to one of my Paris shows and really loved it
and they went back and told all these other people. By the
time I did my next gig, it was just doubly packed and full
of heaps of Ben Harper fans and it was all through this word-of-mouth
wicked vibe.
I think it’s just so cool when people realise the voice
they can have. It really makes such a difference and means
so much to an artist’s career. I think when fans go
to gigs they don’t realise that they can have such an
impact. They just mean so much to me. I think without it it’d
be hard to keep going and hard to play – I just love
it.
What has had the most influence on you musically?
I think just truth and integrity in songwriting. I know that’s
what I love about the artists I love. The one’s that
really get me, they get me emotionally. That gave me the confidence
and energy to want to do it myself and not to be afraid to
do it, to really bare your soul and speak honestly in your
songs – to tell true stories and to really throw the
emotion out and expose it completely.
Once I found that and found the spiritual place where that
comes from, it guided me, and I’ve just kept going and
going. Just the emotional impact you can have is a cherished
thing. If you’ve got something that’s emotionally
driven, it’s always going to have some kind of excitement
to it, and that’s the coolest thing. That’s real
truth in music.
The lyrics in your songs are quite truthful and raw, and
are often a bit melancholy. Do you think it’s easier
to write dark music?
Definitely. It’s really hard to write happy songs that
don’t sound cheesy and dorky. Whereas melancholic stuff,
when you’re really feeling that, it just pours out of
you. Everyone’s the same. If you sit down and write
a letter about what’s going on or if you just write
your feelings down, when you’re really feeling something
heavy, it’s easier to get it out.
People connect with it because we’ve all got that inside
of us but we’ve all got beauty and happiness and angst
and everything else as well. It’s one part of a personality,
but it tends to be the most expressive part sometimes because
of the way it falls out of you.
When I’ve seen you at gigs and the few times I spoken
to you, you seem to be a really happy person, the opposite
of your dark music.
I definitely feel like in the last couple of years, I’m
probably a lot happier person than I was. I went through a
stage where it was getting really tough and a bit emotionally
draining. Maybe even that whole time with Mushroom –
that was really tough. I kind of felt a lot of pressure and
a lot of tenseness and didn’t feel as happy in myself
as I had been. I’ve definitely found that again.
2003 © Steph M (jaspina@newcastlemusic.com)
Courtesy of www.ozmusicproject.net
