“I remember saying this thing to myself, ‘ok, if there’s ever going to be a choice between anything, just choose music …’ ”

Delaney Davidson offered up this reflection about half way through the filmed interview that is now available for you to watch here at AudioCulture. Part challenge, part advice, part mantra, part provocation – however you interpret the statement, it’s obvious from Delaney’s work that this single-minded commitment is one that he has taken to heart. It wasn’t one of the more surprising nuggets to surface during the interview – there were a good handful of those – but it felt like a statement of intent and a declaration of the well-considered ground he stands on.

I filmed the interview at Delaney’s house in Lyttelton around Easter 2017, and during the interview he candidly shared stories about his pre-teen adventures with music, playing punk at high school, his time in Melbourne and then Switzerland, working with the Dead Brothers, developing as a solo artist, working with Manos del Chango, working in theatre, and working with Tami Neilson and Marlon Williams – amongst many other things.

Hearing Delaney talk is kind of like listening to his records: he’s engaging, considered, familiar and surprising – and just when you think you have a handle on him he offers up something that takes you somewhere you weren’t expecting to go. He’s curious and generous and was a treat to interview – and I hope you enjoy watching and listening this as much as I did talking with him.

The interview was shot on an iPhone, with a decent microphone, and edited simply and minimally, with the intent of preserving a sense of that time spent with Delaney at his house. So if you’re keen on getting a feel for what it might be like to hang out with Delaney for an hour and a bit and hear some stories, then I reckon that watching the full version of this interview is for you. If you’re a bit more pressed for time, or just want to hear some of the individual stories, then we’ve included a handful of short excerpts from the full interview for you. Hopefully these shorter stories may tease you back to the full version.

– Ross Cunningham

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Full interview with Delaney Davidson

 

Part 1 - Starting to play

 

Part 2 - Other people’s songs

 

Part 3 - The loop machine and playing solo

 

Part 4 - Working with Marlon Williams and Tami Neilson

 

Part 5 - Manos del Chango

 

Part 6 - Theatre work: humour

 

Part 7 - Revelations

 

Part 8 - Crossroads

 

Part 9 - Punk

 

Part 10 - Success