Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: My name is Robbie Macfarlane and i’m a Singer of both folk/rock and classical/operatic music, a songwriter and composer, and stage director based in Melbourne, Australia. I grew up in a seemingly normal family with a big record collection from both my dad and my grandfather on my mum’s side. My grandfather on my dad’s side was my first big musical influence, he taught me how to play the organ. There were no divisions, it could be led zeppelin one day and vivaldi’s four seasons the next. We were what I like to call a ‘bogan intellectual’ family – lots of drinking, drug abuse (two relatives were heroin addicts) but you’d casually have Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 foisted upon you or be listening to Yes – Close to the Edge like neither was a big deal.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover “Robbie Macfarlane”?
A: I’m chronically distracted and disorganised so my plan is simply to do it honestly. My music is honest and I’m just completely obsessed with the craft of songwriting. Great hooks and composition outdo production tricks every time for me. I rarely use auto tune and record songs in whole takes with very few edits. I call it chamber pop – its music steeped in the great folk rock tradition of Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell but with the orchestral sugar of the Beach Boys, the Beatles or the Walker Brothers.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: I listen to a huge amount of different music. At the moment everything from Al Bowlly from the 1930s, Rodgers and Hart who wrote countless great songs from the 1920s until the early 40s, The Beach Boys neglected 1971 masterpiece Surfs Up, Paul McCartney’s 2005 record ‘Chaos and Creation in the Backyard’ to Sufjan Stevens’ magnificent record from last year ‘Javelin’ – they are the things burning up my turntable right now. McCartney would have to be my biggest inspiration right at the moment – I saw him live last year and at 80 could play a 40 song, 3 hour concert and paly 5 or 6 different instruments well. A once in a lifetime talent.
Inspiration is a state of mind. I think you can write about anything as long as you have your eyes and ears open. There’s a great movie starring Michael Fassbender called Frank (loosely based on avant-garde fictional pop singer/character Frank Sidebottom) – in the movie he has a conversation about inspiration with one of his bandmates and proceeds to make up a song about a tuft of carpet. That really rings true to me, its all about perspective.
Q: Can you tell us about the story or message behind the song, “Tell Me Where It Hurts.”?
A: As cliched as it might be, its a song compelling people to remember that they aren’t alone in struggles of the heart. It was written for a friend who was going through a breakup and living in a different country and feeling socially and emotionally isolated. And all I wanted to do was hold them and let them cry on my shoulder. Unable to do that, the sentiment became a song. There are so many songs about hating your exes, and as I get older I find hatred a very overused emotion in our increasingly polarised, black-and-white world, so I wanted it to be a song for those who have their relationship status as ‘It’s complicated’. I think the last lyrics really hit home in this sense:
‘And when we go our separate ways
I’ll keep on waving from the plane,
And if our paths should cross again
I’d like to think we could be friends.’
It sounds horribly mature when I write it down, but its genuinely how most of us feel I think and I didn’t know too many songs that had that kind of sentiment.
Q: How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?
A: Listenable (I hope!)
Q: Did you face any challenges while writing or recording “Tell Me Where It Hurts”?
A: I got covid for the 5th time (that virus loves me) and so my voice was shot for much of the recording process. One of my problems is I have a very short attention span, and so by the time I was recording tell me where it hurts I had written several songs I was more eager to get stuck into! If it could magically happen instantly I’d be very happy. Thats one of the things I love about Neil Young, he seems to write and record within the space of a week, have the record out the following week and be on to the next project shortly thereafter.
Q: What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?
A: My message primarily is none of us is alone and no-one needs to be pigeonholed musically or otherwise. Open hearts and open minds and open ears. I’m not a big fan of genres or labels. I think life is fluid, and like a river it runs into the ocean and we all end up in the ocean at the end. So everything within it shouldn’t be boxed in. I love the Beatles records for their ability to move from music-hall and broadway sounding songs to hard rock while still be undeniably the Beatles. So my ultimate goal is to be able to make music that people enjoy that doesn’t mindlessly adhere to a genre. I’d love to make records in languages other than english, record with indonesian gamelan players, and songs inspired by the music of the 20s and 30s, and at the same time make a hardcore punk record. I dont see the difference if its good music.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: Dead – Warren Zevon (who wrote Werewolves of London among others). I think he is the most underrated songwriter of the past 50 years and one of the great wits of rock n’ roll. Living, probably Jimmy Webb. He wrote Wichita Lineman for Glen Campbell, Didn’t We for Frank Sinatra amongst many many other masterpieces. I think he is one of the great craftsmen of songwriting.
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: Get a flexible day job!
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: Be patient and learn the technological aspects of making music. I’m not a computer-phobe but I do find it a time-consuming and irritating process. I want to make music straight away and have to deal with being underskilled in regards to using technology.
