After two years spent travelling the globe, Busby Marou return with a sophomore album that promises gifted storytelling, soaring harmonies and a little bit of Nashville charm.
“The process for our second album, ‘Farewell Fitzroy’, has been so different to our first,” reflects Jeremy Marou. “For our first album we obviously had a lifetime to perfect the songs and get them exactly how we wanted. We got signed off our first album, so the next is… ‘Ok, we’ve signed you, now go and do a better one’.
Rockhampton boy Marou and his best mate Tom Busby make up the duo, whose debut self-titled album fell just shy of gold sales and was nominated for APRA, Deadly, NIMA and Queensland Music Awards.
“That puts a little pressure on writing a good second album that the label is going to like and push. We never had a problem writing good songs, that’s always been an easy process, so it was just about making sure that it was better than the last album and that people like it, because if people don’t like it we have to go back to our day jobs!”
Although the album’s title is taken from the Fitzroy River, which runs through their hometown, the boys travelled halfway across the world to record with US producer Brad Jones in his Nashville studio, ‘Alex The Great Recording’.
“At first when we were going to Nashville, I thought it was a bit of a cliché thing. Just so Tom and I could wear our tight, black jeans and be like the rest of the muso nerd world. But I guess I found out that there is more to Nashville then the cliché! The studios there are a thousand times better than anything in Australia, and the Yanks really know how to record live, so our album has such a lovely, live sound to it compared to our first album which was all tracked individually.”
‘Farewell Fitzroy’ tells stories of our land, from suburban love songs to memories of the Kimberley, carefully combining acoustic-tinged folk rock and compelling craftsmanship.
“A lot of the songs are about travelling and places we’ve been and people and relationships. Tom doesn’t always tell me what the songs are about, he does the writing and I do the music. But I do know that the first single, ‘Get You Out Of Here’, is about being away from people we love, and travelling.”
After two solid years spent touring the globe with some of the world’s biggest artists like Dolly Parton and Tim McGraw, Tom and Jeremy were determined to capture new songs with a full band sound. So tour buddies Damon ‘DJ’ Syme, Vincenzo Russo and Vaughan Jones joined the boys in Tennessee, where the friends spent a month literally sleeping in the studio.
“We made a decision that it was going to be a live album, which Tom and I could never do acoustically, even if we wanted to. Instead of using session musos, we fought for our band to go to Nashville with us. We’re very loyal to our band. I wouldn’t even call them our band. They’re our mates.”
The October release of ‘Farewell Fitzroy’ will be accompanied by a national tour.
“In our live show we will strip it back. We will do a section where it’s just Tom and I playing three or four songs acoustically, but the majority of the show will be the full band playing the songs how they are on the album.”
Regardless of success, the boys love nothing more than returning to Rocky to play for the hometown crowd.
“You know, your family and friends and the people who have supported you since day one are there. We’ve played some amazing gigs, but playing back home in Brisbane and central Queesnland is just it. It’s just it for us. I’m still based here in Rocky, I’ve got a family and three kids, so I will stay here for as long as possible.
"A lot of music industry people said to me that you’re never going to make it if you stay here and I’m pretty sure we’ve proved them wrong. We’re an example to younger kids who are in bands in small regional towns. The way the music industry is these days, you can make it from anywhere.”
‘Farewell Fitzroy’ is out now. Busby Marou play The Soundlounge, Gold Coast, October 24 and The Hi-Fi October 25.
