Dreaming of Woodford

Clichéd it might sound, but Tom Busby’s living the dream. His and Jeremy Marou’s self-titled debut album has been released on Footstomp Records, Warner Music’s indie imprint, and the duo can barely keep up with a hectic live schedule.

It makes for a marked change from the start of the year. In January, Busby was like any other denizen of Brisbane – walking to work in a suit, sweating, and simply dreading his days. “Particularly Mondays,” he laughs. “After playing at a festival and then coming in to work and, you know, you don’t know what to do but you’ve just got to keep going and then, finally you know, it’s just…” he peters out.

Thankfully, the job is no more. The impracticalities of juggling the two occupations dawned upon Busby when he walked into his manager’s office and asked for three months off. “‘I’m going to need July off, maybe even August – actually all of August – September, oh shit and November,’” he regales with a chuckle. “And my boss has looked at me and gone, ‘Mate...’ I thought, ‘Yep okay, it’s time’. So I took my resignation in, took a photo of it, sent it to the boys and said, ‘Every day’s a Saturday!’ It was great.

“Since July, it’s just gone a bit crazy for us; we haven’t had time to just sit back and reflect and to work out what’s going on. I think we’re going to try and do that in Christmas for a week. Like, holy shit, what a crazy six months.”

Busby’s a natural storyteller, something that has lent an easy engagement to the music of Busby Marou. It helps that he shares an almost symbiotic partnership with partner-in-crime, Jeremy Marou, and together they’ve delivered an album that’s almost distinctively old fashioned. Not for them the right angles of modern indie rock. Instead, it’s sweetly sung, folk-inflected rock that hums like a gentle summer rain steaming off an iron roof.

“We’re both Rockhampton boys, born and raised,” Busby says. “It wasn’t until about six or seven years ago that I went home after finishing uni. I met Jeremy and I asked him to help out with the tunes that I’d been workin’ with and I suppose the chemistry was pretty instant. We ended up staying around and playing and in that last six or seven years Jeremy’s seen me more than his family. We’ve seen enough of each other, let’s put it that way!”

The duo have turned plenty of heads with their self-titled debut, but its arguably live where they’re at their best, whether it’s just the two of them or if they’re packing their three-piece backing band. They were one of the stand-outs at this year’s BIGSOUND conference in Fortitude Valley, although Busby remembers it slightly differently.

“It was really tough for us, BIGSOUND. We supported Birds of Tokyo at Bundaberg and Rockhampton the two nights before, so we literally drove into town and then drove straight up to BIGSOUND on no sleep. I think our performance that night was fine but this is where it gets tricky, because Jeremy and I on two guitars – that’s really our live show. Sometimes we feel like we have to have the band in there all the time, but really when you break it down to the bones – the guts of it really – that’s what we are, so not everyone got to see it all.

“Live is definitely our natural environment, particularly for Jeremy and I. It’s funny, the Busby Marou thing: it’s got so many different formats and Jeremy and I is what’s it’s all about in the end and we’ve been playing so many duo shows recently. It’s just a piece of cake for us because we’ve honed our little craft, and then when you bring your band in it’s just a little bit more effort making sure everyone is in time. You just start worrying about other people. But look: we love it. We love playing live even though we haven’t slept much lately,” he laughs.

Indeed, home time has been a little scarce in recent months, Busby Marou having just wrapped up another national tour. The band’s own shows were intertwined with some massive supports, including k.d. lang and Dolly Parton, and Busby’s looking forward to recharging his batteries before New Years.

“Mate, it’s just been out of control,” he says. “I know that once you’re on the road it’s busy but what’s happened is we had all these opportunities that we couldn’t knock back after we planned our own tour. There was another 12 shows in amongst our own national tour, so literally it’s waking up, flying to somewhere else, waking up, flying to somewhere else … The Brisbane show was the best one we’ve done in the last three months, or probably ever.”

On the itinerary for New Years is Peats Ridge, a vibrant southern multi-day event which tends to distract Sydneysiders from the more debauched forms of festive entertainment. But Busby Marou will also be playing at Woodford Folk Festival on the three consecutive days leading up to 2012, and the duo can’t wait to hit the stage.

“We have three gigs in about two days. It’s going to be a busy time. We’ll have the whole band. The boys are really excited about Woodford – the band in particular. I think we’ll just have the four-piece, take the keys out and that gives us a bit of leeway to have an acoustic full band set with a Cajon, a bit of a stomp box and some chimes. It’s like jamming, I play a bit of acoustic with the boys a nice bit of subtle back up.”

Making it extra special is Busby Marou’s inclusion in The Dreaming, Australia’s international indigenous festival, which will be showcased in a special precinct within the Woodford festival. This is the seventh iteration of The Dreaming, but only the first time it’s been included under the Woodford umbrella. The band make the cut due to Marou’s Torres Strait Islander background.
“Our first Dreaming festival is our favourite festival we’ve ever been to,” Busby explains.

“I never expected The Dreaming to be that good but there is just something about it; it’s just very special so hopefully it’s still got that about it. But festivals are great because it’s just that vibe. Almost like people have accidentally turned up there and don’t even know about you. And afterwards just getting in amongst it; I love the vibe of festivals.”

BUSBY MAROU PLAY THE WOODFORD FOLK FESTIVAL, WHICH TAKES OVER WOODFORDIA DEC 27 – JAN 1. WOODFORDFOLKFESTIVAL.COM