How Fraser A Gorman Floats Between Scenes & Befriends Musical Legends

The evening prior to our chat, the legend that is Fraser A Gorman performed in solo mode, supporting Paul Dempsey at Sooki Lounge in Belgrave where he affectionately describes the crowd as "kind of like weirdo, charming, hippy bogans". "I'm doing this tour with Paul Dempsey at the moment so it's good I get to play with some of the older cats. And the younger crew, too — it's really fun, I'm really fortunate," Gorman observes of his widespread appeal. "I float somewhere in between the country and roots kinda scene and then, like, the indie-hipster kinda scene as well."

The first time this scribe witnessed Gorman slaying on stage was at Queenscliff Music Festival many moons ago when he fronted a band called Revolver & Sun, performing as part of the Foot-In-The-Door emerging artists program. (Little-known fact: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's Stu McKenzie also played guitar/vocals in Revolver & Sun.) Another band vying for Foot-In-The-Door's grand prize that year, was 2009 triple j Unearthed High winners Howl from Ballarat (later renamed Hunting Grounds). "I remember playing it and thought we kind of had it in the bag," Gorman recalls of this competition, "and then I watched Howl and was like, 'Oh, shit! [laughs] I don't know whether we've got this!'" Neither of these awesome bands won, as it happens. Talk about a strong year!

Today Gorman speaks to us from the Peninsula Hot Springs cafe on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula and admits he feels "blessed" to have formed valuable connections as soon as he moved to Melbourne to pursue a solo career after Revolver & Sun disbanded. "I kind of got welcomed in with open arms a bit, which I'm really grateful for," he acknowledges. "Definitely the obvious ones are Courtney Barnett and Jen Cloher, because my last record [Slow Gum] came out on Milk! [Records]... and obviously people like Dan Luscombe from The Drones — he worked on both of my records — and Davey Lane from You Am I, and obviously, like, Stu and the King Gizzard guys have had quite a large influence too, so, yeah! I guess that's one of the things that makes the Melbourne music community so cool, 'cause everyone's so friendly and supportive."

A quick gander at the guest appearances in some of Gorman's music videos (Shiny Gun features Barnett, Lane and Angus Agars, for example) as well as Gorman's guest appearances in other artists' music videos (Barnett's Avant Gardener and Elevator Operator, for instance) further illustrate the supportive nature of Melbourne's music community. 

Gorman's latest album, Easy Dazy, incorporates a plethora of instruments such as brass and woodwind. Who did he recruit to play flute? "Stu from King Gizzard," Gorman enlightens. "I kinda grew up with Stu, we went to school together and all that kinda stuff and played in bands together when we were kids so, yeah! And he's just such a crazy musician."

Lush female BVs also ring out throughout Gorman's impressive, recently released set, supplied by "quite a few singers", including a Melbourne group called The Dusty Millers — comprised of three members of the Miller family: Lisa, Tracey (The Railway Gang) and Loretta (Clairy Browne & The Bangin' Rackettes, Jazz Party) — and Anika Ostendorf (Hachiku). Gorman first met Ostendorf through their mutual friend Barnett and extols, "Anika's a very unassuming young German lady and she's extremely talented at guitar, but she doesn't really make a big deal about it. She kind of joined the band at the end of the album, she'd never even played lead guitar in a band before, and she really made a huge impact on the sound. So I was really stoked to link up with her... Being German, she's really funny and kind of blunt and she cracks me up — she's really cool." 

So for his upcoming Easy Dazy album launch shows, who has Gorman assembled to make up his backing band? "Um, so we've got: on drums, Holly Thomas and, on bass, Jarrod Brown — who's in Dorsal Fins and Eagle & The Worm — and then, on guitar, Anika Ostendorf." 

The album's opener, My Own Sunshine, is a catchy, sauntering standout track that explodes with celebratory brass to close. Gorman shares, "When that song came together I was listening to Crowded House quite a lot and I really wanted to make a song that had this certain kind of groove to it... There's a song — I think it's Private Universe by Crowded House; it's got this awesome kind of groove and then the choruses really open up.

"I think that Neil [Finn]'s just a killer songwriter and his melodies and that kinda thing are so amazing." Has Gorman ever reached out to potentially collaborate with Finn? "Um, no, but, god! I'd love to a lot. I've met him once and he was super-cool so maybe I could hit him up. Totally. That'd be sick."

Another of Gorman's heroes, Bob Dylan, has just kicked off another Australian tour and we wonder whether he's scored a ticket. "I'm gonna try and get tickets soon, yeah. I might see if I can maybe swindle one from Chugg," Gorman chuckles. "I've seen him three times now, but I think I need to see him again. I feel like seeing Bob now; it's nearly like making a pilgrimage to pay respect to him more so than it even is to go listen to a band, 'cause he's changed the world of music more than most." He is the first musician to be awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature, after all. "Exactly, ha! His Nobel Prize speech was gold, it was so good." 

Gorman's music and appearance (particularly those unruly curls) are often compared to Dylan. Do these comparisons ever get old? "No, 'cause I love 'im soooo much that I don't care. I've been called a lot worse in my time so I don't really mind the Dylan thing," he laughs.