Thirsty Merc - The Great Australian Slideshow

Kylie Cox sips a daiquiri and nibbles on some kabana and cheese whilst Sean Carey of Thirsty Merc sets up the projector and screen for a great Australian slideshow.

As Thirsty Merc travel the country on their Slideshows Album Tour, doing a mere thirty five shows in seven weeks, guitarist Sean Carey took some time out to chat to A Fine Line about touring, keeping it together on the road, girls in Blundstones, John Lennon and things that make you cry.

The Slideshows Album Tour sees Thirsty Merc taking their shows out of just the major cities and into regional areas in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania. “A lot of bands think it’s cooler just to do one big show. Even our last tour was just one big show in each capital city. But that’s not what being in a band is all about. It’s about being on the road for long periods of time, playing everywhere and having a good time with it. It’s important for me because it means more time playing music and more time being on the road.” Touring is “also bread and butter money. It’s what bands have got to do to make a living.”

Heading out to the regional areas and places bands don’t often go is also great for the fans. “A lot of regional areas don’t get bands coming through all the time. So we can come through and save them driving four hours to the city to see us play. It also gives a lot of people who wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to see a band like Thirsty Merc the chance to experience them live.” In the regional areas “the crowds are more grateful and receptive because they don’t get bands coming through that often.”

And are they expecting any B & S style antics at the gigs? “I’ve had my share of B & S experiences- they’re pretty funny and pretty loose. But girls in evening dresses and Blundstone boots- like that’s just perfect isn’t it….”
With such a long time on the road, how do they keep it all together? “You don’t. Everyone is entitled to one week of being an arsehole. Everyone loses it at least once on a tour like this. I’m actually in a good frame of mind at the moment, so I think I’ll be okay ‘til about week five. But you spend so much time together; you don’t actually have any time to yourself really, so it gets very taxing. I think you’ve just got to have an iPod and a good set of headphones- it’s the only thing that’s going to save you.”

So, the iPod is loaded and ready for seven weeks on the road. What has Sean been listening to? “I always listen to the Beatles a lot. And I’ve been listening to this artist called M.Ward. He’s just amazing, really great and lots of Ryan Adams. And I’ve been listening to a lot of classical as well lately, which is something I’ve never really been exposed to and it’s real exciting.”

So, is life as a musician what he thought it would be like? “I always wanted to be a musician, and a successful musician- which meant playing music all the time and being able to tour and make albums. I always wanted to do that since I was young. But I thought that I would have been different somehow. I thought that maybe insecurities and stuff that you had would go away, or you’d be treated differently. For some silly reason, you just think you are going to be cooler than you actually are. But you can’t escape yourself. You’re exactly the same person, no matter what.”

And what was the turning point that made Sean decide he wanted to be a musician? “I was always bought up with music- my Dad’s a massive music head. When my Dad bought my elder brother home from hospital, the first thing he did was put on Sergeant Pepper’s and my mum was saying ‘Turn that shit down you’ll wake the baby’ and he said ‘if he’s going to live in my house, he’s got to listen to my music.’ I can’t remember one weekend where there wasn’t music playing all weekend.”

As Sean further reveals, the road to music was not always a straight one, but it was always the truest, “I tried doing other things, but I just kept coming back to music. It was something I was good at. It wasn’t hard for me. It’s always been a magical thing for me. It’s always just intrigued me so much.”

Most captivating to Sean is the music of one particular Beatle, John Lennon. “John Lennon songs intrigue me so much. They are magical, like ‘I’m Only Sleeping’ and ‘A Day In The Life’ and stuff- they’re untouchable. You can’t describe the feelings you have when you listen to these. Even now after I’ve been hearing them for twenty-five years, I still can’t get over how amazing they are. ‘A Day In The Life’ is my number one. Even John Lennon’s pop stuff like ‘Help’ and ‘Ticket To Ride’, they still make you want to cry.”

And is there anything else besides music that can make Sean want to cry? “Art does a little bit- anything that’s an expression of someone. Like films, well, I don’t really cry at films that much, but books and art, but not poetry- it’s too fucking flowery. But anything that’s like one person’s take on things, a real expression, that’s just the best thing humans can offer…”

Share this article on Facebook