Husky’s life on the road
ROMANTIC images of a folk band on tour are put sharply into focus when Husky Gawenda – the singer, songwriter and guitarist of Melbourne indie-folk band Husky – reflects on the band’s recent busy schedule of international tours.
Indeed, it’s been a rocky road for members of Husky, who are just settling back home after five visits to America and three tours of Britain during 2012.
Their most recent overseas trip was a five-week journey through the United States and Canada in November and December, where they promoted their debut album, Forever So.
However, there has not been much time to rest. At the end of December, Husky was jamming before thousands of music fans at the Falls Festival in western Victoria.
“I don’t care if they’re hipster, geeky, old, young … it’s all the same for me,” says Gawenda about performing. “Engaging with people who are connected to the music – that’s all I care about.”
There’s talk of an upcoming album that will feature the lyrics and melodies crafted by Gawenda during the long hours of travelling on tour.
Gawenda admits that band members suffered claustrophobia as a result of weeks of travelling in tightly packed vans, mainly through parts of Europe. “I’m not exaggerating when I say that every bit of space was used,” says Gawenda. “It’s not natural for four grown men to be stuck in a van for so many hours a day and then after that, share a hotel room.
“You really don’t get any time alone other than a short stroll in the city you’re playing in before a show. It’s tough but we’re lucky because we get along well.
“We’re good friends and everyone was considerate and conscious of the fact that it’s not easy … so we all made a big effort to make it work.”
Gawenda admits that it was his songwriting that saved him from “losing” it, scribbling down songs, lyrics and melodies while on the road.
“It was a perfect environment for songwriting.”
Other endeavours were also employed to combat cabin fever. For instance, Husky’s manager Bonny, who travelled with the band a few months ago, took to a nightly regimen of skipping.
Nevertheless, the band was determined to maintain a high standard of music while on tour.
“You hope each night to do the job right,” Husky wrote in a blog he maintained while on tour. “Otherwise why are we dragging our skinny muso arses all over the world?”
Gawenda has an easygoing nature. A descendant of Polish grandparents and Yiddish-speaking parents, he has been shaped by his familial roots with a healthy dose of Yiddishkeit.
As a youngster, Gawenda took singing lessons from his older sister Evie (he still claims she exceeds his musical talent), and as adults, the duo performed in Yiddish at Yom Haaztmaut concerts, Yom Hashoah commemorations and private
functions.“There were great Yiddish poets and songwriters. They were a very big part of my musical upbringing,” says Gawenda, who speaks Yiddish.
Fans may detect a Jewish anchor in small pockets of the band’s lyrics: “Follow a light unto the nations in my head” Gawenda wrote in Hundred Dollar Suit. The four-piece band was formed by Gawenda and his cousin Gideon Preiss. They spent years honing their sound before releasing their debut album in early 2011, not long before they won the Triple J Unearthed Push Over competition in May 2011.
Soon their songs – dreamy and uplifting, but with a touch of melancholy – were being broadcast on mainstream airwaves. They toured around Australia and overseas, and were signed by the record label Sub Pop Records in February 2012, whose stable of stars includes Mogwai, CocoRosie, Fleet Foxes, Iron and Wine, and The Shins.
Now fans of Husky are waiting for the band’s upcoming album to be released in coming months.
REPORT by Timna Jacks
PHOTO of Husky Gawenda in concert. Photo: Ben Holbourn
comments