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| Noel Mengel |
If you had told songwriter Phil Monsour 10 years ago what he would be
doing musically in 1999, he would have been surprised.
That was when he was playing in Brisbane rock band The Cutters, who had
their shot at higher glory with a couple of singles and an EP for the
Mighty Boy label.
But in those days the trek to Sydney could be a disheartening experience
for Queensland bands. There was no web of contacts, no festival scene,
few role models of success and booking agencies told them: live here for
a year and we might find you a gig.
The band broke up in 1990. One member, Andrew Bartlett, found other employment
as a Democrats Senator. Monsour made a solo album, then another with world-music
influenced Spice and, in 1997, was drafted as singer and songwriter into
the Brisbane folk-rock outfit Popproperly, pictured below.
It was essentially a new band, with bassist Ian Kimber and guitarist Dale
Murray the other survivors of a folk-rock outfit with a history that went
back to Expo 88, plus violinist Sue Ferrers and drummer Mik Lindsay.
The new line-up has recorded two albums, and their latest, Popproperly
(distributed by Oracle), is as strong as any independently recorded album
this year.
Echoes of the band's origins appear in the Ce1tic-influenced originals
Naivete and Angela, written by Ferrers. But if you did a blindfold test
on a track like the excellent Black and White Rainbow, with its soaring
harmonies and Ferrers' evocative violin, a young rock audience would say
"this is great and why can't I hear it on the radio?"
The same goes for 1000 Skies, a gorgeous slice of Go-Betweens-style folk-pop,
the powerful break-up tune The empty house, or live favourite Touch, a
winning mix of full-on guitar rock and a delicate, eerie melody.
"Perhaps sticking with the name in Brisbane wasn't the best idea," Monsour admits. "We had a good reason for it because of the tours we had done in Europe and the contacts we had built up there.
"But a common comment from people who do hear the CD is, 'Why haven't we heard about this?' I'm not sure why that is but I think if we were releasing it as unknowns it would be perceived differently."
Still, the band has shown there is more than one way to get their music heard than sitting at home trying to cook up songs that will fit in Australian radio formats. They have built up a solid career in Europe during Australian winters.
The tours aren't as extensive these days but on two trips to Europe this year they played to more than 50,000 people concentrating on festivals in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Monsour says: "It's an odd phenomenon. In Darmstadt, our base near Frankfurt, there is a festival that's set up for local musicians and the promoters got us on the bill by arguing we were local! Even though we don't have a high profile in Australia it shows there are ways to make your music and perform it to good-size audiences that appreciate what you do."
The next step is to let Australian audiences know about their new album. Catch them at The Press Club, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, on Wednesday and Woodford Folk Festival on New Year's Eve.
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