Fifteen minutes with Phil

A few weeks ago my life took a dramatic turn. I interviewed someone famous. That someone famous gave me 15 minutes of their time. And not just anyone famous, Aussie indi-rocker Phil Jamieson, front man of Grinspoon, who's music was the soundtrack to my adolescent years.

 

I remember when this film clip came out.  I was maybe 10.

My sister and I used to dance around the lounge room watching it on Rage.

Oh the pressure I felt forming any kind of questions to ask him about his upcoming shows, the relief that it was a phone interview - God knows I would have stumbled over more than just my words if it had been in person for the sheer excitement at even having this opportunity. How did I get here? 

The interview was all about his solo shows in the wild West (-ern Australia) something he told me he really had no choice but to get out and do; such is a rock star's life - can't just go out and get a normal job like the rest of us less musically talented plebs, ofcourse. 

Last night MR and I headed off to his show at The Saint - Oh so much fun, even for my Scottish-born, Middle-Eastern-expat-bred boyfriend, who didn't know many of the songs before last night. (I consider this an essential step in his Australian rock history education and in our relationship.)

Highlights included the early years favourites: More Than You Are, Just Ace and more recent tracks like Better Off Alone, Minute By Minute and I absolutely loved the reworking he did of Comeback. We were hoping for Chemical Heart but you can hardly complain with the set list - it was ace. Just ace ;). 

We had a few giggles at 'Jamo does Lana Del Ray and Katy Perry' with covers of Play With Magic and Blue Jeans - interesting reditions to say the least.   

 

So, this isn't from last night but from a few months ago 

- loved this version last night though!

There's still a few shows around the West over the next week so for all the deets, head on over to my Weekend Notes page.

It was a real pleasure to have those 15 minutes a few weeks ago to talk to one of my music idols. I was surprised by the exuberance in his voice - something we're not necessarily too used to from old PJ and he'd commented that having so much time off after Grinspoon's 'hiatus' had changed his perspective a bit. We laughed over the awkward moments he now finds himself in as a parent (like being the 37 year old man in flannelette, shopping at Best and Less for underwear for his daughters dance class) and talked about the old and new music. To say I was thrilled is an understatement. And so I'll leave you with this little piece of wisdom from my chat with Phil Jamieson, that probably sums up life for most of us as we grow up.

"I find life, as I get older fills up with other stuff and my priorities somewhat change. My approach is less woe is me and teen angst and how angry I was at everything. It's more about celebrating life and celebrating just being here and this time we've got. I'm a little more joyful than I probably was when I was 18." Phil Jamieson