SKYSCRAPER STAN - TALL MUSICIAN
I grew up in Auckland City. At the time I wasn't a big fan, it felt small and isolated. I had all these grand plans to leave and never go back. Now that I've entered into my third decade I'm less critical of the place. Maybe absence has made the heart grow fonder but now New Zealand feels like home, despite the last decade I've spent in Australia.
Growing up there was always music around the house. Dad plays guitar and mum tickles the ivories. Both of them sing. They would have parties quite often and I remember watching a forest of legs dancing to cassettes of the Gypsy Kings and Al Green. I don't think I can name my "road to Damascus" song but Bring it on Home by Sam Cook was definitely an early revelation. My cousin and I found some tapes under our Grandad's work bench when we were young enough to fit under it - a Johnny Cash compilation, a Rock 'n' Roll anthology and the Best of Sam Cook. We thrashed them until the tape snapped.
My first gig: I would have been about 10 when my parents took me to a pub called the Dog's Bollocks to see a local Kletzmer band called the Jews Brothers. It was fronted by a Lynn Lorkin and her husband Hershal - two Grey Lynn characters who are still performing to this day. I remember dancing my little arse off.
As a kid, I wanted to be a paleontologist. Then I decided I would rather study living things so I went to University and studied Ecology. For a long time I wanted to be a hobo. I'm not sure where that desire came from but I lived that life for quite a while and it was great fun. Don't think I'd do it again but I got a lot of songs out of it.
I left Western Spring College and entered the hallowed halls of Auckland University. I studied Ecology there for a couple of years and then transferred to Melbourne. I never had any intention to play shows. I would write songs in my bedroom and sing them to my parents. When I was 18 I was working in a pub and late on a boozy night after we had closed I picked up a guitar the band had left on the stage and had a crack. The publican put me on the bill the next week and for the several weeks following. This blues band called Storehouse were playing a summer residency - three sets a night. I would run around collecting glasses and then jump up on stage in between their sets to keep the room going. I didn't have a stage name so the publican wrote "Skyscraper Stan" up on the board and it stuck. Quite quickly the desire to perform eclipsed my plans to travel the world describing new species for science. I wanted to be like Tim Flannery but I got lost somewhere along the way and now I sing for my chips.
I was living in my car when I met my partner Mon. I spent a lot of time on the road playing regional shows all over the country. I had an agent who was working me really hard and I was pretty disenchanted. Mon and I decided to get out of the city. She's from this neck of the woods so we ended up renting a place on Bowden Street. We're out in Chewton now. For a city boy it’s a dream come true. I can see the stars at night!
I've always been blown away by Castlemaine. There is so much talent and enthusiasm in this place. There aren't many other regional towns that offer so much entertainment. Obviously it’s growing - in two and a half years I've seen the rental market explode (obviously people like me are the reason for that, but as I came here with Mon I consider myself more a souvenir than a blow-in), but with that growth comes more demand for music and more people to provide it. I'm enjoying seeing things like the Castlemaine Blues Club start up and be so successful. I think the next few years will be a great time to live in Castlemaine.
Best gig so far: I played my Melbourne album launch show with the band at the Northcote Social Club earlier this year. It was packed and the audience was amazing. I think the band played well but the whole thing is a blur. It took a long time to put this latest album together and to have it received like that was very affirming.
I've fallen off stage, forgotten the lyrics, forgotten the chords, been threatened, boo'd, and hissed at. I've played to soldiers and miners who wanted nothing more than to kick my arse. I've played at hen nights stag dos. Yeah, plenty of gigs have gone to shit.
I try to tour as much as is healthy on the kind of budget I have. Because that would keep me away from home a lot I tend to take periods of time off and work down at the Bridge Hotel slinging pints. If you're thirsty, come say hi.
How do I write a song? Chaotically and never the same way twice.
To prepare for a gig I breathe for a while until I can feel my belly expanding like it should. Then I warm my voice up, usually by harmonising along to the support band which can make people around me uncomfortable but I try to keep it at a respectable volume.
Tips for young musicians starting out: Enjoy yourselves. Really embrace what it is you are doing. Live it but don't turn into a tosser, we have enough of those already.
Favourite things to do here: I love taking the dog out walking through the goldfields, looking for old ruins and stuff. Now that it’s getting warmer I'll be back into stargazing at night, I'm starting to get pretty good with my planets and constellations. Most of my days are spent playing the guitar and the piano. I should probably be writing the next album. All in good time.
I’m not sure how tall I am. I've never been an athlete or anything so no one has ever bothered to measure me. I like it that way.
Skyscraper Stan plays The Bridge Hotel Saturday, October 19. Tickets here:
