Jack Carty

In the past a gig for Jack Carty involved getting shoeless and losing himself so much in the music that he wriggled his toes. While Jack now plays with his feet covered, the passion is still there – and he’s taking it with him in a national tour.
Only a few months ago Jack was travelling a much similar path alongside musicians Katie Noonan and Josh Pyke as their supporting number. With so many days away from home you’d think lying in the comfort of your own bed would be something to look forward to and a chance to let your mind relax. For Jack, there is no such thing.
“I’m not that good at relaxing. I tend to always be doing something,” Jack says. “When you’re touring, or at least me, I kind of get into a big bubble and start to ignore things. Then you come home and it’s all piled up and you’ve got to sort it out … I’m a halfway functional human being.”
It seems that when talking to Jack he doesn’t have a real attachment to his home, but simply his music. As a result, he has moved cities numerous times, already living in Melbourne, Sydney and now Brisbane. The musician also has his eye on living overseas.
“I’ve never lived overseas but that’s something that’s definitely on the cards I think,” he says. “It was a pretty big buzz playing in New York City just because of all the history musically that’s gone on there and the bands and artists that have come out of there. It’s a pretty cool place. I definitely want to live there one day.”
Somehow in between and amidst touring Jack managed to release his new album Esk, a collection of songs that take on a new sound and are clear evidence of his evolution as a musician.
“Well, I don’t want to be locked into one category, the sad white guy category. I don’t have any control over that … It might happen anyway,” he says. “For this record I definitely wanted to be a bit more ambitious with the sound. I wanted to sound bigger. This record I wanted to look outside myself a bit more and cover a broader range of moods and topics I guess.”
Barely a few weeks after releasing Esk, Jack posted to social media that he was already writing new songs that could potentially end up on the next album.
“We’ll see what it ends up on. I sort of find writing is something that I do a lot when I want to get my mind out of everything else that’s going on. It can all get pretty full-on at times and writing can be a nice cathartic thing to do,” Jack says.
“Lyrics are a big thing for me. They seem to be less and less of a thing in a lot of circles, but for me lyrics are super important to a song.”
While it seems there’ll be plenty of chances to see Jack play live due to his love of performing, there’s also a high chance the musician could soon be moving abroad. Either way, his attention to song lyrics and evident passion on stage is worth seeing, whether he’ll soon be back again or not.
When&Where: Babushka Bar, Ballarat – October 30; The Bridge, Castlemaine – November 1; and The Loft, Warrnambool – November 2
By Amanda Sherring