David Bridie

David Bridie is up there as one of the Australia’s biggest icons alongside John Farnham and the Dog on the Tuckerbox and is quite simply, a legend. Since the ’80s he has been involved in many different recording and live projects and is a founding member of seminal Australian bands, My Friend The Chocolate Cake and Not Drowning Waving. In 2013, he released a solo record Wake and as we begin to chat, I reveal to him there is a considerable number of people wondering where the follow up is. Having just returned from a couple of weeks gigging and having business meetings in the US, he is nearly ready to sit down and record the album – which will most likely be released in the first quarter of next year.
“I’m working on a bunch of different stuff at the moment and it has been really busy. I know that my fans want the follow up to Wake and I had to take some time out in country NSW to write some material,” he says.
“I went up there with my keyboard for a week or two and just disconnected myself from society. I had no mobile phone reception or internet and I got a few songs out of the box. We live in such a cluttered world and I loved the isolation out there. Between soundtrack stuff and solo records and getting a Chocolate Cake record on the go as well, it’s hard sometimes to just step away from it all.”
The recent US tour, which saw Bridie play in Tucson and New York City, was a great catalyst for allowing the new set of songs to breathe further life into them. Having experienced the US music culture for myself, I can safely say it is a completely different ball game to the Australian market.
“I am working on a film soundtrack at the moment and so I had a few business meetings in New York for that,” Bridie says.
“It’s called Wolves and is an American independent film, I’m unsure whether it will get a theatrical release but I’m sure you will be able to track it down online nonetheless. The US is a great place to get inspired and I was listening to a lot of Calexico as I was driving through the wide open desert country. I think the new songs will gain a bit of inspiration from that, but I haven’t started recording that yet or anything.”
Lucky enough to have the facilities to a home studio, Bridie is constantly immersed within his different projects. As you would expect, having a space to work on material should allow for faster records to be made. As it happens, at the moment he is full time in the studio working on a few different things.
“That’s the way of the world these days. Big studios are closing down because nobody can afford the $1100 dollars a day you need to hire them. I’m excited about the opportunity to get back down to Geelong to play. Although the album hasn’t been recorded as of yet, you will hear some new tracks and a few of your favourites. I love Beav’s Bar it’s a great performance space and you should all come down and check out what I’ve been working on Geelong,” he says.
Written by Tex Miller
When & Where: Beav’s Bar, Geelong – November 15