It was a very hot Wednesday afternoon when a phone call came through to see if we wanted to have a chat, face-to-face with Jimi Hocking. Jimi was swanning around Geelong doing a few radio spots in the lead up to this year’s Motor City Music Festival. Having met Jimi at a panel discussion a few years back, I knew the man was a great conversationalist, so naturally I said yes. Let’s do it.
Into the old butchers building he strolled with a huge grin and a skate cap on backwards. Jimi stood in front of the Forte wall of fame, scanning from left to right, ‘Wow this is amazing! I love the variety of artists you have on your cover too – it’s rare these days’.
Jimi Hocking is a man of many talents; he is a guitar genius, a martial artist, a prolific touring artist, a skater, a family man, a blues musician and a well connected part of a family of Australian rock royalty.
Without an obvious cue to start our conversation, Jimi began to enlighten me that he is currently, among everything else already mentioned, writing a book.
“As I sit here in front of you, a middle aged incarnation of myself, I’m actually working on a book about improvising. Sort of a guitar tutorial I suppose,” Jimi explains.
“There used to be lots of books on that sort of stuff, but not so much nowadays.”
“So you’re a writer too?” I ask.
“No I am just verbose. I think that can make me seem like a writer sometimes,” Jimi clarified quickly.
The book, among many other things, are side dishes to this man’s main meal – which is music. It’s in his blood and although that line is cliché it couldn’t be truer.
“I come from a strong background in music. My father is a fantastic piano player and my mum is an opera singer – I watched a lot of great musicians from a very early age”. Jimi went on to explain that once he hit his teenage years he realised he had something special, “I had friends who loved music as much as I did. I used to think we were all the same and that we all had a gift, but as I got a little bit older I realised that I had music in my DNA. My dad is a brilliant musician and I point to him and I say, ‘That’s where it came from’.”
It was around that same time an already up-and-at’em Jimi knew music and his guitar was going to be his currency in life, or as he described, “his ticket to ride”.
“I like to think I am the guitar guy. I am a prolific improviser, that’s where I make my money in this industry. I am a good artist to get up and play with someone tonight, if you just tell me what key we are in and give me a basic progression, I’ll start playing with you. It might not be good, but I’ll get up and I’ll do it,” he says.
In ’93 Jimi would take up a spot in an Australian rock ‘n’ roll band The Screaming Jets – a band he is still a part of today. Before that, drawing inspiration from his idols Status Quo, he would also play in a black tee shirt band (before it was main stream) called Jimi The Human and also a surfer/skate band called Astro Boy.
In his early years he said he was on a quest to make Australia’s most “balls to the wall” rock ‘n’ roll. Jimi candidly described that time in Australia’s music history. “That’s how it was then, you were either a rock ‘n’ roll band or a hair cut band, there wasn’t many other options.”
Even though I cautiously acknowledged the Screaming Jetts was probably the first question everyone asked and a topic he always was forced to talk about, he waved my concerns away and began to reminisce on his time in the Jets – surely some of the most important times in his career: “I joined the Jets in ’93 and even though I left the band in the middle there for a couple of years, I’ve pretty much been a part of the band ever since.”
Jimi would go on to explain some of the best times of his life were spent on the road with the Jets, but the time also presented its challenges. “There was a period in the ’90s where, over a four-year span, I was at home for less than two weeks a year. I mean it was intense.”
Naturally I asked him to expand on whether that took a toll, being away so much during a time most people are trying to establish their life at home on a path to adulthood, Jimi reflected. “People just stopped calling – there weren’t many invites to parties or anything. People just feel as if you have dropped off the map – because you have”. And the more success the band gained, the more isolated the touring made them.
“When I left… it was not a happy decision. I wanted to stay but there was a bit of toxicity at that stage going on with somebody in the band, who we have since…got rid of. I was in a crappy marriage at the time. We all married whoever we were with because we were lonely – that was a bad decision for most of us.”
Although the mention of the Jets led to Jimi reflecting on the challenges, he does so knowing that it was a time in his life that would set him up for the rest of his career.
Jimi turned to the positive elements of that time in the ’90s, which I remarked made the Jets house hold name in Australia. He smiled and the look of pride crept across his face.
“I was talking with Dave (Gleeson) the other day and, we think possibly, The Screaming Jets are one of the last bands that are connected to the classic era of Australian rock, you know? We are talking Doc Neeson, Rose Tattoo, Cold Chisel – we are connected to that period. We feel part of Australia’s rock royalty, so, in a way, we are incredibly fortunate,” Jimi says.
Of late it is blues music that consumes Jimi’s time. Blues music was passion that developed from a love of a mixture of jazz and rock, further inspired by a chance meeting with B.B. King as a youngster. Anyone who knows Jimi, or looks at Forte from time to time, would notice that playing the blues in our region is a regular occurrence. I asked, ‘Is there a special affinity with our region, or is that the same for you in other areas of Australia?’ Jimi was quick to clarify that his connection to our area is unique.
“Geelong, being a satellite town of Melbourne, when you get out there and start playing, you investigate the new territories to go to. So early in the piece we were coming down, from the early ’80s [and] we would always play this side of the town – literally every week. I was always a lousy surfer but I’d always go for a surf down in Lorne before I’d play at the Pacific Hotel. Geelong was our stepping stone to all those areas and then of course that led to The Blues Train.”
When you think The Blues Train, you think Jimi Hocking. Jimi’s voice raises a decibel as he shuffled forward excitedly in his chair. He mentioned recently playing at an old jail in Mount Gambier and shared a conversation he had with his band after the gig, “I said to the band on the way home, there is only one other place I can think that is as iconic (as the old jail he had just played) and that is the Blues Train”. A real sense of affection beams from his voice while discussing the Queenscliff monument to music: “It’s totally unique. We just love the train”.
Life is still as busy as ever for Jimi, and with a young child at home he still finds the time to pursue his passions with the support of his partner.
“I remain busy. I am playing with the Jets this Friday, then I am playing Mordialloc Festival this Saturday, then next week I am interstate twice – doing guitar seminars – then back to do Motor City Friday and Saturday and then on Sunday I have Port Fairy. And on it goes,” he says. That is a basic snap shot of a seven day calendar for a man, who at the beginning of this article, I assured you was not wasting a minute.
Jimi will be in Geelong on the Labor day weekend and performing at Motor City Music Festival for the third year running. Jimi heaps genuine praise on the event and its organisers. “If Hugo, Chris and the gang are doing something, I’m in, no questions asked. It’s all just so professional, it’s a great festival. I speak on behalf of all the Motor City musicians here, if Hugo asks, it’s a yes, we just want to work with the guy,” he says.
“I just really want the local people to support this festival. Where you put a music festival you put a music culture, because kids are exposed to music through festivals, they are experiencing live music in a way they have never before.”
It was one hour and 43 minutes in when Jimi’s publicist came in and said, “What the hell is going on here!?” We both laughed and agreed it felt like the chat was only just getting started.
In closing Jimi offered a summary of his lifestyle: “I get to drink coffee in every city and town, you make hay while the sun shines. The day will come where I am not as relevant as I once was and things will slow down.” I can honestly say that I can’t see anything slowing down for this man as long as he keeps his hat on backwards. My advice would be, if you ever get the chance to see him play live, do so, and Motor City music festival would be a great place to start.
Written by Luke McNamara
When & Where: Motor City Music Festival, Geelong Showgrounds – March 11-13
