The Sit Down with Brad Cox
When reigning CMAA Male Vocalist of the Year Brad Cox landed in the UK for the first time back in March, his guitar unfortunately arrived in more pieces than when it left Australia but that did not deter him from being the most talked about acts at this year’s C2C: Country to Country festival in London. In addition to wowing the crowds, we also hung out with Brad (read HERE) over some canned water which was a strange feeling as we are both more familiar with cans being for iced cold beers and despite London in March being a little cold for the man from down under, he enjoyed the trip enough to want to come back to Europe. A seven date tour will see him head to Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland along with UK dates in London, Manchester and Glasgow in December. With the tour on the horizon and the new music being released through his new home at Warner Music Australia, Brad jumped on Zoom to check in with Jamie to tell us all about it.
Hey man, good to see you again, I bet it’s a lot warmer where you are than it is here right now.
“It’s going to be bloody cold in Berlin in December, that’s for sure.”
Mate, I tell you what, I was looking at the dates and that is a really cool time to be heading to the old cities in mainland Europe as it’s the place to go in the run-up to Christmas.
“I’m actually trying really hard to take my wife to the Christmas markets in Vienna whilst we’re here.”
You play Cologne as well, which is one of my absolute favourite cities in the world and that’s where all the Brits head to for the Christmas markets.
“I hate Christmas, unfortunately my wife does not, so I’m doing the right thing and we didn’t go on our honeymoon so, I’m trying to make up for it.”
As well as Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland, you’re coming to see us again here in December so apart from your guitar landing here in more pieces than when it left home, everything seemed to go down really well back in March and it must have shown you enough that it’s worth taking all the time and effort involved in the long flight to really go for it here.
“Yeah man, we had such a great time and now it’s time to properly dip our toes in. I’m not bringing my full band but most of my band are coming over and we’re actually going to give it a crack. We’ve sold tickets in Europe and the UK which is just mind blowing and to give you comparison, we just played my first two thousand seat theatre on the weekend which was incredible and a really big milestone gig. Last year, we went to New Zealand for the first time and in Wellington, we had 128 people at the gig and it was one of the most fun shows that we have done ever and that’s what these shows in Europe are going to be like. We’re talking two hundred cap rooms where there might be fifty people there or there might be two hundred people there but we are so excited. We have done so much more of playing those rooms than the big theatres like I was explaining so we are incredibly excited. Covid put a big dampener on us travelling overseas and starting our careers in the northern hemisphere markets so it’s nice to be able to do that again and it feels like we are making up for lost time almost.”
When you do come over, we’ve got a new track out and it’s great to start seeing some new music coming through.
“Yeah, it’s a bit of a new sound which is awesome and exciting for me.”
On ‘Everything I’ve Got’ just tell us a little bit about that one and why you thought that was the track to be leading into this phase of new music?
“It’s a bit of a new sound for me which is cool. I’m moving in a direction where dude, I just want to dance on stage, it’s a simple as that. I’m still writing Brad Cox songs, they just might sound a bit different like where there used to be a steel guitar part but might be a synth now, it’s still me though and so far, so good. We’ve just started this tour and that song is getting an incredible reception which is really cool. It’s an exciting time for me, I feel like when you change up what you’re doing, it can always be a little scary but so far, I’ve dipped my toes in and my fans have been right there with me. Who knows what the next chapter of music will sound like, it’s going to be a little different to what my last album did but with all of the perfect elements of it hopefully. It’s exciting. I’ve been writing f#cking heaps and it’s getting down, we’re starting to choose some songs which is cool.”
Hey man, good to see you again, I bet it’s a lot warmer where you are than it is here right now.
“It’s going to be bloody cold in Berlin in December, that’s for sure.”
Mate, I tell you what, I was looking at the dates and that is a really cool time to be heading to the old cities in mainland Europe as it’s the place to go in the run-up to Christmas.
“I’m actually trying really hard to take my wife to the Christmas markets in Vienna whilst we’re here.”
You play Cologne as well, which is one of my absolute favourite cities in the world and that’s where all the Brits head to for the Christmas markets.
“I hate Christmas, unfortunately my wife does not, so I’m doing the right thing and we didn’t go on our honeymoon so, I’m trying to make up for it.”
As well as Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland, you’re coming to see us again here in December so apart from your guitar landing here in more pieces than when it left home, everything seemed to go down really well back in March and it must have shown you enough that it’s worth taking all the time and effort involved in the long flight to really go for it here.
“Yeah man, we had such a great time and now it’s time to properly dip our toes in. I’m not bringing my full band but most of my band are coming over and we’re actually going to give it a crack. We’ve sold tickets in Europe and the UK which is just mind blowing and to give you comparison, we just played my first two thousand seat theatre on the weekend which was incredible and a really big milestone gig. Last year, we went to New Zealand for the first time and in Wellington, we had 128 people at the gig and it was one of the most fun shows that we have done ever and that’s what these shows in Europe are going to be like. We’re talking two hundred cap rooms where there might be fifty people there or there might be two hundred people there but we are so excited. We have done so much more of playing those rooms than the big theatres like I was explaining so we are incredibly excited. Covid put a big dampener on us travelling overseas and starting our careers in the northern hemisphere markets so it’s nice to be able to do that again and it feels like we are making up for lost time almost.”
When you do come over, we’ve got a new track out and it’s great to start seeing some new music coming through.
“Yeah, it’s a bit of a new sound which is awesome and exciting for me.”
On ‘Everything I’ve Got’ just tell us a little bit about that one and why you thought that was the track to be leading into this phase of new music?
“It’s a bit of a new sound for me which is cool. I’m moving in a direction where dude, I just want to dance on stage, it’s a simple as that. I’m still writing Brad Cox songs, they just might sound a bit different like where there used to be a steel guitar part but might be a synth now, it’s still me though and so far, so good. We’ve just started this tour and that song is getting an incredible reception which is really cool. It’s an exciting time for me, I feel like when you change up what you’re doing, it can always be a little scary but so far, I’ve dipped my toes in and my fans have been right there with me. Who knows what the next chapter of music will sound like, it’s going to be a little different to what my last album did but with all of the perfect elements of it hopefully. It’s exciting. I’ve been writing f#cking heaps and it’s getting down, we’re starting to choose some songs which is cool.”
You have a new home to be putting the music out through too, you’ve just come on with Warner down there, how’s that been so far and what was the appeal to be working with them for this new era of Brad Cox music?
“It’s been an interesting situation kind of, moving from Sony over to Warner. Put it this way, I feel incredibly aligned with Warner Music, which is a really nice feeling. We have just started working together in the last six months and so far they’ve been incredible. There is more to the story as the guy who signed me at Sony five years ago, now is at Warner and it wasn’t long after we started working together that he moved on so, there is a bit of unfinished business there too. Again, that’s really exciting because I’m making an album with that guy and it feels special because I signed a record deal with him the first time for this reason and we never really got to do that. It’s an exciting time man, it feels like things are happening and I’ve got some really good people around me that are working towards common goals.”
You mentioned earlier about playing to that big crowd the other night and I’ve seen on your socials that you’ve got a nice new truck with a fun looking trailer that you’ve been driving around on this tour.
“Yeah, I did a deal with Mack Australia and they kindly partnered with me and gave me that truck to use for this tour along with the trailer which is from a different company who I have partnered with called Highway Rentals. It’s kind of the first time that I’ve partnered with a big company and so far it’s working out really well. It’s opened up the doors and opportunities for touring in this country, it allows me to put on an incredibly different show with the best staging that we’ve ever had and the lighting because we can take it with us so we don’t have to rely on hiring it or flying things. It’s working out well and hopefully the start of a nice long-term partnership.”
Looking forward to seeing you in about six weeks’ time and if you are looking at Christmas markets with Sammy, definitely throw Cologne into that mix with your planning as well as Vienna, but it’s a great time of the year to be visiting any of those cities in mainland Europe although it might be even colder than it was here in March. Catch you soon man and be great to grab some beverages more exciting than water from a can.
“Cool man, see you in a little while!”
Monday 9 December - Camden Assembly, London
Wednesday 11 December - Workman’s Cellar, Dublin, Ireland
Thursday 12 December - Poetry Club, Glasgow
Friday 13 December - Gullivers, Manchester
Sunday 15 December - Club Nine, Utrecht, Netherlands
Monday 16 December - MTC, Cologne, Germany
Tuesday 17 December - Privatclub, Berlin, Germany
The new single “Everything I’ve Got” from Brad Cox is out now and available HERE.
You can find ticket information for all of Brad’s upcoming European dates in December including his UK shows in London, Manchester and Glasgow by checking out his WEBSITE or you can keep up to date with all that he is up to by following along on YOUTUBE INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK.
“It’s been an interesting situation kind of, moving from Sony over to Warner. Put it this way, I feel incredibly aligned with Warner Music, which is a really nice feeling. We have just started working together in the last six months and so far they’ve been incredible. There is more to the story as the guy who signed me at Sony five years ago, now is at Warner and it wasn’t long after we started working together that he moved on so, there is a bit of unfinished business there too. Again, that’s really exciting because I’m making an album with that guy and it feels special because I signed a record deal with him the first time for this reason and we never really got to do that. It’s an exciting time man, it feels like things are happening and I’ve got some really good people around me that are working towards common goals.”
You mentioned earlier about playing to that big crowd the other night and I’ve seen on your socials that you’ve got a nice new truck with a fun looking trailer that you’ve been driving around on this tour.
“Yeah, I did a deal with Mack Australia and they kindly partnered with me and gave me that truck to use for this tour along with the trailer which is from a different company who I have partnered with called Highway Rentals. It’s kind of the first time that I’ve partnered with a big company and so far it’s working out really well. It’s opened up the doors and opportunities for touring in this country, it allows me to put on an incredibly different show with the best staging that we’ve ever had and the lighting because we can take it with us so we don’t have to rely on hiring it or flying things. It’s working out well and hopefully the start of a nice long-term partnership.”
Looking forward to seeing you in about six weeks’ time and if you are looking at Christmas markets with Sammy, definitely throw Cologne into that mix with your planning as well as Vienna, but it’s a great time of the year to be visiting any of those cities in mainland Europe although it might be even colder than it was here in March. Catch you soon man and be great to grab some beverages more exciting than water from a can.
“Cool man, see you in a little while!”
Monday 9 December - Camden Assembly, London
Wednesday 11 December - Workman’s Cellar, Dublin, Ireland
Thursday 12 December - Poetry Club, Glasgow
Friday 13 December - Gullivers, Manchester
Sunday 15 December - Club Nine, Utrecht, Netherlands
Monday 16 December - MTC, Cologne, Germany
Tuesday 17 December - Privatclub, Berlin, Germany
The new single “Everything I’ve Got” from Brad Cox is out now and available HERE.
You can find ticket information for all of Brad’s upcoming European dates in December including his UK shows in London, Manchester and Glasgow by checking out his WEBSITE or you can keep up to date with all that he is up to by following along on YOUTUBE INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK.