The C2C Sit Down with Fanny Lumsden
Talimba in New South Wales's ten-time Golden Guitar recipient and dual ARIA Award winner Fanny Lumsden has established herself as one of Australia's most prominent artists in the spaces of country and Americana music but over the last couple of years has continued to make the United Kingdom a second home.
She played her first ever show here at Glastonbury and has wowed crowds at The Long Road festival, Country Calling and her own acclaimed Country Halls Tour in Scotland but in March when she returns for her next tour, she will be ticking the BIG ONE off the list as she will join Keith Urban, Brad Cox, Max Jackson and Tyla Rodrigues in flying the Australian flag at this year's C2C: Country to Country in London. A Fanny Lumsden and The Prawn Stars show is a true spectacle which we are looking forward to seeing at least once more next month so Jamie caught up with her on Zoom before she headed over on the plane to see us here in London.
Hi friend, it’s so good to see you again, I just want to start with probably the most important question which everybody really wants to know about, so let’s talk about the horse float. Given your track record of things that you pull behind a vehicle, had you not learnt a lesson before somebody drove into it in Melbourne but are their plans for a Fanny Float Mark 2 to replace it?
“Oh my gosh, you would think I would learn a lesson. You would think that losing a caravan door or having some kind of drama around something that I'm doing would teach me, but it doesn't. I’m just this optimist who will forever think that everything's going to be fine until it's not. We got a horse float or the Fanny Float which is a horse box as you would say over there, about five or six years ago for our album ‘Fallow’ and we turned it into a mini theatre where we showed a cinematic trailer for the album in it. People would go in to watch it and whatever else, then COVID hit and we couldn’t take it anywhere else, so we then revert to using it for horse float. After some actual horse float use, we turned it into a moving billboard for our latest tour that we've just finished here in Australia where we had it parked up in Melbourne, trying to do its job, just advertising the tour and someone just drove straight to the back of it and wrote it off. Anyway, we haven't got it back yet, they haven't fixed it but yes, of course there are plans for 3.0 actually.”
Oooh so a third version! Obviously you wouldn’t be able to bring it over here, well, it can’t go anywhere at the moment but there is someone we are hoping to see again in a few weeks. Last summer you had a version of your brother that was much more cost effective to move around so, how is the real Tom doing and is he going to back over with the rest of you guys next month?
“Yeah, so Tom came with us last time as a flat pack, we flat packed him and he was just a big cardboard cutout version, which was a lot of fun. Not quite as fun as the real thing though because he had a stroke last year but I am very thrilled to say that the real version will be joining us back on stage with his kilt and cowboy hat raring to go.”
She played her first ever show here at Glastonbury and has wowed crowds at The Long Road festival, Country Calling and her own acclaimed Country Halls Tour in Scotland but in March when she returns for her next tour, she will be ticking the BIG ONE off the list as she will join Keith Urban, Brad Cox, Max Jackson and Tyla Rodrigues in flying the Australian flag at this year's C2C: Country to Country in London. A Fanny Lumsden and The Prawn Stars show is a true spectacle which we are looking forward to seeing at least once more next month so Jamie caught up with her on Zoom before she headed over on the plane to see us here in London.
Hi friend, it’s so good to see you again, I just want to start with probably the most important question which everybody really wants to know about, so let’s talk about the horse float. Given your track record of things that you pull behind a vehicle, had you not learnt a lesson before somebody drove into it in Melbourne but are their plans for a Fanny Float Mark 2 to replace it?
“Oh my gosh, you would think I would learn a lesson. You would think that losing a caravan door or having some kind of drama around something that I'm doing would teach me, but it doesn't. I’m just this optimist who will forever think that everything's going to be fine until it's not. We got a horse float or the Fanny Float which is a horse box as you would say over there, about five or six years ago for our album ‘Fallow’ and we turned it into a mini theatre where we showed a cinematic trailer for the album in it. People would go in to watch it and whatever else, then COVID hit and we couldn’t take it anywhere else, so we then revert to using it for horse float. After some actual horse float use, we turned it into a moving billboard for our latest tour that we've just finished here in Australia where we had it parked up in Melbourne, trying to do its job, just advertising the tour and someone just drove straight to the back of it and wrote it off. Anyway, we haven't got it back yet, they haven't fixed it but yes, of course there are plans for 3.0 actually.”
Oooh so a third version! Obviously you wouldn’t be able to bring it over here, well, it can’t go anywhere at the moment but there is someone we are hoping to see again in a few weeks. Last summer you had a version of your brother that was much more cost effective to move around so, how is the real Tom doing and is he going to back over with the rest of you guys next month?
“Yeah, so Tom came with us last time as a flat pack, we flat packed him and he was just a big cardboard cutout version, which was a lot of fun. Not quite as fun as the real thing though because he had a stroke last year but I am very thrilled to say that the real version will be joining us back on stage with his kilt and cowboy hat raring to go.”
That’s great news. As well as C2C, which we will talk about in a sec, it’s just England and Wales dates this time, so no Scottish shows for a change but are there any new cities you're playing, like Bethesda, which I don’t even know where that is.
“Me neither, I love when we get a place that we've not been to, never heard of or can't pronounce, it's my favourite combination actually. So that one's in Wales, then we've never been to Nottingham, never played in Liverpool, Oxford or Newcastle, we played in Cardiff before, but we are heading back to Cardiff too. I'm obsessed with Wales, so I'm excited to get there and learn how to pronounce things properly.”
Not only are you playing C2C, but the other good news which the band will be very pleased to hear and I saw on Instagram that this chain over here responded to your post but there is a Greggs at the tube station right by The O2!
“Fantastic, that is us fed and watered, we are sorted. We love Greggs, we love everything it stands for, well, I can't actually claim that because I don't actually know everything it stands for, but you know what I mean. We love a drop in and a steak bake, who doesn’t love a steak bake.”
With C2C itself, you’ve kind ticked off most of the festivals over here, but you're coming to see our biggest country music one, which is obviously really exciting so what have you heard from other people about the festival and what excites you most to bring the whole Fanny Lumsden and The Prawn Stars show to C2C?
“I think what mostly excites me is the other people, the people that are coming to be part of it. I think that everywhere we could go, just meeting new people that are as passionate about music and storytelling as we are, is exciting. The UK has that in droves, like honestly, the passion for music is so insane, so I'm excited to meet all the people and have a very good time. We're going to be out there just like giving it our best, having a great time and of course, seeing all the other artists, like obviously there's a great Aussie contingent as you guys have been repping and some of them are my very good friends, so that will be so fun to have them over as well.”
So, you’re just playing there on the Sunday and you're just there for one day, do you know how many sets you're doing yet?
“We’re doing two I think one is at 12:30 and one is at 4:30. We’re doing the outdoor ones, I'm pretty sure all the Aussies are doing the outdoor ones, well apart from Keith, obviously.”
That’s cool, you guys will have a lot of fun, so just fingers crossed for the weather. You mentioned this cool Aussie contingent that's coming over for it, you know, you're coming back, Brad (Cox) is coming to play the festival for a second time, then we've got Max (Jackson) and Tyla Rodrigues coming over for the first time. You've been over here quite a few times now and obviously not everyone's circumstances and situations are exactly the same, but in hindsight are there things you wish you knew about before your first came over touring the UK and booking shows here that would have made life easier?
“That's a really good question. I mean, it's not so much around the touring, I think it's more around logistics and that kind of stuff, just because it's such a big, busy place. In Australia, we're all really laid back and so you can make stuff happen pretty much like, yeah, it'll be right if we just turn up, whereas you do have to be pretty organised with a lot of things. Obviously, we discovered Greggs pretty quickly, but not quickly enough as I reckon that was the second trip, so that would have been helpful, wouldn't it? Then print a lot of set lists off, I think that's a good one, because every time we play in the UK, our set lists disappear at the end of every gig, which is amazing. I suppose it’s still gonna be still cold, so knowing how to dress for the cold, especially if you're from a hot part of Australia, that's gonna be important.”
“Me neither, I love when we get a place that we've not been to, never heard of or can't pronounce, it's my favourite combination actually. So that one's in Wales, then we've never been to Nottingham, never played in Liverpool, Oxford or Newcastle, we played in Cardiff before, but we are heading back to Cardiff too. I'm obsessed with Wales, so I'm excited to get there and learn how to pronounce things properly.”
Not only are you playing C2C, but the other good news which the band will be very pleased to hear and I saw on Instagram that this chain over here responded to your post but there is a Greggs at the tube station right by The O2!
“Fantastic, that is us fed and watered, we are sorted. We love Greggs, we love everything it stands for, well, I can't actually claim that because I don't actually know everything it stands for, but you know what I mean. We love a drop in and a steak bake, who doesn’t love a steak bake.”
With C2C itself, you’ve kind ticked off most of the festivals over here, but you're coming to see our biggest country music one, which is obviously really exciting so what have you heard from other people about the festival and what excites you most to bring the whole Fanny Lumsden and The Prawn Stars show to C2C?
“I think what mostly excites me is the other people, the people that are coming to be part of it. I think that everywhere we could go, just meeting new people that are as passionate about music and storytelling as we are, is exciting. The UK has that in droves, like honestly, the passion for music is so insane, so I'm excited to meet all the people and have a very good time. We're going to be out there just like giving it our best, having a great time and of course, seeing all the other artists, like obviously there's a great Aussie contingent as you guys have been repping and some of them are my very good friends, so that will be so fun to have them over as well.”
So, you’re just playing there on the Sunday and you're just there for one day, do you know how many sets you're doing yet?
“We’re doing two I think one is at 12:30 and one is at 4:30. We’re doing the outdoor ones, I'm pretty sure all the Aussies are doing the outdoor ones, well apart from Keith, obviously.”
That’s cool, you guys will have a lot of fun, so just fingers crossed for the weather. You mentioned this cool Aussie contingent that's coming over for it, you know, you're coming back, Brad (Cox) is coming to play the festival for a second time, then we've got Max (Jackson) and Tyla Rodrigues coming over for the first time. You've been over here quite a few times now and obviously not everyone's circumstances and situations are exactly the same, but in hindsight are there things you wish you knew about before your first came over touring the UK and booking shows here that would have made life easier?
“That's a really good question. I mean, it's not so much around the touring, I think it's more around logistics and that kind of stuff, just because it's such a big, busy place. In Australia, we're all really laid back and so you can make stuff happen pretty much like, yeah, it'll be right if we just turn up, whereas you do have to be pretty organised with a lot of things. Obviously, we discovered Greggs pretty quickly, but not quickly enough as I reckon that was the second trip, so that would have been helpful, wouldn't it? Then print a lot of set lists off, I think that's a good one, because every time we play in the UK, our set lists disappear at the end of every gig, which is amazing. I suppose it’s still gonna be still cold, so knowing how to dress for the cold, especially if you're from a hot part of Australia, that's gonna be important.”
Going back to last summer’s tour and the two festivals in particular, I think you probably sold more merch than anybody else has ever sold over here, which is great. We've got the Fanny pack and the Fanny fan but are there anymore proposed merch lines that we're kind of working on? Have we got any more puns that we're trying to fit things for?
“I mean, I'm taking applications, I’m always taking ideas. We’ve got some tea-towels this time, it’s a took the long way around one, which is our new tour. So, we’ll have tea-towels and Fanny Show Bags, will also make an appearance. I'm not sure you call it that, but at our agricultural shows here, they have a show bag stall that you can like choose your show bag, where they're usually chocolates or kids things, so we'll have them. We'll definitely still have the fans, even though it's gonna be cold, you can save them up for summer and we’ll have all the usual suspects, but we're always working on new stuff.”
Talking about how you've got that agricultural fair type theme going on, I've seen you've been crowing a Champion Show Pony at the shows back home, is that something you're going to be looking to bring in over here to delight the people of Bethesda and Oxford with?
"One hundred percent. We've had a little show theme as I'm from regional Australia and I went to lots of regional, rural agricultural shows growing up. So, we did a thing where in order to win the sash for the Champion Show Pony at the Fanny show or a pumpkin, you would have to act like a horse. We would do this circle and everyone was acting like horses. You could have a rider, that's optional like you could have a rider on your back if you wanted or you could just be rider free and the best horse wins. So, they were winning these amazing sashes that we got made and yeah, we will be definitely bringing them to the UK and definitely bring that vibe where possible. I can't promise it's going to be at every show because, you know, sometimes these things logistically just can't happen, so I'm not sure we'll have time to do it at C2C because our sets are pretty short there but we’ll definitely still bring the vibe.”
Away from the live shows, you put out ‘Look at Me Now' just after you got home last September and you only went and won a big award for the video. You and Dan put that together using live footage, old video clips, backstage antics and basically anything else you could find and you kind of outshone the kids and influencers to win another Golden Guitar for it.
“I know, I actually feel like that, we feel like mum and dad but when mum and dad did something cool! Honestly, Dan put it really well when we won the award, saying that in most of the songs, we're trying to tell the story of our world of the song. Like, that's what we're trying to do with every film clip, because we're obsessed with being in videos. But in this one, we basically tell the story of our lives. Since 2011 until now, it's got every single person that's ever played for us is in it, every film clip we've ever made is in it and it's got all these really significant moments where it's not just chucked together. It was mapped out meticulously and every single shot has a meaning, so to go through that intense work and put that together with so much stuff that people won't pick up on because it's so minutely detailed and then to win an award for it, it was amazing, it was really exciting."
“I mean, I'm taking applications, I’m always taking ideas. We’ve got some tea-towels this time, it’s a took the long way around one, which is our new tour. So, we’ll have tea-towels and Fanny Show Bags, will also make an appearance. I'm not sure you call it that, but at our agricultural shows here, they have a show bag stall that you can like choose your show bag, where they're usually chocolates or kids things, so we'll have them. We'll definitely still have the fans, even though it's gonna be cold, you can save them up for summer and we’ll have all the usual suspects, but we're always working on new stuff.”
Talking about how you've got that agricultural fair type theme going on, I've seen you've been crowing a Champion Show Pony at the shows back home, is that something you're going to be looking to bring in over here to delight the people of Bethesda and Oxford with?
"One hundred percent. We've had a little show theme as I'm from regional Australia and I went to lots of regional, rural agricultural shows growing up. So, we did a thing where in order to win the sash for the Champion Show Pony at the Fanny show or a pumpkin, you would have to act like a horse. We would do this circle and everyone was acting like horses. You could have a rider, that's optional like you could have a rider on your back if you wanted or you could just be rider free and the best horse wins. So, they were winning these amazing sashes that we got made and yeah, we will be definitely bringing them to the UK and definitely bring that vibe where possible. I can't promise it's going to be at every show because, you know, sometimes these things logistically just can't happen, so I'm not sure we'll have time to do it at C2C because our sets are pretty short there but we’ll definitely still bring the vibe.”
Away from the live shows, you put out ‘Look at Me Now' just after you got home last September and you only went and won a big award for the video. You and Dan put that together using live footage, old video clips, backstage antics and basically anything else you could find and you kind of outshone the kids and influencers to win another Golden Guitar for it.
“I know, I actually feel like that, we feel like mum and dad but when mum and dad did something cool! Honestly, Dan put it really well when we won the award, saying that in most of the songs, we're trying to tell the story of our world of the song. Like, that's what we're trying to do with every film clip, because we're obsessed with being in videos. But in this one, we basically tell the story of our lives. Since 2011 until now, it's got every single person that's ever played for us is in it, every film clip we've ever made is in it and it's got all these really significant moments where it's not just chucked together. It was mapped out meticulously and every single shot has a meaning, so to go through that intense work and put that together with so much stuff that people won't pick up on because it's so minutely detailed and then to win an award for it, it was amazing, it was really exciting."
That was the first thing you put out since ‘Hey Dawn’ which was a while back now, so not expecting the scoop in regard to timeframe or full details but have we got some more on the way in the next couple of months?
“Oh, there sure is, there’s a lot coming. That song was like a little bridge, it won't be included on the next record actually, it's just in its own little moment to bring in a bit more of a new vibe. We've just finished recording our new album and all I can say is that there's a lot coming and it's gonna come thick and fast when it starts. We don't want to waste time as it has been a while since 'Hey Dawn' and I love an album world, so yes, definitely.”
Sooooo good to hear! Thank you for the hang as always, I’m really looking forward to seeing you and the guys again in a couple of weeks. Are the kids coming as well, or is this a child free trip?
“No, the kids are going to stay home because it’s a really quick one, I think it's two and a half weeks so we will just nip in and nip out this time. I love it so much though because the audiences are so amazing and we love you guys so we're thrilled."
Well hopefully people sell out all these shows so we can help fund the Fanny Float Mark 3.
"Yes. Please, please, please, please! Hopefully, this trip will set us up for our next big trip, which will most likely be next year and we'll come over for another long haul like we did last summer.”
Wicked, I’m excited to see you for loads of hugs which will probably be outside Greggs at North Greenwich station in just over two weeks' time.
14/03 - Cardiff, The Gate
15/03 - London, O2 Arena (C2C Festival)
17/03 - Oxford, Holywell Music Rooms
18/03 - Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
20/03 - Bethesda, Neuado Ogwen
21/03 - Manchester, Band On The Wall (Manchester Folk Festival)
22/03 - Liverpool, Arts Club (Loft)
23/03 - Newcastle, Cluny 2
The latest track “Look At Me Now” from Fanny Lumsden is out now and available HERE. Her latest UK tour is about to get underway with all dates shown above with any last remaining tickets available on her WEBSITE. You can also keep up to date with all that Fanny is up to during by checking out her socials on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK FACEBOOK or TWITTER.
C2C: Country to Country will take place in London, Belfast and Glasgow over the weekend of the 13th to 15th of March which you can more details and ticket information on their WEBSITE and socials (FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM & TIKTOK)
“Oh, there sure is, there’s a lot coming. That song was like a little bridge, it won't be included on the next record actually, it's just in its own little moment to bring in a bit more of a new vibe. We've just finished recording our new album and all I can say is that there's a lot coming and it's gonna come thick and fast when it starts. We don't want to waste time as it has been a while since 'Hey Dawn' and I love an album world, so yes, definitely.”
Sooooo good to hear! Thank you for the hang as always, I’m really looking forward to seeing you and the guys again in a couple of weeks. Are the kids coming as well, or is this a child free trip?
“No, the kids are going to stay home because it’s a really quick one, I think it's two and a half weeks so we will just nip in and nip out this time. I love it so much though because the audiences are so amazing and we love you guys so we're thrilled."
Well hopefully people sell out all these shows so we can help fund the Fanny Float Mark 3.
"Yes. Please, please, please, please! Hopefully, this trip will set us up for our next big trip, which will most likely be next year and we'll come over for another long haul like we did last summer.”
Wicked, I’m excited to see you for loads of hugs which will probably be outside Greggs at North Greenwich station in just over two weeks' time.
14/03 - Cardiff, The Gate
15/03 - London, O2 Arena (C2C Festival)
17/03 - Oxford, Holywell Music Rooms
18/03 - Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
20/03 - Bethesda, Neuado Ogwen
21/03 - Manchester, Band On The Wall (Manchester Folk Festival)
22/03 - Liverpool, Arts Club (Loft)
23/03 - Newcastle, Cluny 2
The latest track “Look At Me Now” from Fanny Lumsden is out now and available HERE. Her latest UK tour is about to get underway with all dates shown above with any last remaining tickets available on her WEBSITE. You can also keep up to date with all that Fanny is up to during by checking out her socials on INSTAGRAM TIKTOK FACEBOOK or TWITTER.
C2C: Country to Country will take place in London, Belfast and Glasgow over the weekend of the 13th to 15th of March which you can more details and ticket information on their WEBSITE and socials (FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM & TIKTOK)
