„It’s nothing fancy, just simple chords, simple melodies and lyrics that tell a story”

Stu Larsen is a quiet guy, who grew up on a farm. Now he’s traveling all around the world with his guitar. Interview about the singer-songwriter lifestyle.

 

 

This hasn’t been his first time in Hungary, but it was definitely his first solo tour. Australian singer-songwriter, Stu Larsen has been on a very tight European tour. We met him before his gig at Dürer Kert with his fellow countryman, Tim Hart – who had some important comments during our conversation 😀

 

I’m very curious about your way of living: you grew up on a farm, and now you’re travelling all around the world, all the time. Do you miss that kind of lifestyle? Would you like to live on a farm again in the future?

Yeah, I think so. Every now and then I stop for one or two weeks in a cottage or something. Not a farm, but a very isolated area. I love that kind of thing. I think when I grew up, it was very peaceful, no traffic or nothing like that. So I do love places like that. I don’t know, when I stop moving around and I have a house one day, I don’t know if it would be in a city or on a farm. Maybe both, I think it would be hard to have just a city house or just live on a farm.

 

Another interesting thing what you’ve said that you were a sort of a shy guy as a kid. Have you learned to live with it? How is it going now, are you nervous before getting on stage?

Yeah, it’s much better (laughs). When I was small it was like I wouldn’t answer the phone and if someone wanted to talk to me I would be very nervous and I wouldn’t talk. But then I started travelling, I was just on my own most of the time, had to meet people, talk to people over the last ten years. I’m less shy, I think I’m still quiet, and I still get nervous before I go on stage but I feel very lucky, especially on this tour, because the crowds are just amazing. It’s a real atmosphere, a good feeling every night, lots of love in the room. So all the nerves can go and disappear.

 

 

That’s cool… Talking about singer-songwriters like you, there is a question which always comes to my mind: how can you keep the crowd excited? I mean, nowadays there are so many bands with different sounds and visual things, and you are there all alone with a guitar, is it difficult? Do you even think about this?

I don’t think about it at all. I think it’s just simple. There have always been people playing the guitar and singing, it’s always been around, the guitar will always be around and I like the simplicity of that. I don’t want to have a big lighting show or any other big distractions or whatever. I just like telling stories with songs and the guitar. And I think the crowds that come to see me play, seem to want this. So I don’t feel like I need to give a big show, you know? I just want to tell the stories and sing the songs.

 

For me, another Australian guy, Tommy Emmanuel was a huge experience, when I saw him live.

Yeah. Was he in Budapest?

 

Yeah, a lot of times. He loves Budapest, and he is such a great entertainer.

Oh, wow, he is amazing, yeah. He is one of the reasons why I wanted to learn guitar.

 

Really?

My father took me to see him in the town called Toowoomba, at a place called the Empire Theatre. It is an amazing theatre, and I think I was 10 years old maybe, and it was just my father and myself, and I saw him play and I was just amazed. He is one of the best in the world. So he made me want to play the guitar.

 

And he was the reason to start these fingerpicking things?

Yeah, I don’t think I can fingerpick very well. I definitely can’t play like Tommy Emmanuel. I’m not a very good guitarist, I think I just play the simple chords and…my music I think it’s very simple, I think that’s why people connect to it. Because it’s nothing fancy like we said. It’s just the simple chords, simple melodies and lyrics that have a story. My guitar playing is very simple, I look at all my friends who play the guitar, like Tim Hart, who’s here now. He is fingerpicking, you’ll see tonight. His fingerpicking is amazing.

Tim from the back: ‘He is a great guitarist, don’t listen to him!’ – (everyone merrily laughs)

 

Another interesting question is – talking about your songwriter-side. Do you feel it important to be renewed? I mean, having new things in your music? I mean a crowd can be rude, saying ‘We’ve seen this before. You’re just repeating yourself.’ Is it important for you, do you try to challenge yourself with new things?

It’s a good question. Not really [?]… I mean I guess, yes, but not really. I don’t know. (laughs). For me, life is just always…everyday is different. So I don’t think I challenge myself with new things. But because we’re in a different town or different city, different country every day, I think we always have new things in front of us. So I think that is the challenge in itself, just being in a different place all the time. Rather than deliberately trying to do new things…

 

Once you said that your favourite out of your own songs is ‘San Francisco’, is it still your favourite?

I think so, I just love the chorus in that song. I have a lot of favourite songs, but the chorus of that song is still how I want to live my life, it says ‘I won’t know where I’m going till I get there.’ And I don’t really have a plan like I don’t know what I will do in 5 years time, where I’ll be or anything. So I love that way of life. Just whatever happens, happens. The next thing is ok, yeah. So I think, for the message of the song, that’s my favourite.

 

 

That would have been one of my next questions, how would you like to see yourself in 10 years?

(Laughs) I have no answer. I don’t know. I love not thinking about it too much. I love just following whatever happens next… And being open, because when I quit my job for the first time, I had no plans, I had all the free time, and if someone said ‘Hey, do you wanna come to New Zealand?’ I’d say, ‘Yeah, of course, I can, because I have no plans.’ So it allowed me to say yes to things much easier, so I think I enjoy that aspect of not planning too much.

 

Your touring schedule is really crazy.

It’s normal, it’s okay. (laughs)

 

Do you enjoy every moment or are you a bit down sometimes?

Yeah, some days you are very tired, but every night the crowd lifts you up again, so it’s a great energy when the show starts. The crowd is always lovely and it makes you feel alive again, even if you’ve driven for 10 hours, or you’ve done 10 shows in a row. The moment you come on stage and feel the atmosphere of the crowd, everything is ok again, yeah.

 

Are there any particular venues you’ve never played before and you really want to?

Yeah, but they’re too big for me. (laughs) There is one in Toowoomba, the Empire Theatre, where I saw Tommy Emmanuel. I would LOVE to play one day there. But it’s 1500 people, so for me, it’s too big. I think my biggest crowd is about 500 people. So maybe if I just say it ’Everyone, I play one show this year in one town’ then maybe much more people would come, but yeah, that’s a long way away. But that’s one of them. And I have been lucky enough to play at some amazing venues already in my life. Sometimes on my own, or supporting Passenger as well, I’ve played at some stunning venues with him as well, yeah. So I feel very lucky.

 

And could you recommend some good music to our readers? What do you listen to in your free time?

Lately, I’ve been listening to Tim Hart, for starters, he has a new album coming out very soon. Actually today. (To Tim) Today, you released your new single?

Tim: Yeah. (laughs)

Well, tomorrow but Australia is already there, so Tim’s new single is out now. So he has a new album coming out early next year. I’ve been listening to that a lot, he gave me a sneak preview of that. And there’s another band from Melbourne, who I love at the moment. They are called The Teskey Brothers, and I think they will be very famous sometime soon. They’re getting very popular in Australia, and they are coming to Europe very soon, I saw they’ve just sold out a show in London. And they’re in LA last night I think, so they’re starting to do some things in other countries, and hopefully, they will come here one day. And there is another one called Ken Yates, he is from Toronto. He is actually from London, Ontario (CA). And he is an amazing singer-songwriter. He drove 8 hours to come and play a show with me in Washington, in August this year, and he is my new favourite songwriter.

 

 

What are your impressions on Budapest? How much could you see?

We haven’t seen very much, I’ve been here once before, when Passenger played at Sziget Fesztivál, so I went to the festival and it was crazy, so many people, it was big. But I didn’t see the city, I just saw the festival. We drove in, played at the festival, and drove out again. That was my first experience. And then today we arrived, and we had a chance to walk around the city a little bit. I love it, I want to stay longer. So I want to come back for maybe 1 or 2 weeks sometime, and just explore the city. I think it’s an amazing one.

 

EDITED by Károly Gergely

 

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Balogh Dániel