Diesel
Photo: Jesse Lizotte
In just a few short weeks Australian rock music icon Diesel will embark on yet another extensive national tour. This time around he'll be celebrating the release of his 16th studio album, Bootleg Melancholy. To achieve such a milestone in any career is a momentous achievement, let alone to do it in one that relies on a constant stream of creativity & fan support.
As such Pario wanted to sit down with Diesel to chat about his legendary career. In doing so, not only did we find out about Diesel's tips & tricks for maintaining a creative passion but we also discussed one of the strangest elements of the live music industry.
In regards to maintaining his creative passion throughout his 4-decade career, Diesel says there is one crucial element - the live show.
"My passion has been nurtured by playing in front of people. The passion might have been reduced to the dull roar of a side hobby if I hadn't had the opportunity to get out & exercise that muscle in front of people."
As we continued to discuss the importance of the live show Diesel described it as an "exchange" of energy. From his side, he is always striving to give everything he has to the audience & then in exchange he has his creative "fuel tank" refilled by their love & passion.
"Live shows are a lifeblood... I could do something physically demanding, like running or hiking, but it's a different type of physical exhaustion after a live show. It's probably similar for sports people because you get so in the zone with so much serotonin, adrenaline & all of these other chemicals running that by the end you're depleted... I feel depleted afterwards because I'm giving a lot of my energy to people but ultimately I always feel like I've given everything that I've got to the audience, & that's my job."
At this point, the topic of alcohol in the music industry was brought up, which saw us pivot to the strange dichotomy that exists within the industry. Often live music performances take place in licensed venues that are thus bound by the Responsible Service Of Alcohol. However, those rules are often "thrown out the window" in the artist’s dressing room, particularly when an artist’s rider (list of amenities they would like for the show) is taken into consideration.
Diesel himself put it perfectly, "The music industry is one of the few businesses where you go to work & there's buckets of alcohol... Tell me another job where you walk into the 'office', say hi to everybody & go crack a beer. It's crazy!"
In his early years, like any musician, Diesel fell into this trap & would use alcohol as a vice to manage the physical & mental depletion that followed a live show. However, in recent years he has realised this was not the way to go.
"Now when the show is done & I'm really cranked up on adrenaline I simply get in the car to listen to a podcast, BBC World At Night, some music or jazz & just drive. There's something really soothing about that."
To be able to do this Diesel has had to not only change his attitude & approach to live shows but he's also had to overhaul his rider. Today Diesel's rider looks like it should belong to an athlete more than a rockstar.
"My rider is all about the few things I need during a show. The main things are; an operable kettle, so that I can have boiling water to melt Manuka honey to make honey & lemon tea. So there's also half a dozen lemons, a cutting board, a knife, a box of tissues, rice crackers, hummus, a small plate of crudités, Kombuchas, one sneaky can of Coke for my sound guy & a bunch of bananas."
All of these items will be crucial for Diesel's upcoming Bootleg Melancholy tour. On one hand Diesel approaches these shows with the mindset of an athlete. On the other hand he ensures the creative aspect is given just as much love, particularly in the set list for theatre shows.
"As much as I love playing the evergreen songs having new songs from Bootleg Melancholy to bring into the fold is an exciting moment. The interplay of a new song next to an old song is like introducing people for the first time... For ages, I decided I wasn't going to have a set list at all, which was really liberating. But having the theatre environment allows me to control the narrative a lot more & I've found that I can have a set list for these shows & it works really well."
Follow Diesel’s creative journey at www.dieselmusic.com.au
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