Kiss The Dirt

Albury, the geographically fence-sitting town that balances above the Victorian-NSW border on the north side of the Murray River, has a fresh and very well-defined export. Enter slacker-rock band Dirt Farmer, who are now based in Melbourne, but, according to lead man Stu Barlow, their regional heritage can be heard in the band's music: “I think you can hear a bit of, well, not country, but I guess a regional sound coming through in our music. There's no synthesisers or anything and there's three guitars, and we listened to a bit of country music growing up in Albury.” Exactly what country music? Well, Barlow's band's moniker may just give you a hint: Dirt Farmer was the title of The Band drummer Levon Helm's 2007 solo album. The boys are also fans of The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, the latter who played and toured with The Band. “We always used to listen to The Band and watch The Last Waltz… our parents were always into that and played us older music,” Barlow confirms, adding that their listening habits were unusual given that Albury's renowned for its strong “heavy metal scene”.

“It's pretty unfortunate,” he continues, “that we didn't start playing until we were in Melbourne, because every venue in Albury caters to heavy metal.” With their forthcoming She Shakes Tour taking them to regional areas including their hometown's cross-river city, Wodonga, Barlow says no hostility lingers. “We're going back in a couple of weeks. We're going to a new venue that sounds really good. It's not heavy metal at all. I think the scene's changed in Albury, which is good to see.”

She Shakes is the second single to be taken from Dirt Famer's second EP Delilah Lightning. The band's self-titled EP features a track titled Delilah Lightning and, when asked whether Delilah or Johnny Marble really exist, or are simply convenient metaphors or storytelling vehicles, Barlow responds vaguely, saying, “I guess they're based on real people, but I don't like to give too much away [in case] they'd listen and know the song was about them.” But then, as if Barlow suddenly remembers the source of inspiration has already been revealed to the man himself, he's willing to reveal a little more on the subject of Johnny Marble: “It's about this 70-year-old bricklayer I used to work with when I was landscaping and he was a really old, grumpy guy, but he had a heart of gold. We didn't know him that well but we decided to write this story about him… we told him and he told his grandchildren, and they're our biggest fans now!”

Dirt Farmer recruited engineer Anna Laverty (Cut Copy, New Gods, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds) for the Delilah Lightning EP and Barlow explains she was headhunted after “a bit of shopping and research, and checking out all the Australian bands we liked to see what engineers they were working with”. Although the majority of the band were already sold by Laverty's “solid credentials”, bassist Chris Wright needed more convincing. “He went to meet up with her one night and suss her out,” Barlow shares jovially. “He wanted to see what she was like and he returned saying he wanted to marry her! But unfortunately she's taken [laughs].” So once this touring leg is done and dusted, what's on the agenda for Dirt Farmer? “We're all going over to LA in November and will try to record an album before then,” Barlow enthuses. “But we'll hopefully have it out by January next year.”