Event Focus: Music To Open Your Mind

Music To Open Your Mind is a free community event to promote mental health happening this Sunday, March 20, from noon-4pm at Kings Square Fremantle with Electrik Co Trio, Ella E,Wasamba Carnival Dancers, Mambo Chic and St Patrick's Starlight Choir. There's also loads of free kids activities, market stalls and mental health awareness information. Bob Gordon chats with Andrew Winton, who will debut his surprise new musical venture.

Acclaimed solo artist, Andrew Winton, has teamed with Eddie Parise and Frank Celenza, the original rhythm section for the Baby Animals and all 'round WA music stalwarts, to form Electrik Co Trio.

"We were on the same bill at a gig at Settlers Tavern a few years ago," Winton says of the group's origins. "They were playing with a great Sydney guitarist called Ray Beadle and we stayed up all night talking music as you do.

"Eddie and Frank have a wealth of experience, ability and stories which you have to respect. I love their playing and I think they liked mine so we went straight into another gig with no rehearsal and it was so much fun. I haven’t produced a volume inducing grin like that for years!"

While Parise and Celenza are best known as a solid, rock'n'roll rhythm section, the multi-instrumentalist Winton's catalogue - his most recent album, Glorybox Mechanics, was released a few months ago -  comes from more of a folk/roots/blues perspective. It all makes for an interesting  melange.

"It is a mix of blues, soul and rock with a high energy," Winton says. "It gives me an excuse to get off my arse and stand as I’ve been sitting playing lap-steel for the last 10 years. We have plans to interpret my original material through a trio setting and hopefully do some collaborative writing down the track. Who knows what direction that will take?"

Originally published in X-Press Magazine