Changing Fortunes

For the ubiquitous Paul Greene, it's one of those times of mixed emotion. In the forefront of his mind at the present time is the mourning of good friend and Other Colours drummer Matt Sykes, who died tragically in late January in a boating accident. “It's a tough thing to get my head around,” Greene says on the death of his friend and bandmate. “He'd only been in the band since August last year… but we'd been friends for years.”

Greene said in a statement recently: “Matt, what an amazing bloke you were. Talented on the piano and kora, and one of the best drummers I know. You lived for what you loved and never let money dictate your life. You knew how to love and put all your love into whatever you did. Our thoughts are with Beth and your family. So glad I got to know you, mate.” The Australian industry has indeed lost a fine talent.

However, on the other side of the emotional coin, in a move that is quite inspirational, Greene and Other Colours bass player Neil Beaver are going ahead with their current tour in honour of Matt, which Greene has been quoted as saying would have been what his late friend wanted. “The decision [to do the tour] was easy, because I know it's what Matt would have wanted,” he concurs. “But the reality of it was pretty hard.” No doubt, but they're doing their mate proud.

The tour itself is to promote the release of third single, the eerily named Bad Luck Lately, from Greene's 2012 record, Behind The Stars. This is a record that has also run the gamut of emotions, coming as it did from a hard time in Greene's life, and then scoring a nomination at last year's ARIAs for Best Blues & Roots Album – a triumph for the man indeed.

“It's been really incredible,” he smiles. “I've been working hard for a long time; this is my seventh album, the second one I've produced by myself [and] to have it stand with the artists it was up against – Jeff Lang, Mia Dyson, Lanie Lane – to be compared to them, has been incredible. Especially for something that was recorded in a granny-flat at my mum and dad's house.”

Towards the end of 2010, Greene had gotten bogged down with distribution and management problems, he was suffering from creative exhaustion after touring for so long, and he “had this run of things just not go right,” he says. “I'd stopped and actually wasn't planning on making another record.” Add to the mix a case of identity theft (where a man, much older than Greene, had changed his name to Paul Greene, and armed with the real PG's photo and bio, was doing gigs, bad ones by all accounts, as Paul Greene), and you've got some hard times – he could have written a blues record here. “Yeah,” he laughs, “I might have to.”

However, as so often happens, there was light at the end of the tunnel. “This is what I love about what I do – all of this stuff mixed up in me and just gave me this… I felt empowered to make a record.” Greene hooked up with ABC around this time, they suggested he make a record, he was into it and Behind The Stars came to be, surpassing all expectations and making it to the ARIAs – good coming from bad indeed.

Not one to rest on his laurels however, Greene is already well into planning his next record. “Well, I've been generating some pretty full-on life experiences,” he laughs, alluding to what he's writing about at the moment. “When I come back from tour, that's basically what I want to do – lock myself away and write. I've got a couple of songs I'm really happy with, a couple of new ones.”

Paul Green & The Other Colours will be playing the following dates:

Thursday 28 February - The Beach Hotel, Byron Bay
Friday 1 March - The Queen St Mall Stage, Brisbane (7pm)
Saturday 2 March - The Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna (12.30pm)
Saturday 2 March - Joe's Waterhole, Eumundi (8pm)
Sunday 3 March - Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour (4pm)