'The Trickiest Thing For Us Is To Know When The Piece Ends': Kram Discusses The Improvised Beauty Of The Others

When one thinks about Kram, it’s easy to have a myriad different bands, projects, and songs flood into one’s head.

On one hand, he’s best known as a third of the enduring Spiderbait, a band whose legacy is of vital importance to Aussie music history. On the other, he’s had a solo career, dabbled in producing, been in bands such as Hot Rollers with Tumbleweed’s Richie Lewis, and played in supergroups like The Wrights and The ARC (the Australian Rock Collective).

Needless to say, he’s a man full of surprises on the musical front, but even then, one of the most unexpected additions to his storied career was when he formed The Others.

Featuring Kram on drums, he’s joined by an unlikely pairing of musicians, including pianist, composer, and Australian Art Orchestra founder Paul Grabowsky, and veteran jazz trumpeter James Morrison. 

On paper, it’s not the sort of pairing you would have expected to hear about when Kram was the talk of the town with Spiderbait back in ‘90s, but talk to anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing the three musicians performing live together over the last decade and they’ll agree that it goes far beyond your expectations.

Now, ahead of a performance at Brisbane’s QPAC (the Queensland Performing Arts Centre) on January 17th, Kram has explained the magic behind what they do, and why this upcoming show is set to be truly special.

The story of how The Others first came to be is a long one, but as Kram says, the short version is that he “was the one that sort of started the group by asking the other two if they wanted to have a jam, by saying that we should do something together”.

“At the time, we didn't really know what it was going to be, but it became apparent in the first rehearsal that it was a lot more electrifying and natural to start playing, to feel the music, and to follow each other, rather than trying to play something prearranged,” he says.

The group’s origins can be traced back to Sean Baxter, a Melbourne percussionist best known for his work in bands such as The Throwaways (who were contemporaries of Spiderbait in their earliest days), and as the host of the longstanding improvisational Make It Up Club. Following the dissolution of The Throwaways, Kram had gone to see Baxter perform with his latest trio whose approach was to improvise with their instruments.

“It was so interesting. One of his favorite things to do was to drop chopsticks all over the drums and just create a sound,” Kram remembers. “It was almost like film music without a film. I just adored it.”

Some time later, Baxter asked Kram if he’d like to be involved in a “big free jazz jam” he was putting together for the Melbourne Jazz Festival. Featuring famed improvisationalist jazz artists Peter Brötzmann and Han Benik, the event took place at the Melbourne Town Hall in May 2010 and was a turning point of sorts.

“It was basically one of the most eye opening experiences I'd ever had because I'd been so locked into song structure, pop music, rock and roll, and Spiderbait’s journey, which I loved and still really love today.

“There's something about pure improvisation on your instrument that has nothing to do with song structure or the audience,” he adds. “So there's nothing to do with anything except you and interacting with the other instruments and the musicians themselves.”

Meeting Grabowsky at the event, the pair were inspired to work together at some point. Following a chance meeting with Morrison on the set of Spicks & Specks only months later in which he reflected on the joy of the earlier set, an eager Morrison invited Kram and Grabowsky to his Sydney studio to just have a jam.

“We got off the plane, jumped in the car, went to the studio, Paul came and met us, and then we just all sat around and we're like, ‘Well, what do we do?’,” Kram remembers.

“Paul's like, ‘I've got a piece’, James said, ‘I’ve got a piece’, and I had something but that wasn't it. So then I just started to play and I said, ‘Let's just jam’,” he adds. “We basically made a record in one day that’s never been released because we've never sort of gotten together to put something together.

“But the band was basically formed in that moment by actually just playing and just working out that, subconsciously, we can really connect together as musicians.”

Years went by before The Others took to the stage together for the first time as a live act at the Wangaratta Jazz Festival in 2017. Since then, performances have been more frequent, though still sporadic. Appearances at the Melbourne Jazz Festival, the Adelaide Festival, and the Blue Mountains Music Festival are all previous highlights, for both fans and band.

In fact, while the purely improvisational nature of The Others can see them likened to fellow improvisational icons The Necks, Kram remembers how The Necks themselves have even given the group their seal of approval.

“We've supported The Necks, and to have all The Necks guys come up and say, ‘That was sick, you guys are awesome,’ that’s really great because I'm such a huge fan of that band,” he admits. “Especially considering they understand improvisation better than anyone in the world, probably just in terms of the concept of it and the legitimacy of the style of music. So that was a great thrill.”

It’s the thrill of performing in a group such as The Others that sees the trio continuously wanting to keep showcasing their talent and the raw, pure musicianship that they unleash when they take to the stage.

“I think the boys have sort of finally said ‘Let's play some more shows’, and so I'm really hoping that this QPAC show is a great success and that we go on to play more and more shows around the world forever,” Kram says.

“It's just something so different for me that really goes back to my roots as a pure musician.”

The Others hit the stage at Brisbane’s QPAC on January 17th, this time expanded to a quartet thanks to the addition of yidaki (didgeridoo) virtuoso William Barton.

Though at the time of our interview, Kram was yet to even meet Barton in person, so is the power of collaboration and improvisation that the four musicians are able to get together and create something beautiful off the cuff for their adoring audience.

“I just can't think of anyone better to join in with this group,” Kram says. “Through the correspondence we've, Williams seems like a lovely person and just having that element of ancient Australian earth within the context of this musical idea and experience, it’s just going to be fucking sick.

“I just can't wait to do it. The power of that instrument is just so unique around the world, so in a way I almost don't want to mess it up by thinking too far ahead. We'll get to soundcheck and as long as we can hear everything, then off we'll go.

“I can't wait to play with Will and I'm just so glad that Paul – it's really down to Paul – put this whole thing together,” he adds. “He's just a dear friend, I love him dearly, and he is one of the true gentlemen of Australian music.”

Any musician worth their salt would, of course, have a little bit of apprehension when it comes to performing an entirely improvised show – at least the first time they do it.

For Kram, he’s spent a lifetime as one third of a band who are well-trained, well-rehearsed, and could play anything from Ivy And The Big Apples or Tonight Alright at the drop of a hat. Amazingly, Kram admits there’s no fear at play when it comes to a project such as The Others.

“We can sort of rely on each other, but within the genre of the musical style, I know the other guys are going to play something that I can roll to,” Kram explains. “I think in every show I start with just a simple something just to get it rolling, but the trickiest thing for us is to know when the piece ends. 

“That's another thing I love about that sort of jazz and classical world is that they're not songs; they're pieces, so they could go for 35 minutes. They could go for an hour, or they could go for two minutes, which is unlikely, but it's all about just us looking at each other.”

This is where a level of trust and camaraderie comes into the mix. It’s of vital importance for a band such as The Others to not only understand each other so as to know where each musician could go, but to also have the innate trust that your bandmates will actively take the music in a place that benefits the end goal.

“I've got such great respect for the boys in their musical world, but also just in our own,” Kram continues. “One of my favorite things about the band is that all of us have a great, seemingly-innate concept of shape in terms of when something begins, where it needs to go, and then when the end comes.

“When you all feel like you've got it right, you really feel like you've created something magical,” he adds. “This is, I guess, why it's important to try to record all our shows, otherwise we completely forget what has happened.”

While The Others are performing as frequently as they can, and continuously surprising themselves and others with the majesty of what they create, the big question should then be asked: what about that album they recorded? Is there a chance we’ll ever get to hear it?

“Paul is probably the most organised one, and James is very organised, but I'm not – I tend to come into society and then disappear again,” Kram begins. “But I would love it if, for a lot of our old recordings, we could start correlating a lot of that material and putting them together.

“We need to give names to the tracks, but I think it would be brilliant if we could go back and release some of those old recordings, because from what I remember, they were fantastic.”

However, it all comes back to the concept of fear and how freeing a project like The Others can be – not just in the case of actively performing before people, but having the ability to showcase the art that you create with others.

“We did a show this year where I was lead singing a lot for this Led Zeppelin show with my other band, the Australian Rock Collective,” Kram explains. “We did Led Zeppelin IV and the only way I could do that, I realised, was to lead-sing the show, and I just had the best time. It was so freeing and exciting, and I really loved it. So I think maybe as you get older, you start to spread out a little bit more from your confines. 

“We mentioned that element of fear earlier, and I was probably a lot more afraid when I was young than I am now,” he continues. “In some ways that's supposed to be the opposite, but for me, that's actually how I feel, and I think The Others is just another example of that. 

“I'd love to do it more, to find these recordings and put them out, make some more down the track and basically play forever, if it's fun.”

The Others perform at Brisbane’s QPAC on January 17th. Tickets to the performance are on sale now.