The unlikely connection between Matt Corby and a magpie

According to Matt Corby, life can be described as tragic magic.

An experience full of ups and downs and brief moments that make people who they are.

While you’re getting ready to bring your things Tragic Spell He spoke to Corby on his tour of Perth next month WAtoday about her newest album and the life moments that bring it to life.

Written during a period in his life marked by personal loss and grief, Corby says it is the combination of experiences of fatherhood, friendship, death and isolation that brings the 13 tracks to life.

“My partner’s mother, who was very, very close to us, had pancreatic cancer and passed away shortly after she was diagnosed, and it was a really difficult time for everyone,” he said.

“I think there’s something about ruminating on the record about your own mortality and what it takes to enjoy these brief moments we have on earth.”

Corby says the name of the album Tragic Spell It was a funny metaphor for life.

“Life is precious because it is short and finite,” he said.

“It’s as if we’re all doomed to tragedy, but because of that, these experiences, love and so on, that we can see and feel, that’s what [what makes life valuable].”

With over 15 years of songwriting and instrumental know-how, Corby says the evolution of the music scene has allowed him to continue to push his musical boundaries.

“Music is like a public thing now. I remember growing up and the scenes were really clearly defined,” he said.

“[Either] You loved emo, you loved indie, you loved metal, or you were goth… and you stayed in your lane. Music has changed so much now that kids say: ‘Oh no, I love jazz, I love pop, I love orchestral music and I love metal,’ and then there’s a network of all these things.

“There’s a lot of crossover between all these genres now, and we’re getting really interesting hybrids of genres across the musical spectrum, which is really cool.

“It’s time to contribute to this spectrum.”

But don’t expect him to listen to the latest songs on the radio.

“I guess I don’t really like listening to modern music, especially because I don’t want to copy it,” he said with a laugh.

“Because if I hear something really catchy, I know it’s going to get stuck in there and what goes in has to come out somehow. So I guess I just try to be careful what I feed my ears.”

Corby last played for Perth three years ago but says the place holds many fond memories for him.

“I’ve been to Perth many times, one of my best friends lives there now and I have family there too and the Great Gables band, they’re all Perth kids and it’s always nice to catch up with them when I’m in town,” he said.

While he doesn’t plan on hitting the waves this visit, he does plan on hitting some golf balls.

“I haven’t surfed in about six months, which is weird because I grew up surfing, but I’m middle-aged now, so I’ve kind of taken up golf,” he said.

“I think I’ll take my sticks with me because we have some time every day before we start sound check, so [I could] Either sit and go to a cafe and eat, or… walk around and hit some small balls into the little holes.

Although this is his fourth album, Corby says he still feels nervous playing it to a crowd for the first time.

“It’s a little frustrating to be blindsided by songs you’ve never played… I think it actually gets harder as you move in and out of an album cycle,” he said.

“When you’re young, before you make your first few records, you probably play these songs live a few times and workshop them while playing in front of people.

“It might take you two or three years to even cut the songs in a studio, whereas now at this point the songs all start in the studio and when you play them for the first time, you’re like, okay, here’s a few thousand people, let’s see how it goes.”

Corby said he plans to cherry-pick the songs from his discography, but he promised fans one track will be there.

“There are definitely a few tracks on this record that I’m looking forward to playing. We’ve been rehearsing and Big IdeasIt sounds great and is a lot of fun to play. “I also feel like Know It All is kind of starting a new life,” he said.

‘We’re going to include a few old games that we haven’t played in a while. I think we’ll make this song To escape“It’s a game we haven’t played in a long time,” he said.

“Every time I’ve done a show in the last seven or eight years, there’s always three or four people saying, ‘Play Runaway,’ so I think we’ll put that on the set.

A surprising feature of the album can be heard in the track Maggie Where Corby uses a recording of a magpie in the introduction.

While Corby was writing songs with his friends, he heard the sound of the magpie and immediately jumped on the piano and started playing with it.

“I was playing the melody in my right hand, thinking about what chords would work with it… then the last chord I played the magpie sang along with me,” he said.

“We all looked at each other [in shock] … and then when we heard it we were all like: This is the intro to the song, this is great.

As for what the future holds, Corby said he plans to bring a smaller version of his show to regional towns across the country.

“I feel like everyone’s always going to the big cities and you know there’s a lot of places in Australia where you can go and play music and I think people would really appreciate you going there, especially now because everything is expensive,” he said.

“It’s so hard for people to go to a show, and I really appreciate everyone who attends these shows because I know these are tough times for everyone and… art in general seems to be the first thing to go in tough times.

“So it might be good to have a series of demonstrations at the end of the year and go and see what happens as a bunch of little troupes.”

Corby will perform at the Riverside Theater in Perth on June 4.