Australian Crawl frontman James Reyne has reflected on his career in a candid chat with The Sound's Robert Taylor, talking early influences, song rip-off rumours, and his genuine affection for New Zealand.
Ahead of his one-off acoustic show in Auckland, Reyne told Taylor about the discipline that’s kept him performing for decades, the evolution of his voice and the enduring impact of classics like 'Oh No Not You Again'.
Reyne has been a fixture of the music scene for more than four decades, so naturally, Robert was curious to know the secret behind how he manages to keep up the lifestyle.
He credits it to eating relatively healthy, regular exercise and “everything in moderation”. With a laugh, he added, “All the cliches are probably true”.
A humble man with a quiet confidence about him - despite being inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame with Australian Crawl - Reyne has always felt comfortable remaining slightly outside the spotlight.
“I’ve never been on the wall or the list in band rooms,” he joked, mentioning he prefers it this way, choosing to “distance himself from the herd”.
Listen to the full chat below
Reyne will play at the Auckland Town Hall with guitarist and vocalist Josh Owen on October 4th, and he spoke about the power of stripping songs down to their bare bones.
Unlike the big, full-band setup he often tours with, the stripped-back approach brings a new feel to his catalogue.
“You can hear the songs as they were originally conceived,” he explained, emphasising the chance for audiences to really listen to familiar songs in a new light.
“There’s more room to sit and listen and hear any other nuance things that are going on.”
Looking back on his early recordings, Reyne admitted he now finds it hard to listen to his younger self, saying, “I can’t stand it” and calling it “barely controlled yelling.”
He believes time has blessed him in this respect, and with age, he has come to understand his voice better, feeling more confident as a singer.
“I can sort of understand myself as a singer and what my voice can do - its strengths and weaknesses. I just know I’m a better singer. I would call myself a singer now, but I wouldn’t have back then.”
When asked what song still hits the same way it always did, perhaps surprisingly to some, he mentioned the Australian Crawl track ‘Oh No Not You Again’.
It’s a song that’s not often at the forefront of people’s minds at concerts, with fans expecting staples like ‘Reckless’ or ‘The Boys Light Up’, and so he feels it's all the more special when it's played - a fact confirmed by crowd reactions.
“As soon as we start playing the first chords, there’s an audible ‘oooh’, they suddenly realise ‘I know this one, we love this one’”
Although it appears to be a simple song on the surface, Reyne says there’s “good stuff in simplicity”, and adds there’s more to the song than what people may think, “I know exactly what it’s about and it’s not what you think”.
While he knows the true meaning, he’s careful to keep this a secret, respecting all the ways in which people resonate with the song - not wishing to ruin these individual interpretations.
“Whatever anyone thinks the song is about is just as relevant or justified as what the song may actually be about.”
The interview also touched on a long-running rumour that one of Reyne’s songs was copied by another band.
Something which he wasn't convinced of at first, but mash-up comparisons eventually made him see the resemblance, which he says “really is very close”.
He laughed off the notion of legal battles, concluding, “It’s the same publishing company, you’d be asking them to sue themselves.”
As for his own inspiration, Reyne looked back on his teenage obsession with live music. From seeing AC/DC play to a crowd of just 75, to idolising bands like Dragon, he was hooked early.
“I used to buy records, and then when I was old enough, I used to go and watch bands. I’d listen to nothing but music.”
At the end of the chat, Reyne spoke warmly of New Zealand, praising both its people and landscape, as well as the Kiwi musicians he’s worked with over the years.
“I feel connected to it,” he said, not out of politeness, but genuine affection.
We warmly welcome him back on New Zealand soil next week, as he prepares for his acoustic show in Auckland at the Town Hall on Saturday, 4 October.
Tickets available HERE.
