Black Pony Express Q&A

Your name:
Justin Cusack.

The name of your band/act etc:
Black Pony Express.

Where are you from (city/country)?
Melbourne, Australia.

Your sound can be described as?
This is a tricky one… Johnny Cash if he was born in the Ukraine? Nick Cave sodomizing David Bowie? A little bit like the ocean hopefully.

Fill us in on the history – where did your band/act start, what changes and developments have happened along the way and where are you now?
Greg and I gave up drinking together and to fill in the time we went to Augie March shows and listened to Sparklehorse and Beatles records. We also started jamming and going to see lots of bad bands. We felt like we weren't seeing many bands playing the sort of music we liked and figured we would give it a bash. It was also a way to deal with the cold, bright shock of sobriety.

Along the way we have added and subtracted members and played a few hundred shows. At the moment we have our most solid and capable line-up: Alan "the mallet" Murphy on drums/percussion, Lilith Lane on keys/vocals, Katrina Morgan on violin and Cliffy Davis on bass; and of course Greg Bukshtyn on guitar/organ and my good self on guitar and lead vocals.

We released our debut album Love in a Cold Place on Spanish label BANG! Records in December 2006 both here and around the world. At the moment we are playing lots of shows before a tour of Europe in May 2007. We will come back from there and record our next record, tentatively entitled Home, with local mystic/producer Simon Grounds.

What's your earliest memory of developing a passion for music?
As a child I carried a Fisher Price music box around with me everywhere. It played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which was mesmerising. Also, my Mum used to play the album Broken English by Marianne Faithful over and over when we drove back to Adelaide to see the family. This record shocked and delighted me. I recall being ten-years-old and completely transfixed with these feelings and the fact that a record could do this to me. That it was possible to be scared and uplifted and happy and sad and angry all at once. Also around that time my Dad was always playing old [Bob] Dylan vinyl, particularly Highway 61 and Desire. Ballad of a Thin Man and One More Cup of Coffee are two songs that both changed the way I looked at the world… Oh, there are so many more examples I could go on and on but will exercise some restraint.

Your influences (musical, political etc) and why?
People who aren't defined by the vagaries of fashion and what others are doing. I am not influenced by those who mostly just demonstrate they can see and hear what others can see and hear. Haircuts and sneakers leave me completely disinterested and kind of sad.

Anyone who has the courage to express what it's like to be here and awake and a long way from home.
I like Tom Waits, Beethoven, Henry Miller, Hank Williams, Low, Dylan, Mr. Cohen, Dostoyevsky, Marianne Faithful, that guy who has an old junkyard drum kit and busks on Swanston St., Hunter S Thompson, Kurt Vonnegut, Nabakov, Sex Pistols, Dirty Three, Mr. Coltrane, Rudolph Steiner, Sparklehorse, Wil Oldham, Billie Holiday.

Also lots of our comrades here in Melbourne – Nathan Hollywood, James McCann, The Dumb Earth, The Spoils, Clinkerfield, My Disco, Khancoban, Blessington, Silver Ray; the list goes on and on. People who are connected and soulful and don't give a fuck about what people are wearing on Chapel St.

Most memorable gig you've played and why?
There's been plenty. Probably [our] first one, which was Greg and I playing as a duo at some shitty bar in St Kilda to 30 people eating dinner. I can still remember sweating up there and the sound of knives and forks clattering on china plates.

Our album launch was also a highlight – a full house on a hot Friday night at The Tote. That's kind of my idea of heaven.

Every time we play the Grace Emily in Adelaide I always think that it can't get any better than that. Everyone all packed in and boozed up dancing and smiles. Hmmm… I wish I was there now.

Also supporting Silver Ray at The Retreat was a special show. We had looked up to them, musically, for ages and it was a goal to play with them somewhere. Now we have to work on the Augie March support.

What's the naughtiest thing you and/or the band have gotten up to on tour?
Jesus… I don't know what to tell you. I once cheated in a game of pool with Cliff [Davis, bassist] at The Grace. Actually Cliffy is the real hell raiser, you would have to ask him for details though as he is notoriously tight lipped. Greg once had extra cheese on his post gig pizza, which I felt was a little excessive. That was in Ballarat, I think.

Do you drink? And if so what's you're favourite rock 'n' roll recipe? If you don't drink would you care to elaborate as to why?
No. I am an alcoholic. If I drink I usually wake up a year later living another man's life. And it looks a lot more chaotic than the one I currently lead.

What was the first record that you ever owned and tell us the story of how it came into your possession and why you loved it?
Hallowed Ground - The Violent Femmes.

Some friend of my older sister gave it to me, I think. I was young and impressionable. This is another record that is kind of terrifying but you can tap your feet to it. Country Death Song and Black Girls are both beautiful songs. This was an album that taught me that it's possible to be scared and want to dance at the same time; that a song has the power to make you horny and sad and exultant and angry all at once.

Also records like this made me feel that this was something I could do. Something I would want to do. To make music that was, to me, quite dangerous and exposed. This was the sound of a man opening up his head and chest fearlessly and showing me what was inside. That's the punk ethos that I sometimes talk about. You can say what you want to say, you can impart the feelings that you have. This is your right as an artist and as an individual. I felt like I owned this record and these songs. No one else I knew was listening to this stuff and it certainly wasn't on the radio or TV. Perhaps this was my first taste of the underground?

What's the best thing about the music scene you are involved in and why?
Well it's fun and it isn't corporate. It feels genuine to me and that seems to be a rare thing. It is so inspiring to be part of a community of artists who all work really hard for little financial gain; for the love of it – to use that old cliché. We all work day jobs and scrimp and save to make records and play shows and we all do it together. It's a very comforting thing. I have such a tendency to feel disconnected by the aspirations of my generation and the community at large. It is part of the wonderful positive qualities of music really. That it can make you feel like life is worthwhile. This is a serious thing.

What's the worst thing about the music scene you are involved in and why?
I'm not sure. That we don't get the recognition we sorely deserve? (Laughs softly.)

I suppose the fact that we don't live in a landscape that is rich with government funding or recognition of non-mainstream art is a bit of a drag. But you just get on with it, don't you?

How did you get involved in the music scene you find yourself in now?
A combination of naivety and good luck. When we started out we targeted the bands we loved and went to all their gigs and gave them demos and helped them with their gear and eventually they just got used to us I suppose. The scene found us really. This is a hard question because I'm not sure I really feel part of a scene. I mean there is a bunch of bands I love and we all play together often so I suppose that is a scene. I guess the word scene implies fashion or some passing fad or something and that makes me a little uncomfortable.

Any parting words?
Maintain the rage. Try shutting your eyes and listening to the music. Keep supporting local bands and local radio