[MUSIC/Folk ~ UK]
by Adrian Miller
William Jack is a London-based cellist, guitarist and songwriter, born and raised in Adelaide, with an impressive string of achievements to his name. William now has his first album out called This Old Cello Box. It is also the name of a show he is presenting in the Fringe.
The following is based on an interview conducted with William Jack by Clayton Werner and myself on Songcatcher on Radio Adelaide on Tue 5 Feb, 2024. We began by asking him about growing up in Adelaide and where his love of music came from.
“I grew up in the Tea Tree Gully area, then my folks moved to the Burnside area. I went to Burnside and St Andrews schools and my high school was Concordia College. They were all really great music schools. I always had a love of music. I begged my folks at about age 4 or 5 to pick up a guitar from watching The Wiggles. My dad had an extensive cassette and record collection that I loved listening to. My Pop also bought me some cassettes. I was listening to Chuck Berry and The Blues Brothers really early on.”
You began performing from a young age with Adelaide orchestras and rock bands?
“I was in a kids’ band growing up from 9 or 10 years old. My first guitar teacher Pete Miller was a mentor who loaned me my first guitar amp. I also started cello at seven playing in Adelaide Youth Orchestra. There I met the wonderful Martin Butler who was the conductor of the Adelaide Youth Orchestra and a viola player in the ASO. He also had a love of rock music and blues, and liked the idea of combining electric guitars with the youth orchestra. This was so much fun and a great inspiration to me – it opened up this idea of bringing other genres to classical instruments and settings.”
You studied studied jazz guitar with Mike Bevan in Adelaide, gaining a scholarship to the Julliard Winter Jazz School. You then then studied cello at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music?
“This was a crossroads moment for me. I auditioned for both the jazz guitar course and the cello course. At the time I thought my cello skills were perhaps not as good, but something has always drawn me to cello. I felt somehow more connected to it. But I’ve never liked the idea that I had to pick just one.”
From there you moved to study in Vienna, then on to the UK in 2018 to become a freelance touring musician. But you come back to Adelaide regularly?”
Yes, in fact This Old Cello Box was recorded at Wundenberg’s Recording Studios in Thebarton on a previous visit in March 2022. It was recorded live without any other instruments or overdubs. It was then sent to be mixed in Vienna.”
Despite the fact that you are a classical cellist, the track Cellopickin’ shows the full duality of your playing because you turn the cello to horizontal and start playing it like a guitar. Where did that idea come from?
“Well as a classical player I would have thought that was a complete no-no. But travelling around I could only carry one large instrument, and I must have been mucking around one day, missing the guitar playing, and just turned it from vertical to horizontal. It sounded bluegrassy, and I had been listening to a lot of bluegrass at the time.”
There is a nice video on YouTube showing you playing Cellopickin’ at the Adelaide Town Hall.
“Well I wanted to acknowledge Adelaide on the album. I’m from Adelaide, it was recorded in Adelaide, and so I filmed all of the tracks at the Adelaide Town Hall. There is another track called Morialta for which I had a video filmed actually at Morialta.”
Do you only write instrumentals, or do you also write lyrics? If so, what informs your lyric writing?”
I love writing songs with lyrics – it’s a big part of my songwriting. I never set boundaries. Sometimes I get musical ideas mucking around with guitar or cello that I feel need lyrics. Or I could be out somewhere, mumbling words that need music.”
Your show This Old Cello Box in the Fringe. What can people expect to see?
“I want to try this year having a little bit of a mix of tracks in there – not just tracks from the album but pieces people will definitely recognise – Beatles, Fleetwood Mac etc – all reimagined for solo cello. Not the usual arrangements people will be used to hearing but recognisable just the same.”
You also have another show in the Fringe called All Strings Attached which features some singing? Who are the artists covered in this show?
“Yes I am doing a show with my very good friend from school days Harry Baulderstone. It does involve singing. We will be playing less familiar songs from the modern folk and country realms adapted for guitar and cello with vocal harmonies – playing songs that have inspired us by Nick Cave, Joni Mitchell, John Moreland, Jason Isbell, Sarah Jarosz and the like. Wonderful songs and songwriters!”
This Old Cello Box performs at Gallery 1 at Hahndorf Academy, at various times, from Fri 16 Feb until Sun 3 Mar.
Bookings at FringeTIX and adelaidefringe.com.au. Click HERE. to purchase your tickets.
All Strings Attached – with Harry Baulderstone plays at Domain Theatre at Marion Cultural Centre from 8pm on Fri 1 March. Tix available HERE.
The full Songcatcher on Radio Adelaide interview can be listened to HERE.
#adelaidefringe
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