Track By Track: Nick Batterham

Melbourne rock/pop tradesman NICK BATTERHAM has played in The Earthmen, Blindside and Cordrazine. ‘Closing Time at Yah Yah’s’ is his second solo album, following 2010’s ‘Second Lovers’. It spans a wedding song, a duet, 3am thoughts and the titular ode to Smith Street’s late-night rock den.

[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.]

‘Who Can Keep Their Word’

I got home late one night and went into the studio to check on progress. I’d made a loop using a 1970s home organ to use as a click track. I started playing guitar in open G tuning over the loop and soon I was singing. I lazily set up a 58 on the desk, using my glasses case as a mic stand. I recorded about 10 minutes of live voice and guitar with the loop playing through the speakers. I didn’t think much of it as a demo, but friends said it sounded good so I edited it down to the shape of a song and overdubbed the shit out of it. It was hard to mix because the vocal, guitar and loop were all embedded in the one mono track. I have no idea where the lyrics came from. 3am thoughts.

‘Your Own Head (The River is Wide)’

Another improvised song. I was recording some piano on another song and, when I came to edit it, I found a line that made a nice awkward loop. I laid it up and played acoustic guitar over it, which I also looped. There are no chord changes, just the one note over and over. I improvised singing over the guitar and piano loops. I had the chorus lyric already. Someone had just told me “it’s like you don’t know how to use your own head.” Not sure what they meant – probably nasty – but it stuck. I chopped it down to a song structure and added some backwards noises. I sat on it for a while before getting Craig Mitchell to play drums on it. The drums were tricky because the timing of the loops is so wonky.

‘Own Worst Enemy’

This was written as a duet. The two verses are the two sides of being in a relationship with someone who doesn’t care for themself. If you love someone, it is very hard to leave, regardless of the personal cost. You naturally want to help them get better, but there’s a limit – a point where you admit defeat because it’s hurting you too much. Amaya Laucirica sang the female part. The pitch was quite low for how she normally sings, but it really suited her voice – smoky and warm.

The arrangement is simple: three acoustic guitars. Jethro Woodward played the main melodic guitar on a battered old 1950s acoustic. The guitar is a story in itself. Left in the attic of a shed for decades, it is warped and has cracks you can put a 20-cent piece through. I need a pair of pliers to tune it. Harmonically it’s totally shot, but the tone is unbelievable.

‘Sucking on the Tap’

I wrote and recorded this song on acoustic guitar. After adding overdubs I removed the guitar, which created a lot of space. At the time I wrote a bunch of songs in the same lyrical style – second-person, accusatory tone … once upon a time you dressed so fine, threw the bums a dime, in your prime, didn’t you? I find it easier to write about myself if I take an outsider’s view and accuse myself of things.

‘Love is a Dream’

I’ve played this song at a couple of weddings. Folks must think it celebrates the magic of love. When I wrote it I wanted to set up the stereotypical “one true love” concept and then slap it down with a chorus line of “love is a dream.” I guess it can be read both ways. Love is dreamy, or else you are dreaming if you think love can be all you hope for.

‘Help Me Do Right This Time’

I recorded this song many times and wasn’t happy with it. It’s the curse of liking a song and wanting to do it justice, plus having too much time on your hands. I knew it needed to be a live vocal-and-guitar take; I just couldn’t get it right. Once I got it, I added piano and Ida Duelund Hansen played double bass. The lyrics, like the title, are self-explanatory.

‘Out of Control’

I’d rented out my studio for a few weeks so I set up a temporary recording rig in my spare bedroom. The room was empty so it had a sympathetic reverb that made it forgiving to sing in. I sang the vocal live with the guitar to a click, which I don’t usually do. At first I improvised for about half an hour. I listened back and refined the lyrics into a song structure then had another go. I ran the acoustic guitar through an amp with a soft tremolo, mainly because I was worried about traffic noise.

From start to finish the song was written and recorded in about an hour. I sat on it for a year before adding drums. I played e-bow electric guitar all over it, getting off on making crazy noises, but I ended up cutting it all out except for a couple of bits near the end. It was a bit of a wankfest.

‘Nice Things (Do My Head In)’

This is another live vocal-and-guitar take. I actually recorded it when I made my previous record. It didn’t make the cut because it felt too twee. This time around it sat with the other songs OK. It’s a love song of sorts – one where you ask your lover not to say crazy shit while you’re trying to bang them.

‘Tall and Pretty’

My friend was on the phone to a friend who had just been through a breakup. I tried to offer some consolation by saying at least she was still tall and pretty. The line stuck and I wrote the song around it. Again, it has the second-person, accusatory tone.

‘All the Things I Do’

This was the last song I wrote for the record. I’d already finished mixing most of the other songs and then this one came along. I’d been playing a lot of Townes Van Zandt because I was performing an album of his [1969’s Our Mother the Mountain] at Pure Pop Records. I like how he describes elements of nature, so I wrote the verses as if I was God, the creator of all things, then turned it on its head with the chorus, saying I made everything just “to be worthy of you.” I don’t know who the “you” is and I am no God.

I recorded it on guitar but then, when I added all the atmospherics, I removed the guitar and it sounded much better. It takes a leap of faith to ditch the instrument you write a song on, but it’s often for the best.

‘Last Point’

This was written a very long time ago. It’s about trying to quit something. I’ve mixed it a few times. This time I ran the vocals and piano through a Leslie speaker and couple of guitar amps, which helped me like the song again.

‘Closing Time at Yah Yah’s’

This is the only full-band song on the record. The vocal, piano and guitars were tracked live and then the drums and bass were overdubbed. With my modest piano skills, I still struggle to get the chords right when I play it. Lyrically, it is as the title suggests – stumbling thoughts at the end of a big night on the piss. Should I stay and leer at people, or should I just go home to bed? Too pissed to decide.

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‘Closing Time at Yah Yah’s’ is out now through Popboomerang. Batterham will launch it with a full band at a matinee gig this Sunday (Oct 6) at The Workers Club in Melbourne, with support from Jimmy Hawk and Tim Guy. It’s $10 from 1:30pm.