Jae Laffer: ‘Just Playing Around’

Stepping away from The Panics for his debut solo album, Jae Laffer talks about the freedom that afforded him – and the influence of songwriting heroes like Lennon, Springsteen, Dylan and Kelly. Interview by DOUG WALLEN.

[Historical image is withheld pending rights review.] After four albums and ARIA success with his Perth band The Panics, Jae Laffer has stepped away from that longtime setting to try his hand at a solo record. Or, at least, somewhat: When the Iron Glows Red was co-produced with Panics bandmate Paul Otway (as well as Laffer and engineer Anna Laverty), and Otway co-wrote the arrangements as well as playing guitar, bass and percussion.

But this is no Panics record: the songs are at once more singer-songwriter-y and more experimental, thriving on Laffer’s usual clarity of voice and lyric while lurching into breakout guitar or sax solos that are unashamed to be earnest. There’s a country-ish duet with Angie Hart in ‘To Mention Her’, backing vocals from Fantine across the album and drumming by The Delta Riggs vocalist Elliott Hammond.

It all sprang from debut solo track ‘Leave a Light On’, which fittingly became the album’s opener. One can hear Laffer’s affection for Bob Dylan in his vocals on ‘It’s in All of Us’, for Bruce Springsteen in the ringing guitar opening of ‘Right Above My Heart’ and for Paul Kelly all over When the Iron Glows Red. But just as much, you can hear character traits spilling over from The Panics: namely, a timeless rock ‘n’ roll feel and the quiet majesty of his poetic lyrics.

First let’s talk about ‘Leave a Light On’ as a catalyst for doing this solo record. What was it about that song that made you think there could be a record in it?
Well, I guess we’d just finished the kind of touring and stuff for our last [Panics] record, and I just put a few songs together really quickly. And that was kind of the first one. Really, it was just about ... I recognised how it would probably go if I had the band working [on it]. It was a million miles away from what The Panics do, but I just thought, ‘You know, it might be the right time to do something myself.’ And just make a whole record that felt like it was very much about me, and my views, and it was all from my heart.

It just felt right. I’ve been playing in the band for over a decade, so we’ve talked about the whole new phase we’d like to enter into, musically in particular. A whole different kind of sound and ways we’d like to go. So it just felt like I still had a few songs which were pretty traditional, and very much about me and what I brought to The Panics. I just thought rather than shy away from that, I should take a certain pride and make a record that was written quickly and came together quickly.

Our last record [2011’s Rain on the Humming Wire] took a while to come together, so I wanted to make sure I could kind of not get used to that scenario. Like a lot of my heroes did, just step in for a few weeks and back myself and come out with a record. And I came out with a good one.

Were the rest of the band OK with what that would mean for The Panics?
Yeah, for sure. But they knew that I was doing something relatively quickly, and we’re still working now on what we’re gonna do next. So, as old friends and people who have been through a lot together – all the guys work on different creative projects as well; mine just might be a little bit more high-profile because I’m the singer – we have a feeling among all of us that its all about whatever keeps everyone at their creative best. Whatever keeps everyone happy and, most importantly, energised and passionate about what we all do.

So for me, it’s a creative break and something a little bit different, which is all about getting behind it myself. Just backing myself, like I said. It just feels good, and now I feel that instead of things taking a while again, its more like I could step into a studio next month and do it again. And that’s a strong feeling to have.

Yeah, that makes sense. The more you labour over something, the bigger an obstacle it can seem.
Yeah, and for bands as well, when you’ve been around a little while you can feel like you have certain things you’re just supposed to do, or your band can tread water. Or worse, there’s the certain sound that people expect from you, to the point where only people that dug your band before are going to be the ones that would take interest next time. It kinda leaves a bad taste in our mouth.

“It’s half the fun of a solo record: you can do whatever the fuck you want.”

For now it’s just about having a very quick reshuffling of the deck, and making sure that we don’t become one of those bands where you occasionally had success, and then continued to occasionally work together. It’s more about: What do you do to make sure you really fucking want it? That starts right at the root of the problem, the root of the creation of things. Just getting down to how you feel about what you make, and getting back to your 15-year-old self, you know?

Getting a chance to put a saxophone solo in there?
Well, it can be controversial, the saxophone. But at the same time, it felt pretty good when I was doing it!

Did you play it?
No, I can’t play any wind instruments. So I’m kind of fascinated by it. It’s half the fun of having a solo record that has no real expectations around it: you can do whatever the fuck you want. It just is what it is. Despite the record being ... it can be traditional at times and not too far away from what I’ve done with my band. But without having to compromise anything on the record, one day you just go, ‘I feel like a bit of sax’. It’s more about just playing around and seeing what new music you can put your voice on. And that feels pretty good.

Who played the sax solo [on ‘Leaving on Time’]?
Well, I just called some jazz-leaning friends that we’ve met along the way, and they’re always a bit on the weirder side of life. They just put me in touch with a local guy [Alex Howroyd], who came down. Some people are just in tune with what you do – I just met a guy for an hour and he walked out into the night, and that was what was left.

“I grew up as a kid whose sole intention was to be Slash.”

‘All of Us’ has that big guitar solo, and that also seemed to me like something that you can embrace [here], that you might be nervous about in the context of a sort of ‘indie rock band’.
Yeah, well, it’s more a kind of joke with myself, because it’s not completely out of place. I’ve been playing the acoustic guitar and piano in The Panics for a long time, but I grew up as a kid whose sole intention was to be Slash. To be a guitar hero; that’s what I wanted to be when I was young. So I’ve always loved playing the electric guitar.

It was someone at the label who put forward the idea, like “you know, you should try a bit of a guitar solo.” I was like “Well, I don’t really wanna know what you think.” But then it kind of went into my brain, and I thought, ‘Well, you want a solo. I’ll give you a fucking solo.’ And that’s kind of how it went. So it’s just fun – like I said, with no expectations and no pressure. I’m never going to be completely popular with the young hipsters, so I could just do what the fuck I want – I don’t really care.

My songs come from the heart; I don’t care particularly if it feels like the hippest thing in the world. But you’ve got to be spontaneous if you want to make cool records, and that’s what happened on that day so, fuck it, that goes in.

Do label people often suggest things like that?
Well I’ve got a good label [Dew Process] and they’re very positive generally. It says to me that at least they wanna be involved. I don’t know what other labels are like; I’m sure there’s artists that people completely back and don’t wanna get too involved with. But I try not to put up a wall between me and anyone, so if people wanna talk to me it’s fine.

But I’ve got enough personal pride and satisfaction in what I do that people can ask me about anything, or you can try and tell me what you think is cooler, but I don’t really mind. I’m happy to listen and learn to fuck around but, at the end of the day, whatever I really feel will go. So I’m just happy for the interest. It’s all fine by me.

Who’s playing with you on this tour? Backing you...
I’ve put together a five-piece band. I was weary about anything that stripped it back any more, because it’s ... I think there’s generally an optimistic and energetic feel to the record, and I don’t really wanna take that backwards in the live arena. If anything, I need to kind of step on it. So I’ve just got a kickin’ band with a really great rhythm section from really good musicians I know from Melbourne. All the songs feel like they’ve been written about people around me and close to me, and I feel like it gives me a certain confidence when I’m singing. We’ve done one gig, and it’s the kind of stuff that I’m happy to not sing to the floor but sing out to the crowd. It’s something that needed that big band feel to it.

Are you based in Melbourne now?
Yeah, we are at the moment. I mean, we’ve been in and out over time, but the last handful of years we’ve spent more and more time here. We’re from Perth originally.

“I’ve always preferred to be digging a trench than working a coffee machine.”

Did that influence the record at all? Living in Melbourne, recording there and all that?
I don’t know. I’d say yes, but that’s because we always draw stuff from the people around us – well, I do anyway. I took a lot of stuff out of people, and some of the more average jobs I’ve had inspired a few of the songs. That kind of thing. I’ve done some work down on the docks in Melbourne and stuff like that in my time, so it had that feel to it where I was bouncing off those ideas.

So yeah, it has influenced it in that respect. But I’ve tried to get around as much as I can in my life, and just get a general feel for as much of the world as I could.

What are some of those jobs you’ve had? Can you think of a few examples?
Well, the docks was a big one. I’ve done a lot of stuff where I’m unloading shipping containers and stuff. I grew up in the hills in Perth, and I left school and did about six years of working on the farms, and in orchids and tree-growing plantations. I’ve always done a lot of music, but I’ve always preferred to be digging a trench than working a coffee machine. It’s just who I am.

Well, like you said, I’m sure it gives you better source material.
Yeah, I think I just wanna do as much as I can in my life anyway. That’s along with working different jobs. It’s just that thing where it doesn’t really matter what you do; you just wanna make sure … if you spend a lot of your time and energy doing it, you just wanna be respected for it. You get a lot of that in the workplace where people can talk down to grown adults, just because they happen to be in a certain position. It’s just that kind of stuff that gives me the fucking shits.

So it’s nice that you can incorporate the romance and the feeling of people like that, and put it in music. A lot of our heroes – well, my heroes anyway; I’m not sure of yours. But they championed those kind of feelings. That’s the struggle that we all have in life. It’s like fitting into a weird fucking society where there’s so much pressure on you. With how you’re supposed to go about your relationships, how you’re supposed to go about prioritising certain money-making things. Just what you’re supposed to do, and it’s a struggle.

It’s about coming through that, keeping your dreams intact. Being your true self, or you can kind of become a shadow of that, and that’s the fear.

“There’s a reason Springsteen’s so popular with kids now – it’s just that feeling.”

You talked about your heroes, and you’ve mentioned Paul Kelly as an influence for this record. Is there a certain album of his that you turned to?
No, I mean, if you talked about a single album – it’s one of those guys you can’t really do that [with]. He has those three or four classics on every record. In fact, I’d feel really bad pointing out an early one, because I just saw him the other week. Went and saw his gig. It’s just like, if you’re into someone like Paul Kelly, it never ends, and his last record is part of that journey.

It’s the same with Bob Dylan. Mega-fan. Sure, some people might think he sounds like an old grandpa now, but if you’ve followed that path it’s completely part of it, and it’s just as good as so much of what he’s done, some of his records. They’re clichés, but those great songwriters are known for that for good reason. There’s a reason Springsteen’s so popular with kids now – it’s just that feeling. All that hope that we’ve just talked about in our average life, he just magnified that. Bruce Springsteen just feels so fresh, right at this moment. It’s that stuff that you never lose. John Lennon, his solo stuff – I’ve been listening to heaps of that.

It’s just putting real-life stuff on the line and screaming it. Those are the things that I aspire to, and I think it just inspires everyone that comes in contact with it.

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‘When the Iron Glows Red’ is out now through Dew Process/Univeral Music Australia. Laffer is launching the album with a national tour presented by M+N. Karl Smith (Sodastream, ex-Lee Memorial) is supporting on all dates.

Sat, Oct 12 – The Toff, Melbourne, VIC [tickets via Toff]
Fri, Oct 18 – Alhambra Lounge, Brisbane, QLD [tickets via Oztix]
Sat, Oct 19 – The Loft, Gold Coast, QLD [tickets via Oztix]
Thurs, Oct 24 – Mojo’s Bar, Fremantle, WA [tickets via Oztix]
Fri, Oct 25 – Astor Upstairs, Perth, WA [tickets via Show Ticketing]
Sat, Oct 26 – Jive Bar, Adelaide, SA [tickets via Moshtix]
Fri, Nov 8 – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, NSW [tickets via Moshtix]