And it’s really important that the people with the budget in the music industry - like big festivals and record companies - make change and move forward with greener approaches. You would think that in the music industry there’d be a greener effort, but there’s not. What do you think about the efforts of Bonnaroo and other music festivals to be more green? I’m pretty passionate about what they’re doing. They’re doing amazing things in a really redneck place.
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There’s a community of environmentalists down there who struggle to have a voice because Tasmania’s so removed from our mainland. They’ve been doing a lot down in our waters at the moment for our whales.Īlso in the Huon Valley in Tasmania, old-growth still being cleared down there and being sent to Japan for pulp. I guess the things that are closest to my heart at the moment are probably the Sea Shepherds out there looking after our sea life. Everyone that’s doing something good for the earth is important. I’m lucky because we get to hear about so many different organizations doing good things. I know you’re involved in Surfers Against Sewage and some other projects like that because you are a surfer yourself. And the land takes care of the human spirit.
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I’m not going to pass anything along - it’s just what they’re meant to pick up and where their journey takes them. How are you going to pass along environmental ethics to your kids? It’s pretty powerful, so I think it’s just necessary to respect that. This place that we’ve been gifted is beyond any of our understandings. I come from a land that’s very, very powerful, and I guess everything we do is sort of floating on the surface. I just always had a big love for this earth. Where do you think your environmental ethics came from? So to come here and connect with the real America, for me, is powerful. The core of the culture and the beauty of the people isn’t the forefront of what’s represented. In lots of the world, America is represented by its media and its government because of the size of it. I find it a really warm, welcoming place - lots of ethnic diversity. Cars and buildings and highways - everything’s big. This is a contemplative set of music driven by a vigorous, pulsating heart.Everything’s big. Rollicking tracks “Stargaze” and “Footprint” hint at more of a rock’n’roll sound on the artist’s horizon, and “Come Let Go” has the same mournful feel as Marley’s “No Woman No Cry.” The somber and beautiful “Land Rights,” the delicate flutterings of “Anni Kookoo,” and the sun-drenched didgeridoodling on “Message Stick” have distinctly different sounds, yet somehow evoke the same visceral response in the listener. “Better People” is a light-hearted nod to well meaning people, and has the lilting, feel-good essence of classic Paul Simon. The bassline comes from Rudd, playing the bottom strings the way he does live: with more emphasis on the thumbed strings on his fingerpicking hand and mixing.
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His musical instincts and appreciation for old-fashioned hard rock licks, subtle blues flavors, and barbed reggae rhythms add a fired-up feel to the mix so you almost think he’s just having a good time. 'Better People' is a straightforward homage to social and environmental activists, played on a resonator guitar with a stomp box, Dave Tolley's drum kit, and Panos Grames' Hammond B-3. He's a multi-instrumentalist (bass, lap steel guitar, banjo, harmonica, didgeridoo, various percussion instruments, stompbox, etc.) whose musical creations are driven by his world view steeped in concepts of personal awareness and responsibility as they relate both to the planet and our neighbor next door. On White Moth, Xavier Rudd's fourth studio album, he feels freshly and wholly morphed as a solid, smart talent, making unique music that’s difficult to categorize.