TROY CASSAR-DALEY-BORN TO SURVIVE
September 10, 2007 | Author: Eva Roberts
From the launch of his career as a fledgling country artist who just liked playing music, to writing with some of the biggest names in the Australian music industry, the story of Troy’s journey to success is a classic rags to riches tale. As a youngster he played in cover bands performing songs from some of the people he now calls friends, and worked odd jobs to earn enough money to play a gig. Fast forward to 2007 and he is now unequivocally one of the best country performers to come out of our local industry. Taking the step to make ‘Born to Survive – The Best of Troy Cassar-Daley’ was an exciting prospect for the singer songwriter. And with six albums to date, it was also a daunting process to say the least. Troy spent many a night tossing and turning trying to decide what songs to include and which ones to leave off – a problematic task when you have so many deserving songs.
Despite being a ‘best of’ release, he didn’t want the entire album to be about the past, so it also features two new tracks to give fans a sense of the direction his career is taking from this point. ‘Everything Is Going to Be Alright’ was an apt inclusion to demonstrate what’s to come and is a perfect demonstration of not only Troy’s instrumental ability, but also his vocal strength. Co-written with Cold Chisel’s Don Walker, the track had auspicious beginnings.
“I started that song across town in a motel,” he says. “I rang and told Don of a little guitar figure that I had – I was sitting on the edge of the bath in this little motel on tour and the reverb was awesome. I am a sucker for nice reverb in any bathroom and I will sit there on the edge of a bath in a towel any day and play, especially when I’ve just restrung the guitar. I totally fell in love with this little motif that I’d worked up and said I’ve got this idea and I sang him the first verse.”
After working on the track over the phone, Troy and Don met up the next day at a coffee shop and nutted out the rest of the tune.
“I had my acoustic guitar and it was almost like we were going to busk outside this café,” he remembers. “They were looking at us really odd, as if to say, are these guys going to put a show on here or what? So I opened the case and started to play and Don was doing these long hard stares at his blank page until he came up with some verse ideas. It ended up being Everything Is Going to Be Alright and I love it.”
The track has an almost full body choir sound for the chorus, so it was a natural progression to get some voices to help him finish the song. And it wasn’t just any voices either, he called upon his cast mates from Series One of the reality television show ‘It Takes Two’ who happen to be some of the best singers in the industry, David Campbell, Wendy Matthews, Paulini and Dave Gleeson.
They rehearsed over a six pack before laying down the tracks in the studio.
“I love that stuff, it is spontaneous and you get to share the gift of music with friends,” Troy says. “It is that real burning in the belly when you hear that come together, we all walked out after the second or third take and I said, well guys, thank you very much because this is exactly how I pictured the song.”
And it seems everything has been coming together nicely for Troy. Appearing on two series of ‘It Takes Two’ was also a chance for Troy to stretch his musical legs by performing a variety of different genres, and nailing each one of them. Then his version of ‘Bow River’ on this year’s ‘Standing on the Outside – The Songs of Cold Chisel’ tribute release further proved he is not just a country artist, but a premier musician.
Closing the book on six successful albums, which earned him a swag of the industry’s most coveted awards, Troy’s direction is now to the future and the album he plans to record next year.
“I think my real goal for that record next year is going to be a slightly different tack,” he says. “I think there is going to be a fair bit of travelling involved to collect the material. For me, it is really important to make sure I go to the areas where I get inspired and to be with the writers that inspire me as well. I really feel you have to get away from the environment you are in to get a good gist of that as well. I was born to travel, I think it is just that nomadic nature that I have and I think it makes a huge difference to the way you get inspired.”
Regardless of the different direction he is ready to take musically, some aspects of his career will always remain the same – his gear.
“I would never leave my house without my Fender Telecaster and my Takamine acoustic,” he says. “They’re my right and left arm – often I’ve got my guitars lost on a plane or for whatever reason you’ve been stuck with something different – talk about being out of your comfort zone. It is very hard not to have your instruments that you love and place – so it’s really important, especially to a musician – just as important as a toothbrush mate!”