Dom Brinkley On the Making Of “Bad Wine”
What was the creative process like for this particular "Bad Wine?"
For “Bad Wine”, I started with a chord progression first, but the lyrics also just came to me in the same session. I was listening to a bunch of soul-influenced music at the time, in particular Jackie Wilson and some Amy Winehouse, as well as some seventies-based funk stuff. Maybe even some motown. I was taking in a lot of music and I think that it influenced my writing on a subconscious level, as music always seems to do for me. I wanted to scratch that musical itch, as I had come from a folk, blues and psych rock background, and the whole soul thing felt more raw and exposed to me, and like a challenge. The lyrics came to me rather quickly as well, I think I wrote most of them in a single session. It was just about outgrowing negative influences in my life, as well as finally feeling a sense of empowerment within myself after going through some shit, as we do in life.
How did you approach the arrangement and composition of the music for "Bad Wine?"
Well, I did start with a chord progression with the guitar in my hands and songwriting book next to me. I remember the room I was in at the time- it was at a music school I went to, which was a very creative and vibrant place to be at the time. I know it sounds simple, but often songs just start with a guitar and songwriting book for me and go from there. There was no real effort compositionally in that way. I think that just came out from what I was listening to at the time. Arrangement wise, I knew I wanted certain influences in the song- like funky wah wah guitar, upbeat keys, a certain sound to vocal harmonies. I was very lucky to have a particularly great mentor- Larissa Agosti, a Melbourne-based composer- who really inspired me to but to bring out the best version of myself in this song. She really helped me to shape the song into what it would become when I rehearsed it in an ensemble, and helped me to bring out the best in my voice too (which is an ongoing journey for me). For that, I am very grateful, and have fond memories of those times. I also received a lot of production advice from Pat Marks- an artist who goes by the name Pataphysics- when it came to ways to approach recording the song. I also had an engineer who helped me to record the song- Alex Weaver, and another mix engineer and co-producer- Jack Benfold- who really helped to bring the arrangement to life. So, basically, I wrote the song, had a vision for it, but then had a team of legends who helped me to create it over a period of a few years.
Were there any memorable or standout moments during the recording sessions for "Bad Wine?"
Every moment was memorable and I loved every second of the recording process- I think that watching the song take shape and become something, after starting as just an idea in my head- is just so invigorating.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in music?
I started playing guitar at the age of 12, and always loved writing stories as a child. I think that it pretty much went from there. I was listening to a lot of classic rock, hard rock, anything rock really.. as well as a bunch of acoustic-based folk stuff. I loved guitar but also loved writing and lyrics. It slowly progressed to more blues, and feels like its still constantly progressing, which is exciting. I now loved songwriting and improvisation pretty evenly. Although it changes depending on how I feel. I made a bunch of music I'm really proud of in previous bands, but felt like I wanted to grow and start something new with the whole solo project thingy.
How do you approach creating something new and different?
I think it was David Bowie who said something like 'you should always feel slightly out of your depth as an artist'. If something were easy to do, it wouldn't excite me. It's kinda like listening to the same song over and over again (which I do all the time), but after a while, the dopamine dries up and you get bored. All my favourite artists kept growing and progressing, and I think that's the beauty of it for me. Creating something new and different is exciting, but, also, at the end of the day, it is just me still.
