To describe folk musicians Chris While and Julie Matthews output as prolific wouldn’t do it justice. The duo have recorded ten albums together, as well as live albums and best-of compilations, plus they’ve both got multiple solo albums, work with other bands and collaborations galore.
“We are both dedicated songwriters so there’s a lot of output.” Matthews told OUTinPerth. ” We record a new album every two years, I never counted up how much output there’s been over our careers but it is a lot.
The duo said they love touring Australia because it has a vibrant folk music scene.
‘We love touring Australia, we think it has a scene that’s vibrant, full of talents and festivals are always full, plus the weather always helps.” Matthews said.
The pair said their long lasting musical collaboration came from a shared love of music, and a great friendship. For over a decade the duo were also romantically involved.
“It’s a love of music, we have similar tastes, but when we first met we just completely clicked straight away, and there was no escaping the chemistry.” Matthews said.
“We were partners in life for eleven years, and now even though we’re not partners, we are very much soul mates. We share a house together so we’re best friends. We have a mutual love a respect for each other.”
The pairs love of music and working together has proven to be strong enough to survive their breakup Matthews said working with former lovers can be challenging.
“I think its a challenge, it certainly was for us. It was difficult, and you think ‘Are you going to get past this?’. Chris always says you have to go to that place that reminds you of ‘What was it that attracted you in the first place?’ and made you best friends before you were partners.” Mathews said.
The duo most recent work Shoulder to Shoulder is filled with great tunes and stories, including a track called Pinjarra Dreams which highlights the plight of children who sent from Britain to Australia in the 1950s.
Chris While tells us that the idea for the song came on a previous trip to Western Australia.
“I remember the first time we came to the Fairbridge Festival someone gave me a book about the Fairbridge child, and that’s how we discovered, years and years ago, about the forced child migration.
While says she always found the stories confronting and it stuck with her and when they were recently asked compose a song for a project highlighting migration she immediately thought of the Western Australian stories.
Also on their album is Are We Human?, a song that deals with current attitudes towards refugees. While said that while the song was written about what is happening is Europe it could easily be applied to Australia.
“The whole thing about folk music is it is a commentary” Matthews offers. “Where would we be without people like Bob Dylan to commentate on the things that have happened since the 1960s. They are great people who challenge what we think.”
“People say politics and music shouldn’t mix, but of course they should mix.”
Perth audiences will get a chance to see the respected folk singers when they play the Fremantle Workers Club on 6th April. Tickets are available via Moshtix.
