Australian singer/songwriter Mick Hart has been touring the world for the last decade supporting the likes of Jimmy Barnes, Bob Dylan, Sting, and Coldplay, to name a few. He bases himself between Australia and France. Hart will be performing in Paris June 25th at La Dame de Canton. He talks to Ruby Boukabou about his recent album, his new French record label and why he loves the French fans.
Hart plays originals that taste of blues and roots with twinges of country and pepperings of rock. On stage his presence is sure and refreshingly clear his emotional ballads touching his audience, his rockier tunes awakening and vibrant ; all backed with his confidence from strong musical skills on guitar, lapsteel, harmonica and vocals. Recording under both his name and his side project ‘Monkey Boy’, he has been liked to Jeff Buckley, Ben Harper and Jimi Hendrix.
After releasing with small labels and independently, Hart has recently made a deal with Besides. “It’s a French label but they release all through Europe which is really important for me because I’m not just playing France,” he says. ‘Finding Home’, his current release is a metaphorical search for a base. “As you travel and you move in life, sometimes you have a question ‘wow where is my home right now?’, with my music, I’ve been a gypsy so long…. it’s (about) needing that grouding.” And, for the last ten years, ‘finding home’ has been in France.”
Hart believes that living in France has opened him as an artist. “It challenges you to breakthrough that language barrier with music,” he says. His French audiences appreciate his mellow, softer tunes which encourages him to delve deeper into this side of his music. “When you play emotional they really listen.”
http://www.mickhart.com.au http://www.myspace.com/mickhartmusic http://www.divandumonde.com
Ruby Paris TV Videocast of Divan de Monde Show and interview with Mick, December 6 : http://ruby.podbean.com or http://www.youtube.com/rubyboukabou