#125 Eddie Rawk
Eddie Rawk made his Mum cry after years of training to be a professional AFL player that he was going to quit and focus full time on his music career. 33 year old singer songwriter and new father is in Melbourne and was worried about having to give up music when becoming a dad and Rae and Eddie discuss the truth, that his wife helped him realise, that if all his hero's in music like Keith Urban and Bruce Springsteen can have children and still have a successful music career than so can he.
An inspirational chat and amazing music coming from this must watch country rock Australian Artist.
Note: Bruce Springsteen Youtube link about songwriting as discussed in the podcast >>>HERE<<<
Connect with Eddie:
Transcript
Rae Leigh: Welcome to a songwriter Tryst with Eddie Rawk welcome to the show. How are you doing?
Yeah. Good. Just another lazy night, getting to talk about songwriting within a month, another amazing Australian songwriter. So we're going to start by you in your own words. You're going to tell us a little bit about who you are and where you come from.
Eddie Rawk: My name's Eddie rock, and I'm a proud Melburnian Victorian grew up in raised here and at the moment, living in Whittlesey country, Victoria and loving it
Rae Leigh: You from there, that's where you grew up.
Eddie Rawk: now been around a bit. I I was in Maryborough as a younger kid, which is a medium further out in the country, Victoria. I grew up.
most of my teens in a little town called Bernia, which is neither Danning, obviously, if you've ever been beautiful spot and in Melbourne. You I've been in the mountains, been in the country, been in the city, lived in the city last year during lockdown with my partner.
So David get a great slate with all the traffic on the road. Definitely prefer the country lifestyle, the quiet nights.
Rae Leigh: Yeah. And is it locked down at the moment? I haven't been keeping up with what's going on down there in Victoria.
Eddie Rawk: Yeah. it's been crazy. We just came out of a two week lock down recently. And does that fourth one? So it's I've been a bit crap, but we were lucky that we were able to do a single launch on the weekend. That was awesome.
Rae Leigh: So you actually, you didn't have to post brain or cancel or anything like that. You did like a show.
Eddie Rawk: Yeah, this is awesome. Little venue in Stan. Hope that coord neon, horse, And
Rae Leigh: Stan thought,
Eddie Rawk: staying home this new shepherding.
Rae Leigh: oh, is there a neon horse in Stanthorpe as well?
Eddie Rawk: I have a question.
Rae Leigh: horses?
Eddie Rawk: I should possibly franchise at the owner. Yeah.
She's really cool. It's all country music, the country music playing, and when you rock up and country bands all the time, it's a really great vibe.
Rae Leigh: Yeah. Cool. Awesome. I didn't know. There was one in Victoria. I thought it was in Queensland, but maybe there's multiple neon horses. That's cool to
know. I actually grew up in Bairnsdale so I know the area quite well. I've got a lot of family and so the Ringwood east Melbourne area. And yeah. So how, w how did you go from, being a country, Victorian boy, to getting into being a songwriter?
Eddie Rawk: It's a bit of a journey, actually. So my Nana, who was from Mary Barra, where I spent some of my time growing up, she bought me my first guitar from a local guitar. Yeah. In very borough and it was a Washburn red guitar was, beautiful electric guitar. And she just had this belief in me that I would be a musician, but at the time I was a hungry to play AFL.
Rae Leigh: Oh nice.
Eddie Rawk: And actually really close playing NFL. And I was 18 and I told my mom
Rae Leigh: Oh, how come?
Eddie Rawk: football. I think
Rae Leigh: Okay.
Eddie Rawk: music just took off. My Nana saw something in me there, but my I'm always starting to, my mum, took me to guitar lessons throughout my teens when I got my guitar. And she was really supportive of both my sport and my music, careers, and Yeah.
Music just connected with me, especially when I was, I think, 19 that's when I took the plunge and go, I want to do this full
time. And it was just a, I had an epiphany moment. I played my first gig at this senior citizens hole at, for an 18.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Eddie Rawk: It just went really well. And I just felt Yeah. just feeling the energy of a crowd and audience. And we played for that night. We played for regional songs just, or I was already writing songs. I said everything I need. And just having people sing along and Tio songs, it was just a thrilling experience that I wanted to
just continue on
Rae Leigh: And you were hooked.
Eddie Rawk: all of this hook, line
Rae Leigh: Yeah. Okay. So most important question after that conversation, who do you borrow?
Eddie Rawk: On the whole phone support,
Rae Leigh: Oh,
Eddie Rawk: that. was thought to be able to support When they won three premierships in a row, but not at the moment.
Rae Leigh: I can't talk. I've been in essence supportive since I was a little kid and I really account butter. I know nothing about them. Although I went to the the ends that game this year, and that was cool cause they won against Collingwood, but that was about it. I'm a massive supporter though.
I met them all once. I used to be a permit model that the Melbourne cup, I did that for five years in a row. And this one year I was handing out flies in the bird cage. I was handing out flyers. These guys. And I said, what do you guys do? And they said, we're a football team. And I said, I back for us and who do you play for?
And they said, we are the STM football club. And I was like clearly I'm not a massive supporter. I'd have no idea who you are. My brother told me to go for them when I was a kid and I just stuck with it. But yeah, it's. It's a good sport and it's a lot of fun, especially in the cold weather down there.
So you decided to be a songwriter professionally, but you said you were already writing songs. I want to know that story. When did you start writing songs and why did you do it?
Eddie Rawk: I started writing songs as a therapy. I think looking back on it, I don't think I realized that at the time that, you know
Yeah, not growing up with a father and, if in life being,
I had a pretty good upbringing and, but, just having feeling a bit, something was missing, not having a father figure. And I found a father figure in my toxic.
That my mom introduced me to and yeah, just through him, like we developed a really good friendship and, throughout my twenties, we stayed friends. I'm 33 now, but yeah, we just, yeah, he inspired me to, obviously for me the theory behind music and I knew how to play songs.
I knew how to how court progressions worked. I knew how to solo. I knew about melodies and he's he encouraged me to start writing songs. And I think I just started doing it. And then. Yeah.
I just felt it was something that really I connected with and I just putting my feelings on paper and then putting it into a melody was like, this is, I don't feel angry or anything once I've done.
If I'm feeling any emotion like this negative, I put it on five minutes, a song and put a positive spin on it. It's like a really beautiful therapeutic thing
Rae Leigh: It's very healthy.
Eddie Rawk: yeah. And, I used to, every tangent goes through their little phases of being angry or emotionally narcotic. Let that on the footy field, but now, it's I put that into my songs now and I tell stories in, and the thing is that most emotions we go through is what most people go through. It has to relate to, some people. Listen to my music and I find a connection with them just in the same by that when I grew up, like I would put on Bruce Springsteen and listen to his storytelling and it would connect with me because he'd been through a similar experience and I wanted to do that as a job. So
Rae Leigh: And you talking about experiences in LA, not having your father around,
Eddie Rawk: yeah, that's, something, that's, it's been there like I have a son now D trying to do the reverse and be there for him a hundred percent,
Rae Leigh: How old is he?
Eddie Rawk: He's six months.
Rae Leigh: Aw. Congratulations. New daddy.
Eddie Rawk: Oh, he's so cool. He's just, yeah. That, that changes you for life when you have kids,
Rae Leigh: absolutely. I've got three of them.
Eddie Rawk: Oh, wow. Yeah. My partner wants three of them.
Rae Leigh: Good luck.
Eddie Rawk: The first one first,
Rae Leigh: I'll tell you what everyone told me when I was pregnant with my third. Don't have more than two.
Eddie Rawk: I'm hearing that a lot.
Rae Leigh: but at the same time, like my partner and I, we have this theory that it's like, babies are always good news and you get what you need. And honestly, I just think that I wouldn't be who I am today.
If I didn't have my kids, they it's weird, but they actually teach you a lot about yourself. Yeah. In my experience, they've taught me a lot about myself and it's such an incredible experience. Isn't it? It's like the worst and best thing you'll ever do, but
Eddie Rawk: Yeah, Lincoln, it's a song writing like my song runnings in the last year has changed so much. Now, the thing that we have at now was written three years ago and I was in a completely different place. And I'll just as long as at the moment, coming up with a more positive spin, like model positive and, I'm in a beautiful relationship.
So writing songs about my partner and now I want to write songs about my family now because we have a son and Yeah.
Rae Leigh: That's beautiful.
Eddie Rawk: Yeah.
So there are chapters of my life. I see them as like chapters, in a book of life. And like the seeing of this, that now, like I said, it was written three years ago, one last time.
And that was about a past relationship and it's Yeah,
Rae Leigh: it takes time. Doesn't it?
Eddie Rawk: Yeah, but then when you, the one you're seeing alive, even though I'm not in the same place as I was, when I wrote the song, there's still someone that could connect with it and is going through a similar thing. And it's it's taught that's what makes music timeless.
Rae Leigh: Yeah. Tell me you've talked a little bit about how writing songs has been therapeutic for you. Do you mind sharing just for me in the sake of the audience, a little bit more about what songwriting has done for you and how you like the power behind it and that connection that you found, not only from listening to other people's, but writing it and then sharing with other people, like what's that experience been like for you?
Eddie Rawk: Life-changing really I'm quite intense person, and always mind is ticking. Mind is always, going somewhere. And, I think that when we let our minds go, it can, as human beings that might go, I don't know. for everyone of the mind tends to go negative.
If I just sit at home and do nothing and I don't have a goal, but it's songwriting and cause it's such a, an endless thing. Like you can't like master it and fuck, you can get better and better at it than. I just feel like even all the sins of Bon Jovi now, like he's still writing great songs.
And I honestly think the best songs necessarily behind him, so it's just it opened up a door of oh, this is just something I can grab onto whenever I'm feeling down. And even when I'm feeling happy or whatever emotion I'm feeling, I can go write a song and I can, if I can make me feel good and if I'm feeling good, it'll make me feel better.
Cause I'll just write a song.
And that's what it's been like from the start. I remember when I wrote my first song and with my first rock band and then when we played it live and then you have the experience of the audience, seeing it and smiling to it. And it just becomes bigger than you it's,
You can have conversations with people and, the song can ma now with all these platforms, you can reach millions of. And just something that you wrote in your room or, in the bathroom or the shower, like some of the songs just coming in the shower, like I'll just be a melody will come and I'll just get out of there, grab my guitar and put it down. But yeah,
it's been a, it's been a, it's been a second Grice outside, to put it simply, it's just been something that has really excited me.
And I think in maybe, and put me on a good path in my life.
Rae Leigh: yeah. Me too.
Eddie Rawk: I think that, if I had a, I think that, with the upbringing I had not having a father, I could have made you went to something negative, like drugs or something, or they like songwriting is like my drug, I want to, I've written a great song and I want to do another one and I want to do another one.
And I'm not doing that with any substances or anything. It's that's It's like a healthy substance. I'm sorry. I'm so thankful that I found it. Yeah,
Rae Leigh: yeah, I have therapists that told me I'd probably be dead if I hadn't didn't have music cause I probably would have gone down that unhealthy escapism route. Like music is a form of escapism and writing is a form of escapism and it's enables you to get that stuff that's internal out without her.
Sit and talk about it.
Can just express it somehow. However it comes out,
just let it out. That's really cool. I'm really glad that you had that. And you said that you listened to Bon Jovi. I can definitely hear a bit of influence in of Bon Jovi in your voice, which is cool.
Is is a real, have you seen him live or,
Eddie Rawk: absolutely. I was starting in 2000 and. Eventually, and. that was a great experience. He H not just jumping on JV, the band, Richie Sambora and that, like this song, writing abilities as a Vanier, and just hearing the stories and how they want to do the real live together and, their collaboration, that's, that's inspiring to me and I've always been a lone Wolf songwriter.
Like I've always, until the last year or two, I've actually now been collaborating, writing.
Yeah. Just following in the
Rae Leigh: that transition going for you?
Eddie Rawk: actually really good, I think that in the past, I used to not like it when people would make suggestions on my song or, if you need it more, I think that this would be better if he said that inside myself and be a little bit annoyed at that versa.
But now I'm just so I don't know. I think it's just maturity and getting older and realizing that, This may be someone maybe someone's idea can make this song better. Let's be open to it. And I had the privilege of riding with Troy camp.
Rae Leigh: Oh, yep. Yep.
Eddie Rawk: really quite a popular Australian artist.
He was really good head he's ever in Nashville. So we wrote over zoom and we've been performing the song live. It hasn't been released as a single, but we're planning to release it because the crowd is just loving it. And every time we play everyone's comments.
Rae Leigh: Yep.
Eddie Rawk: A doc up on Google docs and,
Rae Leigh: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Pega is Google docs
Eddie Rawk: It just makes those, overseas or, I can write with anyone from that it's too, Queensland anywhere, yeah.
no, I love to we're writing now. It's a new thing and it's very popular in the country saying to, to collaborate, you look at a theater of an album and there's
five writers on a song now.
Rae Leigh: And it is, it's such a it's such a good practice to do, but it does take maturity to learn how to be able to go into a co-wrote with an open mind and allow not be over attached to your lyrics. And be able to take feedback and that's such an important part of songwriting. What have you noticed?
Outside of that, that has been a real big takeout from co-writing that you've just gone yet. Like I've learnt this from doing it or, what have you gotten out of it other than just good songs?
Eddie Rawk: I've gotten out of it, just to obviously I've learned even in the moment, I might not like the idea that then, giving time to sit back relisten to it later. That's
We don't have to have this song perfect right now. Like it, it can take time and realizing that, I'm not the only one with cool ideas, there's other people that, can contribute greatly to a work of art.
And that's what we're doing is art,
Rae Leigh: yep.
Eddie Rawk: Yeah. I'd say that's the main thing. Just it just learning that, having a, we, an ass attitude is a really good thing. And I there's obviously songs that like the one that's out right now, one last time, That's a very personal song to me.
I wrote every word of that in one night, I brought it to the band. Sometimes you have those moments where you write a song and it's boom. And all the lyrics happened in one night and it's perfect. There's been a couple like that. And it's been really cool as soon as I show the band, they're like, yeah, we're not going to check.
We don't want to touch it. It's already good.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Eddie Rawk: But there's sometimes there's like some that need that bit of work and it needs a little bit of teamwork and people adding a bit here, a bit of color there. And I love both of those processes,
Rae Leigh: Yeah, that's good.
Love that. And we are releasing music. You've got to that point where you're like, I want to release my music into the world and perform, and you've got that buzz with performance. What do you, what's your hope or goal featured, from your audience and the people that become your tribe and your fans, what is your hope or goal them to get out of your music?
And what's the journey that they're going to go on with you?
Eddie Rawk: I want people to hear I'm usually can be taken on a journey and, to bring joy and, and take them through a lot of different emotions and just take them on a ride in the same way that, I listened to a Bruce Springsteen discovery to go on a journey of emotion and, I can put on a song of a favorite artists and they, and it puts me in a state, like I want to, I want people that, who like our fans are raving fans.
I want to be the one, putting out that content and then them saying the same about us, like when we hear your song, Yeah.
we just feel this, we feel amazing when you, when we hear this song, every time you put in this song, it could be a song that is good for The gym, or it could be like a song that's like central line that they like, oh, I just want to put people through a lot of different moods and emotions and experiences that are music.
Both like listening and life, I think, I love a live show and, I love, and I say like a live show is go, you go to a musical or a movie. It has the high points and the different emotions and the tension Yeah. I basically, yeah. Entertain people.
That's what we're in. This is the business room, entertain it, take people on a journey and sharing my life's experiences in the form of music and in the hope that people will relate to it and want to listen to it so they can be taken away into their own at this, and
Rae Leigh: Yeah, it connects us. Doesn't it. The song was like, it can, it connects us to each other on, on a humanity
level. It was just beautiful. Yeah. I love that. And I think that's purely exactly what any artist should be doing. If they want to be an artist, it's just about sharing vulnerably, what you're going through, and that is going to connect to someone else.
Who's probably either going through the same thing or, will at some point. At another time in life when you've probably gone through it and passed through that phase of your life, and then, but the song is still there. That's like time capsuling that moment in your life. And so it's there for anyone else whenever they go through that time as well.
And it's absolutely beautiful. So well done. What is the best advice that you've ever been given in this industry?
Eddie Rawk: It's a really good question. No one's ever asked me that the best advice that anyone has given me can. I say my partner?
Rae Leigh: Of
Eddie Rawk: Yeah.
Rae Leigh: Is fine.
Eddie Rawk: Like I, I never probably told anyone this, but I probably have said things like, to my partner, he knows me better than anybody, if I get to 40 and I'm still in this position where life, we have this many fans, I'm probably gonna stop doing it. Like this is like the negative means or looking. And then she's No, you do this because you love it. Even if you have three fans, two fans, one fan, you will do it.
And I will support you because this is what you love. And you're not doing it for the fans you're doing it because you love it. And through that, loving it and putting and doing it because you love it, and letting go of the expectation of having, the fan base that's usually, probably when it'll come, when you just surrender to the fact that you're just doing this because you love it. And that. sort of advice on the deeper level is probably the best I've got, because,
Rae Leigh: I love that.
Eddie Rawk: it's I don't even, like when we put out the single I didn't care if it went number one or number 10, or even if the charted I just was like, I want to put out this song.
It means something to me. It's part of my life.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Eddie Rawk: If it's, let the music do the talking, like if the song is one, it can connect with a lot of people. People will, it'll just grow naturally. And Yeah.
so I'm just taking that approach. And I think, that 18 year old in may, sometimes still pops up just want to say famous or something.
But Hey, no, definitely having a child has changed me a lot more grounded and just realizing, life's about doing what you love.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Eddie Rawk: Just being in that place and and I just whitened out as well. When I write a song, I'm not doing it because I'm trying to make a
million dollars of royalties.I'm doing it because I love,
Rae Leigh: Million dollars. It's like a myth, isn't it? A royalties.
Eddie Rawk: It's actually a show in Nashville and the regatta gets this ship check for a couple hundred thousand dollars
of royalties. I was like, that's a cool, that's a cool check.
Rae Leigh: That would be cool. Yeah. This is a dream and that, but if you go to a hundred thousand dollars worth of royalties, would you just use that to keep doing what. Yeah, like you just fund you to do it again.
And I think that's one of the best questions that I love when people say if you had a million dollars or, money was never an issue, what would you do with your life?
And I'm like, for me, now that I'm doing songwriting, it's I'd be doing exactly what I'm doing. I wouldn't change anything that I'm doing. Cause I'm living the life that I want and I stopped making money, a factor. And I think that's some really good advice is to ask yourself that question, because if you're not, if you're using money as an ex, like a reason for why you're doing something.
Then there's high chance. You'll never be satisfied. And like you said, with numbers and fans and stuff, there's a never ending amount of numbers out there that you can get caught up on. And if you've got a negative mindset or you struggle, like you said, with those negative thoughts, which let's be honest, everyone does.
The numbers. It's just so many less, but we can make them out to be such a big deal. Like I've got so many followers or what somebody likes with so many listens and it's yeah, but there's always going to be someone out there with more than you. And there's always going to be someone out there with less than you.
And it doesn't. Really the only number that for me really counts is how many people are coming to my live show, because that's, they're the people that actually get to know and I get to see their faces and I get to connect with them. And yeah, but it's such a hard game when it is such a numbers game.
There's just numbers everywhere and it can be so hard to not compare. I like what your wife said that it's do it for the love of it. Everything else is secondary.
Eddie Rawk: Absolutely. And I'm a big fan. I've been a bit of a boy. I love the Rocky movie. I love when they're trying to try and he gets, she gets really famous and he's become the biggest boxer he's world champion. And he's training with all this money around him. He's got like Showgirls and, leaning in for a kiss when he's training and the train goes, let's take you back to the old gym, the dirty gym and get, get some sweat on you, get away from this, madness.
And so you got caught up in the fame and then he lives up losing the fight. So I, it was, I still follow sports. I contributed that to like, And artist life where I'm in now, like when you're hungry and you're like, you're just really striving to get somewhere.
That's usually when you tried the best stuff, because there's a hunger inside you and a lot of the best athletes, or even some of the, even in music, a lot of the people go to their older catalog because that's when they were like hungry and it's everything was from the heart and passionate.
I didn't have a lot of a record label telling them what to do and then music changed or so Yeah.
just really embracing these times where we're putting out, with me, I'm usually with the way you want to put it out and there's no one telling us what to do. There's no record labels saying, we want you to put this song out.
My auntie was signed to a record label and then shit.
Rae Leigh: okay.
Eddie Rawk: Years ago, and then she ended up leaving because I had brought the whole album for her and she had all these songs written and I didn't want to buy her any of us songs. And, I said, there's a lot of that goes on too, but I'm a realist,
Rae Leigh: oh, well done. And so you've got it. You do have a little bit of the con the music industry and your blood. Then if you're onto is with a record.
Eddie Rawk: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Am I, like I said before, my Nana is a singer. My mom's been playing music in my ear, like country, rock music, all my life. So that's how I learned about all the old bands and Elvis and Yeah.my auntie I go to aunties now, the ones that guitarist, she buys the gigs in Melbourne and I
say apply all the time and very musical family.
Rae Leigh: Cool. No, that's really
good. All right. This one's going to be for more I guess younger people, maybe 18 year olds, who are you are it's do I do football or do I do music? But if there's a piece of it vice that, you know now because of maturity that you wish you had of known, I guess at the beginning what would you say to that person who's listening and wanting to know what they should do, where they should start?
Eddie Rawk: If you say, if you don't know really what to do, and you got a few passions, cause I was in a place where I had, quite a few passions now I was the kind of person that was good at pretty much anything I did. So it
Rae Leigh: yeah, show off.
Eddie Rawk: yeah, it's, it is what it is like I like,
Rae Leigh: I'm just amazingly perfect in every way. That's no.
Eddie Rawk: yeah, like it's a tough, sand's a bit arrogant, but
Rae Leigh: to be perfect.
Eddie Rawk: I was good at footy. I used to know, I still being state championships and a hundred meter sprints and I was trying to be. Good at all those things about tried. Honestly think it's best to at least try everything.
And when you feel that there's something in your heart, go, something, your heart will click. This is for me I didn't rule out anything. I always, I, my last season, the full belief and halfway through, I didn't want to play too. I saw it through, but,
Yeah. I just think that, you're, Brian comes to a point where apifany happens, in life.
And I just think, try everything and follow your heart,
Rae Leigh: I like that.
Eddie Rawk: Try everything and follow your heart, don't do
what's, if you're with your parents telling you, you gotta do this or, never, Titan, this is people, but always do what your heart's telling you to do.
And I had to do that. I remember telling my mum that I was stopping football and she was very upset when she cried. And I remember being very
nervous telling her because like I was really good at it. And then she felt that I was like going to be a star.
Rae Leigh: Next.
Eddie Rawk: So those, Maybe, when my son is 18, I think I might understand,
Rae Leigh: Thinking about all the washing that she'd done and all the driving you around for all those years, and then
Eddie Rawk: yeah. A lot of
Rae Leigh: Yeah. That really piss you off.
Eddie Rawk: Yeah. Absolutely. That's probably, I've never really thought of it that way, but yeah, she was actually just necessarily a train on, unless she, she's just trying to personally if you're injured, she'd carry you off on a
stretcher and stuff.
Rae Leigh: All right. So she was fully like she was committed mom,
Eddie Rawk: it was Ryan, so it, but Yeah. But then, like I knew, like I came to this point where I knew that music was where I was going.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Eddie Rawk: And then when that happens, you've got to, you've got to just go with it. And even if you have friends or family that are against what you want to do, you've got to stay true to your values
Rae Leigh: Yep.
Eddie Rawk: everyone has values. I know that my son is going to have values that are different to mine, and I have to honor that and I have my values and, you have to live to your value.
You, as soon as you say things like I should be doing. I'll, I've got to do this, you know that.
but when I hear those words creeping in, I know I'm living someone else's value. So I know I'm living mine. When I go, I want to do this,
I wanna write a song. I want to study music.
I started saying those things. So I went to uni. I started music. I followed my passion and my values and my dreams. And I was just thinking you've got to follow and ask yourself and, sit down and honestly ask yourself, what do I want to do with
myself aside from what anyone else wants, and then
Rae Leigh: Cause it is your life. Yeah. It's your life and you only get one and you can't go back and redo it. So you got to, you have to make those decisions for yourself and own it.
Eddie Rawk: Yeah, the same Germany's stories and people out there that, cause I think you haven't asked me this, but one of my, probably my biggest fear is getting old and regretting.
Rae Leigh: that.
Eddie Rawk: My, now that I'm 33, I'm like, I want to make sure the rest of my life is live to what I want to. And, and music is that then putting out original music and recording it,
playing live, loving my family, having a couple more kids
Rae Leigh: life. It's a good life. I love my kids and they do make life worth living if I'm honest. But you've got to have something that's you as well for me anyway, and that's music for me. And I think having kids was the reason that I was like, what am I doing? Cause I was a bedroom warrior with my music and I would just, it was just for me.
But I didn't share it with anyone I couldn't seen publicly. And I had my kids and I'm like, what am I doing? I want to be able to tell my kids that they can do and be whoever they want to be. And I'm too chicken shit scared to go out and do what I want to do. So I was like, I gotta do this if for no other reason than to show my kids that I can be brave and courageous and follow my heart so that they have that, that courage and that example of what that looks like.
And I'm so glad I did, but it took having children. Looking up to me to go, oh, okay. And everyone, you get what you need and you just got to do it.
Eddie Rawk: That's beautiful. And I'll give you some insight too. I'm
Rae Leigh: on. I love it. I love the deep stuff. Give it to me.
Eddie Rawk: Right. before we had a kid, I actually freaked out and I was like, how am I going to do. Every, like, how am I going to do music? Do I have to quit? Like they had died. Like I freaked
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Eddie Rawk: Had a bit of a breakdown for sure.
Rae Leigh: one week.
Eddie Rawk: In planning, we'll probably listen this back and go, I was longer than a week. But Yeah.
I just, like froze off and I was like, I don't know, how am I going to make this work? And how am I going to raise a kid and then pay for this and do that and have the time to practice, have the time to write songs to do this and that.
So all these questions go through my head and now is. Yeah. Yeah.
And then I might go and that eventually, like my, it goes to me, do you realize all the guys all the artists and the musicians that you'd look up to, they all have kids.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Eddie Rawk: She goes, Kate's live and has two kids.
Punjabi has four kids. She's all these guys that look up to in Luke Bryan, you name it like they all married and
have kids. What's your problem.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, like it's been done before. You're not going to die.
Eddie Rawk: all the cool ones have kids, I was like, Yeah.
And then ever since then I've been, I don't know. I feel like when you have kids Yeah. I'm like more proactive, I'm more Hungry. I have more purpose. And if I get less sleep, I'm more happier. I dunno, it's just a weird thing happened.
Some of my friends that are now becoming new parents and dads, and I'm just like, I'm just telling her, I bring my son to my gigs. He puts headphones on. I'm like, he's just part of the family. And I was just like this. Having a kid is not a deal breaker. It's you can do your drains and have kids.
And I think them seeing you grow up and doing what you love will inspire them to find their passion.
Rae Leigh: Exactly kids do as you do, they don't do, as you say. So you better make sure you're happy with it. I did personal training for 10 years and I had so many mums that would come to me and, they'd spent five years sacrificing their lives for their children and then their kids go to school and all of a sudden they wake up and realize I haven't been taking care of themselves and they've put on all this weight.
And I usually would always say to them first is, especially if the head of daughter is like, when your daughter grows up and has a baby. Do you want her to treat herself the way you're treating yourself right now? And it's always a no, because they weren't taking care of themselves and it's your child's not going to do what you say.
They're going to do what you do. And we set the example for our kids. And if you think about that and you take it seriously, it's a big kick in the butt to make sure that you're treating yourself. And you're treating yourself the way that you want your children to you're living your life, the way you want your children to live their lives.
Because guarantee whatever you do, they will do better. But but they will do it, and yeah, it's a hard thing, but you also don't own children either. And I liked the way you said that your child's going to have his own values and he will, he's a separate human being from you. It's hard to think of it that way when they were a little baby, but they're separate human
being.
Eddie Rawk: I remember my singing teacher, I always stuck with me that she said to me that she goes, I was responsible for, them growing up until they got to 18. I told I sat them down and I said to them, I've raised you the best that I possibly can. Now, if you want to move out, go out into the world, do what you want to do. But you always love from back here, I'm not gonna, hold you here, sort of thing. Yeah.
I always really want to do that. Like I want to raise the kids. Yes I can. And then when they're old enough to say, look, you're I've done the best that I can. I want you to go out and live your dreams and do it.
What you want to do?
As something that's a beautiful thing to just give them the freedom on how to have a really secure attachment with EKG, where they feel comfortable being themselves and then come back
home if they need you or so
Rae Leigh: My goal is just to keep them alive. If I can get my two boys to 18 in one piece, I'll be really happy and hopefully they can make it through their early twenties without any serious injuries as well.
We'll
Eddie Rawk: We have two boys and.
Rae Leigh: And a girl,
Eddie Rawk: Nice. Yeah, my,
Rae Leigh: four years. I got them all done quick.
Eddie Rawk: yeah, we're talking about that at the moment. Like it was just like, Joe should be wider. Should we just
go bang.
Rae Leigh: I didn't have the conversation. We just did it. Okay.
Eddie Rawk: Yeah, I think just let nature take its course,
Rae Leigh: Yeah. Let's just
Let
nature take its course. I literally didn't finish breastfeeding before I was pregnant again with either of them. Like an M we eventually worked at how it works, but I love him and yeah the best thing that ever happened to me, but it wasn't a planned thing.
It was a, this is mother nature telling us how it's going to be. So you just gotta go with it, but no, that's awesome. All right. I want to ask you a question about your influences because you've listed quite a few in this chat. So if you could co-write with anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Eddie Rawk: It's a really good question. I, I wish I could say Elvis, but he never wrote any of these songs.
Rae Leigh: He tried. He tried.
Eddie Rawk: Yeah. Songwriter, right with, I would write with three Springsteen.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Eddie Rawk: Yeah.
I definitely want to collaborate with Bruce Springsteen. He was my biggest songwriting influence. Pretty much always. watched a lot of these videos on how we write songs. And he goes within a really deep place, like he kinda attached into to a spiritual place, saving the thing himself to write songs and, it's hard to explain it.
but after watching the videos and how he explains it, but just, I just want to learn more about that when he taps into he goes, he really tapped into this, like this, something like His soul, like when he's writing assignments, He's not riding for him.
He's mine almost. It's like it's coming from like a different place,
Rae Leigh: His spirit. Yeah.
Eddie Rawk: I don't think he was a Christian or anything or but Yeah.
it's just the way he approaches songwriting from a real, spiritual kind of depth, solid kind of place. And he's written every one of his songs in history and he's got so many albums out there and he's a machine. Yeah,
I just would love to ride with him and learn some tricks from him. Absolutely. And and then another one would be Eddie Cochran, which I don't know if you know who that is, but there's a fifties.
He has the fifties Elvis fifties era, but he died in 1960, but him and his girlfriend used to write songs together.
And my girlfriends actually helped me write some of my songs
Rae Leigh: Nice. It's a bit of inspiration.
Eddie Rawk: Yeah. Yeah. Just he was young when he died like 20, but I just love to ride a cool rock song with that guys.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Eddie Rawk: that?
Rae Leigh: Cool. Oh, and they're all great options. And I haven't heard about the the Bruce Springsteen's video. Is it like a YouTube thing or
Eddie Rawk: Yeah, he's a YouTube. Yay. I just taught me, I did it during lockdown. Actually last year I was on, I was like trying to learn that song. And I talked to him, Bruce Springsteen, songwriting?
and his, this is a video I think, talking about it.
Rae Leigh: That out.
Eddie Rawk: Yeah. He's really fascinated in guy
Rae Leigh: Yep.
Eddie Rawk: saying Jerry Maguire.
I'm like you, right? He wrote it. He wrote a lot of the songs for that movie.
Rae Leigh: Oh yeah.
Eddie Rawk: Yeah. he's written for a lot of movies and is
Rae Leigh: know that. Oh, I think I had
heard that somewhere, but I haven't done a lot of research in humans. I think I'm going to go do some more after this conversation. So thank you for that. I'll pop. If I find the link, I'll put it in the description of the podcast, but yeah. What are you doing now?
You just released a single what's your goal for this year? You going to, I don't know what touring looks like for you at the moment, or anyone really in Victoria, but w what are your goals? You've got a plan.
Eddie Rawk: Absolutely. Yeah.
Our plan is to release a bunch more singles over the next year. And just re releasing those be consistent with them singles and in our social media and just really being interactive and build our fan base then in terms of shows, we are playing quite a few shows this year, but it's pretty limited with more focusing on recording.
We're in the studio at the moment, rolling out a bunch of songs to be released over the next couple of years. We're planning ahead. Yeah.
cause I, I wrote 20 songs in locked down, so like recording them at the moment. So that was really cool experience. Yeah. So the lockdown was good for planning ahead and just like getting all these songs on the, under my belt for the band.
And what about shopping and recording them with our producer Daniel Camelot. So yes ma'am. Yeah, obviously he's spending a lot of time in the studio this year, releasing stuff, doing interviews like this, Playing shows, we got VDM Fest in October in Queensland and Wheeler.
Rae Leigh: Yeah. Cool. I've heard that's a really good one.
Have you been to that one before?
Eddie Rawk: none of abandon mania was really funny. How I stumbled upon that. I applied for a different festival called music is alive. And then the guy apparently runs bait and Fest as well. And he just is Mandy, he goes, you guys would suit my country, rock edge festival.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.Cool.
Eddie Rawk: And he booked us and he can't like, not like it's going to be awesome.
We got beach by, in Melbourne on the 30 or 31st of July and Yeah. we just got, Yeah.
Check our website. We want to see our days where we got quite, I think the exam in Melbourne got Tamworth country music festival 2022. We get looking forward to coming up there. So you're just doing some festivals recording and releasing songs.
So our next thing will be out in October.
Rae Leigh: Yup. Awesome. What's that one called? Do you know are you allowed to share? I
know, you know what it is,
Eddie Rawk: We got to be honest, we actually deciding between a couple of songs right now, and
Rae Leigh: Okay.
Eddie Rawk: we've got to decide that probably within the next week or two, because we've already got a
few songs ready to record, but I'm actually pushing for there to be a Detroit
camp card. One. So it might be that one, but I to share anymore.
Rae Leigh: All right. We'll have to go and follow you on your socials too. Keep in touch with what's coming out next, but I'm also gonna put your socials and your Spotify and YouTube, whole music video all up on the description of this podcast. And there will be a blog with all of the, all that information on the website, somewhere trust.com as well.
Is there anything else you would like to share before we finish up? We've had a great conversation and I'm really looking forward to just seeing what comes next.
Eddie Rawk: absolutely. And it's been great chatting to you and getting into the depths of how we write songs, but yeah. Yeah, thanks for listening. And you can follow us on Instagram active. They are the rock band or Facebook, and their songs can be strained on any streaming platform, but mostly it will go for Spotify or iTunes.
You can find out two singles that are on there. And our AP called my last road and yeah, check out a video clips on YouTube.
Rae Leigh: Yep.
Eddie Rawk: And that's about it. Yeah. But yeah, we are looking forward to hopefully seeing you at Tamworth.
Rae Leigh: Yeah. I mean I'll wherever. Yeah. I'm sure we'll be in the same place at the same time at some point. And yeah. Be able to catch up and hear some live music. That'd be great.
Eddie Rawk: Getting on stage, seeing a country duet.
Rae Leigh: Yes. God, I actually have a really bad habit of writing duets and it's a bad habit because I don't really have a male vocalist to Toby. So I'm like, I just need to start collaborating with other male artists and I'm getting some cool country, my own vocals on them, because for some reason I just write them and I come out and I'm like, oh, I've done it again.
Another duet but it's so much harder to record, but why not
Eddie Rawk: I'm a sucker, I'm a sucker for a good country, duet
Rae Leigh: Me too. Anyway. I love it. I love it. When the male and female vocals just dance around each other. It's such a beautiful sound.
Eddie Rawk: Absolutely.
Rae Leigh: thank you so much. I'm really looking forward to sharing this and yeah, keep up the good work.
I'm looking forward to seeing how things progress from him.
Eddie Rawk: Thank you so much, Rae thanks for having me and thanks for the chat.
Rae Leigh: No problem.
