Melbourne icon and his crew of Black Sea Gentlemen recently unveiling their latest effort After the Flood, the band’s 4th LP and the first we’ve heard from them in 7 years.
Inspired by a residency in the Snowies, After the Flood sees the band exploring the dark and troubled stories of the many migrants who came to the Snowies to work on the Snowy Hydro Scheme in the 60s.
To celebrate the release of this stunning effort Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen have kindly penned a track by track run down which you can check out below (along with the album stream). Give it a spin and if you like what you’re hearing be sure to visit Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen’s Facebook page for more info.
AT THE BOCCE CLUB
By Mikelangelo and Rufino
I like starting an album with an instrumental song to set the scene. This tune reminded us of good times in Cooma at the Bocce Club, learning how to play the game with Bepe, a deaf Italian master in his late 80s who would bark orders at us one moment, and cry with delight or despair the next, depending on the quality of our throw.
HANDSOME AND HIGHWIRED
By Rufino
In the 1950s and 60s, Cooma had a thriving nightclub and red light district, second only to Kings Cross. Rufino wrote this fabulously catchy tune, name checking some of our favourite clubs and it has become a local anthem of sorts.
WAGES SONG
By Mikelangelo
I was compelled by the strange lives the working men led on the Snowy, and most of the songs I wrote for the album explore this in different ways. When I mention a ‘Pelican’ in the chorus, it’s not a bird, but a hand tool used in the tunnels with a small pick on one end and fanned piece of metal on the other to clear away the earth.
CARAVAN OF LOVE
By Little Ivan
With all the long hours and hard work, men on the Snowy Scheme needed some sweet relief. There was only one woman to every six men, thus prostitution flourished. Little Ivan’s song is a lovely ditty ruminating upon the emotional pitfalls of such a life.
LIKE A WOLF
By T.G. Muldavio
This absurd romp is an album highlight for me. Muldavio is a master of the sublime and the ridiculous: “I wander fast, I wander furtively, it’s not unusual I encounter some cows, and startle the cows, their instinct warns them, and they start running, and I start running, it is for joy…it makes a man feel like a Wolf!”
WORKIN’ AND DANCIN’
By Mikelangelo
The European migrants who came to work on the Snowy didn’t just bring skliis and labour, they brought male grooming, flash suits and dance moves. The Australian women were impressed, but the Australian men were not, and plenty of biffo ensued at the clubs in Cooma. Lots of Aussie and Anglo women got hitched to Euro guys who had left girls behind in the old country, the story of love is often a bumpy ride….
THE SUN WILL SHINE IN
By Mikelangelo
I read a story about a man working in the tunnels who watched his friend cut in half by heavy machinery. After this incident, he feared for his life every time he went to work. I got to thinking, in the depths of Winter, men on day shift would never see the sun at all; waking before dawn, working underground all day, and finishing long after the sun had gone back down again.
RIGHT HAND MAN
By Little Ivan
Little Ivan wrote this song after hearing the life story of a Norwegian workman called Reidar Herfoss. When Ivan played the song he’d written to Rada, his response was: “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t like it…why do you want to write songs about the Snowy anyway? There’s plenty of good ones already”.
PETHIDINE
By Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen
We wrote this collection of songs thanks to Project Cosmopolitana, an initiative by arts company Big hART. There was a theatre production we performed in as part of the project – one of the main characters in the play was a Pethidine addicted aging Greek migrant. This is the closest I come to taking drugs; I love the way this song floats…
DREAMS LEFT BEHIND
By Rufino
200,000 men came from war torn post WWII Europe to Australia to work on the Snowy, and they all left lives behind them, lives that many could never return to even if they tried. In some ways the life of the touring musician is similar, dreaming of home when you’re on the road, dreaming of the road when you are at home. Rufino captures the melancholy and the joy in this song.
WAY DOWN BELOW
By Mikelangelo
A few towns in the Snowy Mountains were flooded to make the lakes and dams to power the Hydro Electric Scheme. While Jindabyne thrived on the shores of its new lake, Adaminaby never quite recovered from pulling up stumps and moving inland. Lake Eucumbene is desolate and sad. I couldn’t help but think there’s more life in the memories under water than in the new town. When the tide is low, you can see the old chimneys coming up through the water.
MOUNTAINS IN MY BLOOD
By T. G. Muldavio
Muldavio gets obsessed with different rhythms. He had very specific instruction for what each of us was to play in the jaunty 7/8 verses of this song. He added trombone and garage cymbals, and cemented this as a tune I’d love to dance to. Then for good measure, he slows it all down for an epic, yearning and decidedly non-danceable chorus – another reason why I respect his greatness, as a man and as a songwriter.
GUDIO’S FAREWELL
Sung by Guido Libido, written by Mikelangelo
I wrote this song for Guido as a birthday present. I was thinking, what would it sound like if the Black Sea Gentlemen played a song by Link Wray, how would it come out? Quite different, as you’ll hear, Guido’s trademark vocal makes Tom Waits’ voice sound almost smooth in comparison and his saxophone solo at the end of the song is legendary.
SEARCHING FOR JULIEN LETRAUX
By T.G. Muldavio
We met a lovely elderly lady called Diana Klemer, who had been quite a dancer in her prime, always with a few potential suitors lingering about, even when she was married. She told us vivid stories of an amazing Hungarian bandleader called Julien Letraux and said he had the best dance band in Cooma. No one else had heard of him, so we continue to search. If you have any news of Letraux, please email: [email protected].
Upcoming Shows
SYDNEY
Thurs 12 & Fri 13 May
The Vanguard, Newtown
Tickets and info
KATOOMBA
Sat 14 May
Hotel Gearin, Katoomba
CANBERRA
Fri 10 June
Polish Club
PEAK FESTIVAL
Sat 11 & Sun 12 June
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