Album Feature | Oliver Jach
On working with Snowy, the perfect movie, and Ragtime's spinning piano
Noah talks to Oliver Jach all about his latest album as he prepares to launch it at Ragtime Tavern in Preston on November 15th.
Firstly, congrats on the new album, Japan your third full length and the most adventurous of your releases. You have put it together with the help of the one and only Liam ‘Snowy’ Halliwell. Can you tell us how that collaboration came about?
I’ve been a fan of Snowy’s music since hearing The Ocean Party’s first albums and must have seen him play live at least a dozen times. I wholeheartedly agree that he is one of the gems of the Melbourne music scene. In my earlier band The Fainters, I asked him to master one of our EPs and then in 2023 I asked him to mix my 2nd solo album Final Faintersy.
This time around he was involved in the process early on and was able to engineer and produce a number of the tracks. He helped to bring in session string players. He also added some great bass and double bass parts, and mixed and mastered the album - so yeah, I definitely couldn’t have done it without him.
The album draws inspiration from the movie Perfect Days by Wim Wenders and directly influenced your album title, choice to cover the song Perfect Day by Lou Reed and lyric ideas with the day-to-day rituals of a library employee for the song I Wanna be a Librarian. What is it about the movie that struck such an important chord for you?
I think I saw the movie at a perfect time in my life. It really emphasised for me the idea that the best things in life are the little things -
Appreciating the beauty of the trees on your lunch break, giving your profession all you’ve got, listening to a cassette tape in your car, decompressing at a spa or onsen.
I believe that the protagonist Hirayama has a beautiful life - despite him not having great wealth, social status or a wife and family. My love for the movie gave me great inspiration to create something that could express a similar feeling in song.
Apart from the six original songs on the album you have chosen to cover three songs which include the already mentioned Perfect Day, The Dark is Rising by Mercury Rev, and Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles. Can you tell us about your connection to these tracks?
For me the covers are a way of expressing something that is important to me - whether it is the optimism of springtime in Here Comes the Sun, the melancholy sense of losing someone you cherish in The Dark is Rising, or the beatific joy of Perfect Day. The latter two tracks also gave me an opportunity to experiment with string arrangements.
Outside of music what do you put your energy into?
I have worked as a school librarian for the last eight years, so a lot of my energy goes into helping students develop a love for reading. Even though my character in the song I Wanna Be A Librarian is slightly separate from me -
I was able to use a lot of the details from my job to create a sense of verisimilitude.
Although the song doesn’t get into the annoyance of students stealing or not returning library books!
I am wondering what your live set up is and if any of the players on your album are now involved?
For my upcoming album launch, I’ll have my sister Hayley accompanying me on flute and my friend Tim Haines playing violin on a few songs. I don’t really have a band at the moment but I’m keen to get some orchestral accompaniment where possible.
You are launching the album at Ragtime Tavern in Preston on November 15th. Do you have a special connection to the venue, and can you tell us any more details?
I’ve played at Ragtime Tavern twice before and it’s a bar with a wonderful atmosphere. They have a baby grand piano in the centre of the bar, and the audience sits around on the edge of it. They have a button they press that makes the piano spin and then everyone sitting at the bar gets a pretty good view of what the pianist is doing. It’s a really cool place!
Finally, who are your favourite Melbourne bands at the moment and who would you like to see interviewed for Tempo?
Is it wrong to say my friends are my favourites? Tim Haines, Bollard, Joscelyn Wynter and Hunter Mile & the French Press - all close friends but very talented musicians.
Oliver Jach Japan Album launch
Ragtime Tavern - November 15th
More info at Ragtime Shows