Interview With: Nick Barker

Nick Barker discusses the Wreckery, the Reptiles, the ins and outs of being signed to a major record label, life in the alternative scene and how the new album came about. (Recorded June, 2001) The interview is in RealVideo format. You will need a 56K modem or better, and a RealVideo player - click the icon below if you don't have one.

Below is an excerpt from the interview.

EN. That's where the latest record brings you, doesn't it? It really is where Nick Barker is today and where you've been.

NB. Yes, you see a lot of people never get over being on a major label - they never recover from the attention. I don't have a problem in going and playing in a little pub for $200 or $300. I don't mind because I've always done that and I'm one of the few people who can do it. I'm not boasting, it's just that not many people can jump up with an acoustic guitar and play and do it well, and I'm pretty good at it now. Mick Thomas can do it. Paul Kelly can do it. A lot of people try and do it - these unplugged things - and it's shithouse because they don't realise where it's coming from and what you have to do to be successful at it.

I just think that now as being somewhat of a pioneer of the alternative music scene, and when I say alternative I mean putting out records by yourself like a cottage industry, once you can get your head around it and your ego around it, selling your own records at gigs is not such a bad way to go. I played in Adelaide last week to a full house of 200 people in a small pub, and I sold $500 worth of CDs. All these people heard it, liked it and bought the CD. To me there's a real beauty in that...

And my peer group's changed, too, my friends and the people that I respect. People like Michael Thomas have really taught me that you don't need all the hoop-la and the circus that goes with music. Just them endorsing me is proof to me that I'm a songwriter worth people showing an interest in...