Top Five Australian Drinking Songs with Blake Dantier
Welcome to Ramble City.
Brad
Blake Dantier is here. We're about to talk about his new record. Ah Blake. Thanks for being a ramble city welcome to the show. So um, listening to the record again this morning and.
Blake Dantier
Yeah, and thanks for having me on.
Brad
Can I just say I really really enjoy it. I'm not going to blow too much about what I want to say later but there's 1 song in particular that I was like oh man when I first heard I was like god I wish I wrote this song and that's always the nicest thing a songwriter can say you know it's like damn that's a good one I wish that was mine but I wanted to sort of say this feels like. Like a great album to drink to this feels to me like it's the ultimate drinking album. Um, it feels like something that should be playing when you go into honkytonks in Nashville and it should just be there on the jukebox and everyone is just you know chinking glasses and sort of smiling at each other.
Blake Dantier
It It certainly wasn't planned but there was a point where I I kind of said to myself I have to stop writing so many drinking songs because I've got too many I got I got to consciously ease off no more.
Brad
Was this planned. How did you come to be the king of drinking songs right.
But as a songwriter was it like you know we're gonna talk about your story in a sec but was it just something that was fascinating to you about writing that type of song I mean they're great songs like party drinking songs. They they're some of my favorite songs. You know that's why I'm so excited to talk about it today. But.
Blake Dantier
You know.
Brad
Was it a fascination that you had or did you just found find that you just you just kind of knew how to ride a good drinking song mix a column a and kind of be well maybe yeah.
Blake Dantier
Um, ah yeah I think it's a mostly column B there. Yeah yeah I did not think about it too much it just they just came out that way.
Brad
Okay, so tell us so I mean I was thinking about as a songwriter you I like sort of asking. Everybody's kind of story and I read here from the stuff that was sent through that you you started your first band when you were 13 with your older brother and you guys were playing kind of. Not country music. You're playing something totally different right.
Blake Dantier
We we would be acdc fans so I mean that was kind of what got a cinda music in the first place. Um, yeah yeah yeah I mean Acd he doesn't have into drinking songs and we certainly were only drinking red cordial at that time.
Brad
And into drinking songs.
Of course, of course you were.
Blake Dantier
but but but um yeah we would just jam for for hours in in my bedroom like I got a drum kit for my Twelfth birthday. Don't know why my parents were willing to get me that sort of gift. Seeing as it probably tormented them for many hours but we had a lot of fun and and it just kept getting heavier and heavier.
Brad
Ah, will you stop playing or or time do something else mama I know how to do anything else here. We go 1 2 3 far 2 2 catoo do to cutoo do to cat to do dooooo do to cat to is that how it.
Blake Dantier
We were. We probably sucked to like we were probably worse than that which it's It's hard to listen to that kind of stuff when it goes over and over again.
Brad
Right? Damn so when did you find country music then so when was it when was it for you that you kind of found your love of that if you didn't even start in that world. You must have started. you know in AcDcGlamRock you know british heavy metal when did you.
Blake Dantier
I think my brother he went further down that path of Metaldal and I got to the point where I was like you got too far in like I'm not not into this stuff anymore. But then I started with.
Brad
When did you find your love of country. Right? Yeah,, That's right? Yeah yeah, he's coming home in like full face Makeup. You know with the with the Kiss tongue. He's like hey how was school. Like this may be a step too far for where I'm wanting to go with my music. Um, and that's when you veered away from him. You said you're on your own.
Blake Dantier
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, um, you gotta hit that stuff for you Van but I'm gonna figure out what else is out there and yeah I just started listening to stuff that was on the radio. Um, like I you know obviously still being young I didn't drive so I didn't listen to a lot of radio. But you know I did hear it every now and then and.
Brad
Yeah.
Blake Dantier
My dad was at deejay in in the eighty s so he had like quite a Cd collection. So I kind of just started working my way through that because it's like I don't know any of this stuff. So let's see what he's got and eventually I found well there was faith hill was one of them.
Brad
Right? Yeah, what were some of the albums. Great Great album.
Blake Dantier
Faith hills album cry and shenaia Twain's album come on over which is the the big one. Yeah and when I heard those I was like whoa I think that's what I still do.
Brad
Great, Um, and so did you only write songs for strong female protagonist for a number of years.
Blake Dantier
Ah, Don I managed to get some songs out for myself. Really.
Brad
I Like well you made them drinking songs I Guess So So then one of the things that I really got from this record and why I wanted to talk to you too is that you know it feels like there is a sense of um and I'm gonna pick my words carefully here because I don't want to sort of. Ah, seem like I'm trying to be too hoyty toyty but there's a certain like ah authenticity to the sound that it feels like you were going for in terms of like it feels like you're opening the door and the guys are just playing and to me that kind of had that kind of magic of kind of it was um. Just kind of real and you were trying to make a certain type of country that may not kind of be everywhere nowadays is that a fair thing to say.
Blake Dantier
Yeah, hundred percent like um, well going back to that faith hills I twain stuff. It's at that time anyway, for faith hill and and iah twain they were pretty pop and I feel like ever since that time in country music late ninety s. Now. It's been just going further and further towards pop music and um like I like that music. Obviously that's what got me into country music in the first place. But when I started listening more and more country music I found the older stuff and I really started to resonate with.
Brad
Yeah, yeah.
Blake Dantier
More old school sound that was you know a little rougher around the edges had more pedal steel guitar and fiddlesollars and stuff and I just thought we need we Yeah, we need more of this like there's not enough of that country music today.
Brad
Um, yeah, yeah, whoa whoa. So how do you go about then putting together the collection of songs that you were going to put on a record and were you co-writing is were you co-writing with because we're going to talk about 1 of your co-writes later that's on our list that we've got for the next the next block but were you already co-writing with people. And that was kind of what you did or were you working towards these songs or do they both kind of run along the same train track right? yeah.
Blake Dantier
Yeah I was I was going Learnne wolf style into this album not because they don't like other people. Although it is difficult sometimes for me to give up control you a cowrite. But um I just didn't really know that many people and so.
Brad
Fair, That's fair. Yep yeah.
Blake Dantier
As a result, there's only 1 cur write on the album but I just I think I've had so much time because this is the debut album. You know, probably the songs date back. Maybe 5 years now so it's just been so long that I've sort of been compiling them. There was no real thought process to it. There was just.
Brad
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Blake Dantier
Let's just write songs and then at the end it was sort of like there was 30 songs and I whitled it down to eleven that I thought were actually good and felt right. These ones will go on you know, no particular thing learn them together.
Brad
It's making records the magic. Yeah, it's like yeah I've got I got 30 songs and 10 of them are worth listening to eleven in your case and it's like there you go here. They are the album's out 1 more question before we go to the break when did you decide that? um.
Blake Dantier
Yeah, yeah.
Brad
When I think it'd be so interesting as a songs that you know some of the tracks on the album last call which is obviously you know you're in a bar and someone's like last drinks wish you were my beer which is a great name for a song. Um, you don't mix Whiskey which is the song that I wish I'd wrote I think that's just a cracker of a song man.
Blake Dantier
Ah.
Brad
And like you know at what point when you were putting these songs together or when you were collating them over you said as you said over a number of years. Did you go? There's a lot of drinking songs here and when did you lean into it or was it just kind of a a happy mistake that kind of gave it a cohesion and it made it feel like a record because it feels like a record.
Blake Dantier
Yeah I think happy mistake is probably the way to put it because I didn't realize until we were recording all the songs and we were kind of looking back at it and I was like oh like half these songs are about drinking. It was actually to the point where um.
Brad
You know what? I mean it's a record. Yeah yeah, right.
Blake Dantier
Last call I was like I was listening to um cmt one day the country music channel and a Brad Paisy song came on and the melody in his song I was like wait a second that's exactly like the song I've put on the album I realized.
Brad
And.
Blake Dantier
And I knew this song so I was like ah I ri this song. Ah so I had to rewrite this song. We'd already like tracked it all it. You know it was just this one particular part in the cho. So I just had to change the melody there. But then when I was looking back I was like well last call is like 1 of a million drinking songs on the album and.
Brad
Yeah.
Blake Dantier
It's also at the time it was a drinking song more like wish you my beer where it's a sad drinking song drinking to try and get over somebody and I was like well they're kind of exactly the same song. Maybe this is actually a good opportunity for me to rewrite last call as ah with a different spin on it I think.
09:09.41
Brad
Yeah, that's right.
Blake Dantier
The title last call is no way it wasn't going to be a drinking song.
Brad
No, but it's such a great opener to to what feels like part of the experience of the record you know it's kind of like step into this world of like step into this hongkytonk in Nashville you know to me, it felt like such ah the door opener and and it sort of welcomes you into the world. It's awesome I really enjoyed it that was great.
All right? Let's let's take a quick break and let's come back and we're going to go through a list of um, well you have to keep listening. We'll tell you in a sec. We'll be right back. Blake dantier is here and we're about to talk through our top 5 australian drinking songs. He's inspired them with this new album. And there's a couple of caveats. We have all right. The first one is that we can't put in our own songs that we've released ourselves. So even though I wanted to put you don't mix whiskey on it. We can't because it's it's it feels like it feels too obvious.
Blake Dantier
Um, fair enough.
Brad
I've got a song on my deb album that's coming out which is one more for the road which James Morrison jazz trumpeter plays on. It's a pure drinking song. It's just like let's drink in this pub and you know it's like a calypsoey kind of thing that's not on the list I can't put that on the list I'm not allowed I'm legally not allowed to put that on this list. The second caveat.
Blake Dantier
Oh.
Brad
I mean co-writes are fine. You're allowed to do co-writes I think that's fair, you know what I mean so that's why we've got one here that we'll talk about it which is coming up the second caveat is they have to be about drinking. They have to be about someone talking about drinking or holding something that's to do with drinking. It can't just be a song that you know is kind of about drinking.
Blake Dantier
All right.
Brad
If You know what? I mean like it can't just be a party song. They have to reference some amount of alcohol Now we should say at this point, please drink responsibly and please be sensible and if you're putting on these songs make sure it's blakes. That's it. That's all we're going to say all right? So So let's go to number 1 Like when I asked you to do this.. What did you think I sent it to you really late like like this morning before we we Chatted. Don't give away what songs are there but what did you think when I wanted to talk about drinking songs. What what kind of came to your mind.
Blake Dantier
Well the thing that caught me first actually was that you asked for australian drinking songs and I was like oh okay, well I was thinking about all these american songs but I knew yeah I was in when I started looking into it I was like actually.
Brad
Ah I don't think there is any yeah.
Blake Dantier
Um I don't know any off the top of my head.
Brad
Yeah, it's funny isn't it like I don't know why I wanted to do a stray in drinking songs I think it's because there are so many great drinking songs that I felt like we had to give it some kind of umbrella Otherwise we would have been here all day like I think that was partly why I did it and I mean where ozzies I mean you know, maybe that's why.
Blake Dantier
Earth.
Brad
All right? So let's go to number one I'm going to play it first and then you can you can tell us what this is let's have a listen. Let's see if everyone recognizes this song.
Oh yeah, trademark build.
Just one of those head bager moments man. It's just like whenever these guys play and the track is on doesn't matter where you are doesn't matter who you with you're just like I am a bad MF you know what? I mean like I just feel like a bad man listening to this song so tell us who this is and why you picked it.
Blake Dantier
You see honor percent. It's AcDc you know in which any AcDc fan should have been able to pick that up because ah.
Brad
Yep.
Blake Dantier
Think they've sounded like that this was from back in black in 9 in eighty and I think they still sound like that now. So yeah.
Brad
Yeah, they know how to write to to make songs in their lane right? It's like it feels just like them. It was their 7 studio album. Um, and one of the interesting facts I saw about this is that so what do you think the story of the song is about because I didn't know this one. Too. Well I gotta to be honest, this is one of the ones I had to listen to I know Obviouslycdc but I know I know I'm ashamed I'm embarrassed, but this is a safe space I'm admitting to everyone now that I am a bad australian that's okay, I'm okay with that. But what? why did you pick this like what was it about this song.
Blake Dantier
Dog. Ah, gonna.
Um, yeah, no shame for not knowing me because I I don't know what they're talking about either.
Brad
Makes you think this.
Ah, all right? Well Okay, let me let me ask you this. What do you think they're talking about.
Blake Dantier
Ah, definitely talking about drinking I know that if ah.
Brad
good okay good 1 point well let me to let me tell you this this is I look I research right? I do my work and I found out so back in black obviously from 1980 s you said was the first album to come out after um. Of course after Bon Scott died and and they brought in Brian Johnson right so they've they've swapped lead singers and Bon Scott is well documented and renowned for enjoying a few quiet beverages and party nights and ah this song.
Blake Dantier
Fun Scott yeah.
Brad
I believe is about a guy trying to buy his buddy a drink and so it's kind of and it's on the first album that comes out after after he's passed so it's an interesting kind of song to appear on this record given given of just what's kind of happened isn't it. It's. And of course there's it's not like acds is going to put out like a song that's like acoustic guitars and it's like stairway to heaven and it's you know it's like ands. But yeah and it's like it's it's not gonna happen so they had to kind of put it in their style. But I wonder if in a way this is kind of um, an ode to to to him.
Blake Dantier
Yeah, yeah.
Brad
Ah, don't know it's It's an interesting choice.
Blake Dantier
I Can't recall if I'm actually correct about this. But I think they had already written a bunch of these before he actually passed away so it was sort of like they were ready to go with this album but then obviously when your lead singer does kind of puts. Um.
Brad
You do have two choices. Don't you it does it does complic things slightly? Um, well yeah, and what a great legacy obviously bonscott has for the band and you know obviously we're all fans of Acdc so you know all respect to that. But um.
Blake Dantier
Be expandner in the works.
Brad
What a great choice. That's definitely for me too. I think that has to be there in the top 5 let us know if you agree or disagree. Maybe you think that this should not be in the list. Let us know, um, but before that let's get to number 2 this was one of my picks. Um, you have to make sure you really listen to this song properly because it does seem a little rude. If. You don't know what they're talking about so here we go this is ah this is mental as anything. The nips are getting bigger.
So this came out 1979 and this is the lead singer who wrote it now.
So the thing about this one for me and why I sort of love it is I don't remember when or how I discovered this song and it's one of those songs that a lot of people don't know and people that know mental as anything and know their work like a sort of like how can you not know this song. How can you not know this song? um. You know it wasn't a huge hit I mean it was it got it was like number 16 um came out the year before the last song ah and was there debut single and did you know this song at all. Did you know it at all. Yeah yeah.
Blake Dantier
I didn't know this song I Knew of this song because when me and my brother were in a band. We did a lot of classic rock covers and my uncle was always like you got to do this. You got to do that. This was one of the yeah.
Brad
So he was he was requesting you to play. The nips are getting bigger. It's amazing. Isn't it. This is one of those songs. Um and it kind of fits the criteria because it's about a night on the town. So the lead singer Martin Plaza who wrote the song. It seems the story of the song is that he's trying to forget. Some letter. He's been given so he's like later. There's ah, a lyric where he's like believe me when I tell you it's nothing to do with a letter but he's just continually drinking more. He starts with beer. He goes to rum and he's questioning how the chemicals are messing with his brain. And it's just like well. The nips are getting bigger. He's getting more drunk and all that sort of stuff. It's kind of you know he even quotes wiping out brain cells by the millions. But I don't care. It doesn't worry me even though I ain't got a lot to spare. That's a pretty gray lyric right.
Blake Dantier
Sounds like he's It's in a tough spot.
Brad
he he sounds it's it's definitely not about the letter. It's definitely not about the letter. Okay, all right, let's go to number 3 this is one of yours.
Nobody wants to do shots anymore. Tell us a little about this 1 black.
Blake Dantier
Yeah, well this of the singer of this song Cass Hopeton is actually my fiance the ah, but yeah I've got a loophole.
Brad
Ah, ah here we go caveat number 3 Ah no great worth it. Great Sum. So How did you come to meet and co-write this song I'm kidding. Um, So so how did you guys come up with this song then who came up with the idea and who sort of brought it to the other one.
Blake Dantier
It was Cass's idea because I think we just had this night where you know we're hanging out with friends and then cass is like you know wants to get rowdy. Do some shots. Everyone's like oh no're too old for shots now.
Brad
So so the song is about um, ah, here's here's kind of the the final kind of you know choru or whatever before it sort of picks up the very end of the song. The lyrics are nobody wants to do shots anymore pass out in the bathroom floor since we quit those drinking games Tequila don't taste the same. It's.
It's awesome I can see I'm so glad that this came from a real moment in your life where you were kind of there just lining up shots and pouring them out and then the rest of the group is like what is happening we we're too old for shots. We don't do shots anymore.
Blake Dantier
Yeah, and all of these moments are real I've passed out on the bathroom floor.
Brad
Ah, we can't say enough please drink responsibly please drink responsibly you just passed out on the but and floor that's a good place for us to take take a quick break. We're going to come back and do the last 2 We'll be right back.
Blake Dantier
Ah, um, completely unrelated to alcohol I Just bathrooms a great place to sleep. Yeah.
Brad
All right? So number 2 on this list. Ah this is the only 1 blake that maybe shouldn't be here. Okay I'm gonna be honest because I don't know if they completely they completely drink it just felt like this band had to be on this list.
Now I'm not sure how much of this song I can play legally whether I'm allowed to get to the hook here. But of course this is cheap wine and a three day book. Oh I mean cheap wine and a three day growth. Um, probably the most misunderstood lyric in Australian music. History.
Blake Dantier
Yeah, um, interesting that you say it's most misunderstood because I would like to know what I would like to know what you know about what he's actually singing about.
Brad
Well, okay, so let's let's sort of unpack this real quick. Um, they started. They recorded it in 1 or 2 takes with no demo and you can really hear that when you listen back like it feels live. You can feel the drama just kind of like just sort of hanging in. You know it's like yeah cool there. It is. There's the film here. It is you can feel it kind of evolving as they're sort of playing which which I really love about it and I think that's part of why maybe some of the nonsensicalness if I can say that or kind of that it doesn't completely make sense.
Feels so good because it's so live and it's so kind of encapsulated in this one moment of time so to answer your question. What do I think it's about if my answer is any sort. Of example I don't know um I'm I'm I'm I'm feeling I think what it is about is about um. Growing up ah part of me really thought it was about music and having a career in music and kind of the life that you choose in those in the early days of you're kind of living a certain lifestyle. Um, you're kind of living week to week. You don't know where you're going. You're kind of. Some of your friends are questionable. Some of them are just you know you don't have a 9 to 5 kind of life and you're leaving kind of a normal thing behind for cheap wine and not having to work a normal job. You know you you can let your face grow out and you can have a beard. These times because you don't have to go to the bank tomorrow to kind of check in at 9 am that's kind of just what I'm thinking so far I mean he's sitting on a beach drinking rocket fuels spent the night breaking all the rules mending every minute of the day before watching the ocean watching the floor.
Watching the shore sorry watching the sun rise and thinking there could never be more. Ah, anytime you want to find me I don't have a telephone I'm another world away but I always feel at home with my cheap wine and a three day growth. Maybes just about being like ah ah a beach bum.
Blake Dantier
Yeah I kind of struck because I was struggling to figure out is the cheap one and the three day growth a positive or a negative thing. Well I thought it was supposed to be ah, a positive thing.
Brad
Well, that's a really interesting question Blake how did you take it? yeah.
Blake Dantier
You know he's like yeah like a you know cheap one three day growth lots great but like being a beach pump.
Brad
Um, well I mean it's definitely celebrating. It isn't he's not I mean once he smoked a denim and cigar once I drove a foreign car baby that was years ago and those are kind of like I mean if we really kind of we really dig into like lyrical analysis here. They are kind of like 3 2 things that are really kind of big shot kind of things right? It's like I had a great cigar and I drove a foreign car like big time. Well baby that was years ago. Yeah I had a friend I heard she died on a needle she was crucified. Well, you know.
Blake Dantier
So why would you leave that behind.
Brad
But that was years ago I left it all behind. So maybe this guy's running maybe there? Yeah I don't mind taking charity. Yeah I don't mind taking charity from those that I despise baby I don't need your love.
Blake Dantier
I Mean that's a good thing to leave behind. You don't get caught up in in that. But I'd like a good thing that thing.
Brad
Ah, don't need your love. Yeah, it kind of feels like more and more. It's like someone that stepped away from a life and is is happy living in this cocoon of cheap wine and three day growth and whatever that represents for them.
Blake Dantier
Um I think he knows it's ah it's not the best life he could be living but it is the right life for him.
Brad
Yeah, yeah, yeah, wow I think we've nailed that and and and and I think we're going to get a call from ah someone's paper people. Very quickly to tell us how right and on the money we are um, great. Okay, awesome big tick. Well there we go. It should be here that kind of encapsulates a drinking song. Let's go to the very last one to take us home. This had to be on it. This was on both of our lists and it's just kind of. Probably the quintessential Australian drinking song the quintessential australian artist that sings about you know, drinking songs.
Um, if there was ever a song that kind of like you ask yourself like you sort of there must be a turn coming. There must be something coming that kind of changes what this song is because it can't just be what this is and this is it. It's like it's a sput. But that's what makes it so incredible. It's it's like it's not trying to be more than what it is and it makes total sense to all of us because we all have a duncan that we want to have a drink with this is of course Slim Dusty's Duncan What do you What do you think about that.
Blake Dantier
Yeah, it's um, well the reason I also put this some in the list. Um is because my pop used to play this song and he like this is when I would have been like very young you know, probably like.
Brad
Yeah, so.
Blake Dantier
5 and then ranging to like 10 when we would go down and visit nan and pop. You know he'd get his guitar out and play some songs and this is the only one that I remember him playing from that time but he would just put our names in instead you know so I'd love to have it with Blake or my brother cam you know, whatever and find rhymes to go with that.
Brad
Wow! yeah. Here here.
Blake Dantier
And it's like part of the cool thing about the song was it just became new every time because you put a new name in it. So like then you get to do ah a never ever ever Get you get to think of a new rhyme for that one. It's just sort of like does it matter that the song never actually goes anywhere else.
Brad
Yeah I know like yeah on the record the what a great story like on the record when I was just doing some research. There was an a and a b side. There was 2 different versions and I don't know what the other version is but I but they were both the exact same time. So it was like 2 minutes 36 side a
Blake Dantier
Yeah, it's great that you can just do the same thing.
Brad
Sided be version two two minutes and 36 so it wass kind of like and theyre not the exact times you could look at it on Wikipedia but um, I'd be interested to kind of if anyone's got a copy that to see what the 2 differences were whether they were just different names and you just kept going and eventually the engineers like mate you've run out a studio time. He's like oh wait wait wait I got a couple names left in me. I love to have a be with Felicity I don't love to have a beer with flick. You know it's like it just never ends There's so much fun. 1 quick thing I found out about this song I don't have a personal memory for this one? Um I love that story. You just told. But this one that I found.
Blake Dantier
Yeah.
Brad
It's written by Pat Alexander in 77 and apparently he was selling life insurance and spent some time talking and drinking with a prospective customer the owner of a club. Of the town and country hotel in New South Wales owner was Duncan Erhart I think it is and he failed to make a sale but realized he was just merely enjoying having a beer with this guy and that was that became the song Duncan and this was the only song that this Pat Alexander the the life insurance salesman.
Blake Dantier
Well I mean it's ah you just never know with songs because it's such a simple song but it's just so loveable.
Brad
It's so lovable and it goes to show that I mean people love drinking songs and bla I reckon you're onto something with the record with the songs. You don't mix Whiskey as I said is a song that I can't wait to to grab out the guitar and play when I'm having some whiskeys with some friends. Well done congratulations on the record all the best success with it. Thanks for being here and can't wait to catch up again soon. Thanks for coming on the show all right Now. Don't go anywhere I'm pushing stop.
Blake Dantier
Yeah, thanks man, it's been so good.