An Interview with Dan Sultan

There are many words that could be used to describe Dan Sultan. ‘Passionate’, is definitely one of them. Another would be ‘scattered’. He knows how to swear, and his mood can change within seconds.

But he can certainly write music. His album Blackbird won Best Rock Album of 2014 at the ARIAs, Best Album at The Age Music Awards, and dominated the NIMAs, winning National Album, Best Cover Art, and National Song of the Year for The Same Man. Dan admits that, although it’s a very Melbourne-centric thing to say, The Age Music Award was the most important to him, but the ARIA award was also significant.

We went into the studio wanting to make a rock’n’roll album. Winning the ARIA award was an affirmation. We’d been working hard for a long time, so it was something very special. We got off the stage after winning, and my drummer Pete ‘The Heat’ Marron was in tears because he couldn’t believe it and I said, “Believe it, baby. Believe it!’

But don’t tell Dan the album was justified in winning; he doesn’t seem to like that word.

To say that we were justified suggests that we had something to defend, and it’s not a defensive situation. We were affirmed.

Blackbird is dark, brooding, pure rock music. It stands out from his previous albums.

With Blackbird I was allowed to do whatever I wanted. I had a hard time in the year leading up - I lost a love, and felt shame about expressing myself, but now I feel able to do that. As a creative person, it’s extremely important to express it. If Blackbird didn’t go so well, I’d still be completely happy.

Dan has recently released the stripped back, emotional EP Dirty Ground, which is pretty much the opposite of the full production album Blackbird.

Dirty Ground was just a few mics in a room, sitting in a friend’s studio. We recorded it in like four hours, and I just sat down and played the songs a few times over.

It features songwriting collaborations with Paul Kelly and Paul Dempsey, which add depth to the tracklisting.

I hate to sound blasé about it, but we’re just friends who enjoy each other and like writing and singing together. The song with Paul Dempsey, we sat down and wrote in 45 minutes, then went to the pub for a beer and Chicken Parmigiana. Paul Kelly and I sat down for about 2 days to write that song. He’s a nurturer, he’s a father.

As we were discussing these songwriting collaborations, Dan told me that his phone was beeping and none other than the great Paul Kelly himself was calling. When Dan decides he’s had enough, that’s it. Given it was Paul Kelly though, we had to let the man go.

Dan Sultan tours nationally in 2015. Catch him at Newcastle City Hall on Tuesday 17 March. Click here to buy tickets.