The Many Travels of Old Man River

Music has always carried a strong association with memory. The way a chorus or a line in a certain song can transport us from the present day to another time, and another place, is fascinating. From a tacky synth line that reminds you of your high school formal, to the throbbing dance beat that harkens back to a trip to the nightclubs of London, music evokes strong memories in everyone.

No exception is that of Ohad Rein, better known by his pseudonym of Old Man River, whose skilful use of dreamy atmospherics and exotic instrumentation, blended with sublime acoustic guitar, recalls days gone by; a time of lost innocence when the sun seemed to shine on our backs rather than in our eyes, and summers seemed to last forever.

Old Man River recently released his first LP, Good Morning, which follows 2004’s SunshineEP, and the single of the same name. After the success of Sunshine, Ohad decided to step his production up a notch.

‘The Sunshine EP was mostly recorded at my living room on one of those Roland digital 8 track sound stations. It was pretty stripped back. With ‘Good Morning’ the production side of it became more serious - all the tracks were recorded in studios in Sydney and London and mixed on a massive SSL desk with an average of 40 channels per track – a bit different to recording onto an 8 track in your living room!’

It was, however, important to Ohad to keep a raw, real quality within his work.

‘The ideal was to still keep it all simple, spacious and organic, so I think the tracks don’t sound that full even though they are loaded with channels. We made it a principle to keep the live feel through the album, by tracking live most of the songs and recording them in one or two takes. And to keep it all lively and light used to get friends into the studio to sing along, clap and make crazy animal noises!’

The record does have a friendly, nostalgic quality, and a uniquely visual one; it’s almost like you have ‘seen’ the scenes the music is projecting. I put my theory of a ‘visual music’ to Mr. Rein.

‘It reminds me of this party I played in New York and a few people there were tripping on acid. One of those guys came up to me after the show and was very excited: he made all these shapes with his hands to try and describe how he felt about the music and then he said, “Your music looked so good!”

Ohad is a well-travelled man. Born in Sydney, he says he, ‘Followed my own historical trail which took me to some pretty intense places’, including Israel (where he fronted many of his own bands), New York and, in particular, India.

‘I was travelling there for about a year. I found myself in the city of Varanasi in North-East India, and settled down there for a few months, found an Indian sitar teacher and got into the thick of the instrument and Indian music in general. It was an amazing experience. I am still very inspired by Indian music; it is so soothing, healing and graceful…’

And now he’s back home, just what is it that sets apart good old Sydney town? What do we have that New York, India et al doesn’t?

‘After travelling for such a long time in pretty intense places I found Sydney and Australia to be very artistically freeing … I could actually digest my experiences and turn them into art. There aren’t that many distractions here and that frees you up to concentrate on work. I have never been as prolific anywhere else as I’ve been here.’

This may be true, but the itchy feet must still be at work; Old Man River is hitting the road on an extensive tour running from March through May, covering everywhere from Adelaide to Cairns, Albury to Hobart, and, it seems, everywhere in-between, a schedule Ohad whole-heartedly embraces.

‘I love touring! It feels like you’re cheating time running around the whole country in a few weeks. Feeling the breeze and atmosphere in different cities. I love being with my mates in the band and dealing with the million challenges that get thrown at you on the road.’

‘That said’, he continues, warming to his topic, ‘there is a line in the ‘Tao Te Ching’ (a Chinese wisdom book) that says, ‘Without stepping out of your room you can see the way of heaven. The further one travels the less one really knows.’ So in a way it doesn’t make any difference whether you travel or not as a muso as long as you are feeling the source of your music in your heart.’

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