1 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:09,240 Speaker 1: You can listen to the Front on your smart speaker 2 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,360 Speaker 1: every morning to hear the latest episode. 3 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 2: Just say play the news from the Australian. From the Australian, 4 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:22,760 Speaker 2: here's what's on the Front. 5 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:31,840 Speaker 1: I'm Claire Harvey. It's Friday, September twenty first pages now 6 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: walkie talkies. The militant group HESBLA in Lebanon is reeling 7 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 1: from another Israeli attack on the low fi technology Hesbella 8 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: was using to avoid Israeli intelligence hacking into its smartphones. 9 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:50,200 Speaker 1: The remarkable spycraft behind the Mossad strike is live now 10 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: at the Australian dot com dot au. Keith Urban is 11 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,840 Speaker 1: the country music superstar who's most famous in this country 12 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: for being married to Nicole Kidman and being recovered from 13 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:08,640 Speaker 1: substance addictions. But he's revealed in an interview with The 14 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: Australian he'd much prefer to play to drunk crowds than 15 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: sober ones today. Why Urban is not the artist you 16 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: think he is. There are some super famous amendments to 17 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,679 Speaker 1: the US Constitution, the right to bear arms. 18 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:34,560 Speaker 2: The freedom of speech. 19 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: But if you keep going down to the twenty first Amendment, 20 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: you'll find the repeal of alcohol prohibition back in nineteen 21 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:44,919 Speaker 1: thirty three, ending thirteen. 22 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 2: Years of supposed sobriety. 23 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: That ended the federal ban on booze, but states can 24 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: still make their own rules, and there are still more 25 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: than five hundred counties across the United States that are dry. 26 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: According to country music superstar Keith Urban, it's a real 27 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: vibe killer. 28 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:07,400 Speaker 3: You know they have dry counties in America, places with 29 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 3: their own secret grow so you boot grounds, like for Jesus, 30 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 3: would you guys got to do something to signing. 31 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: Urban spoke with The Australian's music writer Andrew McMillan on 32 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: a recent trip back to his home state of Queensland, 33 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: where he was promoting his new album Hi. This is 34 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: the same Keith Urban, by the way, who is mainly 35 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: famous in Australia, at least for being a recovered addict. 36 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: His alcohol and cocaine addictions played out in the public 37 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: eye over many years before he famously checked into rehab 38 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: not for the first time. 39 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:45,239 Speaker 2: In two thousand and six. 40 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: Less than four months after his marriage to actress Nicole Kidman, 41 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: country singer Keith Urban has checked himself into a rehab center. 42 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 2: Urban says he's been clean ever since. 43 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 3: Over the years, I've talked very very little to not 44 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 3: at all about it, mostly because I never want people 45 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 3: thinking I'm against grog or drugs, which I'm not at all. 46 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 3: I'm just allergic to them and seid so not good 47 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 3: for me, good for other people. I love playing to 48 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 3: a drunk crowd, trust me, They're way more fun. 49 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:29,119 Speaker 1: Keith Urban knows a thing or two about crowds. Over 50 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 1: the past twenty years, he's played more than a dozen 51 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: headlining tours around the United States, where he's lived for 52 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: three decades, and the globe, but recently he's been getting 53 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: a little closer to the fans. 54 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 3: The sheer, simplistic joy of playing that isn't about numbers 55 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 3: or visual effects sort of anything. 56 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 4: It's right back to the very very foundation of it. 57 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 3: Make sure it's solid, make sure the players are good, 58 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 3: the songs are good, everything's solid, and then we can 59 00:03:57,720 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 3: start putting all. 60 00:03:58,360 --> 00:03:59,600 Speaker 4: The whipped cream back around it. 61 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:04,840 Speaker 1: Andrew McMillan experienced it up close and personal. 62 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 5: It was hell at a place called left His Music 63 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 5: Hall in Brisbane, which is a smaller room about three 64 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 5: hundred people capacity. It's the sort of room that I 65 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,839 Speaker 5: very rarely go to because hardly any national touring act 66 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 5: book it, let alone international stadium level headliners like Keith. 67 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:22,599 Speaker 5: So he clearly booked it as an underplay kind of 68 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:25,679 Speaker 5: show because he's the kind of guy who regularly sells 69 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 5: out ten thousand capacity venues across town. And I just 70 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 5: love the fact that this massive artist wants to do 71 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 5: these kind of club shows, as he calls them regularly, 72 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 5: just as a way to stay hungry and to remind 73 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:39,919 Speaker 5: himself of what he used to do and what he 74 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 5: loves doing. What he does at the small scale and 75 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 5: the large. 76 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:46,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, and who's the crowd? Is it kind of your 77 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:47,839 Speaker 1: classic country fan? 78 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:53,559 Speaker 5: He seems to reach across generations, across genders. He is 79 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 5: the rare artist, i'd say, who's kind of for everyone, 80 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:00,600 Speaker 5: and that's probably something he's lucked into rather than tried 81 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,359 Speaker 5: to do. He writes this big anthemic choruses which sound 82 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 5: great sung in a crowd of three hundred or ten thousand, 83 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 5: as it turns out. But at his core, he's a showman, 84 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 5: an entertainer, and seeing him in that tiny venue, either 85 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:17,839 Speaker 5: solo or with his three piece band behind him, he 86 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 5: owns the room. He has this incredible charisma, presence and 87 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 5: ability to control the crowd and to defeed off their 88 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 5: energy and to send it back to them. So I 89 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 5: think he's one of the most extraordinary performers that Australia 90 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:31,360 Speaker 5: has produced. 91 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,719 Speaker 1: The gig at Lefties was a return to his roots 92 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: in more ways than one urban joke that he probably 93 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: wouldn't play the crowd's requests, but he still had a 94 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 1: crack at a handful of rock classics. 95 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 5: He is the rare performer who has his own chart 96 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 5: topping hits, particularly in the country realm when the country 97 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 5: charts in the US. He's had many chart toppers there, 98 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 5: but he's not afraid, ashamed or embarrassed to go back 99 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 5: to his roots, which in his case involved playing the 100 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:11,720 Speaker 5: likes of Cold Chisel's Flame Trees or the Angels, Am 101 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 5: I Ever Going to See Your Face Again? Songs which 102 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 5: he no doubt played when he was coming up as 103 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:20,919 Speaker 5: an emerging anonymous beer garden covers band performer here in 104 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:23,599 Speaker 5: Brisbane before he moved to the US in the early 105 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:24,799 Speaker 5: nineteen nineties. 106 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:26,839 Speaker 4: So he threw in those kinds of songs. 107 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 5: As well as things like Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran 108 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 5: and a pub classic staple like five hundred Miles by 109 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:45,920 Speaker 5: the Proclaimers. 110 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:43,600 Speaker 1: A bit of Tom Petty too, which is, you know 111 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: that's a song that you need to be a great 112 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: singer to sing free Falling, don't you. 113 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 4: That's right. It's a big open melody. 114 00:06:56,960 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 5: It's the kind of song that people love to sing 115 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 5: along to at all by the crowds. Actually, when I 116 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 5: interviewed him the morning after, we spoke a bit about 117 00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 5: the notion of the singers getting older, and he said 118 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 5: that Mick Jagger is someone that he admires. But Mick 119 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 5: Jagger's vocal range or his recordings have been quite limited. 120 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 5: He's almost talk singing throughout a lot of the Rolling 121 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 5: Stones catalog, where someone like Paul McCartney, who is also 122 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 5: eighty one, I think, the same age as Mick Jagger. 123 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,680 Speaker 5: He's someone who has his big open melodies in his career, 124 00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 5: and yet he continues to perform and to sing those 125 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 5: big melodies at the same key that he recorded them 126 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 5: in sixty years ago, which is extraordinary. So Keith is 127 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 5: a kind of guy who admires those older performers and 128 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 5: he hopes to be on himself, I think. But he's 129 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:42,680 Speaker 5: only fifty six. He's got a few more decades together 130 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:44,080 Speaker 5: before it's up to their age. 131 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: At that Brisbane gig, Urban donned some lefties merch, joking 132 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 1: between songs that he'd taken up a second job as 133 00:07:53,200 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: a bartender. 134 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 2: It's an unexpected. 135 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:59,240 Speaker 1: Gag coming from someone who's been sober as long as 136 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 1: he has. Was he comfortable talking about that topic with you? 137 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:07,040 Speaker 4: He was, And he made the analogy to guitar. 138 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:10,040 Speaker 5: Guitar repairing has got to such a point where sometimes 139 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 5: if you snap the neck off a guitar, he can 140 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 5: now glue it back together and it becomes stronger after 141 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 5: the break, which I think is a great metaphor for 142 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 5: what recovery can be for some people if they have 143 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 5: the willingness and the support and the love around them, 144 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:23,920 Speaker 5: which Keith appears to do. 145 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: I loved his line too about he doesn't really like 146 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 1: playing to sober crowds. 147 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 5: Yeah, that was a quite a revealing comment, I thought. 148 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:37,720 Speaker 5: I mean, it was a very unrehearsed and unstage managed 149 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 5: kind of comment because he's got a big crowd. And yeah, 150 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:43,960 Speaker 5: he does occasionally play in these dry counties in the US, 151 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:46,680 Speaker 5: and he says that he'd rather play to the drunk people, 152 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 5: And I guess that's also a straight line connection to 153 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 5: what he did when he was a jobbing musician in 154 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 5: Brisbane in the early ninety nineties. He was playing to 155 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 5: a lot of people who probably didn't give a shit 156 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 5: about the guy singing playing guitar in the corner. But 157 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 5: he hit the right song, whether that was five hundred 158 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 5: Miles or Flame Trees or whatever else is popular at 159 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 5: the time, they could suddenly find something to love on. 160 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:08,920 Speaker 4: This guy. 161 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 2: Coming up. Why you should be a Keith Urban fan? 162 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 1: So we chipped away in those bars in Brisbane, and 163 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:36,480 Speaker 1: then he started chipping away in the same kinds of 164 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: bars in Nashville, and then he broke through in an 165 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 1: absolutely massive way. So why why Keith Urban? 166 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 5: I think we shouldn't actually skirt over how long and 167 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 5: hard that road was, because that's something I was really 168 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 5: fascinated to find when researching him ahead of our interview. 169 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 5: He spent about eight years in Nashville where he was 170 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,000 Speaker 5: just another guy with a guitar. He can play guitar 171 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:04,480 Speaker 5: really well, but he was kind of a nobody for 172 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 5: a long time. And it takes a lot of grit, 173 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 5: guts and determination to stick it out and to try 174 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 5: to make that dream of reality. But he just had 175 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 5: an idea of what he wanted his sound to be, 176 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 5: and I guess just hope that his songs would eventually 177 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:24,839 Speaker 5: connect with an audience, and through sheer persistence, perseverance, and 178 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,559 Speaker 5: raw talent that eventually became the case. 179 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 1: He's released an eleventh studio album, and it feels like 180 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:36,200 Speaker 1: everyone's going a bit country these days, from Beyonce to 181 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: post Alone Andrew. What has Keith Eban got to say 182 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:43,000 Speaker 1: in this eleventh album that's new or that's different, either 183 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 1: for har or for country. 184 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:48,920 Speaker 5: He's been an experimental country artist for longer than most 185 00:10:48,920 --> 00:10:51,120 Speaker 5: people give him credit for. I think I think it 186 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:53,600 Speaker 5: was about ten years ago. He started going beyond the 187 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 5: realms of traditional acoustic guitar drummers with a bit of 188 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 5: electric guitar and banjo to move into like electronic music production, 189 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:07,720 Speaker 5: hip hop style beats, incorporating female vocals, regularly guest stars, 190 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 5: like on his last album he had Pink on this one, 191 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:13,600 Speaker 5: he has Laney Wilson, who is one of the younger 192 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:17,199 Speaker 5: emerging superstars of American country. So he's the kind of 193 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:20,680 Speaker 5: artist who is very much willing to collaborate with others. 194 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 4: He doesn't want him to play by himself in a 195 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:23,240 Speaker 4: room somewhere. 196 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 5: He gets energy and inspiration from working with others and 197 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 5: he translates that into his songwriting. 198 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:32,480 Speaker 1: If you were going to persuade someone to give Keith 199 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:34,360 Speaker 1: Urban a go, you know, to listen to him and 200 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:39,720 Speaker 1: understand why he is this influential and long standing artist 201 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 1: of great success. 202 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 2: What would the song be like. What's the song that 203 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 2: sums up Keith erbin. 204 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:45,680 Speaker 4: Somebody like You. 205 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 5: Like You, which was one of the last songs he 206 00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 5: played at that tiny gig at Lefties the other week. 207 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:03,640 Speaker 5: It's got a beautiful, open single, long chorus, it's got an. 208 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:06,200 Speaker 4: Incredible vibe and beat to it. 209 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:08,840 Speaker 5: It's one of his biggest, most popular songs, and it's 210 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:12,679 Speaker 5: a really upbeat, rocking song, and it's the one where 211 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:15,000 Speaker 5: everyone gets their phones out and lights up the room 212 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:17,040 Speaker 5: at the end of a Keith Urban gig, and they 213 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 5: probably have for the last almost twenty years. So that's 214 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:21,840 Speaker 5: the one that I think, if you haven't heard him 215 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 5: or taken him too seriously, give Somebody like You I'll go. 216 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: Keith Urban's new album High is out now. Killed tour 217 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:52,760 Speaker 1: Australia's East Coast in mid twenty twenty five. Andrew McMillan 218 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:55,439 Speaker 1: is a music writer with The Australian. Thanks for joining 219 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:58,440 Speaker 1: us on the front this week. Our team is Kristin Amiot, 220 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:02,520 Speaker 1: Jasper Leek, Leathan mcglue, Tiffany Dimmack, Joshua Burton and may 221 00:13:02,679 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: Claire Harvey.