Brisbane-based psychedelic-folk artist Fonz Whaler had never thought of being a musician until he heard the bass line to the song Evil by Interpol at age 14.
“It just pulled me in and I had to know how and why those sounds were so enticing,” said Fonz. Fonz’s dad borrowed a raggedy acoustic from a friend so he started learning as many bass lines as he could, and then began rewriting and making them his own. It has been 10 years since Fonz became a musician and he has been embracing his music more fully and seriously for two years.
Fonz always tries to reveal his deepest thoughts and feelings through his songwriting and music. “These days, really trying to be as completely honest and upfront as I can, as myself. It’s both the hardest and the easiest thing to just honestly be yourself in a song, and creating from the space is where I’ve discovered I have something to say,” said Fonz. He believes that music plays a large part in people’s lives by changing and affirming their mood as well as allowing the audience and musicians to find solidarity in their feelings with complete strangers. “Someone can say what you feel before you had a way to explain yourself.” Music cures people’s loneliness, disappointment and amplifies their joy and happiness. Fonz said that a song is the condensed version of experiences which speaks to many different senses at once. “I can’t believe that we don’t class music as a type of drug. If you let a song in, at the right time and right place, it has the potential to change who you are forever.”
Fonz embarks on a new EP release with his first release Some Days which will be out on Thursday 19 July, a dreamy, honest track about the way life can feel after a relationship ends. His show is also at the Bearded Lady on Friday 20 July.
Readers also enjoyed this story about a songwriting competition.
