MITCH ALEXANDER watches his mind slowly unravel as he peers into the inner-working of local titan DAVE MCCORMACK.

Oh, why do I even bother sometimes? Researching musicians and constructing questions, that is. Well, some bands are a bit precious about their history, ready to pounce on you if you weren’t up to date on the details of their latest blog or the name of their childhood hamster. I can understand where they’re coming from most of the time, but don’t get snippy with me just because your website is shit.

Dave McCormack surprisingly has no such expectations of an interviewer. With a career that pushes the two decade mark, McCormack is a kind soul that forgives my musical ignorance once my age is revealed. A kind soul that is prone to steer the interview into whatever direction is at his whim, until I discard my question sheet and actually have a proper, general chat. I would have been far better off just writing down ‘So Dave … what’s up?’ on a piece of paper and slowly elaborating on that.

Living in Sydney now for almost ten years, McCormack is keen to return to his hometown soon for a show with fellow Australian music notable Angie Hart. Given that the music he created was such an essential part of the Brisbane scene during much of the 1990s (and often wheeled out whenever the industry wants to give itself another pat on the back), I’m surprised it’s been so long.

“But I seem to be up there a lot, because I still have heaps of folks I know,” he explains, as that familiar voice combining delicate artistry with a blokey suburban drawl trickles down the line. “And I always enjoy playing at Brisbane; it’s different to anywhere else. Sydney’s getting good, but at Melbourne no one seems to get me down there.”

After some deep recollection and contemplation, Dave believes he’s never actually played at The Troubador, a tragedy he hopes to repair with haste.

“Bit of a change of scene, people are forced to watch the music at the Troubador. At some places you get people milling around, doing their own thing, but it’s a proper concert at the Troub. I’m looking forward to seeing Angie play… I’ve never met her yet”

While listening to the playback, you can audibly hear that this revelation is the moment I give up on asking questions and dive headfirst into the conversation. It was totally worth it, and through sheer luck we landed on talking about his new EP anyway. It’s called Cassingle, it contains six songs of various origin and Dave has planned a very ‘McCormackian’ method of distribution.

“Mitch, I can’t wait till you see it!” he proclaims excitedly. “There’s a diagram showing you how to cut out the CD cover and put it into a cassette case. So you can buy a cassette, dub the CD onto the cassette, cut out the CD cover and whack it into your old car. I’m really targeting the retro cassette market, which I think is really going to take off. Who want the hassle of mp3s when you can have a travel bag of cassettes to carry around?”

It almost makes sense. In the CD age, everyone was hailing the vinyl record as a superior product. Will the cassette tape now become the retro revivalist’s most prized possession during the digital age? Probably not, but Dave can dream.

DAVE MCCORMACK will team up with the delightful Angie Hart at The Troubador this Friday night, with his new release Cassingle available for purchase. Check out www.davidmccormack.com.au for more information.

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