ASA BROOMHALL chats with YUMI SED about his latest release, Revelry Road, and why he doesn’t believe in click tracks.

I catch up with Broomhall as he takes a break from pedaling guitars at a local music store. "I am actually ringing from a guitar shop in Paddington," Broomhall says. "I absolutely love working in this shop and I love working with guitars. I did the music thing full time for a while, but now I’m not doing that, I get to pick and choose my gigs a lot more."

Despite the freedom to pick and choose his gigs these days, his audience can find themselves following him to all manner of obscure venues and it is often unknown whether it will be Broomhall in solo or full band mode. "It’s hard for my crowd to know where they’ll end up when they come and see me play," he laughs. "They might see me solo where the audience is usually intently sitting and listening. Then when I drag the band in it becomes a real rock and roll show. Or maybe they’ll come and find me in some rural pub that is usually home to covers bands."

Broomhall does explain that life on the road, and close to the beach, is where he is most comfortable. "I’m a surfer," he explains. "I’m happiest when I tour around Byron Bay, the Gold and Sunshine Coast and Northern NSW. I seem to always get a really good response in those areas and I have spent a lot of years building up my fan base."

Despite Australia’s intermittent love of roots artists, Broomhall feels we are essentially a rock country and nowhere is that more evident than in Brisbane. "Australia is very good at pigeon holing artists into a genre," he says. "People need clear cut lines so they know what their getting I’m certainly not just a blues artist. Although that is what people seem to expect of me if they haven’t seen me play before. Brisbane, especially, is an indie rock and punk town so they like it when I rock things up a bit."

With ten years of gigging and three albums under his belt, I ask Broomhall whether he found recording his latest album a little easier than previous efforts. "Definitely!" he laughs. "There’s certainly a better level of professionalism. We recorded the latest album over one weekend at a farm house on the Sunshine Coast; it’s actually where I grew up."

The latest album, Revelry Road, is a raw and gritty excursion in roots-driven rock and soulful blues. Broomhall says he was determined to make this album as true to his live show as possible. "Previous albums were over dubbed efforts where I played every instrument," he explains. "I love them but they didn’t capture that live energy. I don’t believe in click tracks, you can mess around with stuff too much – Hendrix and Zepplin songs change tempo all the time and that’s what makes them great. This album really is a snapshot in time of our musical journey over ten years."

ASA BROOMHALL will be at The Brisbane Powerhouse, Sunday Jul 5. REVELRY ROAD is out Jul 6 through Vitamin Records. www.asabroomhall.com

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