The Cruel Sea on track for Manly 

The first Friday this October sees The Cruel Sea flow up Manly’s Darley Road to North Head’s Night at the Barracks stage to kick off the Labour Day long weekend in style, performing an exclusive celebration for the 30th anniversary of their Number 1, Double-Platinum, iconic ARIA-winning album Three Legged Dog, alongside classics including Better Get a Lawyer, The Honeymoon is Over and This is Not the Way Home.

The Tawny sat down with The Man in Black, Cruel Sea frontman, Tex Perkins. Being an Aussie rock icon, you must get a lot of free beers?

“The free beers are pretty light on, I’ve gotta say,” laughs Tex. “Though occasionally a man in his 50s or 60s will approach and tell me the music I’ve been involved with has been a significant soundtrack to their life. It can get quite emotional. Beautiful and brief and highly meaningful encounters.”

These encounters may never have come to life had Tex not literally fallen into his music career.

“I suppose I did learn to sing at school, in church, but to tell you the truth I think I was a mimer,” says Tex. “It wasn’t until I was 17, out at a gig in Brisbane, and I fell down a really long staircase, smashing glass, getting into a fight while I was laying down, just being an obnoxious but entertaining punk. A couple of young musicians approached me a few weeks later. ‘You were that guy at the communist gig! You want to be in a band with us?’ They had no idea if I could sing but they knew I could cause a scene.”

The swagger led, the smoky warm, evocative growly baritone followed, supported ably by snake-hips, an often-bloodied menace, and a pub-rock scene pitch perfect to harbour The Cruel Sea’s cinematic soundscape.

“I was friends with The Cruel Sea for two years before I sang for them. I loved them so much the way they were, an instrumental band” says Tex. “When the music comes first, you can approach the lyrics as a scene in a movie. What’s the landscape, the dimensions, is this a big place, a happy place, a scary place? This approach has always been fundamental with The Cruel Sea.”

When the crowd’s amped and it’s time to rock, are there still nerves to overcome before you take the stage? “Of course. I always fear, oh god, they’re going to spot me as a faker. I always have those doubts, but a couple of beers always help,” says Tex. “As soon as you’re up there, it’s on. I’m always looking for new elements like things in the crowd, things I can respond to, props or something accidental to react with and make the specific gig a unique performance.”

Get set for a unique performance Friday 2 October when The Cruel Sea returns to the Beaches, and there hopefully won’t be too many shotgun freckles on the road signs to lead you to the concert site.