Guy Blackman - musician, record label boss, and music journalist, in that order!
Guy is the driving force behind Chapter Music, one of Australia’s longest-running and best-regarded independent labels, which has amassed a large, free-ranging catalogue of artists as far-flung as Tokyo, New Haven and Gothenburg.
Guy also served in Melbourne groups Sleepy Township and Minimum Chips, who both released records on labels all over the world. But since returning to Melbourne in 2004 after a life-changing 18 months in Japan, Guy has focused on his intricate and melody-rich work as a solo artist.
These days, he presents himself as a balladeer, playing deftly constructed songs on piano and guitar that deal with issues of love, sexuality and commitment. He describes his music as “M.O.R. D.I.Y.”, and his songs evoke comparisons to Brian Wilson, Tim Hardin, Serge Gainsbourg and The Left Banke. Honesty, emotion and personal revelation are the focal points of his work, although none come at the expense of melody or songcraft.
In Australia, he shared stages with a host of international names such as Vashti Bunyan, Joanna Newsom, Bill Callahan, Jens Lekman, Calvin Johnson, Mt Eerie, The Blow, Karl Blau, Josephine Foster and Dear Nora, while his former bands supported Cat Power, Stereolab and Elliott Smith, amongst others. Elsewhere, Guy has played festivals from Arhus, Denmark to Anacortes, Washington, braved the icy streets of Sapporo, Japan and the elegant, former Communist ruins of East Berlin.
