Skegss’ Benny Reed guides us track by track through their new album ‘Pacific Highway Music’, out now via Loma Vista Recordings.
TRADEWINDS
“I had the theme to this one for years, I might of written it while I was working and really was eager for the band to get busy. But I’ve found even when you get out of ruts or positions you don’t want to be in, you can still create new ones.”
HIGH BEAMING
“This ones for someone that’s always somewhat positive in the worst times. It’s a strong survival trait to have.”
THINK I CAN FLY
“This is based on a true story.”
BRAIN ON THE HIGHWAY
“Jonny [Lani, drums] and I have spent a lot of our time driving on the pacific highway to airports or gigs, the town we grew up in swell is a few hours from Sydney airport so our brains have coasted that highway in a lot of different states.”
STUCK IN CHEYENNE
“We were on tour in America and we were 2 or 3 shows into it. The first show was in Denver, Colorado. First show started with a bang! We were rolling! Excited to keep the momentum going, we were making our way to Salt Lake City through the night but we were directed off the highway due to high winds. I think it was a notorious highway for that reason. So we parked up at a truck stop in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and stayed the night. To wake in the morning that a blizzard was on its way in the next 24hrs and would be impossible to get to our next gig. We sat and brainstormed all the options but the safest thing was to stay put for a bit, we ended up being there for 3 or 4 nights. Curious if there was much to this place, we ended up going out on the last night to a saloon-esque style pub and met some nice locals and had dinner, a few beers. It was cheerful to experience a little bit of atmosphere to what we thought was maybe a quite grim place, but any truck stop anywhere is going to be grim I think if you are stuck there for more than 24hrs. So we left with a good taste in the mouth, but in the days we were there, I got my guitar out of the trailer for something to do, and made this song out of it.”
SPACEMAN
“I made this song during the pandemic, I think a couple of drinks was involved and just tinkering on the guitar, having a crack at some existential poetry or something like that.”
BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES
“Based on a true story.”
AEROPLANE HEART
“It’s nice dreaming about the sweetness of doing nothing. But doing nothing for too long is boring. So if you think you’re going to heaven or you’ll be a ghost or whatever you think might happen when you die, do nothing then.”
OUT OF MY HEAD
“Don’t get caught up on how someone makes you feel for too long in a negative way, pretend you get to restart life again and go do the things that make you thrive. We all say and do dumb things no matter how wise someone seems. So don’t get too hung up on your mistakes if you recognise them.”
IT IS
“I finished this song at Dave Catching’s studio Rancho de Luna just walking around the desert into town thinking how peaceful and quiet it is there and for some reason I’ve always gained some sense of clarity every time I’ve been there.”
KELLY HEROES
This song is comparing Ned Kelly and Paul Kelly what some call our Aussie heroes maybe some not so much with Ned but still he has a lot of fans and I am one and an admiration to Paul Kelly’s legend status he has created through poetry of the country about the man made structures that are parts of Australian and his storytelling and respect to aboriginal peoples and other people that our part of our country.”
THIS LAKE
“An ode or a bit of a love letter to my hometown. I appreciate the place and the people where I grew up a lot.