Lachy Doley Interview – No Regrets!
I had the pleasure of getting to speak with Lachy Doley via Zoom from his home in Sydney, Australia. Lachy was born and raised in Australia, where he still resides. He started playing music with his brother Clayton Doley, who himself is also an accomplished musician. Their band released two albums in the 2000s: Live and Breathe and Everything is Wonderful. Lachy then went on to record and tour with the band Powderfinger until 2010.
Starting in 2010, Lachy forged ahead on his own, starting with his first solo releaseTypically Individual Confirming Anti-Social in 2011.
Now gearing up for the current Eastside tour, Lachy and his band will be playing multiple dates throughout the U.S. in March and April 2025. This will be one of his first U.S. tours, so there is a great deal of anticipation for these shows. To say that Lachy Doley is an energetic powerhouse on stage is an understatement. Rarely sitting down when he plays, he is in constant motion on stage. More than once he has said that his main goal every night is to give every ounce of energy he has before he leaves the stage — to leave nothing in the tank at the end of the night. His shows are an experience for sure.
By way of example, this is the kind of shows he puts on:
We spoke about these upcoming shows and music in general.
First, I asked him how to pronounce his name. Straight from the man himself, the name is pronounced “LOCK-ey” like a door lock.
MFN: You have a new album coming out soon, correct?
LD: Yeah, we are really excited about it, Live in Paris. It will be released in just a few days, actually, on February 28. People can pre-order it off the website (Ed Note: https://lachydoley.com/home) either as a download or on vinyl. It is also up on bandcamp.
MFN: The video of you playing Voodoo Child on the whammy clavinet went viral. How long have you been playing the whammy clav? What else do you play?
LD: I first got the whammy clav in 2012 when my album SOS came out. I’ve been playing it ever since. I also have the Hammond B3 and a Nord for when I’m on stage. I got the Hammond for ease of travel.
MFN: You have a Hammond B3 and a Leslie speaker for ease of travel?!
LD: <Laughs> Yeah, I know. I should rephrase that! Could I make my travel any more impossible?? I keep the organ and whammy clavinet.
MFN: Speaking of that, I have heard you mention both a Hammond B3 and a C3. What is the difference between a B3 and a C3?
LD: Nothing really. The C3 is a lot heavier. I’ve been led to believe the C in C3 stands for church. So, it has more wood. The B3 is more for the lounge room or clubs.
MFN: How rough is it being on the road with this kind of gear?
LD: Ahhh! The whammy clav is constant and total maintenance to keep it up.
MFN: What inspires you these days?
LD: In a real phase of learning. I’m being inspired by all these amazing players and amazing musicians from around the world that I’m seeing online.
MFN: Do you have any goosebump moments that stand out? Those times on stage where everything hits just right and makes your hair stand up and gives you goosebumps.
LD: I was watching a video from NAM of Kevin Powell. He was testing one of the new Nords or something. The stuff that him and his band were playing, it was so funky and so bluesy. Ahhhh! That’s what comes to mind. I sent it to four friends like “You have to check this out!”
MFN: You’ve said that one of your influences was Pinetop Perkins?
LD: Aw yeah. That’s where it started, really, with the boogie piano, the blues piano. I’m really getting back into that at the moment. I’m trying to practice honkey tonk and boogie woogie every day. The New Orleans stuff as well. I’m really trying to get into that a bit more. I think eventually I would like to have a piano at the gigs.
MFN: Have you heard much Jon Cleary?
LD: Oh yeah! He’s the #1 guy!
MFN: Is there anything you wish you had done differently along the way?
LD: I think it’s probably just starting my solo career earlier. I think that would be it, really. I was always a session guy. We were always very busy playing for other people. So, yeah, I think just doing my stuff straight off the bat. But then, also, maybe I would have missed out so much of the amazing stuff I learned from being on the road with so many great Australian artists as well. So, yeah. I don’t know. I haven’t got too many complaints.
MFN: Who are you listening to right now?
LD: I’m really just getting inspired by the little pockets of incredible musicians scattered around the world. The one for me, I used to tell people about them and no one had every heard of them, but now everyone has heard of them. The Teskey Brothers! I still think they are amazing. They are huge now. It was amazing watching their success. One day they just sort of appeared in Australia. I was just spellbound by Josh Teskey’s voice. Fast forward a few years, and they are selling out Red Rocks.
MFN: You have shows coming up here in Florida which we are very excited about. March 19 in Orlando, March 20 in Clearwater, and March 29 in Boca Raton.
LD: Oh yeah! Those are going to be a great time. Right after the show in Clearwater, we are going on Joe Bonamassa’s cruise. We are excited for that one for sure. There are going to be a few festivals as well after that, so we’ll be back.
MFN: Any parting words before we go? Anything you’d like people to know?
LD: If you haven’t seen us or you don’t know who we are, go check us out on YouTube. It really is something you’ve never seen before. It’s full of energy, and it’s a wild ride.
EASTSIDE TOUR
03/12 City Winery Pittsburgh | PITTSBURGH PA
03/13 Rams Head On Stage | ANNAPOLIS MD
03/14 The Village Nightclub | LANCASTER PA
03/15 City Winery Philadelphia | PHILADELPHIA PA
03/16 The Pour House Music Hall | RALEIGH NC
03/17 Palmettos Event Center | PENDLETON SC
03/19 The Conduit | ORLANDO FL
03/20 The Murray Theatre at Ruth Eckerd Hall | CLEARWATER FL
03/21-26 Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea | MIAMI FL
03/29 The Funky Biscuit | BOCA RATON FL
04/01 City Winery Atlanta | ATLANTA GA
04/02 Chelsea’s Live | BATON ROUGE LA
04/04 City Winery St Louis | ST. LOUIS MO
04/06 City Winery Chicago | CHICAGO IL
BYRON BAY BLUESFEST
04/18-20 Byron Bay Bluesfest | TYAGARAH AUS
BACK IN THE U.S.A.
07/12 Briggs Farm Blues Festival | NESCOPECK PA
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