On this episode of Artist to Fan, Daniel Johnson is joined by John Busby, singer, songwriter and guitarist for acclaimed seven-piece Brisbane band Halfway.  Halfway - which also includes bassist Ben Johnson, drummer Elwin Hawtin, guitarist John Willsteed, keyboardist Luke Peacock, pedal steel guitarist Noel Fitzpatrick, and banjo and mandolin player Liam Fitzpatrick - have released six full-length LPs and a live album.  John Busby has also recently released a podcast series called A Band Called Halfway, which includes interviews with a variety of people who played a role in the band's two-decde career, such as Robert Forster (The Go-Betweens), Rob Younger (Radio Birdman), Mark Nevers (Lambchop/George Jones), Nick Barker (Wreckery/The Reptiles), John "JC" Collins (Powderfinger), Peter Jesperson (Twin/Tone, former Replacements manager) and Simon Homer (Plus One Records).

An interview with Custard drummer (and sometimes singer and guitarist) Glenn Thompson, who was also a member of The Go-Betweens from 2001-2006.  

Former Brisbane-based band Custard initially called it a day in 2000, bowing out with the sardonically titled compilation album Goodbye Cruel World.  

The band reformed nine years later for what had been intended as a one-off performance for Queensland 150th birthday celebrations at Riverstage. 

Several more “one-off” reformations followed before the four-piece – singer/guitarist David McCormack, drummer/singer  Thompson, guitarist Matthew Strong and bass player Paul Medew – convened in a studio for a weekend in February 2015 and laid down the foundations for Come Back All is Forgiven, their first album since 1999’s ARIA-winning Loverama.

Custard have since brought out another studio album, 2017’s The Common Touch, as well as a 2018 live album (The Band – Live in the Basement), and in May, the band released a new LP, Respect All Lifeforms.

An interview with Custard singer and guitarist David McCormack, who is also an award-winning composer for film and television series including Redfern Now, Rake, Jack Irish, Friday on My Mind and Top End Wedding.  

McCormack also provides the voice for Bandit, the father of Bluey and Bingo in the animated series Bluey, which airs on ABC-TV in Australia and streams internationally on Disney+.

Former Brisbane-based band Custard initially called it a day in 2000, bowing out with the sardonically titled compilation album Goodbye Cruel World.  

The band reformed nine years later for what had been intended as a one-off performance for Queensland 150th birthday celebrations at Riverstage. 

Several more “one-off” reformations followed before the four-piece – singer/guitarist David McCormack, drummer/singer  Thompson, guitarist Matthew Strong and bass player Paul Medew – convened in a studio for a weekend in February 2015 and laid down the foundations for Come Back All is Forgiven, their first album since 1999’s ARIA-winning Loverama.

Custard have since brought out another studio album, 2017’s The Common Touch, as well as a 2018 live album (The Band – Live in the Basement), and in May, the band released a new LP, Respect All Lifeforms.

From the Beasts of Bourbon and The Cruel Sea to Tex, John and Charlie, The Dark Horses and his long-running role as Johnny Cash in The Man in Black, Tex Perkins has had  prolific career on the Australian music scene. Tex chats to Brisbane music journalist Daniel Johnson about his latest project, The Show - a series of filmed musical performances from Perkins' decked-out shed at his property in Northern NSW.

It’s been more than 30 years since his former band played their last show, but James Reyne is aware he’s still known as “that bloke from Australian Crawl” to a large section of the population. Brisbane-based music journalist Daniel Johnson gets some insights into James's songwriting process, discussing everything from his new album Toon Town Lullaby, to the 40th anniversary of Australian Crawl's debut album The Boys Light Up. 

James also explains what he's been up to since social restrictions arising from COVID-19 cut his tour short in March: “We were sitting at the airport, about to get on a plane to go to Sydney to continue with this tour we were on when we got the phone call saying ‘it’s over, go home’.

“So from that second, no one was going to earn any money and until we can go back and play in front of somebody in a place where people pay to go and see you - like it used to be - we’re not going to earn a cent.”

But James also shares plenty of humorous anecdotes, such as this one about touring with  Mark Seymour: “It’s the only time I’ve ever gone out after the gig and signed merchandise ... I only did it because I was with Mark but I swore I’d never do it again. I used to say to the audience ‘look we’re going to be signing CDs, if I met you at 10pm, or 2am, in 1981, I’m telling you now, I don’t remember’, and without fail, there would be some guy going, ‘maaaate, 1981! Remember at that club? … ‘ And no, I have no memory of it.” 

From his first band Noise Addict and debut solo record 'Grandpaw Would' through to his recent collaborations with Josh Radnor (Radnor & Lee) and 'Quarter Century Classix' covers album, a lot has gone on in Ben Lee's more than 25-year career. Ben chats with Brisbane-based music journalist Daniel Johnson about everything from bravado and spirituality, to being an Australian in Donald Trump's America during the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests.