His newest album “American Regular” is a mix of his early rock n’ roll influences - acts like the Clash and Creedence, Marley and Neil Young. “I was trying to reflect my generation, where I came from, and the present state of things - but mostly trying to make a fun, raw, and rockin’ record.” With the help of bassist/producer Pete Donnelly (Figgs, Graham Parker), legendary engineer Henry Hirsch (Lenny Kravitz), songwriter/guitarist Dave Tozer, and drummer Jason Molina, Amercan Regular is driving and forceful at times - playing on the raw emotions of “Girl Girl Girl, You’re Making Me Nervous” to broader themes of american mythology with songs like “Go Down Fighting”, “The Comeback Kid”, and “On the Other Side”. Mcgowan is quick to point out that these themes are not just American - “you see these attitudes all over the world - but that irony was sort of the point - we are all the same in so many ways.” Inspiration for the title came when some Australian friends pointed out that buying a “regular” sized coke in America was like buying a “large” everywhere else in the world. “I thought - now that’s a rock n’ roll concept!”. “People always made me out to be the american regular too - blonde haired, blue eyed kid from the country - like I should be playing americana or something. I dig that music, but I never saw myself playing it - I figured this was a chance to do it my own way.” When Mcgowan is not busy singing songs from American Regular or working on his home-spun acoustic recordings he can be found writing and collaborating with various friends and artists. He partnered with Ben Lee on “Awake Is The New Sleep” (including the ARIA award winning co-write “Catch My Disease”) and contributed to John Legend’s grammy award winning “Get Lifted” . Recent projects include The Seventeens, Operator Please, Renee Cassar, The Cassette Kids, Old Man River, and Matt Corby to name a few! |
