[00:00:00] Welcome to Trevor McCormack Music Podcast. I'm Chrissie Mack from Radio Northern Beaches and I couldn't be more excited to kick off this musical journey with you. Joining me is my brother, the legendary Trevor McCormack, known as Mack, a true storyteller and music enthusiast.
[00:00:18] With each episode, we're peeling back the layers behind the hits, sharing untold stories from artists and exploring what sparks the creativity behind the music that moves us all. Whether you're a diehard music fan or just love discovering new sounds, this is the place where passion meets storytelling.
[00:00:38] So, hit the follow button, share this with your fellow music lovers and leave a review. Your support keeps the vibe alive. Turn up the volume and get ready to be inspired. And let's dive into the world of music together. Let's go! Okay, it's time for Chrissie and Trev's chat again. Hey, how you doing Trev? Hey, hi everybody. I'm going well. How about yourself?
[00:01:02] I've been working flat out and I've got a lot of things to do as far as getting new shows organised, but I'm doing okay. You're the busiest retired person I know. I know. And we've got the Beach to Beach tomorrow. Now, in Sydney, the Beach to Beach is a run along the Northern Beaches beaches. We used to call it Pub to Pub, but it's now Beach to Beach.
[00:01:28] Because they sold the Newport Pub. It used to go from D-Y pub to Newport Pub. So, now it goes from D-Y beach to Newport Beach. So, we call it the Beach to Beach. And there are thousands of runners that do this. Wow. And they have 16 kilometres, 3 kilometres, 6 kilometres. They have all different ones for all different people. But it's the most scenic run that you can possibly do. And it's really popular. And that happens tomorrow.
[00:01:57] So, we'll be down there with the radio station interviewing people as they come through the line and they get their breath back. And people, yeah, just the community people that are around the place. And so, we've got a very busy day. We set up at 6 o'clock in the morning. I think the race starts at around 8. And they're off and running. Cool. Where are you running from? I'm not running. I'm the radio person at the other end when they finish.
[00:02:26] Oh, come on. Do a couple of Ks in between. We've got some people from the radio station running. But no, I'm just too old for that sort of thing anymore. I'm quite happy to sit at the end and talk to the people after they've done the run. Super enough.
[00:02:41] Yeah. And good on them all. Congratulations to everybody that gets involved. It is a lovely run. And most of the time, touch wood, we have really good weather. It can get cold sometimes. But most of the time, we miss out on the rain most of the time. So, yeah. Yep. Well, it's the same up here. We've got the air, always windy and rainy. And then you've got the gimpy mustard coming up in August at the end of August. Yeah.
[00:03:08] Right. Well, the Mundy Mundy suffered this year. Did you see the mud pool up there? Have you seen anything about it? No. No. Oh, the Mundy Mundy. It's been raining like crazy and it's like a mud pit. They got some people in. Maria May from Radio Northern Beaches is up there. And she's sending podcasts back for her show about what's happening up there.
[00:03:31] But they got quite a few in. And then the rest of the grounds are just so boggy because they have thousands and thousands of people up there usually. But they couldn't get them in. So, I saw some clips where the artists themselves have been actually going into town and playing at some of the venues there after they do their Mundy Mundy stint for the people that actually got onto the property. Oh, okay.
[00:03:57] So, it's been a bit of a challenge for the artists as well as the people that were trying to get onto the property. But it's just too – they can't drive on. They just bog in. It's just so wet. Old festivals outdoors. Yeah. It's just – you know, the guys from the Mundy Mundy have been on the news expressing their disappointment about, you know, how much rain they've had up there. Yeah. But then the farmers are probably saying, well, tough luck. We want it. That's right.
[00:04:28] But anyway. So, I'm wondering if our Maria May is going to be able to get her drivable motorhome off the plot. Probably. Because it's the last day today, I think. She might have to wait until it dries out. Yeah. Sort of wondering about that. She rang me yesterday because it's very patchy with the phones up there. Oh, right. Right. Well, I think we should just send her a letterbox and she can stick it in the mud out in front of the kitchen.
[00:04:57] She might have to do that. Yeah. Oh, dear. Anyway, you were telling me you had some feedback on your Giddy Up Festival and the kids that got up there and sang and performed. Tell me about that. They had a ball. I actually went back down there just Thursday morning to do a bit more work around the shop upstairs with Dave and Shelley. And the young fella, Ed, he was just so happy that we did this. And his mum was there and how much they enjoyed doing and listening.
[00:05:27] And the young girl that was there as well, she just, you could see on her face, she just had a ball that day. But the feedback I got from just a few people around that area, Erin being one of the workers down in the boutique next door to us, she just had the best time. She was so excited. So I popped in there and said Giddy. And they're just such lovely people. And she said, oh, I'm so happy that I did this. And I want to do more. And I want to sing. So I was waiting for Shelley.
[00:05:56] I went in there and did a few things around town and upstairs with Dave. Then I had a bit of a wander around. Then I had to waste some time. So I popped back into the shop and said Giddy. And Erin was just sort of packing up a bit around the five-ish mark. And she just couldn't stop raving about, oh, I'm going to get a microphone and a little amp. And I want to start singing and rehearsing. Good on her. Good on her. Songs for her as well afterwards. I said, here, have a listen to this. She loves country. She's got the heart like I've got.
[00:06:25] It's just that feel. It's got a beautiful feel to it. Country songs and the lyrics. She's like, oh, I said, right, go and do some artwork. Listen to some of my songs and have a listen to some country songs. And we'll get you together. And we've decided now we're going to do a workshop first. So I went back upstairs and had a meeting later on that night with Dave and Shelley and said, all right, we'll do a workshop for vocalists. So anyone who wants to sing, we'll pick a few songs.
[00:06:51] We'll start with one and just work on that and see how they travel with that. And it's just basically finding out where their strengths are, where their weaknesses are. Because you get a group of probably anywhere up to eight people in one sitting. And we'll just sit around like all the Islanders do. And they just sit around and sing songs together. Yeah. And people just pick their hummers. They get the feel and they just naturally go where they want to go.
[00:07:19] And that's what I want to see before I start teaching any of them in classes of who they are, what they feel, what their passion is, how serious they are, or they just want to sing in key. So we'll see who turns up to that next one. But that'll be our next adventure with the song lessons is I think we'll just get them all in a workshop and pick a few songs. And we'll go from there and see what they can come out with with their own idea of harmonies and things like that. I'm looking forward to that one.
[00:07:47] I think that's a really good idea because you're not imposing a particular thing on them. You're actually exploring what they're capable of. And that's what's missing out of everything these days. It's so badly missing where, you know, they're forced into singing somebody else's songs and at their level, at their pitch, at their key. And we're not getting any true voices.
[00:08:14] Yeah, you know, there'll be no slapping, you know, over the knuckles with a ruler and get that right. It's more fun. That's how it should be. Just to kick off. It's not a lesson. It's all about fun and just singing together. It's, I suppose, like a choir. Everyone gets their key, gets their note and tunes themselves in. And, you know, you help the weaker ones when they do the classes. And you teach them, you know, their weaknesses. But it's all about the fun of just singing and here's a song. The enjoyment, yeah. Yeah, all right.
[00:08:43] Let's learn this one. Let's sing it. Now, let's face it. Just about everybody loves to sing in the shower. Everybody has their little private sing-along when nobody's listening or if they're okay, they're out with friends singing along. It gives joy to the spirit, doesn't it? It gives absolute joy to the spirit. Yeah. That's what I found out when I went back and got the feedback from Erin. She says, oh, I'm always singing in the shop. And I didn't realize.
[00:09:11] She says, people come up and go, oh, she's here today. We're going to hear her tune in a way, you know, humming away or singing a song. She says, I don't even realize I do it. I just, I love to sing. So it really made her day. She was very impressed with having a bit of music around the shop on that day of the Giddy Up. And all of them, you know, Ed and the young girl that came in. I've got another guy.
[00:09:39] Brett, he actually rehearsed with me a couple of days prior just so he could play some guitar. And he said, will you sing some songs? I said, yeah, sure. I mean, the smiles on their faces and the enjoyment that they get out of it. How could I say no when Dave says, I want you to come and teach? It's like, well, that is just, it's priceless to see the smiles on people's faces and what you can give them. And it's just so easy. It's just so much fun.
[00:10:07] Now that they've been up on the stage and they've had that little experience, they're going to be even more enthusiastic about doing their lessons now. It's going to give them that extra little bit of pride to know that they've actually experienced it and they can do it and they can have some more lessons and go and do it again. Yeah, yeah, that's right. You only get better. And the excitement in their eyes, it's beautiful. The people in there are just lovely people and having a great time and just love music. So it's a good thing.
[00:10:36] So I've fallen in love with this little place and I'll be spending a bit of time down there on the side now. So it'll all be fun. That's great. Okay, what about your latest song? What are you working on now? Oh, I'm actually working on a couple of covers. So I've fallen in love with this song. I think it's a very sad, sad song. It actually makes me cry. What song is it? One More. That's the name of the song, One More. I'm not even sure who sings it yet.
[00:11:05] I've only just found it the other day and I got it on Country Line Globe. So if you look up that, it's red. It's got a rose on it with a piece of wood laying on a grassy field with One More. So just outline what the song's about. It's When You Lose Someone. It's a real sad song. But it's all about if I have one more day or I'd give you one more song or if there was one wish you could ask for. It's all that. It's a tear joke. But it is sung so well and so beautiful.
[00:11:34] I've got to dig in and find out who's sung it. It's one of our big country people. It's just a beautiful song. As I said, I only found it the other night and I thought I'm going to learn this one. It's just one of those songs that drive you to write more music. They drive you to sing better. So I can't wait to do it. I let Dan and Sandgate, Erin, listen to it and Dave and Shelley. And I said, look, have a listen to this. I said, this is just wow. I said, can you imagine a whole group of us in a class?
[00:12:03] Maybe we'll take this one in and get them all to sing this song. It's so passionate. It's got some really good highs in it and some really good country twang to it as well. Just a really good feel. It really hits home. It hits the heart. So I think that might be one I might put on the list. So when we do the workshop, I'll probably do a list of songs, send them all to them, whoever wants to come, as they say yes.
[00:12:30] And they can at least have a listen to them all and sing it home a bit before they come in. And we'll work on it from there. But just those kinds of songs. And then I've got some blues sort of feels as well. So I'll do maybe a country song, a bluesy song, a rock song. Just where we can put voices around the songs. And we'll only have one guitar play, the tune. I'll probably get Dave just to play the tune for us.
[00:12:55] And so it's 90% voices with just a backing guitar so we can hear what they're all up to. And, you know, we might get one to sing one part, another one to sing another part. That way I can really assess what their feel is and how clear their notes are or what they need to work on. And how to be able to sing without coughing. Well, hey, look, everyone does that too, you know.
[00:13:23] Like I'm in the middle of a gig and all of a sudden a bit of saliva goes down the windpipe or something. And you're like, not now. Not now. And you try not to cough or choke on this, you know, a bit of spit, as they call it. Oh, my gosh. It happens. It happens. What did I say? Never work. No, animals or children and be careful of your spittle. Yes, children just turn around and say exactly what they mean. Oh, yes, they do. They're very honest.
[00:13:53] They certainly bring you back down to earth if you have gone a bit over top. Yeah, that's true. So that's the music, really. I've got to, I'm down keying a few things. So I've actually down tuned my guitars by one, one fret. I'm finding as you get older, your voice probably drops a little more again. So I've played a few songs down key and then Dave told me, he said, mate, heaps, heaps of people. He says, 90% of the time you can't work out the tune of a song. It's because it's down one tune.
[00:14:23] Yeah. So I thought, oh, I'll try this. And it really works. For some songs, it's really good. Ah, okay. Well, that's interesting. We'll have to hear how that goes. Well, we did one. I did one. Remember I sent you some music for the Malaney Montville. Yes. We did up there. Well, one of those songs was down key. That's where it actually started from. I did that and that was, well, that was, it just made the song really easy to sing, really comfortable.
[00:14:50] So there's certain songs of mine that I've written now that I'm going through again. I'm realizing, oh, we can drop the key of that. Because it's just, it's so, so pleasing when you hit a high note and it's easy. Rather than you think, well, am I going to hit this or am I not going to hit this? Which a lot of singers do. They have a good night. I think I remember John Farnham. They'd say, like, you know when he's having a great night? Because he will just pitch that top note and screech it out.
[00:15:19] And other nights he'll, you know, if he's struggling a little bit, he'd drop a key. You know, he wouldn't push that high one. He'd just pull it down one notch and just get through it, you know, clearly and cleanly. And so it's, yeah, this is what I've got to teach all these people as well. Don't sing a song. You can't hit those pitches. Change the key. Bring it down. So it's all about making sure you do it at your best level you can do it and in the key you can sing it. Yeah. Okay. All right.
[00:15:48] Well, we might leave it there for this week. And I'll let you go because I know you've just got home from work and you need a rest. So go have a nap. Well, that sounds like a great idea. I've just had lunch. So have a shower and I kick back in front of the telly. I fall asleep. Yeah, good idea. It is Saturday. After all. All right. I'll love you and I'll leave you and I'll talk to you later. Lots of love. All my love.
[00:16:12] Now, don't forget to check out Trevor McCormack's YouTube and you can also go to Trevor McCormack Music for any podcasts that you might have missed. So don't forget to follow and share.