The fourth-most populous city in Australia, with a population of approximately 2.2 million. Perth dates from 1829, and was named after the Scottish town (and itself a city since 2012), but there is archaeological evidence demonstrating that the Noongar people have inhabited the area for at least 45,000 years. It is one of the most isolated major cities in the world, with Adelaide, the nearest place with a population of more than 100,000 being over 2,100km away. Such isolation had long been considered problematic for many rising artists, as it increases costs associated with touring and promotion. Nevertheless, music is very much part of the city’s fabric, with all the modern genres well represented. It does seem, however, that in recent years, a number of music venues have closed and redeveloped as restaurants, public bars or apartments.
mp3: Bon Iver – Perth
This song by the American indie/folk band, led by singer/songwriter Justin Vernon, opens up their second album, Bon Iver, released in 2011. It is not directly to do with the city, but was inspired by the passing, at a young age, of one of the most famous people to have been born there. Here’s an extract from an interview given by Vernon a few years later.
“The first thing I worked on, the riff and the beginning melodies, was the first song on the record, ‘Perth’. That was back in early 2008. The reason I called it that right away, is because I was with a guy, Matt Amato, that I didn’t know very well, but basically, it’s a long story, but in the three days we were supposed to spend together — he’s a music video maker — in those three days, his best friend (Heath Ledger) died, and he was from Perth.
“It was January, fucking 25 below. We’re out shooting, and we come back in (to my parent’s house where we were staying), and his phone had been going off. Ledger, it turned out, was dead. So I’ve got this guy in my house whose best friend just passed away. He’s sobbing in my arms. He can’t go back to L.A. because the house is under siege.”
He then recounted that for the next two days, Amato drank brandy, cried and reminisced about Ledger riding horses back home in Perth. The morning he left, Vernon wrote the song’s first draft.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 