October 4th, 2013 
Brian Leak 
Perth-based pop rocker, Rick Webster, has made all the right moves in progressing his music career, starting with a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Music and an Advanced Diploma of Contemporary Music and recently releasing his second studio effort in August. Rick shows no signs of toning it down any time soon as he’s already begun working on new material.
We recently had the chance to speak with Rick about his newest project and his advanced background in music so read through the break and get all the details from Rick himself in this UTG exclusive interview.
When did you first begin getting involved with music and what originally inspired your interest in doing so?
Like a lot of people it begun with my parents. My father played the banjo and my mother plays the guitar and the mandolin. I listened to them a lot growing up and I started piano lessons at a young age but it never quite took off. I took up the guitar at age 9 and I knew straight away that it felt more natural and was going to be my instrument of choice.
You look to be relatively young for someone interested and involved with bluesy soul music — what influences would you say have been the most important to you that have helped shape your sound and the direction you chose to take with music?
Definitely for me my first and main influence was/is Dire Straits. When I was about 13, my dad bought a CD home: Money for Nothing, The Best of Dire Straits, and as soon as I heard “Sultans of Swing” I knew I wanted to play the guitar and write music. From there I always had a fascination with bands that sounded complex yet had great pop sensibility to their music. Steely Dan for instance, or Sting. Even bands like Van Halen I have a great love for. Eddie Van Halen plays some of the hardest, most intense, guitar work you can think of yet the band has a fantastic backing vocal section and catchy hooks that have kept them in the charts. It’s always been something I’ve been aware of when creating my own music. I like to think my wide range of influences really come out at different times when performing my music.
How did you get connected with Allira Wilson and what would you say caused you two to decide to make music together? She did some vocals on your 2011 release as well, right?
That’s right, she did she sung the song “Fade Away.” I first saw Allira sing when we were both at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts together. I was in my final year and I saw her sing at a recital night. I was blown away by the maturity and depth in her voice. We played some small gigs together doing covers but my original work was only instrumental music at the time. When it came time to do my first EP I had the music for “Fade Away” lying around and I thought it would be fun to write lyrics (for one of the first times ever) and get Allira to sing on it. I nervously sung her what I had written and had no idea as to how it would sound or if it would even work. As soon as I heard her sing the first line I knew it was right. I had to write more songs like it, which led to the new release (The Rick Webster Project).
So you were doing solo work before beginning this particular project?
I had been doing instrumental music for some time leading up to this project. I was actually a solo guitarist for a couple of years. I would play weddings and functions. I never had enough material so I would just make stuff up to get through the gig. After a few months I realised I could turn these little ideas and improvisations into songs and do a band recording so it went from there. It was great being a bandleader and playing instrumental music but I started the Rick Webster Project to work more with vocals and create something closer to the music I was listening to at the time.
Are you currently involved with any other bands or projects at all?
I mostly work on my own music however, I work with a band called Proof that does weddings and private functions we have so much fun rearranging songs and just putting on a great show. It’s fun to pretend to be a rock star for a night! I’ve also recently begun writing music and playing with an amazing singer/songwriter, Stella Donnelly. She’s helping me out and singing one of my songs for an upcoming release which I’m very excited about. She’s also an incredible songwriter and will be releasing her first album soon.
So you have a brand new EP that just came out recently. What can you tell us about its style, themes, and ideas?
The style musically is very much a combination of blues, soul and a bit of jazz. I came in to the process really wanting to write some music that was fun to play, had room for improvisation but wasn’t necessarily a guitar heavy album (like my previous release). I always write music with the view of playing it live and how it will fit into a set. “Long Way Home” for example, I had a specific idea of the type of song I wanted and where it would feature in my live show.
Lyrically the album had a theme about the different stages of a relationship. Not all the stages that I wrote about I had been through myself so I really had to put myself in those shoes and try to imagine what I would be thinking/feeling if that was the scenario I was in. My girlfriend definitely had some questions when she heard some of the songs!
Now that’s it’s complete and you’re able to listen through it from a more external perspective, would you say that it turned out the way you had envisioned? Do you think there’s anything you would have liked to have done differently?
To be honest I was really happy with how it turned out. My overall vision for the EP was definitely there. Some songs like “Grapevine Stories” for example came out exactly as I’d hoped. A lot of that was definitely due to the help of my producer, Matt Bell, who listened to what I had in mind and worked with me to create something I was happy with. Other songs came out quite differently than I had in mind but fit just so well with the feel of the album. There are always small things that every artist will think about when listening back to their work: “Could I have played that guitar solo better?” or, “Should I have used that lyric there?” But it’s the perfectionist in me crying out more than anything!
How would you say you’ve progressed as a musician from each release?
Each release has really opened my eyes in a different way. The first release (Rick Webster) was such a different experience for me. I had been in the studio many times but never as the bandleader — every question went through me and every decision was ultimately mine. I practiced harder than I ever had before as it was mainly a guitar instrumental album so that definitely took my guitar playing to another level.
The second release (The Rick Webster Project) has been another huge eye-opening experience for me. It was absolutely amazing to work with producer Matt Bell who took me through the process. We chose amazing musicians and I learnt a lot just listening to guys like Ben Vanderwal put down drum tracks and Allira putting different emphases on lyrical lines. I became much more aware of the bigger picture rather than being just the guitar player and writer on the EP. My guitar solos for instance were half constructed and half improvised to fit the song rather than having a guitar solo for the sake of.
Have you already began working on new material with this band since completing the EP?
I have. I am constantly writing new material. It varies a lot in style depending on what I’m listening to at the time so it’s finding the stuff that works together in the flow of an album that can sometimes be hard. I play a lot of shows and I trial new material all the time. I record every show I do to hear the new songs. I try to make them sound the way I want them to live before thinking about taking them to the studio. So far I have around 20 songs ready to go for the next release. I’m hoping to produce a full-length album by early next year.
Do you have any upcoming touring plans in the works?
Next year I plan to go on the road nationally around Australia. I’ll be travelling over to the USA and UK also and will try my best to squeeze in a few shows also.
You have a lot of music-related schooling as well. How do you feel that your education has helped your progress and your ability to create?
I think it has been an enormous part of my progress as a writer and musician. There was definitely a time when I got caught up in being a technical musician — i.e. practicing scales, theory, harmony etc. — to the point where I wasn’t creating anything at all. It’s a danger you face spending a lot of time studying music at a university level. As time has gone on though and I have started writing, the skills I learnt whilst at university have become invaluable to the way I create music. It helps me play what I hear in my head, it helps me communicate to musicians what I want them to do, even just the music I was exposed to at that time has sculpted what music I write today.
What would you say has been the highlight of your musical career thus far?
I’ve had a few special moments but recently I had the opportunity to play with the Opera group, Il Divo, as part of the orchestra here in Australia. Playing in a full orchestra in front of thousands of people was just beyond amazing. It was one of those surreal situations where you don’t realise completely what you just did until afterwards!
And finally, what do you feel is your ultimate goal as a musician? Anything in particular that you hope to accomplish in the future?
My ultimate goal is to have as many people hear my music as possible. These days with the Internet being such a way of life it’s easy to get your music out there. I constantly get a buzz thinking about the fact that someone across the other side of the world has listened to my music. I would love to take my music further overseas in the future. Another long-term goal/dream of mine is supporting my heroes in concert. I would give anything to hear what guys like Sting, Mark Knopfler or even Van Halen would think of my music!
Written and conducted by: Brian Lion – Follow him on Twitter
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