Chris Cobb’s journey home through music

BEFORE singer-songwriter Chris Cobb found himself embracing country music in Australia, he was the frontman of one of Papua New Guinea’s best-known rock bands – navigating gigs where the energy could turn in an instant.

As the lead singer of Barike Band, Cobb experienced the raw intensity of performing to passionate local crowds, including one memorable night when a frustrated drummer ended up playing a song with only one drumstick.

“A member of the crowd was being a little bit too rowdy and started to force us to sing songs that he wanted,” Cobb said.

“I think our drummer at that time, he just had the drumstick, and he couldn’t take it anymore and I don’t know, he may have thrown one drumstick to that guy.

“And he kept playing the song with only one drumstick until the song ended.”

The situation escalated after the song finished, with the drummer jumping off stage to confront the unruly crowd member.

“In fact, the guy from the crowd wasn’t the one that instigated it, it was actually our drummer who got so pissed off that after the song had finished, where he played with one drumstick only, he jumped offstage and tried to have a fight with that drunk,” he said.

For Cobb, who will take to the stage at Murwillumbah’s Regent Theatre later this month to celebrate his debut album More Questions Than Answers, those moments were simply part of the unpredictable nature of playing rock music in Papua New Guinea.

“Playing in that rock band during that time felt pretty cool, and there were moments when sometimes it gets very rowdy because people have a little bit too much to drink and when they get wild, it really gets wild,” he said.

“Someone starts a fight and then it just crawls and connects to a different one.”

As a young man fronting one of the country’s most recognised bands, safety was always considered before stepping on stage.

“As a young 20-year-old being the lead singer of that band, every time we took stage… part of the pep talk is, if anything goes wrong or happens, get in the green room, get to the meeting point and we’re exiting out,” he said.

Growing up in the town of Bulolo in Papua New Guinea, Cobb said he was surrounded by music from an early age.

“Music has always been a strong part in my life, my upbringing,” he said.

Some of his earliest memories were watching his uncle Oliver perform with the local string band.

“He did two different styles of music,” Cobb said.

“One was called the local string band, which is kind of like the bluegrass band, where you get like 12 people all playing two-string guitars.”

“All of them would sing in choir – old folk songs from the village, and it just sounded so sweet to the ears and the heart.”

Cobb said his uncle also formed a country rock band called Little Bulls, which left a mark on him from an early age.

“I looked at that band as the ultimate, ultimate band, ultimate space, ultimate stage that I wanted to be at,” he said.

“But it was too far-fetched for me at that time.

“I was probably only seven or eight years old, and I could only dream, but I held on to that dream for a very long time.”

After moving to Australia some four years ago, Cobb said he began blending his rock background with the country influences that surrounded him.

“I still have the element of the rock style of music that I play, but I’ve really kind of full-circled into doing country music,” he said.

For Cobb, country music has helped bridge the distance between his new home and the town where he grew up.

“That’s a way of me connecting back to my little town where mum is from – Bulolo – where the riverbank is,” he said.

Australia’s country landscapes reminded him of home, prompting him to pick up the guitar and embrace a new sound, which he has described as “fusion country”.

“Being here in Australia kind of reminded me of that little country town,” he said.

“Because there’s a fair amount of country here in Australia and at the same time, I’m so far away from that little home town of mine.”

“So, it was only fitting for me to pull out my guitar and put a cowboy hat on and start playing country. But at the same time, keeping the essence of rock in it and storytelling in it, so it’s a lot more fusion country if you like.”

Cobb will perform More Questions Than Answers: The Live Session, featuring James and Briar Blundell and Felicity Kircher at The Regent Theatre in Murwillumbah on 26 July from 4pm-6.30pm with tickets available through Humanitix.