Lachy Doley has accumulated a large list of sympathisers, mentors and inspiration along the road to the launch of his first solo project. As one half of the famous Doley brothers session keyboard franchise, and after success with Powderfinger, Barnsey, Billy Thorpe, The Hands and many others you might think that launching a solo thing would be a step back and to the left for Doley – given that he could quite happily just jump on the next bus with any number of huge touring artists.
It seems though that the lure of sticky carpet, driving huge distances and poor pay proved too strong and Lachy has stepped to the front with his new album Typically Individual Conforming Anti-Social.
Born in late 70s Adelaide, Lachy began his musical journey early in life when his Mum hooked up with a pot-smoking blues musician named Barry who would often jam with the young Doley boys amongst the chaos of their slightly dysfunctional relationship. With guidance from Barry and inspiration from piano players like Jerry Lee Lewis and Otis Spann, pretty soon Lachy and his brother Clayton became good enough to start playing live.
After a short stint at university, an opportunity arose to make a living playing music in Sydney, so he packed his Hammond organ and Leslie speaker in the back of a poo-yellow Mitsubishi Sigma station wagon and headed down the road Sydney-bound. On landing in the big smoke, Lachy scored a gig with seminal Sydney blues veterans The Mighty Reapers. That in turn led to an international tour with band Karma County, arriving in Rome as a kid still in his teens.
After Italy came Germany, The Netherlands, England, then across Canada and down to New York City before home. This first tour accustomed the teenage Doley to life on the road, a good warm-up for what was to come when he then joined Jimmy Barnes’ band at age 20.
Back in Sydney, Lachy moved into a house in Erskineville with his brother Clayton. This house became a launch pad for their critically acclaimed band The Hands. They started playing more and more gigs together – in between playing for other artists – and recorded their first album Live and Breathe in 2003. It was that same year when Lachy first worked with Powderfinger after a recommendation by engineer/producer Anton Hapog who was working on the Vulture Street album at the time.
Up till this point Doley had also been working with Aussie legend Billy Thorpe. Later that year he got a call from Bernard Fanning asking if he wanted to come play with Powderfinger; not having to think too long, he joined them on stage for the first time at Currumbin Beach, Anzac Day 2007. The Hands released their second album Everything Is Wonderful in mid-2008, which included the single More and More and More. The track went on to become iTunes’ single of the week and received airplay right across Australia, the brothers touring furiously to support its release.
After working on Powderfinger’s swansong Golden Rule and surviving the hectic Sunsets tour, Lachy hit the ground running – heading into the studio with some of Australia’s finest musos to create Typically Individual Conforming Anti-Social – the album with the contradictory title that heralds the launch of the next phase of an already incredible career for Lachy Doley.
See the continuing musical journey of Lachy Doley as he supports Chase The Sun at the Currumbin SoundLounge on Friday.
