Resonate Magazine | Australian Music Centre

Image: Callum Henshaw and Matt Withers  
© Jimmy Walsh

Two of Australia's leading classical guitarists, Matt Withers and Callum Henshaw have released their album Here & Now, featuring nine newly recorded or arranged Australian works. The duo first began their collaboration in the pioneering quartet Guitar Trek, performing across Australia. Individually, they have collaborated with Australian composers such as Sally Whitwell and William Barton.

A true champion for Australian music, Matt Withers formed the Australian Music Composition Competition in 2014, which has since become an annual stimulation for the creation of new works for guitar.

In this interview with Matt, he shares how Here & Now pulls these musical activities together, threading them with ideas inspired by the artist Sue Needham.

Congratulations on your recent release, Here & Now. How would you describe this album in a nutshell?

In a nutshell, Here & Now reflects the unique Australian experience of time and place. Together with guitarist, Callum Henshaw, we invite the listener to be in the moment - the here and now - and allow imagination to reign, and to share a journey together with a collection of great Australian music.

You've previously mentioned being inspired by the Australian terrain, specifically as captured in the artwork of Sue Needham. Her art has also been an important part of your work through the Australian Music Composition Competition in recent years. Can you tell us about how you first came across her work and what it provokes for you?

I was first introduced to Sue Needham's art through a family member and was immediately captured by the colour, vibrancy and versatility of her work. Sue has been extremely generous in donating a piece of her artwork to use as the inspiration image for each round of the AMCC since 2016, all of which conjure up a unique story from the composers I've worked with. I feel quite privileged to have used her various mixed-media images ranging from seascapes and arial view landscapes, to forests and outer space. As well as being the inspiration work for composers in the AMCC, the images are a perfect match for album cover art for many of my albums in recent years, providing audiences with a visual stimulus together with the music.

Some of the works on the album were composed by the winners of the Australian Music Composition Competition in 2022, among others. How does Needham's art style translate into the musical qualities of the works you have curated with Callum (Henshaw)?

Fellow guitarist Callum Henshaw and I designed the program for this album specifically around the winning works of the AMCC 2022, which all drew inspiration from Needham's artwork, 'Threads of Australia'. This mixed-media work intricately captures Australia's unique natural environment, through several painted miniatures brought together with thread, twine, fabric, paper and buttons. The various 'threads' of the Australian experience are reflected in the chosen pieces for the album, which represent a textured and unique cross-section of established and emerging composers.

There are also some works on the album that you and Callum each have arranged for guitar duo, notably songs by legendary songwriters Paul Kelly and Tim Finn. What kinds of stylistic approaches did you adopt to convey the "threads of Australia" in these arrangements?

Being such a versatile instrument, the guitar is perfectly suited to so many musical styles, as is also depicted visually in the variety of 'threads' in Needham's artwork. The ensemble combination of guitar duo provides the perfect musical platform to reimagine the works of our most beloved singer-songwriters. Callum and I each felt these particular works were necessary to include alongside the classical pieces to tie together the flexibility and diverse history of the instrument across multiple styles.

You are an incredible champion for Australian composers, and particularly Australian music for guitar. What do you feel sets Australian guitar repertoire from international works?

Regardless of the speed of the music, I feel there is a sense of great pleasure and excitement that comes from Australian composers. I feel there is certainly a lack of egotism or arrogance in our guitar repertoire. Australia and our music is so diverse, drawing from a wonderfully assorted background and it is genuinely a delight to discover this new music, working with composers to grow the repertoire for this relatively young instrument.

Over the past 30-40 or so years, there has also been a great development in classical guitar construction in Australia with Greg Smallman and Sons reinventing the internals of the modern classical guitar. This innovation has given greater sustain, larger dynamic range and also more control over the tone, making way for better control over shaping musical, melodic lines. This construction has fed into the music being written, allowing composers to better mimic the human voice in terms of musicality.

This album was released through Amica Records, a young record label founded by Nat Bartsch, whose work also features on the album. The label's focus is on "kind" music - what does this mean to you, and how would you describe the experience of working with a label led by another Australian composer?

I feel very privileged, with Callum, to be the first artists other than Nat with her own music, to be released on her growing label. Amica Records seemed like the perfect fit for this album as we also had a loose theme of 'beauty and calm' when selecting and arranging the program. 'Kind' music for me is the music that helps calm our household the past few years, which has my young son of 4 running wild through our lives. Music that soothes, heals and reflects certainly gives me pleasure at this stage in my life.

Working with Nat on the release has been so refreshing, giving hope for the Australian music scene. It is incredible to see such passion, commitment and care taken with this release. I can't wait to see how Amica Records grows into the future and to hear much more kind music emerge because of Nat's dedication.

Can we expect to see Here & Now on tour any time soon?

I have always felt the recording should be a quality product, given its permanency, so for me there is always the decision whether to tour before recording or after the album is released. In preparation for recording, Callum and I gave a few performances to ensure our release met this level, and we are very pleased with what we can share digitally with the entire world, without the difficulties that touring presents. Having said this, of course we are certainly keen to spread the music live and welcome invites from festivals and organisations who share our enthusiasm for this wonderful music.

Here & Now is now available to purchase and stream online and features the work of Naomi Dodd, Elena Kats-Chernin, Paul Kelly, Tim Finn, Nat Bartsch, Ross Edwards, Richard Charlton and Aksuna.