A yarn with Peter Bibby: Pies, Kevin Parker and a live version of ‘C*nt’
October 19th 2016
Liliana Occhiuto
- Peter Bibby :: Interview with Sweetie & Al
- Peter Bibby :: C**T (Live on Arvos)
One of Perth’s finest acts comes down to Sydney to sing a song and have a chat about the time he retrieved his long-lost tobacco pouch by baking a pie.
What can one say about an enigma as engaging as Peter Bibby? The man of a thousand tales joined Sweetie and Al on Friday Arvos to make everybody’s day just that little bit brighter, with quality banter and a live performance of the quintessentially Bibby track, ‘C**T‘.
Renowned for his frank representations of Australian culture, this Perth-based artist is a well-loved figure. He isn’t afraid to take the reins either – Bibby’s presence practically shifts the structure of the show itself, discussing whatever he wants.
Discussing how he develops song ideas, Bibby explains: “It kinda just shits outta me when it happens, when it’s a song it’s a song.”
Although not the most poetic songwriting practice, it seems to work. Bibby says he’s sitting on an album and has a lot more music in the works after that.
“We’re going to finish that off and might get it out by the end of the year – I hope. I’ve also got another two albums worth of stuff ready to go on top of that. It’ll be a huge, huge weight off my shoulders.”
Bibby’s songs are based on his own weird experiences or stories – by the stories he told on air, there’s always some new source of inspiration. On the flight over to Sydney from his hometown of Perth, Bibby was mistaken for another long haired Australian singer.
“There’s this middle aged fella on the airplane who was fairly enthusiastically learning and listening to a The Smith’s song on his headphones, clicking along and reading through a sheet of The Smiths lyrics for a good hour and a half… Towards the end of the flight he asked me if I was Kevin Parker… much to the real Kevin Parker’s dismay, I’m the new Kevin Parker.”
Then there’s his meat-pie exchange with Shane, the manager of Mojo Records. Trading for a forgotten pouch of tobacco left behind in Melbourne in the bar, Bibby vowed to send Shane a meat pie in the mail.
“[And] I said, the day I received my drunkenly forgotten tobacco on the other side of the country was the day I would bake a pie and post it to him… I never did it. Then I realised it was his birthday the other day so I thought I better make him a pie and hand-deliver it.”
If you’re curious to know, the pie in question was an instant smash – it’s not surprising, since Bibby wants to “open the world’s best pie shop” one day. But for now, he’s sticking to music. Listen to Bibby play ‘C**T‘ live on air and our interview with him in the recordings above.