In the Green Room: Dino Jag
GrapeStock Music Festival is championing classic artists in a vintage afternoon at Paxton Wines. Chart-topping Adelaide artist Dino Jag give us the juice...
Image by Anthony Hicks
You’re paying tribute to Santana and The Doobie Brothers at Grapestock alongside The Mighty Big. What interests you about these two bands?
Music with a great groove that’s delivered with heart and soul has always pricked my ears and that’s something these two iconic artists have in spades. Santana and The Doobie Brothers represent a classic era of songwriting and live performance that I’m heavily influenced by. When these artists wrote and recorded, the ethos in the music industry was completely different... there was more time and space for tracks to breathe without the pressure of a three-second attention span we’re faced with today. As a result, we’ve been blessed with a legacy of timeless songs that we can still celebrate today.
Can you tell us more about the vibe of the set?
Expect those big Santana and The Doobie Brothers hits you’ve come to know and love, plus some of the ones you’ve forgotten about! Our goal is to celebrate these songs and honour them with the same vitality, respect and passion for music that [the artists] would share with their live audiences.
We’ve heard you’ve met Santana before...
I bumped into Santana and his band in Hindley Street. They’d just arrived in Adelaide for a concert at Apollo Stadium and were checking out the city. Next thing you know, I’m escorting some of Santana’s band down Rundle Mall to show them our local music store, which was Allans Music then. I was also learning the Santana song ‘One Chain’ [at the time]. So, there I was, sitting with Carlos, Santana’s rhythm guitarist, in Allans Music store and he’s showing me how he plays the guitar parts to that song. It was truly unbelievable!
You’re an accomplished solo artist and you’ve said you’re constantly evolving as an artist. What can we expect from you in 2024?
Sometimes making music feels like a conversation between you and yourself, and when you’re finished talking, you let everybody else in on the conversation by releasing it as a song. For me, [writing] and performing is a never-ending cycle of self-discovery. I have some new songs in the can that I’m keen to give a set of wings to in 2024. And I’m also really excited about performing in front of live audiences again!
Catch Dino Jag at GrapeStock Music Festival hosted at Paxon Wines this February 10. Tickets available here.
