AS the music industry has changed and record labels have shrunk, the do-it-yourself approach has become the go-to option for most musicians.
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But few have embraced DIY quite like blues and roots one-man band Claude Hay.
While most musos these days take on a large amount of the management side of the business (usually with a couple of helpers), Hay also builds his own guitars, customised his own tour van, and the one-man band even constructed his own house and studio.
“The first guitars I got, I ruined all of them,” he laughed.
“I rewired them, I pulled them apart and tried to work out how they worked, I repainted them.
“So many of them ended up in the bin. But since then I’ve always built my own guitars.
“I like building. My motor home that I tour in is really comfortable and that was done a bit out of necessity — I’m on the road all the time and I don’t make a lot of money so it was cheaper for me to do it up myself.
“I rarely get home but when I do I go straight out to the work shed and think of another guitar to make. I love doing it.”
Among his homemade arsenal of instruments is “Betty” (a double neck guitar that is both a bass and an electric guitar) and “Stella” (a ‘cigar-box’-style guitar made from a baking tin).
His latest axe is a guitar that incorporates a synthesizer-style component that allows him “to do everything on one guitar”, including bass sounds, piano sounds, and a range of old guitar sounds.
“It’s really handy for the one-man band thing,” he said.
“It took ages to get it right, and I still don’t know if I’ve got it totally right.”
Even if he’s not sure about his skills as a luthier, Hay must be doing something right musically.
He tours Europe two or three times a year, drawing big crowds in the Netherlands, Poland and Germany, his 2010 album Deep Fried Satisfied made it onto the blues charts in the US and on Amazon, and he has become a regular sight on the bills of a number of music festivals in Australia.
“I just love this time of year,” he said.
“I love festivals because I love seeing other bands and that’s pretty much the only chance I get.”
Hay will also be heading to Singapore soon for the first time to play at a festival.
“When I toured Europe I did 26 shows in 25 days — when I go to Singapore I’ve booked it so I’ve got four days off there so I can see something for once!” he laughed.
In the meantime, you can catch Hay at The Loft in Warrnambool on Friday night with support from Tank Dilemma and Joe Gardner.
