Michael Waugh’s four studio albums to date have garnered him praise as one of Australia’s finest songsmiths and won nominations and awards in the Australian Folk and Country Music world.
For his latest single, ‘We Are Here‘, he turns to the power of storytelling, delivering an anthemic, rousing folk song that praises heroes, all of whom are gay pioneers – “I wanted to talk about the history of gay men, and to include myself as a point on that timeline. I also wanted to let the next generation know that we are here, we are waiting to be their community, and that they are loved.“
We have the pleasure of premiering the accompanying video to ‘We Are Here’, which Michael shot with his long-time collaborator Sean Kirkwood and portrays many of the iconic characters featured in the song. “I feel a little daunted about embodying these heroes”. I reassured Sean that my concept was that, as gay men, we all embody those heroes because our identities have been shaped by their example and by their sacrifices. I suppose that led me to realise that if I really meant that, then I should step up to the dais myself – so I did”. Editor Jeremy Teh cut in some amazing archival footage of those heroes. “I hope that those brief images inspire people to find out more about those men.”
Michael told Folk Radio:
“This song is my way of honouring the gay men through history who were brave enough to be themselves. It’s also a message to those gay men who are looking for the courage to be honest with themselves and with the world. I never forget the privilege of living at a time and in a culture where my rights are protected in law, and I send this song out to let others know: we are here, we are waiting, you are loved. My process of coming involved listening to other men’s stories, and recognizing that I only get to stand here in my rainbow elastic paneled Blundstone boots because of their example and their sacrifices. I’ve tried to represent that in the video. I’m sitting watching their stories. But the video is also about how I embody their example: I get to stand here today, because of you.”
Audiences lapped up his evocative, playful and sometimes tear-jerking story songs about country life. “I think that a lot of those records are about making peace with growing up gay in a small country town. I experienced a lot of homophobia – and I think I internalised a lot of fear and self-hate. At the same time, I am so thankful for growing up in the country.”
You can hear that love of place in those early records. And you can also hear the rumblings of a story longing to be heard. In 2016, Michael sings of ‘Paul’, “the weird little fag, you know, the one you loved to bag”. In 2018, he painted a picture of that area of his primary school, between the asphalt and the oval, where “Joe Gray used to say that I was queer”. And in 2019, he sang of being called ‘Mary Lou’ by a family friend, shamed for being a four-year-old boy dancing to Humphrey B. Bear and Abba records. In these early songs, you can hear him finding inner resolution and putting ghosts to rest: “I wanted you to know that I forgive you,” he sings, “though I know you didn’t ask, and I’m sure you wouldn’t care”.
Michael is now open about what some had previously suspected by reading between the lines.
At the 2022 Golden Guitar Awards, Michael planned to walk the red carpet with his boyfriend, TJ. “I just thought that it would be powerful to hold his hand and walk that carpet. I think that there are still parts of our community, especially in rural areas, where some perhaps don’t feel as safe to be out – that was certainly my experience.” But the red carpet walk was not to be. Stuck in COVID isolation in Bundaberg, the pair instead dressed up in the suits that they had packed for the awards ceremony and took some selfies. “We didn’t have a red carpet in iso – but there was a brown rug, so we did a photo shoot there instead.” And when Michael won Heritage Song of the Year for ‘Dirty River’, photos of the couple holding hands on the brown rug were projected on the giant screen at Australian country music’s premiere event.
Working again with multi-award-winning producer Shane Nicholson, “We Are Here” sounds like a triumphant clarion call. Like those folk singers from a bygone era, Michael is touring from town to town, spreading the word about heroic deeds and the terrible way things used to be. But it is a call to action: we won’t be silent anymore!
Download/Stream ‘We Are Here: https://lnk.to/MichaelWaughWeAreHere
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