For many Brits growing up in the 80s and 90s, Aussie soap ‘Neighbours’ was a television staple – and arguably one of the series’ most recognisable stars is Alan Fletcher, better known as Dr Karl Kennedy, who’s been part of the show since 1994.
However, what you may not know about Alan is he’s also had a long-running music career alongside his TV gig, both as part of his band Waiting Room and now as a solo artist. He released his debut solo album ‘The Point’ in February and has recently been out on the road in Australia and around the UK to promote the record – including a show at The Bedford in London – and as part of the ‘Neighbours’ Celebration Tour.
I recently caught up with Alan to talk about his experiences on tour so far, how his time on ‘Neighbours’ has informed his approach to music, the making of ‘The Point’ and much more.
How’s the tour going so far?
Well, it’s just been beyond expectation. First gig was in Hassocks last night, sorry, the night before and that was a sellout. The last night we played very close to a sellout in Oxford at the beautiful Barn Theatre, so over 200 people down there to see us. So beyond expectation so far. We’re off to the Bedford tonight, iconic venue to play. So I think you might be joining us at the Bedford…
I am, yes – looking forward to it! You’ve also been doing the Neighbours Celebration Tour as well whilst you’ve been here. How have you found people’s reactions to that?
Well, the shows have been like rock shows. You know, 2000-plus people in an auditorium that go berserk every time another actor comes out. Tears, hugs, bouncing with excitement. It’s just been, I suppose just the pent up frustration that Neighbours finished for starters. And then the excitement of it coming back has kind of led to this absolute wonderful crowd outpouring of joy. And so they were joyous shows to do. And as a result, this tour’s a joyous show to do as well. And my upcoming Dr. Karl tour in June will be joyous as well.
You’ve been over to the UK quite a lot in your career – does it sort of feel like a second home now?
Yeah, very much so. I mean, the fact that during Covid I couldn’t get here was shattering for me. I was supposed to fly here March 2020, to do the one off Neighbours Celebration 35th anniversary show at the Adelphi. And then I was going to film with Jackie Woodburn [AKA Alan’s on-screen wife Susan Kennedy] in Dublin, before I embarked on my Dr. Karl tour. So you know, it was just a normal day at the park for me. And then three years of this kind of hell we had. But we survived it. We got through it. And I managed to get back in July last year, September last year. Now I’m here in March. Now I’m going back in June. So the UK will get sick of me.
No, never. I assure you that won’t happen! Obviously you’re here at the moment touring ‘The Point’, so can you tell us a bit more about about the record?
You bet. I started working on ‘The Point’ about 18 months ago and we ended up with more tracks than we needed. So we released an EP last year and a single just as a precursor to ‘The Point’. I’m working with Lachlan Bryan and Damien Cafarella. Lachlan’s touring with me at the moment, and they’re great producers. They helped me to craft my work. I had a lot of songs sort of half finished, and they helped me craft those songs. They helped me develop them. They’re deeply personal songs about my life. And also, I followed very much in the tradition of John Prine by writing comedy as well as serious songs. So I hope to have a nice blend of that. I’ve got a couple of comedy songs, three comedy songs on the album, blended with the eight other more serious songs. And yeah, it’s just I love this genre, because it gives me the opportunity just to express how I feel about the world.
Were any of the songs particularly easy or particularly challenging to write?
Well, probably ‘The Point’ was the most challenging because it started life as a satire. I thought it’d be very funny to write a satire about people searching for their point. And how in some cases, people can find their point very conveniently in religion, and yet others spend their entire life struggling to find their point. And I thought there might be something in that. And as I was writing it, I realised, ‘this is not a good song’ [laughs]. It was not going anywhere. And so one night I just kind of started to improvise on the top of it and realised I was actually writing a love song. And then it just flowed out of me. So it’s things like that sometimes. Lachlan Bryan is a genius in terms of songwriting. He’s brilliant at distilling what is the essence of a song, you know? I mean, he can look at any song and go, “it’s great except for this, this, this and this. They’re the only things we need to focus on.” So you know, it makes it a dream to work with him.
Do you have a typical way you approach your writing? Or is it as the song takes you?
It’s very much the latter. Because in country music and Americana, we are writing in a lot of three and four chord formats that are pretty predictable, the tune itself tends to come more after you’ve written the lyrics. I find I tend to write almost poems and write down scattered thoughts, and then I’ll start to distil them. I’ll go “what “what’s necessary in here and what’s not necessary?” But the most crucial thing is, in standing the writing is to sit back and say, “What’s the story I’m trying to tell?” You know, as I said with ‘The Point’, I was trying to tell a story which I thought was terribly clever, but in fact, it wasn’t clever at all. But then you say “what is the story I’m trying to tell” and you go, “Ah, it’s that” and then you say, “Okay, how do I get to the heart of that story quickly and as succinctly as possible?”
We’ve mentioned John Prine being a big influence on you already and you’ve got the cover of ‘Fish And Whistle’ that’s on the record. What was it about that song that particularly drew you to do your version of it?
Well it was the very first John Prine song I think I ever heard. In terms of listening to John Prine. Ironically, the first John Prine song I ever heard was ‘Hello In There’. And it was sung at a cabaret show in Sydney. And it was… oh goodness, it was probably in the 1980s, maybe the 70s. I think it was the 70s because John Prine wrote it in the early 70s. And it was a beautiful song, ‘Hello In There’. It’s about elderly people. Very poignant song. And I didn’t know it was John Prine at all, until I started listening to John Prine and suddenly I went, “My Lord, he wrote that?!”. And then of course, very very quickly I realised that ‘Angel from Montgomery’ which Bonnie Raitt covered was a John Prine song as well. So ‘Fish And Whistle’ was the first I heard a John Prine song. And I thought, “Man, this guy writes like a dream. You know, this is extraordinary stuff.”
Coming back to Neighbours and your time on there, is there anything you’ve taken from that experience that you’ve applied to your music and how you’re approaching your music career?
Oh, well, they run in parallel. But the thing about Neighbours is, being an actor on Neighbours is really the same as doing music in a sense, because as an actor, you’re a storyteller. It’s just that you’re telling other people’s stories, and you’ve got to do truth to their stories. In my case, I’m I’m telling my own stories, and I do it in a three minute song. So I’m really, really loving the music. Neighbours is fantastic for me, because you’re working in an ensemble of people. My work in ‘Neighbours’ doesn’t stand up by itself, you know, it needs everyone else around it. Whereas when you’re singing a song, it can be just you. And yeah, so it’s quite unique experiences.
What is still on the bucket list for you? In terms of other people you want to work with, places you want to play, acting parts you want to take on…
Yeah, well, big on the list is to try and get some exposure in the United States as well as the UK. Bucket list wise, I’d love to be playing festivals. And I know that’s a hard road to get to. So you just got to do the legwork and get out on tour and tour and tour and tour and record and just try and build some credit. So that’s a major objective. You know, one day I’ll play the Bluebird Cafe, Laura, in Nashville. Yeah, that’d be good.
In terms of acting roles, I haven’t actually sort of targeted any particular acting roles because I think unless I write it for myself, it will always be something that I’m offered. And I think that Neighbours has kind of typecast me to the point where it’s going to be hard to imagine myself in other acting roles. I do love doing musicals, but at the moment I’m very, very happy to do Neighbours and focus on the music.
The big thing for me though is travel is a huge part of my life. And I really want to get in some of that travel I missed over the last three years. I had a photography travel show called ‘Photo Number Six’. And that was about travel, and I adore travelling, particularly with my wife. So that’s high on the list. So I reckon with ‘Neighbours’, music and travel I don’t think I’ve got time for anything else [laughs].
I also spotted that when ‘Neighbours’ was wrapping up you made an appearance on ‘EastEnders’ – how was that by comparison?
Well, that was actually a bit of a fun joke because it was a social media piece. And it was just me coming along and sort of, you know, doing a gag basically. It didn’t wasn’t part of the programme. But that was enormous fun to do, because the social media person from EastEnders used to work on Neighbours, so it was a nice little thing to do. And EastEnders and Neighbours have a terrific relationship. We’ve always done video shout outs for them when they’ve celebrated big anniversaries and vice versa. You know, there’s a nice camaraderie between the UK and Australian shows.
What is the rest of this year looking like for you? I know you’ve got the rest of the tour, ou’re coming back in June, as you’ve said, you’re starting filming again in a few weeks as well. So is that the focus at this point?
Yeah, well, at the moment, it’s going to be April 17. Finish this tour April 16. We do the Neighbours Celebration tour in Melbourne, which actually my wife will host. And then we do Neighbours April 17. I’m back in the UK June the 1st and doing six weeks of ‘The Doctor Will See You Now Tour’ all over the UK, 29 shows. Then I get back to Neighbours. And the only other break I’ll then have before Christmas will be a two week break in September, which might be a three week break, actually. And I’m going to look at trying to get out on the road in Australia and play ‘The Point’ around Australia a bit.
What’s the song you wish you could have written?
Oh! Probably ‘If We Were Vampires’, Jason Isbell. It’s a great Grammy Award winning song. And I think it’s just incredible lyrically and the concept, what about the concept, ‘if we were vampires, and we’d go out on the pavement and smoke’, but it’s so beautiful. Because basically he’s realised that if you lived forever, then love would not have the same meaning it does.
Lastly, I’ve heard that you’re an Essendon [Aussie rules football team] fan – so how do you think they’re gonna go this season?
Well, we won the first two games. I think we’ll probably end up about eighth or ninth on the ladder, which is the middle of the ladder, and that would be an improvement on last year. And now I’ve got a question for you. I can see an Anfield Road sign behind you. Are you an LFC fan?
I am a Liverpool fan, yes…
I have an Anfield Road sign in my house. And I will be in Liverpool on April the 7th, for a surprise gig. We managed to pull a gig in Jimmy’s just down the road from the bombed out church [St Luke’s] in Bold Street. And I was going to go and see Liverpool-Arsenal on the eighth of April and they very unkindly shifted it to the ninth when I have to be in Leicester! So I haven’t seen the game now at Anfield since 2019, sadly.
Fingers crossed you’ll be able to get back there sooner rather than later… Thanks for chatting to us Alan, it’s been a pleasure!
Alan Fletcher’s album ‘The Point’ is out now.
See Alan live on tour in the UK this month with Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes:
Tuesday 4th April: Berwick-upon-Tweed – Radio Rooms
Wednesday 5th April: Edinburgh – Bannerman’s
Thursday 6th April: Glasgow – Òran Mór
Friday 7th April: Liverpool – Jimmy’s
Sunday 9th April: Leicester – The Musician (Alan Fletcher only)
For more information on Alan and his upcoming tour dates, visit https://alanfletcher.net/.
