I knew I was going to have a career in music when I was fifteen. It was very clear,” says Frankston-based musician CJ Commerford. Growing up in Red Hill South was idyllic for the young musician. “It was a really formative place to grow up; both calming and grounding. I remember my Mum saying it was healthy to be bored. Her saying that pushed me to focus on creativity rather than looking outward for entertainment,” he says.
CJ started playing guitar when he was ten. His father’s passion for 70s music, which was often playing in the house, had a big influence on his musical development. CJ’s six-piece band CJ Commerford and the Supertones is a soul/blues/rock fusion with a distinctively 70s vintage vibe. Going to their gigs is a bit like stepping back in time.
Everything in CJ’s life centred on music. After starting out at Red Hill Consolidated School, moving on to Padua College then to his final years of tertiary education studying music at JMC Academy in Melbourne, he came full circle to teach guitar at Red Hill Consolidated School for a while. He still teaches privately.
Being MC at the legendary Balnarring Muso Nights for a time connected him to a vast network of other Peninsula musicians. When things really started taking off with the band, he had to step away from other commitments to concentrate all his energy on writing and performing.
CJ is the songwriter for his band. He comes to his songs in various ways both musically and lyrically. Sometimes he writes just the lyrics. Sometimes he hears the music and writes the notes to form a vocal from that. Sometimes he makes a voice memo to recall the feeling of the song.
He has many favourite bands, but his current favourite is the Tedeschi Trucks Band for their soulful sound and blues vibe. He thinks they have the greatest husband/wife guitar and vocal team in the business. CJ feels their ability to emote through voice and guitar is transcendent. He also loves how Al Green sings about love; how each song feels like a line from a romance novel. CJ’s favourite song is Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’.
Music is an emotional expression. Soul music comforts me and gives me what I need.
Old school soul resonates most. “I base everything I do on how it feels. I lean into that more as I get older. Music is an emotional expression. Soul music comforts me and gives me what I need. I never feel the need to look past it. It’s empowering because it builds strength out of pain. I also like the way it amalgamates black and white music,” he says.
Beyond his father’s musical influence, CJ loves ’70s music because he finds it authentic. He believes it was the last great era before electronic music came in and took over in the ’80s. To CJ, music lost a bit of its soul in the new age of synthesizers. It was such a different sound
Playing live music in the streaming era is interesting for CJ because he was playing live before it started. He says it’s a bit harder to get people to gigs now. “The streaming battle is not just about competing against other music, but all of other genres – podcasts, movies and TV. There is just so much out there vying for attention. If people still had to buy albums, it would mean more. The entitlement to music in the streaming era is disheartening,” he says.
On the other hand, he feels streaming is critical to success in the music industry because it’s how most people consume music. It’s important to be accessible on all major platforms. Of course, there are other things that help a band succeed, such as merchandise, CDs/vinyl and playing live.
CJ got his Supertones band together in 2021 during lockdown. He started out with a blank slate: no genre or image in mind. They developed an original sound, look and style. Now they are a tight unit and everyone gets along. As an added bonus, CJ’s wife Lennie Farchione plays guitar and sings backup vocals. Her brother, Sebastian plays saxophone/keyboard. Other members are Dave Flynn on trumpet/saxophone/percussion, Andy Gardiner on bass guitar and Ben Redlich on drums.
CJ and the Supertones have just released their second album, Naturally You. It’s a lighter more soulful counterpoint to their first album, Sugar which was darker and more blues-based. CJ’s main concern now is getting this new album into people’s ears, playing live and laying down some vinyl before moving on to a new set of songs.
Upcoming shows can be found on their website.
cjsupertones.com
