Pete Cullen On New Album 'Ease Your Troubled Mind': 'I Needed A Real Story'

Brisbane-based country singer-songwriter Pete Cullen releases his sixth album, Ease Your Troubled Mind, today (August 23). The thirteen-track album is a culmination of experiences lived by Cullen himself, as well as events that have occurred to members of his community. The heart of each track is highly emotive - whether the tracks are slow or upbeat - demonstrating Cullen’s craft which has spanned decades.

Cullen has been in several bands in his earlier life, and has said himself that he has ridden the wave of alternative country as it has ebbed and flowed in popularity in Brisbane and beyond. When Cullen spoke to The Music, it was clear that he never strayed far from his roots and the music he enjoyed making - even when he believed it was probably wiser to do so. True to form, Cullen’s perseverance, passion and a dose of luck have brought forth a fruitful career and a stunning sixth album.

Cullen’s appreciation and connection to country is intrinsically linked to Brisbane and the places where he cut his teeth and fine-tuned his craft over his career. The Caxton Street track on the album is an ode to one of Brisbane’s vibrant nightlife spots, bringing an eclectic mix of party-goers which Cullen paints a picture of in the playful track. He reflects that it is these local establishments that breathe life into live music and helped him stay in the industry as long as he has.

“Caxton Street for me has just always been a place where I belong. After a period of just an awesome Brisbane music scene, venues started closing, probably around 2006, 2007. And at that time no one wanted to listen to alternative country, it was really on the nose,” Cullen said.

“I just happened to get a call from a guy who opened Lefty’s [Music Hall in Brisbane], just as he opened, and said, ‘I want you to come play at Caxton Street’, and Lefty’s really just bought my career alive again. Because realistically, I might have got 10 people to a gig, and then all of a sudden I had 250 people listening to my music. And it's kind of a generational thing now, because there are all these 20-year-olds and 25-year-olds coming to my gigs at Lefty’s, and they're all following me on Instagram.”

Perhaps the most powerful track on the album is Take Back 8 Seconds, which catalogues a harrowing true story of a local Queensland cattle and cane farmer losing his grandson in a farm accident. The song was brought to Cullen by the family, in the hopes that he would immortalise the memory of their grandson. This chance meeting came at a time when Cullen had made a decision to write songs that were stories and dreams close to his heart, rather than writing music with an audience in mind.

“I wanted to tell other people’s stories and write songs for people that need them, to hear a song to help them whatever they're going through. I think I needed a real story. Their love and their story. It was a really different experience coming from a songwriter. You're always trying to write songs to get on the radio, write a hit song or whatever. I've never really been that way and it’s never really been my focus throughout my career. But this song on the album… yeah, this is just the truth,” Cullen said.

Ease Your Troubled Mind is not intended to be listened to from start to finish as a chronological story, but rather, as a tapestry of dreams and stories that will resonate with listeners facing different stages of life. There is comfort to Cullen’s music and the way he writes so viscerally about events both mundane and catastrophic.

Good Times Roll was released earlier in the month, but was originally written in 2018 and was cast aside for new music and pursuits. After the opportunity came for Cullen to write this album, however, he revisited the song and realised that it was the life advice he was looking for. According to Cullen, this is not the first time in his career he has made music, only to recognise its deeper meaning much later.

When asked what the greatest piece of advice he could receive and offer other artists, Cullen does not hesitate: “Believe in yourself and write from the heart and write to what your generation is. You're one in a billion chance of making it to be Taylor Swift. Actually telling stories about delivering emotional messages… it is kind of tribal in that sense of speaking to the people that you love and delivering your your side of the story. I think that's what I sometimes think is missing in art at the moment. We’re kind of trying to pander to the audience, in the sense of trying to give them what we think they may need. And that goes through all creative spaces.”

Ease Your Troubled Mind is available on Spotify and all major streaming services now. Learn more here.