"The bush can make you whacky, especially if you’re running from a few coppers who are shooting at you": William Crighton on bush psychedelia, collaborating with the late Rob Hirst, and his new LP Colonial Drift

Songwriter William Crighton stands in front of a grey sky — (Image credit: Julieanne Crighton)

William Crighton's songs feel loosely aligned to the tradition of country rock, but anyone averse to that style – or anyone protective of it – will likely be shocked by the way the Australian songwriter approaches it. Crighton has plied his "bush psych" sensibility across four albums, culminating in 2026's Colonial Drift, which sounds like Steve Earle by way of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The Hoodoo Gurus' Dave Faulkner considered Crighton's 2018 LP Empire "the best album of 2018, domestic or international".

It's bracing stuff: you won't receive it ambivalently.

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I was born in Dubbo, but we left that area when I was one. I did spend time in the Central West as a kid, but I mainly grew up in the Riverina area (Wiradjuri Country). Muddy rivers, long plains that stretch out to meet rocky hills, big purple and red sunsets. Lots of birds and animals too. Space and long drives. The wildlife soundscapes of dawn and dusk — whether it be a kookaburra calling before a storm, a big flock of white cockatoos swarming and screeching around an old river gum, or the low hum of a distant diesel engine, even the roar of the pub when you’d ride your bike past the open door as a kid. All of it’s in me, one way or another, in everything I do.

Jeff Lang added some nylon string, which I chopped up and made the riff out of. I wanted a glitchy tech sound to juxtapose the electrics I’d done and the beautiful lap steel he had done. We wanted to bring out some classic corrugated iron and chain sounds for the bridge, so one afternoon when I went into the gaol (Jules and I run a music program in prison for inmates), Luke and Chrisso spent the time recording those sounds from old bits of stuff they found around the yard. I was stoked when I heard it later that night.

For Colonial Drift, we worked as one brain a lot. A good example of this, and one of my favourite moments, was when I was trying to work out and sing the bridge for 'Further Down the Road'. I had some vocal rhythms and a bit of a melody, but nothing really in the way of lyrics. I was going around in circles a bit when she came into the room and handed me a piece of paper with some lyrics — I added a couple of words, and then we sang it, and that’s the take you hear on the recording.

I can’t speak highly enough of Rob. He’s one of the most talented and gracious people I’ve ever encountered, and it was a bloody great honour to have known and worked with him. He was a mate and a mentor to me. We worked together for the first time on Water & Dust, writing and recording 'Stand' amongst other things, and we talked about collaborating more whilst I was supporting Midnight Oil on their final tour through Europe. When I began working on this latest record, Rob mentioned he had started a couple of songs with Julieanne and me in mind.

We got together once every couple of months and kicked around those ideas, as well as ideas we had. Two songs, 'Horizon' and 'WarZone', ended up on the album. Rob had an incredible sense of melody and also identified fat in a song like no one I’ve ever worked with. He was a big fan of The Monkees and bands of that era, which all had very concise arrangements, and of course the Oils’ material never has any “fat”.

When it came time to record his parts, we went down to Jim Moginie’s studio, Oceanic. Despite the horrible situation he was going through, he was his usual positive, powerful, and vibrant self. Both Jules and I learned a lot from him. One example is 'WarZone'. We had cut it at The Grove and it was sounding pretty good to my ear, but in the haze of making a record I had forgotten some things. When we pulled the session up at Oceanic, he said, “William, that’s not how we wrote it… it’s major, not minor there…” (or something to that effect). I felt like a complete idiot, but in his positive, comforting, no-bullshit way he said something like, “Go with me, let’s get it up to scratch.”

Of course, we were up for it. So under his guidance, we stripped off the bass, drums, and rhythm guitars. As usual, we had recorded it live and not to a click when we put it down at The Grove, so there were a few challenges, but under Rob’s guidance — and with some “Mo-genius” electrics — the song began to take a new shape. The original vocal, intro, and outro still worked, so we rebuilt the track to that and Rob put down his BVs.

We left Oceanic that day with a much stronger song, but it didn’t have any drums or bass and we all knew it needed them. I told Rob I’d figure that out; he jokingly said, “Don’t forget.” Determined to bring the song to the completion it deserved, I called up my bandmate Luke Davison and he was up for the challenge and nailed it. Originally there was upright bass on it (which is still in the bridge section), but now the verses needed electric bass. I’d been wanting to get Corey McCormick on a track or two for a while, so I thought this would be a good opportunity. We’d met when I toured with Lukas Nelson, and at the time of sending him 'WarZone' he was playing with my hero, Neil Young. He was flat stick in rehearsals with Neil Young, but he made it happen. I was stoked with the result.

Jules and I have been running a prison music program for about eight years. As a result of that, I find myself immersed in all kinds of music. At the moment, I’m working up a soul music set with the boys in gaol, so I’m immersed in soul from the mid-’50s to the ’70s — Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam Cooke, Percy Sledge, Aretha Franklin. All of the classics. Not sure what it’ll be next week.

As far as amps go, I used a Fender Bandmaster, Fender Twin, and an AC30. I used CJ’s Gibson SG on a couple of tracks, as well as my Tomkins electric that Al made for me when I was 18. He was such a great luthier, and his guitars sound uniquely Aussie, I reckon. I was very sad to hear of his passing in January. I used my old brass resonator on a few tracks too — Langy set it up real nice. Martin, Takamine, and Gibson acoustics were the go-tos. The Martin was used the most because it had the sound we were after.

Shaun Prescott is the editor of Australian Guitar Magazine. He has written across a variety of publications, including The Guardian, the Sydney Morning Herald, and Guitarist Magazine.