Hugo Race is many things including performer, musician, writer and producer. Having founded the seminal Australian cult band The Wreckery in 1985, he was a key element in Melbourne’s early 80s post-punk scene, and was introduced to the international stage as a founding member of Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds. With more than seventeen studio albums under his belt Hugo latest offering is We Never Had Control”as Hugo Race & Fatalists which was recorded in Italy.
What were your food influences when you were growing up and what kind of food did you eat at home or with your family?
When I was a kid it was regular Anglo foods – mutton, flathead, lambs fry, snags, shepherds pie, turnips, potatoes, fish fingers, casseroles, roasts. It changed quickly over the years as Melbourne multiculturalized itself – pasta, stir fries, curries became standard meals. We are a big family, so speed at table was critical….
What was your most memorable meal while recording We Never Had Control in Romagna, Italy?
Romagnola food has a lot in common with Tuscan cuisine and
is of course extremely tasty – the hills, roamed by hares and wild boar, produce not only great wines but beautiful fruits, nuts and legumes. Franco Naddei, engineer at the Cosabeat studio, likes cooking up in the downstairs kitchen and I recall an astonishing plate of strangled priest (a kind of local pasta) garnished with fresh tomatoes, olives, Emilian Parmigiano and very hot chili, washed down with a red Romagnan San Giovese…. Soul food like this conveys nature’s raw power through the clash of color and flavor and as all the ingredients are local stuff direct from the fields, connects you directly to the heart of the land, perfect for the life and death meditations of Fatalists songs.
What type of food do you hate, and what is the most disgusting thing you’ve ever eaten?
I don’t like food that slows you down by taking your digestion hostage – rich, fatty foods and low quality meats. Once I went to meet a songwriter in his house in north western Italy to discuss working on his album and he cooked and served lunch. Unfortunately it was a ragu of tripe and although I tried to eat it, I couldn’t as I was overpowered by extreme nausea! And I never did join that production because I was so turned off by the food!
What type of food do you make sure to avoid before a gig or going on stage?
I avoid any heavy foods that might slow me down because I need to think quickly and feel light on my feet. Quantity is also important – to a certain extent eat what you like, but not too much of anything, particularly not too much meat or bread or anything that demands the body work too hard to process it.
What is the most outrageous food or drink you’ve ever asked for on a rider?
Raw fennel and Brazilian cachaca.
What has been your biggest cooking disaster to date?
Actually it was a children’s party, my son’s ninth birthday. You’d think it difficult to go wrong with schnitzels, potatoes and salad, right? I must have been distracted because everything was overcooked and no child would touch it! Their revulsion was contagious, I had to throw everything out and offer them copious cakes and sweets instead which I might add were very well received although the sleep over got rowdy on all that sugar….
When you tour overseas, what food from home do you miss the most?
What I miss most of all is the quality of Australian fruit and vegetables, we have an enviable level of raw vittles that is hard to find elsewhere. But principally, I miss home-cooked foods, I miss the personalized love involved in the art of cooking. Mass produced foods all taste the same and lack soul.
Where’s your favorite music venue to eat at in Australia and internationally?
The Vanguard in Newtown, Sydney. They do a mean salmon steak (which is my default basic foodstuff) with mood lighting, the decor is straight out of Twin Peaks and the stage is high, adding to the heightened sense of unreality! Australia could use more venues like this…
Internationally – the Jazz Dock in Prague, a venue set up on the Vlatva river where the food is really excellent as are the views across the water. Unfortunately the Jazz Dock was flooded earlier this year so hopefully they’ll recover from that and continue their tradition of finest Central European steaks and soups….
What music do you like to play when you’re cooking?
Curtis Mayfield, Tamikrest, Junior Kimbrough, Can, Dylan, expansive music with an upbeat touch but well earthed and strangely enough, major key. Because good food should be triumphant and when you’re cooking it you need to be in the mood for love.
If you were to cook a massive thank you meal for the Fatalist / Sacri Cuori the Italian instrumental group who played on your album, what would you cook them?
The wine would be important. Italian wines – Nero D’Avola, San Giovese and Primitivo di Salento. Then the antipasti which can be almost anything – olives, prosciutto, cheese, dried tomatoes – as long as the quality is good.
Then a primo piatto of Paccheri al Limone (thanks to Stefania Mazzotti for the real details!)
Follow the paccheri al limone with a mixed grill of salsiccia, chicken and marinated fiorentino steaks with a side dish of oven roasted potatoes in rosemary and Trapani sea salt. At this point I would add some bowls of green salad and pachino tomatoes in oil and oregano to the table. After a suitable pause, glasses of lemon sorbet followed by grappa and espresso coffee. On the sound system, Niño Rota on high rotation and the whole event should take place out doors under a spread of stars illuminated by a full moon with dogs barking in the distance.
Hugo Race Fatalists with Special international guests Sacri Cuori (Italy)
Friday September 20 @ The Workers Club, Fitzroy Melbourne (OFFICIAL ALBUM LAUNCH)
Saturday September 21@ The Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine
Friday September 27 @ Hotel Metro, Adelaide
Sunday September 29 @ Post Office Hotel, Coburg
Wednesday October 2 @ Yours and Owls, Wollongong
Thursday October 3 @ Moonshine @ Hotel Steyne, Manly (Sydney)
Friday October 4 @ The Vanguard, Newtown (Sydney)
Saturday October 5 @ Lizotte’s, Newcastle
Sunday Ocrober 6 @ Lizotte’s, Kincumber
