Passing Chords: a few things you might not know about…
Darryl Packo Paxton, man about town and increasingly active singer and guitarist. “I’ve been an oil rig worker all my life. I love to see all the good musicians here. At home in my own room I like to have a bit of a play, and lately I’ve been trying to play a little bit more, what the hell. I love playing.” Packo will be part of the special open mic at Villa Grange on Sunday afternoon in memory of Peter Doyle.
Do you have a pet musical hate?
No, not really. I’m only a backyard guitar player. To me every time we get to play, it’s fun. Last night we were running through some of the old bands, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and that kind of, and I was saying to people, oh, I never went to see them. When I got older I regretted not going to see them. We had so many bands come through Brisbane when I was young, mid-week, it was really easy to get to Festival Hall and see any band.
A private musical indulgence:
The first LP I ever bought when I was 14 years old, through the old World Record Club, was Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited. The other day I sneakily played one of them myself in my room.
The year you first came to Cambodia:
I first came here in 2005 around Christmas time. I was living in Jakarta, Indonesia at the time. I came to visit Angkor Wat, and I came to Phnom Penh, but I was sick. Afterwards I returned to Brisbane and said to my best mate where’s that map of Asia. He said where are you going? I went: Phnom Penh. Although I was sick I liked the look of the place. I arrived here on the 20th of December 2008. In a couple of weeks it’ll be 13 years. The flight got in at 8 am, and by the afternoon I was drunk as a lord, playing pool. An Aussie guy said to me, oh, you like playing pool? There’s another bar I’m going to meet some guys at, do you want to come? Sure! What’s it called? Sharky Bar. I walked in – this is my type of bar.
An early music memory:
Back when all the bands were coming to Festival Hall in Brisbane I’d ring my mates, do you want to go? Mum would drive to town, I’d leap out, run in and buy the tickets. Very often we got seats in the first ten rows. We were surfies. Back in the day Brisbane was known as a bit of a drunks town, so the bands never really wanted to play on Friday or Saturday night, so we saw so many bands mid-week. Santana twice; Osibisa twice; John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, once with Freddie King, second time with Mick Taylor; Kinks; Neil Young; Supertramp.
The last thing you had to eat:
I just cooked some satay with New Zealand tenderloin steak. I’m a bit of a secret chef – my daughters would burst out laughing if they heard the old man’s a cook nowadays.
A country you want to visit:
I’ve been to South America in my work, Columbia, but I always wanted to go to Cuba. I’d certainly like to do some of South America, but I know now I’m too old. I’ve probably been to 50 countries.
A book or movie you keep going back to:
I don’t really have any favourites. I used to read profusely until I moved to Cambodia, and I just seemed to have dropped off reading. When I was a working man I’d always have a book in the room late at night after work. I watch The Blues Brothers every couple of years, always thought they were pretty funny.
What languages can you speak?
Bahasa Indonesia. I lived and worked in Indonesia on the oil rigs, back in 1990 I worked in East Kalimantan, and later Sumatra, Java, and lived in Jakarta for ten years. My Khmer is dodgy.
Your primary instrument, and when you started playing it:
Guitar, at 17. In 1973 my mate showed me three chords.
Something people might be surprised to know about you:
I really like traveling. I used to travel all the time with my oldest daughter, until COVID. I think we’ve been in 17 countries together already.
You have a time machine and a magic ticket to one gig or festival in the past. What do you choose?
I saw the Rolling Stones in Brisbane in 1972 at an outdoor tennis court venue and it rained, they really couldn’t perform. I’d love to jump a plane tomorrow and go and catch their current American tour. Sadly no Charlie Watts. When I was young I saw Buddy Guy five times, and my best mate and I always said we’d go to the Easter Blues Festival, and go early because Buddy performs in his club Legends in January each year. I’d love to see Buddy Guy in his own club.
A question from the last participant: is there music that you like that your parents do not?
My mum liked Nat King Cole and Elvis Presley, but my dad liked Bob Dylan and The Band. And actually took me and my two older brothers to see The Band.
A question for the next participant: What is the band that you would love to see, and what country would you like to go to see them in?
Originally publised 2 December 2021