Jack Biilmann | Where the Coast Meets the High Country
Jack Biilmann doesn’t just play music, he lives it. You can hear it in the grit of his voice, the honesty in his lyrics, and the space he leaves for a story to breathe. His sound is shaped by two worlds, raised between the coastal pull of Pambula Beach and the rugged heartbeat of the Snowy Mountains, Biilmann is a musician shaped by working-class roots, long days outdoors, and a deep respect for the land and the people on it. With a guitar in hand and a Stetson on his head, Jack carries the stories of his upbringing into every stage he steps onto. This is his story.
Tell us a story about your first Stetson and/or your first memory of Stetson.
My first memory of a Stetson would be my dad’s battered old black Stetson hat. He would always wear this when working outdoors & when we were in the high country when staying at our family hut that his grandfather & father built in the 1930s. I remember wearing it and it felt like a giant black umbrella on my head and putting socks behind my head, so it fit me. Every time we were at the hut, family friends from many generations would call in for a cuppa or beer, usually on horseback wearing a big hat.
Where did you grow up? Did this help shape you and your adult life in any particular way?
I grew up on the Far South Coast of NSW living at Mum’s in Pambula Beach or Dad’s in Wolumla 15 minutes away from each other. Living by the ocean is a pretty special thing to have access to daily and is something that I'll always appreciate. I also spent a lot of my time in the Snowy Mountains as a lot of my family and mates were there and I still to this day love my trout fishing, camping and cutting loads of firewood for the stack at home. The Snowies equally feel like home to me as that's where my family comes from and I am very connected to it. I think both regions have shaped who I am today as an adult with the values from working class communities hard work & respect that I live my life by which is a result of the environments I grew up in. I think that the country kid upbringing experiences really are a blessing as you get older and navigate your life.
How would you describe western style?
Overall, western style to me is about practicality, comfortability & durable clothing styled into the persona of the individual which says plenty about who they are. There are so many directions you can take the western style to outlaw, cowboy/cowgirl or even bohemian. I think it’s why the western style is such a popular staple of style around the world as it just oozes the cowboy charisma that everyone wants a piece of.
How would you describe your style?
I love my denim, it looks great on both halves of the body, you can dress it up or down, it’s comfortable, it's vintage and as mentioned above it gives off that western vibe that I love so much. I have gone a bit more flamboyant on stage these days after a push from my band to enhance the “Frontman” persona but black denim top to tail is a look I think is timeless and I always navigate towards that. You can’t go too far wrong when you use leather, denim & buffalo for your look.
What age did you start learning the guitar?
I started mucking around when I was 10 years old and learned a few chords but never really took it seriously until I was 17 where I chose music as an elective, self-taught myself guitar and got a 90% mark for music for the HSC without reading music which I still can’t do today. By the time I was 19 I'd recorded & released my first little record, started playing shows and I have been at it ever since.
Tell us about becoming a musician, was this always what you wanted to do?
I always loved music from a young age which includes cruising around the high country listening to Charlie Pride with my dad, listening to The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison & Led Zeppelin with Mum and playing the tennis racquet to Rage to Silverchair on the ABC as a kid. It was always going to be a big part of my life but when I started seriously playing guitar at 17 it became a real career option for me, I had not really given it much thought up until then. Once I exposed myself to the feeling of performing and writing I have had tunnel vision ever since.
Do you have a favourite western film?
The Outlaw Josey Wales. Clint Eastwood is the man for Westerns as far as I'm concerned, he plays the best cowboy and he's at his best here. I believe he did most of his own stunts in his movies which makes him even more impressive.
Tell us something surprising about you
I lost a bet in 2021 to my mate Mark Nicholls who is currently playing NRL for the Dolphins. The bet was waged back in 2015 when we were housemates that if I got a song in the triple J hottest 100 (I was getting a bit of airplay at the time) Mark would get a tattoo of the song title and if he scored two tries in an NRL game, I had to get a tattoo of this player number and a nose as we have always called him “Nosey”. Sure enough he was playing at South Sydney in 2021, and he defied the odds and scored a double. As a man of my word, off I went to the tattoo parlour and now have a dirty great goat on my foot and his Rabbitohs player number tattooed on my right foot. The nose got changed to a goat as he is widely referred to as the goat these days. I hate losing anything, but I am super proud of Mark and how hard he has worked to get where he is so it’s a bit of a badge of honour, hurt like hell but.
If you weren’t playing music, what would you be doing?
I would be immersed in something else that's creative, still playing cricket and football, probably a tradie and a better fisherman than I am now. Although it’s hard to imagine life without music.
What’s your favorite Stetson?
Black powder river. I wore it on my wedding day as a big feature of my outfit. I wanted a big hat that was classy, suited me and something I could wear after the big day on stage, out and about and in the bush. It’s always a hit no matter where it comes with me and I really like that Stetson is the creator of the original cowboy hat and like my many guitars, I like to have the real deal.
What is your personal philosophy?
At the moment as a highly driven and self-critical person it would be to make peace with yourself. If you can conquer your own expectations, see what is helpful, dismiss the rubbish and see things for what they really are, life is much easier. It’s something that you can never park to keep improving.
What’s your favorite genre of music and song or perhaps one that has inspired you over the years?
This is a really hard question as I draw from so many genres when creating my own music and most of the time, I can find something I like about most genres of music and borrow things from them to incorporate into my own sound. My songs are a combination of blues/rock/dark country so have me draw one of them out of a hat and I'd be able to live with it. Same story with favourite songs there are so many that I love for different reasons but for arguments sake lets go when the levee breaks- Led Zeppelin because it’s got many of my favourite sounds incorporated into one hell of a track.
