Recognised as one of Perth’s most versatile guitarists, in the last ten years, Clay Brown has blasted out indie shoegaze with The Limbs, played lead guitar in The Silent Deeds, grunged it up with Filth Wizard, and is currently an integral part of jazz fusion band King Proteus, and heavy stoner rock band MAGE.
Venturing into his first solo adventure, Clay Brown has put together an amazing lineup of musicians to bring to life his folk blues poetry-driven sob rock – expect heartfelt stories of love, loss, and everything in between woven through catchy melodies and groovy rhythms; featuring Jess June on drums (The Tommyhawks/Filth Wizard), Zoe Gol on bass guitar (Single Cell Sharks) and Michael Menna on lead guitar (Art of Dysfunction). After a double single drop “Traffic Signs” / “Homesick Blues” in late 2024 with a release show at The Bird in Northbridge, Clay Brown released new single, “All My Friends (Atrophy),” in April 2025, the first release with his new band Clay Brown & the Trouble Round Town. The single builds on his alternative folk rock stylings akin to artists like City & Colour, Noah Kahn and Jackson Browne. The new single highlighting the importance of leaning on your friends to help you through the low and hard times was recorded between London (UK) at Soho Sonic Studios and Clay Brown’s home in Perth (WA).
In October 2025, CBTRT released their new single, “No Place,” with a celebration show at El Grotto in Scarborough, Perth (WA). The single captures Clay Brown at his most unguarded, channeling pain into jangly indie/alt-rock noise, and was met with community radio play across Australia. Gritty yet heartfelt, “No Place” captures an artist stepping into his own voice and a band finding its stride.
With “No Place” out now, we took some time to hear from Clay Brown & the Trouble Round Town. Read below to learn more about Clay Brown & the Trouble Round Town, the story behind “No Place,” and what’s to come.
Hi! Let’s start with how did you get your artist name?
Not too much to it, Clay has been a nickname (in Australia, it’s normal to shorten everyone’s name), and I wanted something catchy for the project with the band included and I had a few options – I asked a few friends and they all agreed “Clay Brown & the Trouble Round Town” was the funnest to say out loud!
What city are you from and where are you based now?
I was born in Perth, Western Australia and haven’t really lived anywhere else – the most isolated city in the world!
At what point in your life did you decide to pursue a career in music? How did you get started?
It’s tricky ’cause I can’t really say I have a career in music – it’s definitely something that has maintained my attention for my whole life and never really been in the background, but in this economy and with streaming, you’ve gotta pay the bills too! So, I’d say music is more of an obsession than a career, and so far, I’m doing pretty well at it.
How would you describe your sound to readers who may not be familiar with you?
I wanted to mix the folk and country storytelling, and honesty with indie rock and blues, so there’s artists like Noah Kahan, The Cure, City & Colour, Jackson Browne, War on Drugs, Courtney Barnett, that you’ll hear aspects of in my music, but it’s mixed up with my own ideas and personality as well.
Do you have any hobbies outside of music? What do you do to stay creative?
Music is probably my main creative outlet, and outside of that, I like to catch up with friends at gigs (I guess that’s also music, haha), but getting away from stress of life with video games also – I’m playing two somewhat-spooky games at the moment: Stray and Inside.
Who are some of your main musical influences?
I’ve been obsessed with City & Colour (Dallas Green) since his first album came out, as I was a big fan of his vocals in Alexisonfire when I was in high school too and was surprised to hear him solo on acoustic but still his own honest voice.
And since a kid, I’ve been listening to Jackson Browne, my parent’s favourite artist and probably my favourite all-time songwriter, so there’s definitely a massive influence in my music from him.
Another more recent influence has been Noah Kahan’s bare bones songwriting – there’s nothing more exciting to me than someone telling their story through some chords and their truth – whether through a voice, instrument or both.
What is your dream music collaboration?
I would love to write or record a song with Theo Katzman – his new 10 Good Songs project has already pumped out some amazing albums and I’ve loved his last few solo albums too. His approach to songwriting takes taste from the ’60s and ’70s pop hits and the recording keeping things all live.
It would be an interesting experience for us as a band to record with someone like that and track an entire album live without edits – 10 Good Songs, no BS!
What would you say are the greatest lessons that you’ve learned so far?
Be nice to everyone you meet – don’t think you’re too big for your boots, ’cause you don’t know which person you meet is going to be the next big thing that could help you out along the way through your musical journey.
Be honest and make sure you actually have something to say in your lyrics – don’t get me wrong the music itself can sound great, but if you don’t actually have anything to say, you’re basically just wasting everyone’s time.
Now onto your release, “No Place.” What inspired this song?
I wrote this song when I was going through a difficult time after losing someone very important in my life, and at that same time, I was trying to start a new situation-ship with someone. I was finding that I just didn’t have myself all together yet for it mentally, and had to make a step back to focus on myself.
What is “No Place” about?
It’s really the honest conversation that you need to have with someone when you aren’t ready yet to start something new with someone – you could be going through any number of things, but sometimes it’s better to take a step back and focus on yourself before involving someone else as well.
The bridge lyrics of the song really focus on the positive that things change in time, and in time you’ll also change and have more room in your world to let someone in again.
How did you and the Trouble Round Town come together?
Well, I started doing things on my own, organizing some solo acoustic gigs to test songs, and then I had my friends come in to do session work in the recording studio to do the first single, “Traffic Signs,” and second single, “Homesick Blues,” but I then got asked if I wanted to play a gig at the local pub with some other bands, but they requested that I play as a band. I messaged/called up a few friends that I knew well or had played with before, and they were really the top of my list, and I don’t know how but they all said yes within a 24-hour period: Jess June on drums, Michael Menna on lead guitar, and Zoe Gol on bass guitar – I guess I got lucky or something, and that’s been the lineup until now.
What was the creative process like when making “No Place?”
Everything is usually written with an acoustic guitar on the couch! I’ve played in many bands in the past, and written music in so many different ways, but this is the only way that works for me to focus on the lyrics and melody at it’s core – before all the bells and whistles come into frame. I also like to road-test songs at solo acoustic gigs for a few months before the band hears them, to make sure I’m confident with what I’ve got and there isn’t too many more edits, so I played “No Place” a few times and open mic nights to test out the tempo and structure.
How long did it take to complete “No Place?”
The first verse was written all in one night with the chorus – the second verse didn’t come for another couple weeks unfortunately (maybe just not spending enough time on it and getting preoccupied), and then the bridge came a few weeks after that. I don’t really try to push things to happen, as sometimes my brain is processing and writing it in the background, and before I know it there’s another verse/bridge etc. to the song. The outro faster paced lyrics were a very last minute thing as the song need something to ramp up the ending.
Once we’d spent some time as a band on the core arrangement after the lyrics were done, I booked in small sessions with Thomas Purdy at his home studio (who also mixes my songs) to do scratch vocals and guitar, then drums – > bass – > guitars – > organ/keys – > lead vocals – > harmonies. Then, it was over to mixing and mastering. All up from the first idea to completely recorded, it was probably 6x months!
What message do you hope fans take away from your music and from “No Place?”
Sometimes it’s better to take a step back and focus on yourself before involving someone else as well in your life – give yourself some time if you’re going through something and maybe you’ll be ready to be properly open again in the future.
What’s next for you? Are you working on any upcoming projects, or do you have any upcoming shows that we should be on the lookout for?
We’re recording our next two singles at the moment, so probably will have one of those coming out early January and then that should put us in a position to get an EP ready to come around the rest of Australia in 2026 and the UK in August – exciting stuff!
Where can we follow you on social media?
Instagram: https://instagram.com/claybrowntroubleroundtown
Facebook: https://facebook.com/claybrowntroubleroundtown
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/clay-brown-the-trouble-round-town/1807808923
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/clay-brown-the-trouble-round-town
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@claybrownofficial
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6Fl4BzSF58BCGTaG93ki12
Thank you for the great interview; wish you all much continued success!
