Excuse me, Mr

The charming Ben Harper talks to VICKI ANDERSON about music and his children ahead of his Christchurch show with Pearl Jam and Liam Finn.

Ben Harper and Relentless7, Pearl Jam and our own Liam Finn and Eliza-Jane Barnes (yes, Jimmy's daughter) began their Australasian tour, playing to 25,000 elated fans in Perth last week.

Harper already considers Pearl Jam "old mates" and surfing buddies, but says he is looking forward to playing with Finn on the Kiwi singer's home turf.

The show at AMI Stadium in Christchurch on Sunday, November 29, is the last of the tour and Harper hopes to make it memorable.

"I'm looking forward to getting to New Zealand - I can't say that loud enough.

"I'm definitely going to check out the surf, spend time with family friends and get out to some beautiful sights."

The mellow two-time Grammy Award winner responsible for songs such as With My Own Two Hands, Morning Yearning, Please Bleed, Excuse Me Mr and more, cites Australasian fans as among his biggest supporters.

Harper's former band, The Innocent Criminals, were fired, in the nicest possible way - "It's never easy" - and Harper's latest album, White Lies for Dark Times, released in May, is the first recorded with his new band Relentless7. "That's a story which has a long, deep-rooted history, actually.

"In 1998, I was on a big tour with a bunch of different groups. I got picked up from the hotel by the driver, he threw in his demo tape and it turned out the driver was a muso.

"It was so incredible that I became a huge supporter of his band. I helped him get a record deal in 1998 and in 2000 they put out a record," Harper explains.

While the set list for this tour is mainly from White Lies For Dark Times, Harper plans to "throw some balance in there for good measure".

The Relentless7 aren't the only musicians to have received a helping hand into the industry from Harper. When he met the then unknown Jack Johnson in the late 90s, Harper forwarded a demo tape of Johnson's to his producer, with whom Johnson recorded his first album.

"Having Jack open for us back in the day and to see his success, that's a great thing to have had a small part in that. Otherwise, I guess one of my favourite moments was sitting in John Lee Hooker's living room going through his record collection."

The father of four is married to actress Laura Dern and the pair have two children, Ellery, eight, and daughter Jaya, five. He admits to harbouring ideas of leaving the industry and just "managing" his children.

"They've got mad skills. Truly, in an unbiased way, they're incredible to watch. At my house you are stepping over instruments, guitars, violins, banjos, drums - they're all singing, it's a very musical household. I'm thinking about quitting and managing them.

"Ellery plays guitar. I just bought him home a bass and he's thumping on that, waking me up in the morning."

Touring so far from home is not without its challenges - "it's certainly not for sissies" - and he is looking forward to heading back home to ride his bike, play with his kids in the park, take in the next instalment in his book club and watch a Lakers game. "I'm also in a book club. That's been great."

Any spare time will be sent "quietly writing and recording a new album" and performing to help the many causes close to his heart.

"Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) has a music conservatory in Los Angeles that gives lessons to children in the community and I'm going to do a benefit concert. I'm also working with Dr Jane Goodall and doing some benefit work for her, towards the preservation of monkeys and so on. She's extraordinary."

While in New Zealand, Harper also has another somewhat unexpected ambition.

"I'm going to go to the Flight of the Conchords' house and stalk them. Oh, Bret and Jemaine and Murray . . .

"I want to get on the show, and maybe give them their first big break opening up for me - wouldn't that be cool?"

Pearl Jam, Ben Harper and the Relentless 7 and Liam Finn and Eliza Jane Barnes at AMI Stadium, Sunday, November 29. Tickets: $119.50 gold and $99.50 silver. Tickets, if available, from Ticketek: see ticketek.co.nz or phone 0800 842 538.

BEN HARPER

* The video for Morning Yearning, directed by Heath Ledger, has had almost two million views on YouTube.

* Benjamin Chase Harper's father, Leonard, was of African-American and Cherokee ancestry, and his mother, Ellen Chase- Verdries, Jewish.

* Harper began to play guitar at a young age. His maternal grandparents' music store, The Folk Music Centre and Museum, counted Leonard Cohen, Taj Mahal and David Lindley as patrons.

- © Fairfax NZ News