November 27, 2024
Creative Series: Carter and Jack
Something’s always cooking when Carter and Jack are around. For Jack, it’s the mixing of chords, riffs, sun and salt-tinged sounds. He’s a musician in Australian psychedelic rock band The Babe Rainbow, whose neo-psych tracks evoke technicolour feelings and Aquarian dreams of a time long gone completely transporting you (probably somewhere on a beach in California).
Jack’s partner and mother to their children is Carter, a cook, baker, and cookbook author who approaches food in the most simple and wonderful way. Colourful and delicious, full of hearty goodness and coloured by fresh herbs and vegetables reminiscent of the rainbow.
There’s a good chance you’ve experienced hunger-pangs after perusing her Instagram account, @werebros, where she shares moments in time from the kitchen, the garden and their life in the hills behind Byron Bay.
What does a typical Sunday breakfast look like in your household?
Our youngest daughter Dorothy demands pancakes most days, but we usually have them on the weekend. We make them thin and eat them simply just with maple syrup.
Carter, how did you get into cooking and has living in Byron Bay affected your approach?
When I was 19 I moved to Sydney from Auckland. I got a job at a well-known bakery and this is when I started loving food. I then travelled to Greece after seeing a picture of the sea there on the front of a travel brochure at a travel agent and went to work there as a nanny. I love the simplicity of life and the food there, and this is when I really started enjoying cooking and food more.
Simple food is best! Living in Byron hasn’t changed my approach to food as such, but there is an abundance of amazing produce and food around.
What sort of feelings does cooking and eating provoke for you? It’s a very intimate and personal thing..
I find it peaceful if I’m doing it without the kids around, I love using my hands to create something, I love that it brings people together (family or friends) and when it tastes good it makes other people feel good too.
It gives me a purpose and connection.
What do you wish for food?
More community gardens.
What do you always have in your fridge?
Milk, yoghurt, eggs, butter.
Most treasured possession (besides kids and each other!)
My evil eye pendant necklace I bought 12 years ago. I don’t take it off!
Jack, when did you start playing music? Who were your major influences?
Janey got me guitar lessons in Grade 1 and I have played since. In high school another teacher Angelina started teaching me classical and she ran a guitar orchestra. She was a big influence.
From then on it was so many different things, surf movie soundtracks, my parent’s music, a
hard drive of music from a uni friend… Then following Babe Rainbow’s first big
US/Europe tour we came back so inspired; we are always finding new inspiration and new music to listen to.
What inspires you or drives your creativity?
Gardening keeps my creative juices flowing as they say. I like tooling around and building practical stuff either for the garden or the home. Otherwise, the beach, the deep forestand my cute children.
What did you both want to be when you grew up?
Carter: I wanted to sell lollies at a corner store
Jack: A firefighter like my uncle
Favourite place in the world?
Greece.
What is your idea of happiness?
Sun, sea, lunch, wine.
What piece of clothing/accessory/jewellery makes you feel most like yourself?
The perfect pair of pants.
Favourite piece from the new Still Life AW23 collection?
The mini dress with beads I wore!