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Naarm-based musician Jack Quigley continues his epic Upstream Trilogy with “Cairo Streets,” the groove-driven follow-up to the lead track “Dhunkasho.” Coining the term “Anarcho-pop,” Quigley uses this sprawling 27-track, four-continent project to explore what is possible when cultural borders are collapsed and collaboration is centred. The project teams 52 musicians over 4 continents with vocals spanning eight languages.
“Cairo Streets” is a dynamic fusion of jazz and funk with a distinct Egyptian flair, propelled by North African horns, open drums, and monstrous syncopation that swells with restless energy. Quigley originally composed the piece while walking the titular city. The iPhone field recordings from his Garden City window were injected directly into the mix to capture the real, endless noise of one of the world’s largest urban centers.
The recording sessions at the renowned Nour Studios brought together a remarkable lineup of Cairo’s leading and emerging talent. The track opens with Toqa El Hagrassy’s mesmerizing qanun, layered alongside Andrew Milad’s Fender Rhodes keys, Yousef Hady’s bass, Angus Leslie’s Moog synth, Ahmed Habibi’s saxophones, Hamad Nour’s percussion, and Quigley on guitar, all locked into Peter Lassy’s punchy drums.
The sessions carried a raw, edge-of-your-seat intensity from the start. Just two days before recording, drummer Peter Lassy narrowly escaped a street collision while crossing Cairo’s famously frantic traffic, brushing it off with the local humor of “it only clipped my feathers.” That adrenaline-fueled resilience bleeds into both the music and its accompanying music video, which races through hyperspeed footage of Tahrir Square.
Poignantly, “Cairo Streets” serves as a final time capsule for Nour Studio as it prepares to close its doors and go up for sale after shaping Egypt’s soundscape for over 25 years. Mixed and mastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Nick Herrera and produced by Stefano Pizzolato, the single stands as a powerful snapshot of a legendary space, capturing both timeless artistry and cutting-edge global collaboration.
Check out the colour version of the music video. Exclusive to The Partae for the rest of the week.
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Release Link: https://xelon.ffm.to/cairo-streets
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/jackquigleyupstream/
Website: https://upstreamtrilogy.com/
Some songs are designed to make you dance, while others leave a lasting emotional impression. On her latest single, “Can’t Deny,” Janalynn Castelino successfully delivers both. The multilingual singer-songwriter, producer and doctor blends infectious dance-pop production with heartfelt lyricism, creating a track that feels equally suited to the dancefloor and a late-night playlist.
Released on 26 June, “Can’t Deny” showcases Castelino’s ability to effortlessly weave English and Spanish lyrics into a polished pop production. Driven by pulsating beats, bright synths and an irresistible rhythm, the song captures the rush of falling deeply for someone while celebrating the excitement that comes with embracing those emotions.
At the centre of the record is Castelino’s expressive vocal performance. Rather than relying solely on production, she brings warmth and authenticity to every lyric, allowing the emotional narrative to unfold naturally. The bilingual approach feels genuine rather than gimmicky, reflecting her international background and artistic identity.
Following her previous crossover release, “Que Me Ha Pasado,” “Can’t Deny” continues to explore multicultural influences while leaning further into contemporary dance-pop. The memorable chorus, featuring the lines “What’s happened to me? Or, was it always meant to be?”, builds into the infectious hook, “A feeling I can’t deny,” creating the kind of refrain that lingers long after the song ends.
Born from a musical upbringing that spans Sicilian folk melodies, soul, contemporary pop and Baroque-style church music, Castelino has steadily developed a sound that crosses genres without losing its identity. Based in Los Angeles and of Italian heritage, she continues to build a catalogue that balances commercial appeal with personal storytelling. “Can’t Deny” represents another confident step in that evolution, revealing a brighter, more upbeat side of her artistry while maintaining the emotional sincerity that has become one of her trademarks.
Whether you’re discovering Janalynn Castelino for the first time or following her growing catalogue, “Can’t Deny” is a vibrant reminder that pop music can be both irresistibly catchy and emotionally authentic. It’s a confident, feel-good release that leaves listeners eager to hear what’s next from this emerging global artist.
How a Professional Event Company Elevates Your Next Celebration
There is a meaningful difference between an event that happens and an event that is remembered. The difference is rarely about budget alone. It has more to do with the intentionality brought to every decision, from the venue selection and the flow of the guest experience to the lighting that shifts the room’s mood across the evening. Whether the occasion is a milestone birthday, a corporate celebration, a product launch, or a large-scale wedding, a professional event company brings the experience and the vendor relationships to close the gap between what you imagine and what guests actually experience.
What a Professional Event Company Actually Brings
The value of working with a professional event management company is easier to understand once you break down what the expertise actually consists of.
Creative direction and concept development. Most people know what they want an event to feel like, but translating that feeling into a physical environment requires skills that combine interior design, spatial planning, brand understanding, and an awareness of what is technically achievable in different venues. A professional event company starts with a brief, asks the right questions, and develops a creative concept that gives everyone involved a shared reference point before any spending begins.
Vendor relationships and negotiation. The events industry runs on relationships, and experienced event companies have spent years building networks of reliable suppliers across catering, floristry, audiovisual production, entertainment, photography, and hire. These relationships produce better pricing, priority availability, and the kind of accountability that is harder to enforce when dealing with unfamiliar suppliers for the first time.
Logistics management. An event is a logistical operation with dozens of interdependent moving parts. The catering team needs to know when the speeches will start. The audiovisual crew needs to be briefed on the program sequence. The venue’s load-in restrictions need to be coordinated with the supplier delivery schedules. A professional event company manages these interdependencies so that the host can focus on their guests rather than their phone.
On-the-day coordination. Even a perfectly planned event encounters unexpected situations. A supplier who is running late, a weather change that requires a contingency to be activated, a technical issue with the audiovisual setup. Having an experienced event manager present and managing the operation means these situations are resolved before guests are aware they existed.
When a Professional Company Makes the Most Difference
While any event benefits from professional expertise, there are situations where the gap between DIY and professional management is most significant.
Large guest lists. Events with more than 80 to 100 guests typically cross a threshold where the complexity of managing simultaneous logistics, multiple supplier relationships, and a varied guest experience becomes genuinely difficult to handle without a dedicated team.
Events with complex technical requirements. Any event that involves a significant audiovisual production, a live entertainment component, or a venue transformation beyond standard decorating requires specialist project management. The interaction between lighting design, sound engineering, and the physical space is technical enough that errors made during setup are difficult or impossible to correct once guests arrive.
High-stakes occasions. A fortieth birthday, an anniversary celebration, a company milestone. These are events that carry emotional weight for the host and guests alike, and the cost of a substandard experience is not measured in money but in memory. Investing in professional execution for events that genuinely matter is a different calculation from the everyday spend decisions that can be made on price alone.
Cross-cultural or international events. Corporate events that involve guests from multiple countries and cultures, or social events that need to navigate different cultural expectations around food, dress, entertainment, and ceremony, benefit from an event company with relevant experience.
The team at Event Management company at Blink Experience works across corporate and social events in Dubai and the broader Middle East region, with a portfolio that spans large-scale conferences, product launches, and high-end private celebrations. A representative noted: “Clients who have tried to manage a complex event themselves almost always say the same thing afterward. They spent the entire event managing logistics instead of experiencing it. Our job is to give that experience back to them.”
Practical Steps to Getting the Most From Your Event Company
Engage early. The earlier a professional event company is involved, the more value they can add. Venue availability at popular locations closes out months in advance, and the best suppliers book quickly. Starting the brief six months out from a significant event is not too early.
Be honest about the budget. A good event company will work within a realistic budget and tell you clearly what is achievable and what is not. Vague or inflated budget conversations waste everyone’s time and produce disappointment when proposals land.
Provide as much context as possible. The event company’s creative output is only as good as the brief they receive. The more clearly the host articulates the feeling they want to create, the guest experience they want to deliver, and the logistical constraints they are working within, the better the concept that emerges.
According to a Wikipedia overview of event management as a professional discipline, the field has grown significantly in professional recognition over the past two decades, with dedicated certification pathways, professional associations, and an expanding body of practice knowledge that distinguishes experienced practitioners from generalist coordinators.
Trust the expertise. Once a brief is agreed and a concept is approved, the event company needs room to execute. Micromanaging the details of the execution undermines the professional’s ability to manage the interdependencies effectively.
A Reuters report on the global events industry noted that post-pandemic recovery in the events sector has been accompanied by significant quality upgrading, with clients investing more in professionally managed experiences as the industry returns to full capacity.
Working with a professional event company is not a luxury reserved for unlimited budgets. It is a practical decision that produces better outcomes, reduces stress for the host, and delivers an experience that guests remember.
Photo: Molly Burmeister
Melbourne alt-pop-rock artist SASHA SUMMERS today releases the music video for her sophomore single, Belladonna (This Is How You Die). Written, directed, styled and edited entirely by SUMMERS herself, the video is an extension of her core artistic philosophy: that the phrase “Written and Directed by Sasha Summers” belongs on everything she creates.
“As a film school student I find it really important that my work has my little fingerprints all over it. The phrase ‘Written and Directed by Sasha Summers’ is very important to me.”
Shot across three distinctly charged locations – a friend’s astrology and tarot space, her first ballet school, and a gothic church in Melbourne – the video leans fully into Belladonna’s dark feminine aesthetic. Occult, goth-coquette and moody, the visual world Summers has built is one she had mapped out before the first note was even recorded.
The clip’s conceptual anchor is drawn from a recurring nightmare Summers has experienced, of trying desperately to move, to get up, and being completely unable to. No matter how hard she tries, her legs won’t respond. It’s a visceral, disorienting image of powerlessness and the video transforms it into something defiant.
“The Craft walked so I could run. I have this recurring nightmare where I either can’t breathe or walk. No matter how much I try to move my legs, even dragging one leg with my hands one at a time, I can’t really move. It’s about getting back up anyway, even though you can’t walk. To take your power back one way or another. Even when everything is against you.”
A current film school student, Summers has cited David Lynch and Sofia Coppola as key visual touchstones, directors who made their own rules and left meaning open to interpretation. That same instinct drives Belladonna’s visual world. Nothing here is accidental, from the locations to the styling to the edit. Every choice belongs to her.
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ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS MELBOURNE
Live at the Gardens – 21 November, 2026
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ARGY, COLYN, LAYLA BENITEZ & PARIS JOIN ANYMA AT THE DOMAIN THIS OCTOBER
PRESENTED BY DESTINATION NSW & UNTITLED GROUP
Following its world premiere at Coachella, Anyma presents ÆDEN has revealed its Sydney lineup, with ARGY, Colyn, Layla Benitez and PARIS joining Anyma for his exclusive Australian performance at The Domain, Sydney on Saturday 17 October 2026.
Presented by Destination NSW and Untitled Group, Anyma presents ÆDEN marks the only opportunity for Australian audiences to experience the groundbreaking production in 2026 – an immersive fusion of cutting-edge visuals, technology, sound and storytelling that represents the next evolution of Anyma’s acclaimed live performances.
Joining Anyma for this landmark event are some of the most influential names in global electronic music, with performances from Argy, Colyn, Layla Benitez and PARIS. Bringing its groundbreaking audiovisual production to Sydney’s iconic Domain, ÆDEN delivers an immersive live experience unlike any other.
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Photo by Will Zhang
1300, the singular Korean-Australian unit, have dropped their esteemed debut album, ILLSAMGONGGONG via Universal Music Korea. LISTEN HERE.
More hopeful and optimistic than their dark George mixtape and a little more mature than the youthful optimism of Foreign Language, today’s ILLSAMGONGGONG – the Korean spelling of one three hundred – conceptually follows 1300’s path back to each other, rediscovering their drive after moments of dysphoria.
The clearest distillation of the group’s expression and purpose, ILLSAMGONGGONG is a representation of the emotional core at the heart of 1300 and the strength of their impact together as one. Sparked from a desire to create and yearning for like-minded individuals to make that world with, that impetus for the project thrives today with clarity and humility.
ILLSAMGONGGONG paints DALI, goyo, rako, Nerdie and pokari’s journey through brotherhood, from team to family. Steadily rebuilding their connection to each other with the renegade beats (‘Headrock’), energy (‘Home’) and surprises synonymous with the group, this debut record is 1300’s most direct boyband pivot yet and emotionally heightened throughout the thirteen tracks by their own journey of self discovery.
Equally able to soundtrack the next Maple Story, with 1300’s most overt influences coming alive on ILLSAMGONGGONG. The grandeur of K-pop sits next to classic RNB and hip hop nods – a collision of genre agnostic impulses that shows the 1300 charm in full. At one step, you’ll surrender headfirst to a drum-and-bass rave, and the next step – a Goth rock band closer – will make you double-take.
Crisp and carefully crafted with playful production at its core, ILLSAMGONGGONG puts 1300 fiercely in step with one-of-a-kind collectives as Odd Future and Brockhampton. A group that can comfortably do anything, with a firm eye on world dominion that never wavers. At the end of the day, ‘MUSIC’ best highlights why they do it. For 1300, theirs is a simple motto: “Stop being sad and shit, life’s too short not to dance.”
ILLSAMGONGGONG LP is out now, buy/stream it here.
TRACKLIST
ILLSAMGONGGONG
Headrock (feat. GIRIBOY)
Fever
wheres my money (feat. Kim Ximya)
Whistle
100 (feat. DKAY, CHANGMO)
Work
BRAVE
clear out the room
Home
party all night
MUSIC
sick
Stay connected with 1300:
23 Profile | Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Soundcloud
Photo by David Milan Kelly
Swapmeet’s anticipated debut album has landed after a whirlwind year for the Adelaide four-piece. Mount Zero is out now via Winspear following it’s placement as Feature Album on triple j this week. This weekend, the group are touring the East Coast for a series of intimate in-store performances and signings. Tickets are on sale now for their headline world tour. LISTEN / PURCHASE MOUNT ZERO HERE + BUY TIX HERE.
Mingling airy sweetness with jagged surrealism, Mount Zero transmutes so many of the regrets and uncertainties of young adulthood into a burgeoning, newfound confidence. Named after the road sign passed across many interstate drives, it would become a beacon to another portal for Swapmeet. A place they’d never visit, but indicates a shifting landscape. “It became a symbol for people we’d see but never meet. When you’re always in a different city and trying new things, there are a lot of experiences you observe but never get to fully explore,” says Maxwell Elphick.
Circling common themes: first loves, first heartbreaks, first embarrassments, first disasters – the ways that the early years of adulthood can shatter your expectations about how life is supposed to go. Mount Zero bottles the tooth-gritting intensity of feeling yourself change at the cellular level under reality’s unyielding pressures, it’s a tribute to all the lives that can never be lived, all the paths that will never be followed – and an ode to the one that lies just ahead, too.
‘I Know!’ lets precise fingerpicking buckle beneath hammer swings of bass on the giddy ‘2 C U’. ‘Halfway’ drapes its cinematic imagery and pointed witticisms in overlapping, mixed-fidelity guitar figures, while the delectably catchy ‘Bonny’ molts its suntanned skin to crescendo in a noise burst. Mount Zero caps off an unprecedented period of elevation for Swapmeet.
Since setting the year ablaze with their Winspear label signing, Swapmeet played 13 showcases in Austin and were anointed “the winner of SXSW”; their triple j-playlisted single ‘I Know!’ landed AMRAP charting on debut at #2 nationally and #1 on Rock/Metal following over a hundred rabid spins in its first week – a reaction that never let up with each new single and labelled globally as Rolling Stone’s Artist You Need To Know, Unearthed’s Feature Artist, NME’s Radar Artist, Stereogum‘s Band to Watch and Apple Music‘s Up Next artist.
Swapmeet have accumulated a staggering list of DSP editorial playlisting and cover placement worldwide, quietly matching the organic reach of their breakout ‘Ceiling Fan’ on the heels of a million streams. Theirs was also the most coveted Phoenix Central Park ballot entry to date. This all culminates in a debut world tour later this year, including Pitchfork Festival Paris and London, and dates supporting Wolf Alice at Sydney Opera House Forecourt and Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens.
Mount Zero firmly establishes the moment the Adelaide four-piece come into their own. Look through a keyhole, and you might see something on the other side of the door you can’t quite reach yet. Just as the beacon an uncanny plaque would come to represent, Swapmeet’s journey through Mount Zero attests the transformative power of that potential. See all in-store signings and tour routing info BELOW.
Mount Zero LP is out now, buy/stream it here.
TRACKLIST
I Know!
Mount Zero
Bonny
Halfway
2 C U
Seeds
Sand
Personal (Don’t Take It)
My Heart Breaks II
SWAPMEET IN-STORES
Fri 17 Jul – SoundMerch – Naarm / Melbourne
Sat 18 Jul – Music Farmers – Dharawal Land / Wollongong
Sun 19 Jul – HUM On King – Eora / Sydney
Mon 20 Jul – Abicus – Mulubinba / Newcastle
Tue 21 Jul – IMA x Glitter Records x Somersault Magazine – Meanjin / Brisbane
WORLD TOUR DATES
Fri 4 Sep – Rhino Room – tarntanya / Adelaide
Sat 5 Sep – The Lansdowne – Eora / Sydney
Fri 11 Sep – Black Bear Lodge – Meanjin / Brisbane
Fri 18 Sep – Northcote Social Club – Naarm / Melbourne
Thu 8 Oct – El Cid – Los Angeles, CA
Fri 9 Oct – Neck Of The Woods – San Francisco, CA
Sun 11 Oct – Baby Yaga – Seattle, WA
Mon 12 Oct – Polaris – Portland, OR
Wed 14 Oct – Schubas – Chicago, IL
Fri 16 Oct – Monarch Tavern – Toronto, CA
Sat 17 Oct – Toscadura – Montreal, CA
Thu 22 Oct – Baby’s All Right – New York City, NY
Fri 23 Oct – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA
Sat 24 Oct – Songbyrd Music House – Washington, DC
Fri 30 Oct – London Calling – Amsterdam, Netherlands
Sat 31 Oct – Les Nuits Botanique Weekender – Brussels, Belgium
Sun 01 Nov – Merleyn – Nijmegen, Netherlands
Mon 02 Nov – Badehaus Szimpla – Berlin, Germany
Tue 03 Nov – Yard Club – Cologne, Germany
Thu 05 Nov – Pitchfork Music Festival – Paris, France
Fri 06 Nov – The Hope & Ruin – Brighton, England
Sat 07 Nov – Pitchfork Music Festival – London, England
Wed 11 Nov – The Abbey – Manchester, England
Thu 12 Nov – Nice ‘n’ Sleazy – Glasgow, Scotland
Sat 14 Nov – The Grand Social – Dublin, Ireland
Tickets available at swapmeetband.com
Stay connected with Swapmeet:
23 Profile | Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Bandcamp | triple j Unearthed
Grammy Award-winning artist’s exclusive 2,000-cap performance takes place at one of Budapest’s most iconic UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Grammy Award-winning Black Coffee will headline an exclusive 2,000-cap open-air performance at Budapest’s UNESCO-listed Buda Castle on 14 August 2026, marking a rare opportunity to experience one of the world’s leading electronic artists in an intimate and historic setting.
Presented by BSH Events in partnership with local promoter City Takeover, the event marks BSH’s first-ever show in Hungary and continues the Croatian promoter’s reputation for creating unforgettable electronic music experiences in culturally significant locations.
Black Coffee is a global force in Afro house, having defined the sound through his acclaimed productions, headline festival performances and celebrated Ibiza residencies. His long-standing relationship with BSH has already produced several standout events, and this summer continues that legacy with his highly anticipated return to Budapest – his first performance in the city in 12 years – following his appearance at BSH Amphitheatre Pula in Croatia just two weeks earlier.
Set atop Castle Hill overlooking the Danube, Buda Castle is one of Budapest’s defining landmarks and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Perched above the Danube, Buda Castle has dominated Budapest’s skyline since the 13th century. Today, its UNESCO-listed Baroque palace provides one of Europe’s most spectacular settings for cultural events. Its dramatic architecture, panoramic views and unique atmosphere will provide a spectacular backdrop for one of the summer’s most anticipated electronic music events.
The Budapest event represents the next chapter in the ongoing collaboration between Black Coffee and BSH, following a series of successful performances together across Europe. It also marks a major milestone for BSH Events as the promoter brings its distinctive approach to destination-driven electronic music experiences to Hungary for the first time.
DHB has unveiled the cultured lineup for the fourth edition of DHB Portugal, which is back from 18th-19th September 2026 with a gorgeous beachfront location in Costa da Caparica, just south of Lisbon.
The intimate atmosphere and close knit crowd has defined previous editions of this sun-kissed two-day event and once again this year sees a carefully curated selection of international and local artists across house, Afro, organic and minimal, all against the dramatic backdrop of Portugal’s Atlantic coastline.
Opening on Friday 18th September, the programme focuses on groove-led house with performances from Brazilian star Beltran, underground favourite and acclaimed selector Carlita and UK tech house favourite Josh Baker alongside Oxhalá, Mehdi, Rafael and Rome.
Saturday 19th September shifts towards Afro, organic and minimal with pioneering cult hero Luciano, the intoxicating depths of Bedouin and Ahmed Spins leading the lineup. They are joined by Rooléh, Saraga and Portugal’s own Just Kelly for the closing day.
Following three successful editions, DHB Portugal returns in 2026 to Costa da Caparica, a lively coastal town in Almada, Portugal, famous for its 15+kms of golden sandy beaches and world-famous surfing just a 20-minute ride south of Lisbon, which makes it popular with surfers and digital nomads.
Set on those same sweeping beaches, DHB Portugal brings open-air production to a natural coastal setting for two classy days of sounds under the sun. The event comes from As We Are Events, the Lisbon-based creative agency behind a growing portfolio of large-scale music and cultural events who are shaping the Portuguese landscape.
Head to https://www.deephousebible.com/ for further information.
Tickets available at https://shotgun.live/en/events/dhb-portugal-2026
Date: 18th-19th September 2026
Location: Irmão, Costa da Caparica
A-Z
Ahmed Spins
Beltran
Bedouin
Carlita
Josh Baker
Just Kelly
Luciano
Mehdi
Ohxala
Rafael
Rome
Rooléh
Saraga
What was the first spark behind “5 Lovely Seconds”? Was there a specific feeling, memory, or visual that inspired the song before it became music?
I wanted to motivate myself to stop thinking about what others think because I came to the realisation that everything is subjective. “What is good” and “What is bad” are different for everyone. What often sells is our confidence and our own belief in what we do and who we are.
To be honest, my initial idea was to write a book. The lyrics from this song were just a small fragment of that book. The book would take too long to finish, so I thought, “Why don’t I just create a song using those ideas?” That is why this song is special to me, because it has a layered story behind its production.
The track has a very cinematic quality, almost like a scene from a film. Do you usually imagine stories or visuals when creating music, and how does that influence your production process?
I always imagine visuals when making songs. Visuals are what drive the message. For this song, I imagined a theatre or circus. I wanted to make it clear that we are all living in our own movie.
“5 Lovely Seconds” feels like it captures a fleeting moment. What does that title represent for you personally?
Exactly that: a fleeting, freeing moment. The title is a reminder that no one’s life revolves around us. Everybody is primarily focused on themselves, their own problems, and their own wins. So hopefully, the song can motivate us to enjoy our lives regardless of others.
You describe finding freedom through this cinematic world. What does creative freedom mean to you, and did this song mark a turning point in how you approach making music?
Have you ever heard of the book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F@ck? The message is exactly that. Real freedom is when you feel fully confident in yourself, when you love yourself and do not seek others’ approval. Creative freedom, for me, means being fully myself. Allowing myself to be strange.
I am not sure I had one single song that was a turning point for me. I think life is a sequence of events that can shape the creative journey. It is much more complex. However, “5 Lovely Seconds” marked my growing confidence in myself and my ideas.
Your sound blends emotion, atmosphere, and detailed production. How do you balance creating something that feels personal while still allowing listeners to bring their own experiences into it?
Usually, the way to do that is to give just enough. It is always about balance. That is the thing about feelings. When we feel something in the moment, we do not fully analyse what it is. We just catch glimpses of memories, projections, fantasies, and thoughts. It is not fully formed, even if, in the moment, it feels like it is. Music is the same.
Were there any films, artists, places, or visual experiences that influenced the mood and universe around this release?
Yes. One of my favourite movies, Fight Club, was something that was in my head during the writing process. I like how the movie is rebellious and challenges the fake image portrayed by almost everyone because of the environment we are shaped by.
When building a track like this, do you start from a melody, a sound, an emotion, or a story? Has your creative process changed over time?
I start from a thought and a feeling. Usually, most of my songs are based on emotions I have already processed. When an emotion is not fully processed, I tend to be all over the place. So usually, it starts with a thought about an emotion I experienced in the past, something that is no longer completely fresh. I am too emotional as a person, so I prefer to take time with it.
There is a sense of nostalgia and beauty within “5 Lovely Seconds.” Why do you think we are often drawn to moments that are temporary or impossible to hold onto?
Some moments make us feel good. We are all hedonistic by nature. Of course, we are drawn to moments that are temporary. But that is normal. I used to be very idealistic. To be honest, I still am. But everything in life is a moment, and every moment is temporary. We need to accept that. What I am saying is: “Own your moment.” Be in it. Do it for yourself.
What have you learned about yourself through creating this project that you didn’t expect when you first started?
I have learnt that I can create various styles of music. I have also learnt that I can deliver complex ideas, and not just concepts. Some of my music is based more on atmosphere than lyrics. It is the same as modern art: you interpret it in your own way because of the “mysterious, unfinished lyrics.”
However, the writing process is what I enjoy the most. I am a deep thinker, so I naturally express myself through thoughts. “5 Lovely Seconds” is an example of that.
Looking ahead, how do you hope listeners experience your music, and what other worlds or emotions do you want to explore next?
In general, my music has a darker feel than this song. The world I am building is based on identity, the struggles that come with it, and conflicting feelings. It is about the internal battles that no one usually talks about. When we want to go in one direction but can be pulled in a different one. When we think we need to be one version of ourselves but show the world a different one.
It is about the complex nature of humans. So I want to explore emotions of dissociation and reconnecting with yourself. I want to use surreal, chaotic, and minimalistic visuals, with a little bit of humour, to express that.
The Modern Shoe Is Ruining The Foot is a striking title. What is the idea behind it and how does it connect to the themes running through the album?
Thea: The title came from a real thing our friend said after too much time spent scrolling on his phone one night, exclaiming as he threw it across the room in disgust, “I keep getting ads that say things like the modern shoe is ruining the foot!” Sam heard that and filed it away as being a useful phrase. If you spend enough time thinking about a phrase or word, they will often end up in your art somehow. We’re not really talking about shoes, if that helps give some context for how it connects to the album’s themes.
Capturing the album live with no edits is a bold choice. What led you toward that approach and what did it demand from you as a band?
Thea: We made the record in late 2023. Part of the reason for recording live was that it’s not as time intensive as doing a bunch of overdubs. Three days in the studio was what we could afford at the time. The main reason for recording live and with no cuts, though, was to create something that could be made only by people in a room together, to resist the onslaught of messaging pushed on artists that generative AI could supposedly be a useful artistic tool. Three years on, we see how that lie has been used to consistently steal and devalue artists’ work.
The process of making the record was so special. You have to have a pretty strong foundation of trust in and support for each other to make a record in that way. Inevitably there will be takes where people make mistakes or aren’t as happy with how they played, but we were all so committed to the idea of how we wanted to make the record that we got used to sitting with and embracing the mistakes, subtleties, imperfections and quirks. We really believe in the artistic value of leaving the mistakes in.
How did the sound of Any Young Mechanic take shape through writing, rehearsal, and time on the road?
Jay: Sam was listening to a lot of Blood On The Tracks when writing this album’s batch of songs, so the open tuned acoustic guitar and formal pop structures were present from the get go. But as a band arranging our parts in the room, we infused the record with our individual tastes throughout the few months of rehearsal in 2023, introducing influences such as BCNR, Thelonious Monk and Swirlies. Seeing Big Thief on their Dragon New Warm Mountain tour, with their perfectly hewn arrangements, had a particularly big influence on how we approached sonic construction. I definitely went for a James Krivchenia inspired approach on several of the songs on Modern Shoe (especially New Place).
The album moves through a wide emotional and sonic range. Did you begin with a concept or narrative in mind, or did it emerge naturally as the songs developed?
Sam: I think narratives always emerge from collections of songs regardless of whether or not they’re intended that way. I wrote something like 15 songs between January and June 2023 and then Jay and I talked about the songs we liked best from that bunch and brought them to the band to arrange. So the 12 songs that ended up on The Modern Shoe were finalised by the time we started rehearsing and workshopping arrangements all together. No other songs were recorded or rehearsed during the sessions.
I was writing with certain structural aims and influences in mind (mainly Bob Dylan), and the record was being arranged within very specific parameters (live only recording, no electric instruments, no edits, no overdubs), so I imagine that made the album sound conceptual without it feeling like a rock opera.
Jay sequenced the album and tried a bunch of different orders until it felt right. I think that was probably the most “narrative” part of the process. It’s like editing a film. The songs are just scenes. I think I knew that I wanted to end with Atlas, Here You Are, but that was about it.
With such a distinctive instrumentation mix including upright bass, violin, banjo and electric guitar, how do you decide who leads a musical idea when arranging a song?
Thea: It’s often a bit of a pruning process. Sam brings a song to the group that’s mostly formed in terms of lyrics, chords and structure. We have a jam together to get a feel for the song, and then start to take things out. I think you feel the song re emerge through the removal of elements. As we made the record with no overdubs, we knew that we only had six possible instrumental textures available to us at any one time, so we learnt to be really selective with arrangement, when to introduce new textures and timbres, when to take them out, and ways to pair sounds for different dynamic effects. Since making The Modern Shoe, we’ve loosened up our self imposed creative restraints, experimenting with additional instruments like synth, clarinet and electric bass and guitar. The arrangement process is becoming increasingly fluid and collaborative, which is a really great place to be in as a group.
The record has been described as grounded in trust and instinct. How do you maintain openness and vulnerability within a five piece dynamic?
Allan: I think we all believe trust is one of the most important things about playing in a band. When we started rehearsing The Modern Shoe, I didn’t know everyone in the band nearly as well as I do now, but we started with a firm musical understanding because we all admired each other’s playing. You need to feel a certain level of security in the rehearsal environment to be comfortable contributing ideas.
It works the other way too. Trust affirms that whatever your personal vision of how a song should go can be improved by collaboration. We all felt comfortable surrendering control because we knew that this exchange of ideas led to a more interesting result.
As we’ve gotten to know each other better this trust has definitely deepened, and I’ve learned more and more that this process is the really rewarding thing about playing music, the risk of vulnerability in sharing musical ideas.
You had already built a strong live reputation before releasing music. How has that early touring experience shaped the evolution of these songs?
Thea: Because the recording process was finished so long ago, the album itself sits in its own kind of world. It’s a real time capsule. The songs have naturally shifted as we play them live. It can be a strange experience listening to the record now and realising you’ve gotten used to playing a part in a slightly different way. It was fantastic but also odd getting the opportunity to tour overseas before we released the songs. I think it confused audiences a bit that we didn’t have music out, but we are so grateful that a lot of people who heard those songs before they were released have stuck around to hear the record now that it’s properly out in the world.
Allan referenced influences like Richard Davis on Astral Weeks. How do individual influences come into the group without disrupting the collective identity?
Thea: The best part of being in a band is that your sound becomes a reflection of who you are individually and collectively. We don’t have too many conversations about what we want to reference specifically in terms of influences during the rehearsal and arrangement period, but you can definitely feel people’s musical identities imprint themselves on the songs as they develop. I think we’re more concerned about how we can each use our individual musicianship to best service the song and support what everyone else is playing than attempting pastiche or being overly referential. With some exceptions, of course. Sometimes referencing a motif or style of playing is a lot of fun. I try to get a bit of Warren Ellis-esque noisy violin in where I can. When we’re not rehearsing, we talk about and listen to a lot of music together. I’ve been introduced to so many artists I otherwise wouldn’t have encountered through my bandmates. It’s a privilege to get to expand each other’s musical worlds together.
The track titles on The Modern Shoe Is Ruining The Foot feel cinematic and vivid. How important is imagery and storytelling in your writing process?
Sam: Incredibly important! Imagery is the name of the game for me. Generally speaking, I don’t want things to be too obvious in my writing, so imagery is a great way of communicating a mood or event without spelling out what the listener is supposed to be feeling. A lot of the songs on this record start with me trying to describe the characteristics of a room where something significant is happening. It’s a very domestic record until Barn Burning, because to some degree that’s where I think a lot of people experience very important things. It can be hard to describe those places so they glow in your mind’s eye in the right way. I try to work off kilter images in as much as I can without making something feel wacky for the sake of it. Usually a weird detail placed sensitively makes an image feel more truthful.
To tell the truth, I try not to spend too much time on titles as long as they appropriately communicate or deliberately miscommunicate what is within a song. If a line from the chorus works as a title, there’s nothing wrong with that. If it doesn’t, there’s probably something else in the lyrics that will guide you to a title that feels right.
Now that the album is out via Warner Records and 23 Recordings, what does the next phase look like for the band creatively and practically?
Luka: We’re all hoping to just keep playing lots of shows. We get very restless. We’re currently working on some Australian dates in the next few months including Bigsound, Yours and Owls Festival and Townfolk in Castlemaine. Also some non Australia dates in October and November. Lots more shows in 2027!
The next creative phase has kind of already happened. We’ve got another album in the tank, which we’re all very excited about. Never have we had more regard for the STEREO IMAGE. We’re getting weirder, but better. Like soup that’s been simmering for much longer than necessary. Some of those songs have been live fixtures for a little while, which has been great in order to understand them more intimately. We honestly could play for two hours at this point.
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