Music Interviews | The Partae

Where are you currently based and where were you born? Currently based in the St George area of Sydney. Born and raised in south-west Sydney - Campbelltown followed by Camden. How did you first start playing the guitar/music? At 3 years old, I’d mimic my idols as well as my father who was a passionate hobby guitar player. If you asked my parents, they’d say that the only thing that came natural was my work ethic and passion to play. I’d lock myself in my room with a singles record player and try to copy my favourite riffs and guitar solos for hours on end. Eventually, my father began to nurture my passion by creating practice routines that ultimately put me on the path of being the guitarist I am today. What's been happening recently? My focus has been divided amongst a few exciting things - completing my album, filming an episode of Australian Story, booking a tour as well as spending time connecting with the world on a new platform - Twitch. Your new single 'Before You Check Out' is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? The vocals set the tone for the song. With the lyric being deep and at times confronting, I wanted the production to align a little more with the positive aspects of the message. I did this by keeping the tempo fairly up, and choosing appropriate instrumentation. Fingered acoustic, retro slide guitar, light percussion. On the flip side, I used 70’s influenced slide and trumpet to trigger “happy sad” emotions. Depth was achieved through big velvety keys, sub bass and piano from the bridge onwards. It was really important to me that the track stretched beyond simple folk production. How did you go about writing Before You Check Out? I wrote BYCO after attending a cousin’s funeral who sadly lost his battle with depression/anxiety. Having recently dealt with my own demons that resembled his, I identified strongly with what he went through and understood why he made such a permanent decision. One morning I woke up rattled with regret that I hadn’t reached out to him earlier and began to query myself on what wisdoms I would have shared. My life transformed for the better when I learnt how our thoughts and beliefs colourise our experience. When we aren’t aware of this, we can be misguided on what the source of suffering truly is. The chorus lines instantly came to mind - Before you check out, before you give in, just know you’re checking out of a place you’ve never been. Ironically, I wrote the rest of the song whilst sitting in front of a sunset that was right in front of me, yet too lost in thought to notice. And you’ve got a new album due out August 6 too, you sure have been busy! Where and when did you record/produce and who did you work with? Too busy!!! Ha! I’m looking forward to having my weekends back. The first 5 tracks were produced by myself, co-produced and mixed by Tony Buchen (Montaigne, Mansionair) with half of the recordings engineered at Free Energy Device by Richie B. I decided to take on the rest of the tracks by myself with help from the ears of friends to keep me from falling down unproductive rabbit holes! ;) How did you approach the recording/production? Many of these songs were written when I wasn’t intending to return to music. The demos were created over time purely from a place of catharsis. For most tracks, the aim was to do better versions of the demo and in some situations, we reverted back to takes used in the roughs! Influences were sub-conscious with flavours and styles forming organically with time. All songs bar one were chosen unanimously by myself and team. Let’s just say that if everyone around you passionately protests against the removal of a song -Listen! Fortunately, I did and with some love, it’s now close to one of my favourites. What programs/instruments did you use? Pro Tools for recording and mixing. Guitars, bass, real drums, sample drums, brass, keys, piano, vocals. You've also made an amazing video to accompany the single, how did the concept for the video come about? Synchronicity! I wasn’t intending on releasing a film clip with this song. Cornered by my team, the pressure was on to create a clip in 3 days. I had to come up with a simple idea that cost no more than $500 and remembered that I always wanted to do a clip with a projector. With the song being about how projections of the past can colourise our experience, I felt like the idea would make sense both visually and conceptually. Where and when did you film and who did you work with? I directed and edited myself with help from a DOP friend Andre Moonen who created the film clip for my song “Castles In The Sky”. Projector footage was archival from myself and 2 mates - Sean Boyd who did some work on a mindfulness clip I created some time ago for my vlog and a travel vlogger friend who had footage that took the visuals from being appropriate to also having a narrative. What did you find most challenging and rewarding during the creation of the video? Most challenging - committing to a deadline when I know little about film clips and had zero experience working with a projector! Most rewarding was when we realised we had a clip that didn’t just aesthetically suit the song, but had an underlying narrative that helped to amplify the message. Who are you listening to at the moment? Broken Bells, Lana Del Ray, Khruangbin, Tame Impala, Father John Misty, Ry Cooder, Ennio Morricone ;) What do you like to do away from music? Go for hikes, take in beautiful views, enjoy all the simple things with my kids, TV series binging, surfing, training You'll be featured on Australian Story in early August, can you give us a clue as to what we can expect? I can definitely guarantee that I’ll be seeing it for the first time when a million others see it! I believe it showcases my experiences as a child touring the world, battling Leukaemia and later in life how I came to get back in touch with myself and my art after dealing with relatable adversities. You have a massive Australian tour coming that's kicking off in October followed by Bluesfest in 2021, what do you have in store for these shows? Contrast to how I grew up playing on stage, these shows will see me play songs and tell stories as a hybrid duo (2 guitars, sampler and at times, a trumpet player). As a kid, I just wanted to play music but these days I enjoy telling a story. Whether it’s about how music helped the healing process when I was sick as a kid to not knowing who Jimmy Page was when he asked me to sign a CD for him. I’m also very open about my struggles and feats with the hope of inspiring. How do you prepare for shows and what do you most enjoy about playing live? That’s something I’m still working on. At the moment, after getting comfortable at sound check, I might have a nap followed by some sort of walking meditation to get my mind and body in sync. If nerves run too hot, I have mental “anchors” to help keep me grounded that are used while I shake out my body. The moment I open my eyes after losing myself to realise that everyone was right there with me. It’s a connection that I’ve never felt off stage. To have so many different walks of life come together over a song or a story is pretty fucking special. Post-show bliss is pretty amazing too! Any tips for aspiring musicians? Know why you play and never lose sight of it. For me, one half of the purpose is self-expression and catharsis but equally as important is connection. This means that I not only need to ensure that I’m expressing myself in an authentic way, but the way in which I do this needs to translate! Otherwise, I’ve only satisfied one half of my purpose. Favourite food and place to hangout? Pizza! Fucking DF/GF so I haven’t had it in years :( Takeaways on the beach.

Delivered, Live Presents: Discovered Live

Where are you currently based? I'm currently based in Melbourne, Australia. How did you first start playing music? I started playing guitar when I was super young so that has always been my go to and saviour. Throughout high school I then played in a few different bands and once I finished, I started touring the country so it all evolved from there! What's been happening recently? I've been tucked away making the most of this funny time, working on more new music and staying as productive as can be. You have created a new reimagined version of your single 'Fall Down' how and why did this come about? After Fall Down came out on April 23rd I dropped a music video, behind the scenes video of how this was put together and after that I released a LIVE performance video of the track to give my listeners an insight into what my shows will look like! As the original is quite upbeat and boppy I wanted to show off the song in its most raw and emotional form. Please describe the process that you went through: I started by jamming the track out with me and my guitar, figured out the arrangement and took it to the coolest looking roller rink in town - the rest was history. Please tell us why it's important to you that artists put out proper live performances that expose the artist in their true form, especially in this current COVID19 period: I think it's important for artists to be putting out live performances that expose them in their truest colours. (Especially in this time when proper live shows have been taken away from us.) I think it's a lot easier these days to hide behind clean cut production than ever before and nothing can match or be exactly re-created in a live performance setting - it's going to be different every time and that's the beauty of it. What do you like to do away from music? I love training, fitness, sport - anything that gets me outside and pushes me physically! So great to keep my head in check. Who are you listening to at the moment? Getting a workout at the moment is Lauv's new 'Without You' EP, a heap of Machine Gun Kelly & the new Bring Me The Horizon track 'Parasite Eve' - it SLAMS! What are you working on currently? I've been working away on my live set behind the scenes as well as planning and putting together a pretty special music video for my next single that will be filmed in a few weeks time! What's planned for 2020? At this stage i'm aiming to have a couple more tracks out before the year is done and ideally be back on the touring circuit depending on how everything goes live music wise! Favourite food and place to hangout? A tricky one! I think right now my favourite food is from a Vietnamese restaurant called Typhoon in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne - incredible. As far as places to hangout, I’ve always felt right at home near the ocean. So I love doing any sort of activity where I'm close to or in view of the water. I think good company comes before location though so I could literally be anywhere in the world and be super happy with my best mates around me. http://lakelend.com.au

Normal Average People Interview

Where are you currently based and how did you wind up there? I’m currently based in the central highlands of Bali, Indonesia. The waves initially brought me here, I landed a 6 month surf coaching job just as the English winter was about to begin in 2010. It’s been my home base ever since. How did you first start playing music and singing? My dad taught me guitar at age 11 but a had piano lessons since I was 6. He and my mum were big Beatles fans and he would teach me a lot of their songs. I especially remember learning blackbird in the garden along with my brother - this was my first intro to fingerpicking. I overcame the ‘singing whilst playing conundrum’ pretty quickly somehow, so I was blessed in that sense, I learnt a bunch of songs from tablature from the internet and from my dads books ranging from Black Sabbath to Van Morrison. My first live song performance was at a friends living room and we only played one song, Daytripper! How have you been dealing with the current COVID19 situation? It’s a shocking time and I’m doing my best to stay positive. I’ve been keeping busy inside recording, I have an album of songs ready to get down and my plan is to release them as singles as I go. I’ve also been getting into some gardening that I’ve been wanting to do for a while but never made the time - it’s nice to do something different and give my ears a break for a day or two. I really like the idea of growing your own food and being self sufficient, plus it feels great to be out in nature. It’s super easy to do in the tropics because everything grows so fast. You have a new single 'Lucky Kid' out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? Lucky Kid is a kind of postcard to myself. A reminder of where I’ve come from and what I’ve got to be grateful for. It came to me one day out of nowhere and I wrote the whole thing at the kitchen table in one sitting, which is super rare for me. I always have this nostalgic feeling when I play the song live and I wanted to capture that when it came to recording, which meant performance was key, so there weren’t many takes and it all came together quite quickly. How did you go about writing Lucky Kid? It was this rare moment where everything happened at once. I was hanging around downstairs with my acoustic guitar drinking tea and thinking of England and how I got to where I was, just playing around with a few chords and all of a sudden the verse melody came to me and I just started writing out what came into my head. How and when did you record/produce Lucky Kid and what programs equipment did you use? I recorded and released Lucky Kid in April 2020. I have a little wooden bungalow next to my house that I use as a studio. It’s helpful to have all my gear and instruments set up so I can just go in when I feel like it. I use an Apogee Duet as my audio interface and Logic X. My go to mic is the Rode NT1a, I also use other condensers and dynamics for different purposes. I started by laying down a scratch guitar and vocal and making sure the tempo is right, then add a live performance of my kick and tambourine and make sure it’s in time. Then once the song is mapped properly I can comfortably go for a real guitar take, then vocals/harmonica and slide guitars and light percussion were added after. How did you learn how to record/produce? I’ve always been messing around with recording since I was a kid and I used this Tascam 4 track that was my brothers, but never had any formal training. I schooled myself from copious YouTube videos and blogs and just learnt what I needed to know as I went along - a kind of trial and error approach. By no means am I a pro but I know what I want the song to sound like and I’m now proficient in the various parts of the process to get a decent version down. Please tell us about how you came to send the mix to a guy in Amsterdam that he ran through his Ampex Analogtape machine, how did this come about and how did the process effect the track? I sent the mix of Lucky Kid to a friend and we were discussing tape vs digital sound. We started riffing about sending digital mixes through a tape machine to see what it would sound like. I was curious to do an experiment, so after some googling I found this guy in Amsterdam at Lullabye Studios who had an Ampex Tape Machine from the 60’s. So I flipped him the mix and he put it through in various speeds and saturation and sent back 4 different versions. I could really tell the difference, the guitar and vocal and percussion seemed more present to me. I chose the 15IPS setting with normal saturation, It just sounded more full, thicker and clean. Some of the other variations sounded cool but at 7.5IPS with higher saturation it just sounded too gritty for this acoustic song. It was amazing really to be able to do this process remotely. It doesn’t beat actually recording everything to tape of course, but you can get a little bit of that analog colour on your mix for a small price, and I’m stoked with how it turned out. I’ll definitely be doing this with more of my recordings. Where, when and how did you master Lucky Kid? So I received the mix after it had gone through the tape machine and I mastered it myself here at home. The process it quite simple really, you are in essence just making the track louder and balanced. I usually just do a bit of EQ, light compression and make sure the loudness meets the optimised standard for streaming platforms like Spotify etc. What did you find most challenging and rewarding through the process? I normally have a hard time getting my acoustic guitar to sound good, it’s often quite boomy and involves heavy EQ in the mix, but I played around with some unusual microphone placements and found a spot near my strumming elbow that required almost no EQ whatsoever. I think mic placement is super important and it’s something I’ve overlooked previously. Where can we listen/buy? Go over to Spotify, Apple Music or any music platform to listen to Lucky Kid. Its available to purchase on iTunes and Bandcamp too. Who are you listening to at the moment? I’ve been listening to the Beatles recordings a lot at the moment, they are just fantastic and always inspire me to get into the studio. Been getting into some Dr Dog, Phil Cook and Hiss Golden Messenger to name a few. What do you like to do away from music? I really like to travel so I try and go somewhere new each year. I feel like it’s important to go somewhere so I can come back with new ideas and experiences that can weave their way into the music. Favourite food and place to hangout? My girlfriend and I have been trying out new recipes and there’s lot of yum food coming out of our kitchen right now. And since I decided to be vegetarian 2 years ago it’s opened my eyes to a whole new world of dishes, hence to say I’ve never looked back. So, actually here at home is my favourite place to eat and hang out right now, and it’s the safest! Plus all my dogs are here too, they love that I’m home so much. www.andysixstring.com @andysixstring instagram https://www.instagram.com/andysixstring/ @andysixstring_ twitter https://twitter.com/andysixstring_ Andysixstring Facebook https://facebook.com/andysixstring/

$How did you first start creating music? I don’t have a musical background and was generally discouraged in this regard growing up. I got to point in my life where I simply had too much bottled up inside myself and had to find a medium through which to get it out. Rap seemed like the genre with the easiest entry level and I set myself the goal of creating a mixtape. I learned as I went, approaching and overcoming obstacles such as not being able to sing, and not having any references of someone creating contemporary rap with an Australian accent. I haven’t stopped since, and I now think the lack of musical training is actually an asset forcing me to be more creative with how I approach my work. Your latest single 'Dirt On the Name of Steven’ is out now, what influenced the punk trap sound for this track? The song itself is nostalgic, looking back at a period of time I am now distant from and comparing it to where I stand today. The Emo/Pop Punk instrumentation by Lil Aaron is reminiscent of the music I listened to in the years during the events expressed in the song’s lyrics. You have an EP on the way, what different creative elements do you have in store for us? After the release of my EP I’m going to be focusing on finalising my book. It will be a collection of my ritual photography as well as a snapshot of my personal philosophy as it is in this moment. But before then I have my most ambitious videoclip yet planned for the first song on the EP, it’s my most favourite song on the EP “Lava”. I don’t want to give it away, but I think it should make people smile, we all need a little bit of escapism right about now. How has The Zheani Sparkes EP progressed or differed from your previous releases? I think I approached it with a slightly tighter concept than other projects. I aimed to provide context about my past and give people more insight into the background that shaped me. It came out extremely grim so at the very end I sprinkled a bit of positivity like adding sweetener to medicine. What did you find most challenging/rewarding during the creation of the EP? Most of what I speak about on the EP is deeply embarrassing. These are memories I tried very hard to suppress and forget. Making music out of these memories is like alchemy, I take something terrible and make art out of it. Then the memory is out there for everyone to experience and I am no longer as ashamed. Transmutation. I hope this process will allow me to finally leave all that baggage behind, rather than having darkness hidden inside, I want it out of me. I genuinely want to be a happy person. I hope the reward for my transparency will be getting to move on. What direction can you see your music taking next? I want to take a moment and work on some more light-hearted music. However, I’m also considering taking some time to myself in preparation for working on my first album. Technically I’ve released an album-length project, but I’ve never approached them as such. What are you listening to at the moment? City Morgue, Grimes, Nicole Dollanganger, Aphex Twin, Young Thug, Bright Eyes, Tracey Chapman, Neil Young, 100 Gecs. What do you like to do away from music? Cooking, gardening, audio books, stretching/laying horizontal… Waifu Shit. What else do you have planned for 2020? It all depends on when they let us out of the country ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The Zheani Sparkes EP is out on May 29. Stream the latest single ‘Dirt On The Name Of Steven’ here. Follow Zheani: @askulloffoxes facebook.com/zheanisparkes twitter.com/askulloffoxes zheani.com$

ZHEANI Interview

What is your name and role within Dadub? Daniele Antezza: Post-shamanistic deconstructed recursions Marco Donnarumma: Infinite old school dub resampling via metamorphic anime sagas. Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? We’re atm both Berlin based, and as you might guess there’s pretty much everything your taste could be hungry of. How did you first start playing music? We were both playing in bands since we were kids, since then our interest in music creation has grown exponentially. You just do it, really. There isn’t any particular reason. What's been happening recently? A massive pandemic which is making pretty clear how the neoliberal system we live in is totally inadequate in terms of sustainability and prone to exploitation of everything that lives (or not). Besides the full dystopia we’re going through, we’re doing our best to keep on and to feed Dadub. And more dystopia, of course. Please tell us about your up coming EP, influences, where you recorded, who with..? The EP is the result of a really long process. The influences are too many to be listed, but include artists in Dub, Metal, Trap and ritualistic music. These are tracks we have been composing, mixing and remixing several times throughout a few years. What’s interesting about the EP is that it marked our loving relationship with metal distortions and their insane richness when plugged in dub feedback systems. You've also had a recent line up change, how and why did this come about? That happened about three, four years ago. Daniele and Giovanni did amazing work together and then came the time for each of them to take different directions. Since a few years now Daniele and Marco have joined forces to bring the Dadub sound beyond its comfort zone and explore new sonic territories. What's planned for the April 9th launch at Tresor with SCORN!? Well, we were very excited about this, Scorn is a hero. Unfortunately, as everyone knows, at the moment all public events are blocked due to the COVID-19 Emergency. We truly hope the show can happen some time in the near future. What do you think about the current state of world affairs and how is it effecting you and your music? It’s a dangerous times, especially for people living precarious lives. Life in capitalistic societies is going to change for good. We don’t think anything right now, other than caring for our loved ones. It’s very important that people worldwide do not take this pandemic lightly. We recommend to read less news and more science. Virologists have the most useful things to say these days. What do you like to do away from music? Have mystical experiences through combinations of vapors and fluids. Read books. Loads of ‘em. Who are you listening to at the moment? Scorn. Empress Sativa. Blasphemer. Daighila. Griselda Records. Mønic. Ena. Swarmm. Lemna. Death Qualia. What's planned for 2020? We had shows and other public outings which at least for now are obviously not happening any more. So we will try our best to convey frustration, desperation and perhaps hope into new music fitting these times. Favourite food and place to hangout? Dadub Studio with homemade Parmigiana. www.instagram.com/dadub.music/ www.facebook.com/DADUB/ www.eternal-midnight.net/ machine.myportfolio.com/ www.ohmresistance.net

Dadub Interview

Where are you currently based? I have recently relocated to Melbourne, AUS How did you first start playing music? My skills began back when I was around 12 years old. While learning to edit videos In spare time... I became obsessed with music production. How has your COVID19 experience been to date? Weirdly good. I’ve been able to work intensely on myself outside of the music. Being able to read, learn and practise more skills and ideas has been great. Wishing it were better circumstances but where there is a crisis there is an opportunity. Your Sophmore album is dropping on the 29th of May 2020, you've just released the single 'Level With Me' what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? I wanted to make some more upbeat and fun to counteract the weird times that are happening around the globe. The idea behind it came from the majority of the world being put in the same position. How did you go about writing Level With Me? Started like most of my songs with me writing some chords and putting sounds together. Just after that, the body started to take place. I Wrote the lyrics then had to sit back and take another look. I ended up making a new beat behind and kept the lyrics and melodies. Where and when did you record/produce and who with? I produced this record in 2019 by myself in my apartment. Production, Lyrics Mix and master. What programs/instruments did you use? I produce my music in Ableton Live What did you find most rewarding/challenging during the process of creating Level With Me? Trying to figure out the correct way to structure and build the record. I actually had to call an Aria award-winning buddy of mine ‘Illy’ to get a second opinion. Where can we listen? Spotify, Apple, Tidal, Youtube and Soundcloud. Who are you listening to at the moment? Im diving deep into the electronic scapes of Max Cooper and Floating Points. What do you like to do away from music? I like to read, study and practice psychology specifically in the mental health field. What's planned for 2020? MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC. Favourite food and place to hangout? Get me with them burgers! Youll catch me hanging at a cafe probably drinking coffee. FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER

KUREN Interview

Where are you currently based? We are currently based in Sydney, Australia. How did you first start playing music? We started playing music when we were very young and have been singing since before we could talk! We’re sisters, so we grew up in the same house together & have been singing and writing songs both individually and together since we were kids! Music has always been a massive part of our family & has always filled our home - our late grandfather was very musical and so is our dad, so a passion and love for music has definitely been passed down from generation to generation. What's been happening recently? Recently, we’ve been working really hard on the release of our new single “Tunnel Vision”. We’ve got some really exciting things planned (including a music video), so stay tuned! We’ve also been creating a lot of new content for our YouTube channel. We’ve had so much fun covering songs by some amazing Australian artists lately, including Dylan Joel and Amy Shark! We’ve also been doing some live performances through Facebook and Instagram to spread some fun and positivity in these really difficult times. Your new single Tunnel Vision is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? Lyrically, the songwriting was influenced by several real life situations. We wanted to explore the idea that people can choose to “see" you when it suits them (for example, when they want something from you, or want to share in your success). After they’ve gotten what they want, they lose interest and you quickly become “invisible" to them. Unfortunately we’ve experienced this a fair few times in our lives and we’re sure a lot of other people have too!! The storyline of the song explores a common situation we’ve all experienced at some point in our lives - when you’re out in public and someone you know ignores you on purpose - but the message of the song is much deeper: to always approach people with a genuine heart and genuine intentions. The sound for Tunnel Vision was heavily influenced by the lyrics! We always like to tell the story of a song through it’s melody and production and not just with our words! For example, we layered our vocals and added a lot of echo, so it feels like you’re actually standing in a tunnel with our voices echoing all around you! If you listen closely, you’ll hear so many more amazing sound samples (some of which we actually created ourselves) strategically placed throughout to help create an immersive, three-dimensional experience. It’s a really fun and playful song to contrast with the more serious meaning behind it. Stream “Tunnel Vision” here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/likeangels/tunnel-vision How did you go about writing Tunnel Vision? We got home one afternoon, sat at the piano and wrote the song! The lyrics actually came pretty easily and we wrote it quite quickly. It’s really cool writing together because we both get different ideas and see things from different perspectives, which can help to take a song to the next level. Two days later, we actually already had a studio session booked in where we showed it to our producer Phil, refined it a little and started to record! Where and when did you record and who with? We spent a lot of our time last year recording in a Sydney based studio with Philippe-Marc Anquetil. He is amazing & so fun to work with!!! He’s taught us so much about recording and really helped us develop as artists. We have so much love and respect for him. What programs/instruments did you use? We used quite a few different programs and instruments. We began the song with some simple piano and built the track up from there. We actually made a few of the sound samples in the song ourselves!! You can hear a cat “meow” during some sections of the song, which we recorded into the mic & then layered with harmonies. We also made a submarine “sonar pinging sound”. We recorded a friend of ours speaking in a funny high pitched voice (on our phone!) & then cut it and put some vocal effects on it in the studio to create that high pitched beeping sound you hear in the chorus. We love to make our own sound samples wherever possible!! Your previous single rain has had great success, what do you attribute to the success of Rain? Our debut single “Rain.” is actually a fundraiser song. We released the single last year in December and are donating 100% of proceeds to Australian fire and drought relief organisations. Literally by listening and streaming the song, you are donating to these important causes, so it’s a pretty special song to us!! The song itself, is very emotional and we are honestly overwhelmed and so grateful by the amount of support it has received and continues to received! The song was inspired by the misconception that sad emotions (often characterised by tears or crying) are negative or “bad”. We wanted the song to be a reminder about the importance of balance - just as rain and sunshine are equally important in nature, so are happy and sad emotions in human beings. We have received so many kind messages from people saying how the song has impacted them emotionally, how they are playing it on repeat and many saying it even brought them to tears! We always set out to write lyrics that connect with people, but to hear that our song “Rain.” actually brought people to tears was surreal. We made a whole series about the song on our Youtube Channel, to give a more in depth account on why and how we wrote the song and it’s important message, which you can check out here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP9bNfLm7oKB5oI0qPfeTAz6i2N8cI2WZ Stream Rain. here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/likeangels/rain What advice would you give to aspiring musicians? Keep working on your craft and technique. Be aware that this is a marathon, not a sprint; and often feels like a rollercoaster - there are emotional highs and lows and it can change so quickly from one to the other and back again! Look for opportunities; and recognise opportunities (sometimes they are not obvious!). Start your social media accounts (on as many platforms as you can) as soon as you can - this is the new day and age we live in!! Be genuinely kind and respectful to people - no one wants to work with someone who is disrespectful or full of them self. Be willing and prepared to learn new things & be open to feedback from people who have more experience than you and have your best interests at heart! Work hard, but make sure you have fun & enjoy the process as much as you can!! And always remember why you started - this is what will drive you and keep you going through the tough times!! Who are you listening to at the moment? We love listening to songs that don’t just sound good, but are also really well written! At the moment we’ve been listening to a lot of NF - he’s an amazing artist, his ability to write powerful lyrics is so inspirational and his songs sound amazing! We also really love listening to songs written by Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic - he’s an amazing songwriter and an inspiration to us as songwriters! We listen to a lot of different types of music, so we recently made a Like Angels Spotify Playlist called “GET TO KNOW US” so we can share all of the songs we’ve currently got on repeat!! And we’re always updating it! Listen to our “GET TO KNOW US” playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3UakohUYLL0v6LwSgC4QLt?si=NWlUX1F1QWG3ukqLOmdsRg What do you like to do away from music? We love relaxing and spending time with family. Life gets super busy, so having time with family is very important to us! We also love keeping fit by doing CrossFit! It’s so much fun and challenges you both physically and mentally. What's planned for 2020? We’ve got a lot of new music ready for release!! We honestly can’t wait to share it with everyone! We always encourage people to stay up to date with our social media accounts, as we are always posting little hints and teasers about what’s coming next!! We also normally do a lot of live gigs, so hopefully when things settle down with the current coronavirus situation & when it’s safe to do so, we’ll be back out playing more live music! Favourite food and place to hangout? We love all different types of food haha, so it’s too hard to pick a favourite! But our fave hang out is easy!! Definitely ‘Burger Frank’ in Camden!! They serve amazing food, source their produce from local farmers and even make a lot of their ingredients from scratch! The staff are all so lovely!! And the place has such a chill relaxing vibe. If we’ve had a really busy week, a stressful day or just wanna hang out, it’s definitely our “go to” spot to relax and enjoy some amazing food!! Stream "Tunnel Vision" here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/likeangels/tunnel-vision Our Socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearelikeangels/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/likeangels/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@likeangels/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearelikeangels/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/wearelikeangels/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3DBzfAswmcKmc9VctvZPwk?si=dYas8ETUTcC99rj_kasMIw Our Website: http://www.likeangels.com.au/

Like Angels Interview

Sophie Castriota Interview

Where are you currently based? I am currently based out in Boronia in VIC. I’m sure you haven’t heard of it, for some reason no one knows where it is, haha. For a little context, I’m near Mount Dandenong and I am lucky enough to live with my Mama. How did you first start playing music? Honestly for as long as I can remember I’ve been singing, even as a child I would sing all the time. I guess I really started learning music properly when I started high school - I had singing lessons and trumpet lessons, I was that kid that was in alllll the school bands (so lame I know). But it really gave me so much confidence, I was that scared shy little kid when I started, but by the end of high school I was the crazy confident one. Your new single 'Do You Wanna' is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting? Ok, I love how this song came about, do I have a story for you. I started writing 'Do You Wanna' when I was taking a shower. I was listening to Jill Scott, when this melody just came into my head. I ran out to my piano butt naked for all the world to see, still dripping with water and wrote the song there and then. The song is about asking for consent from your partner, in the sexiest way you can. It's like a whisper in your ear that worms it's way into your head and stays there until you only have question left to answer, 'Do You Wanna'? I have to say that at the time it was Jill Scott, D’Angelo and Erykah Badu that influenced this whole track for sure. At the time I was completely obssed with their first albums, lets be honest I still am. So I wanted to create something that gave me that 90’s neo-soul vibe. Where and when did you record, and who with? How did you approach the recording/production and who did you work with? Oh man I have recorded this song in 3 separate places and over the last 2 years, because life haha. I started off with Julian Steel, who laid down the groove and most of the rhythm section as his home studio, then I went to Michael Cooper and we refined the track and added a lot of the extra sounds and synth deliciousness in the background, and finally I recorded all the vocals with my first producer Rino in his bedroom. Shout out to Bailey Judd for the second guitar part and Jordan Pereira for drums! Julian, Michael and Rino are some of Melbourne’s best young soul producers. When I was approaching this track I took inspiration from ‘cruisin’, the D’Angelo version that is, as well as a bit of Prince’s ‘Kiss’. Who are you listening to at the moment? I am fully obsessed with India.Arie, Pj Morton, Jamiroquai and Billie Eilish right now. I love old an school groove, soul, R&B and disco/funk music and its most of what I listen to during the day! There’s just so much life to it, and then there’s Billie haha, she's there when I am feeling down which I can say is happening a lot these days with Isolation in play. Which artists influences your music? That’s a big question, isn’t it. I think if I had to say one person, it would be Stevie Wonder. I truly think what he creates with is music is next level. He’s so smart in his song writing, and then the control of his voice is just next level you know. Outside of that I think as well, D’Angelo, Jill Scott, Jamiroquai and Motown as a genre as well. There was a time when all I would listen to was Motown artists. What do you like to do away from music? I love to exercise; yoga, gym, walking and hiking. Moving my body just makes me feel so energised and connected. I also love food (cooking and eating), I mean who doesn’t love eating! But I will go to some very expensive restaurants with my mother just to try the food because I’ve heard it’s good. I go with my mum because none of my friends can afford it, and if I'm honest, neither can I haha, thanks mum. What inspired the artwork for the single? I was fully inspired by George Costanza from the episode ‘The Package’. I took full inspiration and artistic direction from the 'Timeless Art of Seduction' section of the episode, and I think it just gives the song so much context. I’m not trying to take myself to seriously, I just want to be a bit tongue-and-cheek you know. Without a doubt, it was definitely the most fun I have had on a photoshoot. You were raised in Guyana and are now Melbourne based, please tell us about cultural differences: I mean that’s a hard one, I left when I was a kid so I have this mix of Aussie and Guyanese things in my life. It was such a different life there though, everything is so much more relaxed. We had a cleaner, Nanny and cook, we used to go out into the jungle on a regular basis which as a child I'm sure you can imagine is so cool. We lived right near the botanical gardens and there were manatees living in the water, I kid you not! We used to feed them grass by the side of the water, its one of my most cherished memories of back home. Guyana is a really poor country, a developing nation, so we didn’t have a lot of stuff - like on TV at the end of the day they used to broadcast about the deaths, births and marriages for that day, which is wild to me to think about now. At Christmas we always have pepper pot, which is this black stew that you cook for two weeks to mak,e and Garlic pork which you pickle in a mix of brine, vinegar, thyme, rosemary, chilli and garlic and then shallow fry in oil. It’s delicious and also takes about a month to make. I’ve lost my Caribbean accent which is really sad (mum still has hers and my friends love it), but I have a weird Aussie/American accent now that people seem to really like. I don’t know if I really answered your question, but I could go on for hours about home so I might just leave it there haha. Please describe your experience as a queer artist in Melbourne, Australia: I feel very isolated with that right now, I haven’t found my people yet. I know some queer artists but I have yet to really find where I belong in that space. I think it’s because I am generally not a big partier, I like to be in bed by 10 most nights, so getting out to a club on a Saturday night is a struggle for me, which my friends can attest to. There’s also very few of us I feel, even though I know some of us, we’re such a minority that I feel lost somedays. That sounds so sad, it’s not actually that bad. What's planned for 2020? I did have a plan to do a tour at the end of the year, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen now. But I am planning on releasing my second EP and some singles later in the year especially with all the time we have now. So get ready for some new music! Favourite food and place to hangout? Thai food and chocolate, I could eat them allllllll day. My fav place to hang out is at one of my friends homes for sure, doesn’t matter who, just good company and food of course! Website: https://campsite.bio/thorne_music Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thornemusics/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thorne_music/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC019k5uWUJ0Bj_kfgpWM3Jg Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thornemusics Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5g7XCHE8RbpD6YXt9TNiS3

Thorne Interview

Boo Seeka Interview

Where are you currently based? I'm currently living in an attic in Redfern, Sydney. I'm originally from Bundaberg QLD, then I lived in Ireland for a few years, returned to Australia and moved to Sydney. Your new single ILy Alley is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? Alley, the original RACKETT bass player and BFF influenced the narrative and the sound was influenced by Gold Frapp. My friend and producer Dave Hammer has worked with RACKETT from the start of this journey, producing my first single BATS in 2017. Dave came to me with an idea for a song that's meaning was a double entendre, one being a street alley, a metaphor for choosing the path of love and the other one being about my friendship with Alley and everything we've been through as friends and band wives. The piano, melody and lyrics were the foundation for the song, then Dave worked his magic touch on production. How did you go about writing Ily Alley? Dave started with the chorus 'mumma to a bubba, bubba to the universe, go wonder madly', from there, he created the piano part and we workshopped the verses. It was an emotional process, each time Dave would add something to it and I'd hear it, I would cry. The production on the track is so beautiful. Where and when did you record/produce? We recorded the song as part of an eight-track collection on RKT2.0 music, recorded and produced in Sydney across several studios. I've shared Machinations, Oxytoxic and now ILY Alley from that collection and have more to share over the coming months. How did the concept for the film clip come about? The video is a visual representation of what I see in my head when I listen to ILY Alley. All those memories come flooding back and I wanted to see if I could find physical copies of these moments. I searched everywhere, on broken hard drives, camcorder cards, Instagram, Youtube, to collect all these memories captured by me, friends and fans at shows. Once I had collected all the footage, I cut it together to reflect the way I experience it, chronologically, from when we lived together in a decrepit mansion as a band, through to the moment in the studio we found out Alley was pregnant and the arrival of baby Billy. What did you find most challenging and rewarding during the creation of the film clip? The most challenging part was feeling regret. That's hard to admit because I love my new music so much and it's not a reflection of regretting where I am now, but more regret for the friendships I've lost along the way. The most rewarding part is looking at all the insane creative concepts we brought to life from dressing up in space suits to shaving my head live on stage and all the hard work that went into constantly touring and releasing music. Who are you listening to at the moment? Right now I'm listening to A$AP Rocky, 070 Shake, Charli XCX and Tina Turner. I like to listen to 80s ballads just to see if I can sing along and hit those high notes like Whitney Houston. At night when the city is empty, I like to climb this hill in a park near my house that overloads a driving range and the whole city and blast A$AP rocky. What do you like to do away from music? To be honest there isn't much of my life that doesn't revolve around music, aside from sleeping and even then most of my dreams are of me talking to Miley Cyrus about music. If I'm not writing or performing myself, I'm working on a new TV show that's about music. You're producing the new Loud n Queer TV show, please tell us more: Loud N Queer TV is aired every Friday night at 8PM on Heaps Gay Facebook. It's a digital replica of my favourite night out; live music and drag queens, with performances by artists from all around the world and guest appearances in the studio. The show is an opportunity for local Sydney artists to be captured beautifully on film by the DPLR team from Create or Die Studios and gives audiences a high-quality experience and opportunity to discover and connect with new artists. My main role in the show is producing. We've had artists like Jess B (NZ), Jackie Mendoza (USA), Lupa J (AUS), Theia (NZ) and many more on the show. Karaoke, DJ sets by Charlie Villas, Dance-offs, drag queens, skits, interviews and news by Ruby Miles. It's so much fun. You can watch all four episodes here > https://www.facebook.com/watch/heapsgayparties/1663413657143541/ What's planned for 2020? For the immediate future, I'll be continuing to produce Loud n Queer TV and making all my friends and family listen to ILY Alley. Throughout the year I'll be releasing more music I made with Dave Hammer and hopefully be back on stage before Christmas. Favourite food and place to hangout? My favourite place to hang out is at Create or Die Studios on set filming Loud n Queer TV and my favourite food is champagne (can I say that?)

Rackett Interview

Smasher Interview

Where are you currently based? In the hinterland of Byron Bay, Australia! How did you first start playing music? We've grown up in a very musical family, so music has always been around us ever since we were babies and we fell in love with it from a very young age. There was always instruments at every corner of our house so it was very natural for us to pick up an instrument and jam together. How did The Buckleys form? We've always played music together, but we we'd say we officially formed 'The Buckleys' at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2011 when we were busking on Peel Street. We were notified the next day that we had come top 10 in the Busking Competition with around 600 acts competing (and we didn't even know we were in a competition!) and were invited to play to a few thousand people on the main Toyota Park Stage. That was the biggest stage we had played on at that time and it was insane! It was a massive experience for us especially being so young and we definitely caught the bug! You've recently been on a virtual tour with Live Nation, how did this come about and how has the experience been? We had touring plans this year that we obviously had to postpone, but we love playing live and connecting with people so didn't want that to stop. We think it's really important to bring a bit of positivity back into the world right now as well, so it was great bringing some fun and live music to other peoples homes all around the world, from our very living room. We are so grateful to Live Nation for making it possible and the amazing team at Petrol Records and UMe too. What did you find most challenging and rewarding during the virtual tour? The timezones were probably the most difficult part of the virtual tour, but I guess that's the same as if we were playing a normal tour.... just lucky we got to roll into our comfortable beds here at home afterwards! Your latest single 'Money' is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? We envisioned something really fun for everyone around the world to be able to dance and singalong to. We were inspired by the fun, energy and spunk of the 60s surf rock and pop bands and music videos where it just feels like a party and you want to be there. We carried that vision through from the writing to the production, music video and photos etc. It's bright, colourful and a party! How did you go about writing Money? Sarah: I wrote this song in Nashville with two buddies of mine, Phil Barton and Dave Thomson. I had this guitar groove and a bit of the verse already so showed them and we all just dove into it straight away! It was a really fun write with ideas bouncing around everywhere very quickly! The lyrics and melodies were really fun to play with and write. Where and when did you record/produce and who with? We recorded 'Money' November last year in Nashville with Chad Carlson (Taylor Swift, Jewel, Hunger Games soundtrack) at the Sound Emporium Studios. It was very cool recording at sound Emporium because so many legends and musical hero's of ours have made some of the best records of all time there. You can feel the musical legacy in the walls. It's very inspiring to be around when creating. What programs/equipment did you use to record/produce? Lachlan: Throughout the album I was using my 2 guitars, the “epiphone les Paul” and “Fender Mustang”. I play these guitars through my pedal board which consists of 2 overdrive/distortion pedals, Wah pedal, Boss DD7 delay, Rotovibe, Strymon BigSky reverb pedal and a classic BigMuff fuzz pedal. This allows me to have a vast option of sounds when it comes to recording so I’m able to mix and match everything to each song! What do you attribute to your rapid rise within the music industry? The past year and a half especially has been pretty wild since signing our record deal with Petrol Records and Universal Music and releasing our debut single 'Daydream' which went #1 in Australia. That was definitely a massive moment and changed the landscape for us very quickly and we are just so excited and humbled to be in this position where we get to share our music with the world and work alongside so many amazing, creative people who are also so passionate about music. Any tips for upcoming artists? We are still learning so much everyday, however right now something that we've learnt and is really important to us is just staying true to who you are and making sure you enjoy what you play and create. Following your gut is so important and just making sure you enjoy every moment of the ride (because their lots of up and downs!). Who are you listening to at the moment? We listen to a whole range of things and it's different for each of us... and really depends on the time of day! Right now we're on a bit of a 70s female rocker binge and are loving the likes of Joan Jett, Blondie, The Pretenders etc. to be honest! Also recently discovered the Electric Light Orchestra and wow just wow. What do you like to do away from music? When we’re not playing music we love to go out into nature and surf, explore waterfalls, go on bush walks or maybe just stay home and watch a movie. But nature is definitely something we love and appreciate no matter where we are. The beach is a big part of our lives when we're home too. What's planned for 2020? 2020 is a big year for us. Positivity and music is something we all need around the world right now, so we don't intend to stop or slow down anytime soon! We are really focused on giving people as much quality entertainment via social media and the technology we have available now, and of course music to connect us all. We have our debut album coming out which we are really excited about and our documentary 'Meet The Buckleys' just came out as well. We're writing and working on lots of new music always too! Favourite food and place to hangout? Our favourite food and place to hang out would have to be this this wicked burger bar in 12 South Nashville Tennessee, called “Burger Up”. We literally spent 2 weeks eating there almost every night and day while we were recording our album because you just can’t find any burger of such sacredness and quality on earth!! Haha. And we were living within walking distance and have no self control.

The Buckleys

Where are you currently based? Melbourne Australia! Moved here in 2017 and have been in love ever since. How did you first start playing music? I started off Djing and producing. I would perform at under age festivals and play 'Melbourne bounce' and 'trap' music hahahaha. EVentually I was hanging with a producer friend in LA and he had heard me sing around the house. He asked me to lay down some vocals for him and from that point forward I've been writing and singing. How has your lockdown experience been so far? Thankfully way too easy. I feel very blessed to be surrounded by my family and to also be living here in Aus. We have managed to smash the curve and even during lockdown restrictions havent been so bad. Not a lot changed for me as well. I was still locked away in my room making music. Your new single AAA is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? yess its out. I'm over the moon that people can finally hear it. I wrote this song in London and it was a really great trip. I was listening to a lot of the Beatles and obviously went to visit Abbey road. I guess I just wanted the track to feel very real. I never really know where I gather my influence and ideas from though, it all just kinda takes place in the studio and whatever vibe or mood I'm feeling, is what will show in the song. How did you go about writing AAA? Writing AAA was a breeze. Like I said it was written in London with 2 super talented musicians. Caitlyn Scarlett who wrote the song with me and Matt Zara who produced the track and did that stunning guitar you hear. At that time of the trip I kinda felt homesick and just wanted to get away with my girlfriend at the time, so my emotions were high and that's when I find it easiest to write. I think all the lyrics were done within one hour. Where and when did you record/produce? London! I NEED to go back. One of my favourite places on earth. Who did you work with? Matt Zara and Caitlyn Scarlett! as mentioned before hehe :) How did you approach the recording/production process? I never really approach anything in a 'certain' way. I really love to write in the moment and not think too much about it. What comes out first is the truth and the most real. So i like to keep it all in the studio. Who are you listening to at the moment? ahhhhh so much BENEE. Supalonely is just like . Otherwise Ball Park Music, G Flip, and some new Frank Ocean. If im not in the singer songwriter vibe ill listen to techno hahahaha. Nina Kraviz, Aphex twin, Karela Dust. All great artists. What do you like to do away from music? I mean its not really away from music but I still love to DJ. My mate and I throw some parties and try to raise money for charities and what not. All my friends thankfully love music so its a lot of fun. I enjoy photogaphy and videography too :) What's planned for 2020? Who the hell knows. Were living in uncertain and unprecedented times. I'm just gonna carry on putting out music. Lots and lots of music and see what happens. I've got a new single and EP coming out sooooon so stay tuned for that ;) Favourite food and place to hangout? I live for a veg burger. Can eat them honestly every day hahahahaha. hmmmmm and avo hand rolls. I dont really mind any place to hang out, but I think amidst all the Corona restrictions I've found a new love for hanging with my mates at parks and gardens. We've been playing all our favourite childhood games like hide and seek and its just been the most fun. No need to go spend $50 on beer at a bar anytime we wanna hang out.

Tyde Levi

Where are you currently? I’m currently in my bedroom/studio in Melbourne! How did you first start playing music? I started playing guitar when I was super young so that has always been my go to and saviour. Throughout high school I then played in a few different bands and once I finished, I started touring the country so it all evolved from there! What have you been working on recently? As well as this first release I have been getting final mixes & masters completed for the next few Lakelend tracks! I have also been hiding away working super hard on the live show ready to start performing when shows are a thing again! Your debut single Fall Down is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? The first instrumental demos for this track were written on my laptop in a Vietnam airport in December 2018. Everything I tried to write before this just didn't feel right but this is the first thing that did. I think sonically and songwriting wise it’s a mix of artists like Lauv, LANY, The 1975 & The Chainsmokers. How did you go about writing Fall Down? The first part of this song that was written was the intro bell hook. I am definitely someone that writes of vibe, chord progression and sonic feeling. As stated above I was sitting in an airport in Vietnam when this melody came to me. I then built the rest of the instrumental and song structure on Ableton ready to fly back home with. Once I got back to Australia I had a session with one of my best friends Nicole and we wrote the topline for the song. Where and when did you record and who with? After completing the bulk of the songwriting for the song, I took the track to the MSquared boys (Michael Paynter & Michael Delorenzis) to build the production even further and record the final vocals! We did this over 3 days in May 2019. What programs/equipment did you use to record? I do all of my production in Ableton on my laptop! As far as equipment goes, I've got a few go to plugins on board my computer then I'll use my Kemper to pull the guitar tones through my interface and finally my Shure SM-7B microphone to track vocals. Super minimal setup that works really well for musicians/producers that are on the go! How did you approach the recording process? I start with a vibe and build around that! Whether it be some chords or a vocal/melodic line I usually put this down first and construct a song around these elements. Once this is done I’ll make sure the song structure is correct. I’ll then usually midi the keys, samples & percussion out and after record the live instruments (guitar & bass). After these bones are in place I'll then dive deep into the production and make sure it represents me as a person and Lakelend as an artist. What inspired the music video? I wanted to create a video that visually and emotionally represented the song to me. Having Clair and Indigo dance in the clip was so amazing. As well as their incredible talents I wanted them to portray the two completely different sides of my personality as one body. Where and when did you film and who did you work with? Months of planning, preparation and dance rehearsals were completed before shooting commenced. When it came time to finally filming the video it was done over three days in two different locations in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne in December 2019. There were 13-15 people on set at any given time which was wild! I brought the clip to life with Ben Davies (Director & Editor) and Anthony Littlechild (Director Of Photography). We then worked with choreographer Jordan Herbert from Boss Dance Company and two of his amazing dancers and people Clair Breyley & Indigo Hunt. These two extremely talented women had previously danced with artists like Tones and I & Vera Blue. Who are you listening to at the moment? At this very second I'm listening to some old school Bring Me The Horizon but my recent go-to’s are Lauv, LANY Jeremy Zucker, Chelsea Cutler, Sash Sloan, Juice WRLD & The Kid LAROI. What do you like to do away from music? Exercise and hang with my friends & family. I honestly think if I couldn't exercise most days or listen to music I’d really struggle mentally. The combination of all of these together keeps me as happy and healthy as I can be. What's planned for 2020? This year I plan to put out a few more stand alone singles, keep building the Lakelend team and start performing my live show that I have been working on for over a year now - very excited. Favourite food and place to hangout? Ooooft. Such a tricky one but I think right now my favourite food is from a Vietnamese restaurant called Typhoon in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne - incredible. As far as places to hangout, I’ve always felt right at home near the ocean. So I love doing any sort of activity where I'm close to or in view of the water. I think good company comes before location though so I could literally be anywhere in the world and be super happy with my best mates around me. Facebook Instagram Twitter Youtube Spotify

Lakelend Interview

Where are you currently based? I am based between Barcelona, London, Newcastle, Andorra & Ibiza. How did you first start playing music/producing? First DJed (as a cheesy pub DJ with pop music and a microphone) from 1997, then started DJing house music from 1999/2000. I started in 2003 in a production duo. Then started releasing and producing on my own since 2006/7. Then the rest is history really. Evolved ever since. How has your Lockdown experience been so far? Frustrating & annoying. Lots of changes in my personal life, not the same amount of time to make music as I have a small daughter so she requires more time with no schools or nanny’s an option. Love spending time with her, she is the world but I also like to lose myself in my music as it helps to relax me. I also can’t wait to get back to DJing. Who are you listening to at the moment? I have actually been revisiting albums from the likes of Fatboy Slim, UNKLE, The Who, Fleetwood Mac and others. Plus I listen to new music daily via my labels 33 Music & 1980 Recordings. Please describe your production process: Sit down. Open Logic. Open a starting template I have set up. Get a beat going. Maybe use a sample to get inspiration (I don’t always end with that sample in it). Then add a bassline. And a synth line. Maybe add vocals. Then arrange. Send it off for mastering. Plus always keep hydrated while I work. What programs/equipment do you use? Logic X. UAD Apollo Twin. Waves Plugins. Fab Filter Plugins and many other plugins & softsynths. Access Virus TI Snow. How are you staying creative during lockdown? Any tips for other artists to assist with stay inspired and creative? Well if you look at my answer above, the creative side has taken a knock with not having enough time. For me I usually finish a track a week that is release ready but I have finished one track over the last 6 weeks. Frustrating. My advice would be if you don’t have the distraction of children make as much music as you can. Don’t rush the finished production. And don’t rush to sign them, they are only old to you at the end of the day. The other day I sent an email to a person who sent me some demos. This was the 5th or 6th email in about 2 weeks of new music. Some of them had good ideas but some of them needed to be finished. Take your time and make that one demo/release ready track a week sound the best it can rather than dilute and make 7 ok/average tracks. How are you coping mentally during lockdown? Not going to lie, it's been tough. Trying to remain positive. I am quite a strong positive person in general, yes I like to be grumpy just like any other Englishman ha but in general I try to stay positive. Not like a happy smiley positive in your face but try to see the positives in situations for the better. Being locked in the house with a child and partner and no escape is hard for a social person who is a DJ. What advice would you give for others to help with the mental strain caused during this period? Talk to people, talk to your parents, talk talk talk. It really is good to talk and get stuff off your chest. Talk. Don’t keep it all to yourself. That never turns out good. Your EP 'Dance' is out on 8th May, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this EP? The influence was the vocals. I worked on another track with King Hitz & Paul Browne (the lyric writer), called Cake which was signed to EDX’s label Pinkstar Black. Paul said he had this accapella, so he sent it to me. I loved it. I wanted to do something cool with it but not ’too commercial’. I think I have made it have that accessible radio vibe but still making it cool and underground. Where and when did you record/produce it? I produced this one in Barcelona in January 2019. I then sat on it, revisited and had it finished in Feb 2019. I did the usual send to larger independant labels then decided to get a good set of remixes and release myself as the offers I had for it from labels were shocking. What did you find most challenging and rewarding during the creation of ‘Dance’? Nothing really challenging. I just wanted to not over do it and make it cheesy. Keep it with that underground vibe. Which I did. So I guess that was rewarding. You have a proposed stream set to run on 1st May with artists across your own labels 1980 Recordings and 33 Music running over 14 hours, how did this concept come about and what can we expect? I saw the likes of Beatport & Defected doing this and they seemed great and what better oppitunity to raise money for charity and showcase the talent I have been working with over the years on both labels. You will have a plethora of genres from funk, disco, soul to house, deep, & tech to techno. It really does have it all. What's planned for 2020? More releases across both labels, some rather large ones on 33 Music. More live streams, I have a taste for it now. I currently do one every Friday around 15.00h (GMT)/16.00h (CEST) and let me followers on IG (@danmckiedj) vote for which genre they want to hear. Then use mine & my labels catalogues to make the mixes live. We Are Live. Favourite food and place to hangout? I have a bar in Barcelona which is my favourite to go sink a few caña with mates but I don’t want to name it as it might get ruined ha. My favourite food is for sure Curry. https://www.facebook.com/danmckiedj/

Dan Mckie Interview

Where are you currently based? Toronto, Canada How did you first start playing music? I first started playing music through singing. My dad used to spin Motown records and eventually my mom saw my passion for music and bought me a guitar. I then started playing and posting covers on youtube. Might I add, *cringey* covers. I’ve taken them all down and stored them in a memory bank that I hope to never access again! lol What have you been working on recently? Writing, writing, writing! I spend my days either in front of my computer and keyboard, or with a guitar in hand, with a notepad. Staying home has freed me from a lot of distractions that would otherwise keep me from writing. Now I can focus on music….and baking cookies. Your new single 'Go Slow' is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting? Falling in love inspired the content of the song, I can’t say any specific genre or type of music inspired the sonic sound of the track, we just did what felt fitting for the melody and lyrical content. It all happened very naturally! But I definitely wanted to make sure that the song had some bounce to it, you have to be able to dance. How did you go about writing the music for Go Slow? How did you approach the recording/production process? This song started with the melody and words “go slow, slow, slow”, that you already hear in the finished product! Eric and I put some demo production behind it just to get a vibe, then brought the track to our producer/songwriting partner Benjamin Nudds. After that, we started working on the production with Joel Stouffer. Where and when did you record and who with? Benjamin Nudds, Joel Stouffer. That’s the dream team right there! We just all click, it’s like they know what my ears are looking for even before I do. We work so well together. What programs/instruments did you use? We use logic and ableton mostly for production and just a keyboard or guitar when we’re trying to get a particular vibe. How did the concept for Go Slow music video come about? We wanted the video to feel sensual, empowering, passionate and hypnotic! The neon lights and the backseat of a car filled with smoke is sexy, and the darkness of the night is alluring. It wasn’t so much of a concept, but a feeling we were trying to evoke in the visuals - I think it came together perfectly! Where and when did you film and who with? The one and only Kelsi Lux! Look her up, she’s a dope creator! I can’t tell you where we filmed it, it’s a secret location ;) sh!! You have an EP coming out later this year, please tell us about the progress and what we can expect: It’s so funny how they say it takes your whole life to make your first album! Well this isn't even our first album and it feels like it’s been a lifelong process haha. The process has been an amazing learning experience because we’ve been able to grow through it and do so many cool things as a result. This ep is about just that actually- Personal growth, Self-reflection and love. What do you like to do away from music? Photography, mostly digital, but lately I’ve gotten really into film. I just love how it’s so tangible. It looks timeless which is always very appealing to me! Who are you listening to at the moment? Anything that makes me want to dance really- a lot of Dancehall/Reggae/soca, I love it so much! Oh! Check out stefflon don if you haven’t already, if you haven’t heard her on Boasty, you’re missing out! What's planned for 2020? Hopefully being allowed to leave my house haha. I want to play a lot of shows! And record all this new music I’ve been working on! Favourite food and place to hangout? Anywhere there is Pho and beer! Haha To be honest, any Asian cuisine is my favourite! I’m obsessed! I don’t really have a favorite hangout spot… Any cool bar in the city really! I’m not picky, I just want good people around me. That’s all that matters to me. https://www.facebook.com/aisforarrows/

A Is For Arrows

Jacob Asher Interview

Where are you currently based? Beautiful Brisbane. How did you first start playing music? I got a guitar when I was 16 and worked my way through a Cat Stevens song book. Then started writing my own stuff. How are you getting through Iso? Haha it's a bit loose at our place. I have a day job where I normally work from home, but now I also have a 5-year-old doing home learning and a husband who is trying to teach from home too. It is definately not what I thought the year would look like, but we are lucky to live in a lovely place, with lovely neighbours. Your new album 'Hiatus' is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting? 'Hiatus' is a collection of songs that have been written over a few years. We spent a few months travelling, particularly in Italy and Bali, and most of the songs were started then. I'm a bit of a people watcher so I love telling those stories. And having a baby definitely influenced a couple. We have incorporated sound worlds from artists we love like James Vincent McMorrow, Iron and Wine, Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, Lisa Hannigan, Glen Hansard and Angus and Julia Stone. How did you go about writing the music for Hiatus? I really enjoy the craft of songwriting. I love telling stories that connect with people and make them think. The song 'Our Lady of the Highway' is a reflection of seeing highway prostitution in Italy and diving into news articles about who these women are. It ended up being two stories: hers, where she is doing what she needs to but won't let it define her, and mine: we become what we drive past; we shouldn't. The song "This is forever" is a personal one. It tells the love story of a cousin and his widow. It's about grief and love and good times and the worst of times. I was pretty happy with it but Pennay kept saying very annoying things like: "It's great, I just don't think it has a chorus." After collecting my ego from the floor I wrote what I think is the best chorus I've written, so I guess he was right. I wrote "Little eyelashes" as a lullaby for my son. It tries to capture what I hope for him. Thankfully he likes it. It is amazing how songs written in a totally different context seem very relevant right now. "So, where does that leave me" is about the end of something significant. "This is not free" is a statement on how undervalued the arts are and what a bleak world we would live in without artists. I think that is particularly relevant now as the creative industries are in free-fall. "Heading home" and "Juniper trees" are about finding peace being at home. A number of the songs were either finished or started while I was doing an online songwriting challenge with the I Heart Songwriting club. Having a weekly assignment really helped me keep the creative thoughts flowing. Where and when did you record/produce and who with? The only song we didn't record at home was "Someday", which was recorded as part of QUT's Indie100 project with the wonderful producer Paul Pilsneniks. All the rest was performed, engineered, produced, mixed and (in most cases) mastered by my husband/producer Andrew Pennay and I in our home studio. How did you approach the recording sessions? We approached recording this album differently to anything else we have done. I write on guitar. We would record the guitar and vocals as a guide to get the song structure, then essentially get rid of the guitar and build the song from scratch. There was a lot of trail and error to find the right sound for each song. We just focused on how we wanted each song to sound so that it captured the intent of the lyrics. We included elements from our travels like a (very effected) Balinese Gamelan recorded on a walk in rural Bali in "Heading home" or a car on gravel at the start of "Our Lady of the Highway". Most nights we put put the small person to bed and then head into our home studio and try different instruments and sounds. Most of the songs sound very different to when they were written. What programs/instruments did you use? We recorded it all at home so used ProTools and lots of plugins. Everything is just the two of us: all the instruments, production, engineering, videos. There are very few real drums on the album, mostly due to necessity rather than intention. I always thought we'd get real drums in the end, but we really liked the mix of electronic drums with organic snare, toms, home-made percussion. There's a ring on a wine glass on one song. A honey jar filled with the right mix of rice and baking paper. Pennay is a keyboard player so this album has a lot more keyboards, organs, synths etc. than our previous work. Often I would go to bed and Pennay would work into the night. When I'd listen to what he had done in the morning sometimes he'd put a string quartet on something, or a double drum kit! One morning he had added an analogue synth to the song "So, where does that leave me" and it blew me away. I loved the rawness it brought to the track and I can't imagine the song without it now. Towards the final stages of mixing we called in the big guns in a few music friends to get their advice on a few of the tracks, but no one had heard the entire album when it was released. What did you find most challenging whilst creating Hiatus? We recorded the whole album in the evenings after the small human went to bed, so the most challenging thing was probably finding time, energy and persistence to get it done. It took a year-and-a-half in the end. You have a live show on May 8 at 8pm via the Live on Mars Facebook Page, how will you prepare for this show and what can we expect? Firstly, we are watching a few livestream shows and talking to people who have done them to figure out the best sound. At this stage it will probably be a striped down version of a few songs. We can't do full band with the two of us anyway, so it will be fun to reinterpret or pair back so tracks. The dog will also probably bark in the middle of it. What do you like doing away from music? Hanging out with my small human and dog. At the moment we are doing a lot of wandering around the neighbourhood, bush walking, putting on unrehearsed and unscripted shows in the lounge room and reading. I also really like good TV, so I have been watching way too much lately! Who are you listening to at the moment? I'm watching a few great livestream concerts where the artists are either getting paid directly or raising money for great charities. Glen Hansard did a gorgeous solo show from his home to celebrate his 50th birthday. Other than that, I'm really enjoying the new Laura Marling album, Thelma Plum, new Bon Iver and Calexico & Iron and Wine. Holy Holy, pretty much anything that Sarah Aarons has written, Grand Salvo, Darren Hanlon, Gillian Welch, Jason Isbell, Sufjan Stevens, Taylor, and the Teeny Tiny Stevies are all pretty much on high rotation in our house. Your Bad Guy cover is out now, please tell us the story behind the track: We love covering songs in unexpected ways. Pennay came up with a version of Bad Guy in a major key and we rolled with it. We wanted to do something fun using a mix of the instruments we used on 'Hiatus' so it's a mix of folk and electro sounds. We call it folktronica. All instruments are by him, apart from my vocals. He has also made it into a game (on our website) where you can mix your own version and make it as folky or electro as you want. How did the concept for the video come about and who did you work with during the filming/editing? It was really Pennay's idea. We just had to work with what we had available to us. We made the video at home on the first Saturday night we went into covid lock-down. We had one camera, a black background, a fan, a spinning chair and that was about it. I edited it (from the same room) the next day and we uploaded it that night. It's meant to be fun. We didn't want to overthink it. What's planned for 2020? I guess we will see? If 2020 has taught me anything, it's that we need to expect the unexpected! I will be promoting 'Hiatus' as much as possible. Connecting with friends and family online. Hopefully doing good work in my day job (raising money and sharing stories of those much less fortunate than us). Writing. Growing veggies. Spending time with my family. Favourite food and place to hangout? Most weekends (in normal times) you can find us loitering around the West End or Northey Street Markets in Brisbane. At the moment, we are enjoying loitering outside our house in the afternoon and waiving at the neighbourhood going for their afternoon walk/ride. Website | Instagram | Facebook | Youtube | Spotify

Mardi Lumsden Interview

How did you first start playing music? I remember it like yesterday, we were sitting at 'the duca' (one of our fav spots to skateboard) in St.Catharines ON...we picked a name, and THEN we all picked which instruments we wanted to learn hahaha. Couple months later, after learning power chords and punk beats, we had a show at The Hideaway. I puked before and after and im pretty sure we got boo'd. I think we were like 17 How did the Joshua Wood Orchestra form? I was recommended to go see Felix Fung by a couple of friends of mine; R.d Cane and Bruce Wilson. I wanted to make a record and i knew it was a diff path for me so i was looking for the right people and place for it to happen. After we started talking it became pretty clear id be tracking there. The magic 8ball on the table said "it is decidedly so" and so we booked it and Felix provided the players. What influenced the sound and songwriting for your recent single 'Bad Way'? I wanted to make something that felt good to listen to while at the same time touching on the bad place i was in. I wanted people to dance and forget for a moment and holy hell i needed that too. The thing is my previous acoustic songs flow in a similar vein but the music is more of a 'sit back n smoke a cigarette after sex n maybe cry a little' kinda music. Apposed to this new path im on being more of a 'smoke a cigarette during sex in the middle of the dance floor' kinda music. But simply put, it was the band behind me that really crafted the sound. How did you go about writing Bad Way? This one came running into my arms like a sad child. I was going through a tough breakup and learning to cope with a new reality while really learning how to love myself for the first time and be open about my weaknesses. Where and when did you record and who with? Little Red Sounds Studio with Felix Fung, Max Sample, Kyle Schick, Jaydon Bunney, and Blake Greer sometime in August 2019. Suite Sound Labs did the Mastering. What programs/instruments did you use? Pretty normal stuff like drums, bass, electric guitars, grand piano, djembe, harmonium, triangle, guiro. Please tell us about the making of your EP: Once the team was formed, we all met up at Little Red Sound Studio and just took it song for song by walking in blind. Bad Way was the first song we tracked and it really set the tone for the whole album. We'd sit in a room and id play the song through on acoustic, and like dough the band would knead it til it was ready. When that moment of 'this is it!' came, wed get behind our instruments and hit record til we were happy. Took us the weekend of all night recording to get the 5 songs live off the floor. Slept on the studio couch each night and probably stunk like shit but man i loved every moment of it. It was a really beautiful time for me and a whole new way of chasing a song. What did you find most challenging and rewarding throughout the process? Trying not to smoke too much and making it through without losing my voice even though i def did smoke too much hahaha.. Nahhh, Id say giving my songs over to others to help mould. So damn rewarding. What motivates you? Id say love, heartbreak and all those beautiful madnesses of the mind. What is your impression of the current state of music in BC? A lot of fuckya. A bit of fuckno. What do you have planned for 2020? This album getting out is a big part of it. Next single drops early May with a music video and then the rest of the album. After that I was hoping to get on the road with it but we'll see how the Covid19 situation pans out. At this point Im just super happy to be able to get it out there right now and have people get to hear some new music during this time. Who are you listening to at the moment? In my truck its usually Bacil Kill (an indonesian hip hop group) or this John Prine cd i got orrrr maybe some Rancid or Sound Garden. At home ive really been into The Tesky Brothers and Monophonics. But then ill get these really odd moments where i just listen to The Killing Moon by Echo and The Bunnymen on repeat all night. What do you like to do away from music? I dig photography, scribbling in notebooks, building houses and things, good conversations and driving around in my truck forgetting where im going. How are you holding up during the Covid-19 crisis? It's strange and a bit surreal but im grateful to be where i am during this. Hardest part id say is being so far away from my family and not having an option to fly home if they needed me there. Favourite food and place to hangout (when out of quarantine)? Fav food? Holy moly..Umm all things between bread and all things under cheese. Fav place to hang? The Heatley, Lana Lous and this cute and weathered little breakfast joint in China Town I forget the name of.

Joshua Wood Interview

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? Currently I'm Based in Toronto and the music scene here is absolutely awesome! There's a huge sense of community and people are so down to earth and friendly. How did you first start playing music? My dad was a musician so it was kinda baked in to me as a kid. I remember when he bought me my first guitar when I was 10 and I never really put it down. What have you been working up to recently? Currently I'm putting out singles from my upcoming EP! Your latest single 'Help Me' is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? The song comes from a very real place of when I was going through one of the hardest times in my life. It was a late addition to the album and really tells my story. The sound was something we focused on a lot; we wanted something dark, edgy, and powerful. Where and when did you record/produce and who with? We recorded this back in may of 2019 and it was produced by the super talented Joel Stouffer How did you approach the songwriting for Help Me? Help me was the very first person. It was really easy to write actually it pretty much just says everything that was on my mind at that moment. How did the recording take place? We actually recorded the whole song in the basement of my house. I built a home studio a while back so everything besides mix and master was done here. What programs/instruments did you use? This song was produced on ableton with the help of Joel Stouffer. This song was mainly digital instruments as we wanted a very lo-fi sound to it. How did the concept for the Help Me video come about? The video concept came to me very easily. I really wanted this desolate desperate feel and for that me and my team agreed to head out to the dessert in LA. Where and when did you film and who did you work with? We filmed in one day at the El mirage desert in California, just outside of LA. I worked with my incredible video guys who came on the trip from Toronto called Red Tip Productions. The director's name is Dave Redman and he is an absolute genius. What did you find most challenging and rewarding during the creation of the video? The most challenging was the fact that I was sick and it was about 100 degrees fahrenheit out there so that was super hard. But after powering through that, when we wrapped up, I felt so happy that I pushed myself through it. Other than that it all went down pretty smoothe. You have a new album coming out in a few months, what can we expect? In my opinion, You can expect a little bit of everything from mental health to heart break. This album is special to me and I hope that everyone can relate to at least one of the records. Where are you at in the creation of your new album? It's finished! Now we're just putting out music consistently, and putting the full album out early summer. Who are you listening to at the moment? Currently on my most recent played is: The 1975 cause im a die hard.. The band camino cause they're perfect, and Bazzi! What do you like to do away from music? During the winter I snowboard quite a bit, I love cooking, hiking and spending time with my dog Mika! I also love working out and meditating. Favourite food and place to hangout? Easily North of Brooklyn Pizzeria in Toronto such a great spot for a pint and a pie!

Aiden Myers Interview

What is your name and role with TAN COLOGNE? I'm Lauren Green and I play guitar and sing for live shows and play guitar/vocals/bass/drums/percussion/some keys for Tan Cologne recordings. I'm Marissa Macias and I play guitar/synth/vocals/percussion in performance and guitar/vocals/keys/synth/some percussion for recording. Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like? We are based in Taos, New Mexico. For such a small population, there is definitely a wide appreciation for music with a few spaces to perform. How did TAN COLOGNE form? Tan Cologne began by writing experimental soundscapes to echo our landscape and then morphed into song structures with vocals. What's been happening recently? A LOT has been happening in the world. Currently in the US and New Mexico, we're ordered to stay home as much as possible due to the "pandemic", so we've been creating our own dimension and writing a new EP and sending care packages to friends and family. Who programs/instruments do you use? Lauren plays a Fender Mustang and Marissa plays a Fender Jaguar and Strat. For pedals and accessories, Lauren uses a MXR Analog Chorus, Japanese Boss RV-2 Digital Reverb, volume pedal and at times a Sound Stone guitar sustainer made by Merkaba Electronics out of Austin, TX. Marissa uses an EarthQuaker Organizer pedal, along with a MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay and TC Electronic HOF Reverb and plays a Roland GAIA Synth. For recordings, we use a TAMA drum set and various percussive elements. Your debut album recently came out on Labrador Recs, where and when did you record and who with? Yes! We recorded the album ourselves in Northern New Mexico in a very old adobe structure. We mixed the album ourselves in New Mexico and had some additional mixing and mastering done by our good friend Gory Smelley who owns Marfa Recording Co. in Marfa, TX. Who or what influenced the sound and songwriting? Living in New Mexico, we constantly explore the vast landscape and mirrored responses. We feel like we were influenced mostly by the Earth's elements and vibrations. How did you go about writing the music? At times, we would each separately have a segment of a song we individually wrote and then come together and see if they would fit together like puzzle pieces. Often they would! Otherwise, we sit down together and start with guitar parts and then mess around with vocals melody ideas and sift through percussive options. We would also write through layering ideas while simultaneously recording. What did you find most challenging and rewarding during the creation of the record? The challenging parts of recording happened while recording in such an old adobe structure with faulty outlets. We would have to shift a whole setup around because we would hear ghosts crackling through the amps if they were plugged into unsettled electricity. Hearing the album as a whole and hearing our unique sound that came of it was very rewarding! What do you like to do away from music? Soaking in hot springs, long walks, looking at rocks, rearranging spaces, cooking, swimming, researching and getting obsessed with different topics, esp having to do with UFOs. Who are you listening to at the moment? Lauren - Bo Hansson, The Durutti Column, Grouper, Popol Vuh, Natural Information Society, Lorelle Meets the Obsolete Marissa - Khan Jamal, Jefferson Airplane, Johnny Hawaii. Favourite food and place to hangout? Lauren - Thai food and home cooked meals. Favorite place to hang out is anywhere with sun and water. Marissa - Anything with Arugula and Tamari and favorite place to hang out is anywhere in water. www.tancologne.com www.instagram.com/tancologne www.twitter.com/tan_cologne tan-cologne.bandcamp.com riotactmedia.com/roster/tan-cologne/

TAN COLOGNE Interview

Where are you currently based? I’m based in Brooklyn, NY. How did you first start playing music? I started strumming a guitar at the age of 13, just learning all the tunes to covers that made an impression on me like Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Everclear and so on. You've started a new project 'Shacks & Palaces', how did this come about? OH, dang a hard question. So there’s many ways to look at it I guess, but one way it started is because of my love for lyrics. When I heard different lyrics dropped, like the song from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Wait, they don’t love you like I love you,” the hammer dropped. I think everyone is an artist and has something to say that is beautiful and can lift you up. A lyric can dance with you, so in my belly I’ve always wanted to give that piece of myself that may make you feel something. How do you go about juggling the your commitments with The Temper Trap with this new project? Well, at the moment The Temper Trap has set ambitions to release more music, but the juggle lies with us all being in different parts of the world! We are all in each other’s corner with the different releases we have coming up and projects in the works. Who else is in Shacks & Palaces and what instruments do they play? Although this is released as solo record my lady Britni had an integral part in these songs. She is singing on the whole record and has been able to be in the development of the songs and help me to turn on the wind screen wipers, so to speak, to see what is in front of me. Oscar Dawson, an up and coming Aussie and legend, is an incredibly gifted multi-instrumentalist and we also hit this task together. Your debut single 'Once Upon A Hilltop' is out now, what influenced the sound and song writing to for this track? I’d say I dared myself to use a simple chord structure to write something imaginative. I’ve always been such a fan of the Flaming Lips and it feels like there’s a little bit of magic in everything they do, so with this song I used them as frame work and thought, what would they sound like if the wrote a folk song? How did you go about writing Once Upon A Hilltop? Well on the road touring you’re always riffing away and I don’t what country I was on when I came up with the riff but many years later I decided this was a song bed worth fighting for. Some songs come easy over years. This was a song I’ve been writing for years trying to understand what it should be Where and when did you record/produce? I recorded in Melbourne and Brooklyn… I met up with Oscar Dawson, band member of Holy Holy and producer for a bunch of what you’re hearing on triple jjj, at the moment. We started in Melbourne, I texted him and said do you want to work on this tune and he loved it, so we started there 6 months later he met up with me in Brooklyn to finish it. What programs/instruments did you use? Oh, this song is a marriage between organic foot stomping and to mellotron synths. Oscar records on Logic What do you like to do away from music? I’ve been keen on playing b-ball here in NYC, there’s always pick-up games here. I’m not that good, but I love it! I tell you what the games here go straight to people's hearts and they never forget so if you’re not that good aka me sometimes it's hard to get on the court again! Who are you listening to at the moment? Oh well with everything going on right now I’ve gone inwards and not listening to much except a nice a DJ playing all sorts of tunes to keep you comfy at home. How are you spending your days in this very unique time in history: Well, Britni and I have two kids, so I’ve become a total school teacher and it’s hands-on now. Outside of that we just got Disney Plus and I’m watching Mandalorian which is pretty epic. Any advice for aspiring professional musicians? I’d say in a band setting, you grow together and you develop together and your ability to stay connected in your personalities is as equally, if not more important to understand and resolve if possible then the music your making. I’ve seen some awesome bands never make the light of day and I’d dare say it’s because of this. Favourite food and place to hang out? Ha-ha coronavirus times so my home is my hot spot for now!

The Temper Trap’s ‘Jonny Aherne of Shacks and Palaces’ Interview

Big League Interview

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? Currently in Narrabeen in Sydney, the scene on the beaches isn’t too bad and Sydney overall is really pretty good, The last few years have seen a heap of really good rooms of all different sizes really flourish. How did you first start playing music? I started learning guitar when I was about 12, I’d had piano lessons a few years before that, but I was never really that interested in the piano, wish I’d stuck with that now though. Started playing in bands around 13 or 14 at school, mainly cover bands, which I found a bit boring so started writing some of my own stuff. What's been happening recently? We’ve just been flat out rehearsing for the upcoming Album tour in April / May, as well as starting to sort songs for the next album, can’t wait to start playing this tour though, Hoping the dreaded Covid19 doesn’t stop people heading out to local shows. Your new album 'World Keeps Turning' is out on the 27th of March, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this album? We really wanted to make an album that would be listened to as an album, not just a bunch of songs or a few singles and fillers, we worked pretty hard to pick the 10 tracks that we thought fit together best and also kept interest throughout the whole LP, Influences for this one have come from all over the place, we’re 90’s kids at heart, bands like Dinosaur Jr, Sugar, melodic pop punk had a big influence on a lot of the guitar sounds, I would like to think that we have found our own sound by now too and the album also sounds pretty unique to the Tshitaki sound. How did you go about writing the music? I’ll usually get a riff or melody stuck in my head and we are pretty luck these days with things like iPhones that we can just put the idea straight down into a voice memo and then work it out later, I find lots of songs come along while travelling or walking, I guess it’s a repetitive rhythm sort of thing, once I have the riff and melody down it’s a matter of demoing at home then bringing the idea in to jam it after that, lyrics usually come after for me, I find it’s easier once the song has a feel to write about a particular subject or theme. Where and when did you record and who with? Early last year we built a studio in my factory where we rehearse, I have the control room there as well, the 2 rooms are separated by about 30 meters of multicore that runs across a driveway through a pvc pipe, we did all the tracking there between August and September, We had heaps of fun trying out different mics, different amps, different direction set ups, took us a couple of months to finish tracking, then we sent to Lachlan Mitchell to mix, I’ve worked with Lachlan before and really like the mixes he’s done, from there it went to Joe Carra’ at Crystal Mastering down in Melbourne for a fine polish in mastering. How did you approach the songwriting process? We took our time with this bunch, I’d bring a riff or an idea in and we’d jam it for a bit and see if it worked, if it did I’d start trying different melodies over the top of it and then we’d feel it out and structure it from there, there were a bunch of songs that didn’t make it on, not because they weren’t good songs, more because they didn’t feel right with the rest. How did the concept come about for the ‘Inside Out' film clip? We wanted it to be create a raw, pretty live feeling clip, the original idea was to have ½ the clip inside and then the other half outside, unfortunately our Aussie summer served us up about 2 weeks of straight rain in the window we had to shoot the clip, so change of plans and location, we ended up at an amazing property in North Western Sydney that Mullo’s (bass) had been working on throughout the summer installing a bushfire sprinkler system, It kind of turned out really well because if it wasn’t for the rain, we probably wouldn’t have gotten to use this awesome space. The song is about the internal battle we go through of what we want and what we really need, We’re pretty stoked to get this one out there! Where and when did you film and who with? North West Sydney in an amazing recycled timber barn, this place was really quite amazing in the middle of the bush with no houses for miles, We pulled our old mate ‘Fox’ Damien Foxton up to direct and edit the clip and Ash Brennan was behind the camera, these guys are awesome, Shelly, who’s Ash’s partner was assisting for the shoot as well, Heaps of fun! How was the filming/editing experience? It was heaps of fun; we left most of that to Fox. You have an Australian tour kicking off In April, how do you prepare for live shows and what do you have planned for this tour? It’ll be loud, full of melodic fuzz and the drums will literally beat whatever is left of this Corona Virus within 100km to a pulp, we’ve had a pretty hectic rehearsal schedule leading up to these shows, I think we’ve been in the rehearsal room for about 15hours a week for the last month, Going hard. Any show that you are really looking forward to playing? All of them really, It’s our first time in Melbourne and QLD so we’re really looking forward to those legs, And we always love playing in our hometown Sydney, We’re just really keen to play these songs into of a whole bunch of new ears and hope to make a bunch of new friends along the way. What do you like to do away from music? Surfing, love just being in the water, Camping and going on adventures with my dogs, I have a cattle x and a dingo, we love tracking into the bush and getting in touch with nature, besides that, work, but we all gotta eat ;-), works not so bad, I run a screen printing company, so it’s a lot of fun too. Who are you listening to at the moment? Tropical Fuck Storm, Amyl and the Sniffers, Plants from Wollongong, Don’t Praise the Machine, Major Arcana have all been getting a regular spin lately, but during the recording, especially while I was writing the lyrics, I was going back to old favorites like Paul Kelly, Gareth Liddiard, the Drones and Steve Poltz gave me a lot of a good kick in the pants to write better songs lyrically. What's planned for 2020? Cure for COVID-19 hopefully!!, then we can get back on the road, we’ll start working on the new album around August, until then we are on the road around Australia, (virus permitting), we had plans to head to Japan and Indonesia in June/July but it looks like the world may be in a total shutdown now ;-(( Favorite food and place to hangout? The Beach and the Mountains, I did a 2 week road trip in February and found some awesome spots on the mid north coast of NSW, such a magical part of the world, favorite food, how can I pick, Chocolate, Humus and Mexican, Love a Taco salad with a nice Pale Ale! Yes!

Tshitaki Interview

A Choir Of Ghosts Interview

What is your name and role within Supernova? Emiliano is a Dj, producer and A&R, Giacomo is a Dj, Musician and producer. Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? We live in Florence, we have our studios and our families here in Italy. Music scene here is pretty hot, we love to play in Italy! How did you first start playing music? We both starts at 15 years old playing vinyls, drum machines and samplers at some hot parties in our cities at the end of 80s. What's been happening recently? We had a great end of 2019 / beginning of 2020 djing between Europe, Usa and Asia and releasing music on Defected, Downtown Underground and 8Bit. What influenced the sound and songwriting for your new EP? We love to mix House and Techno sometimes and we are always influenced by the old school scenes creating a new Supernova sound. That’s what we like mostly. How did you go about writing the music? Sometimes we start from a groove that we like, sometimes we work around an acappella or a sample and sometimes we have an idea in mind, like a direction or a mod we want to go. Where and when did you record/produce and who with? How did you approach the recording/production process? What programs/equipment did you use? We produced this in our recording studio in Florence. We brought here the vocalist Fay aka Medusa from London and we did a couple of days of recording vocal sessions. We recorded the vocals on some reference beats, not the track as it’s now. After a few days we did start working on this raw house beat with a techno feeling and we created the string pattern with an old school feeling. We were loving how the track was building up but we felt it was missing something. We went through the vocals recorded with Fay and felt that that the spoken one was perfect for the track. We re arranged the vocal over the track and at the end we were very happy. We produced on Ableton Live as daw, Kontakt to write the strings pattern and OB-6 for synths. What did you find most challenging and rewarding during the creation on the EP? Any upcoming gigs/tours? We wanted to create a raw beat with a techno attitude but keeping the house feeling and merge them with a classical string pattern. Unfortunately in this moment after the COVID-19 crisis all the gigs we had planned have been cancelled.. If so, where are you headed and when? What can we expect from your live show? We hope to reschedule soon gigs we had planned in London, Italy and South America for Aprile and May. Our live shows are always a surprise, we love to drive around the music and to see what the crowd need from us. It’s like a mix between a dj set and a live set. Who are you listening to at the moment? Funk, Jazz and Trap music. What do you like to do away from music? Reading, sports and to stay with our families. What's planned for 2020? We will be really focus on new Supernova music this year, we are preparing a lot of stuff for some hot labels we love and of course for Lapsus Music, Downtown Underground and Blackboard which are our labels. We are also planning to release a new album on 2020 or maybe 2021, will see. Favourite food and place to hangout? We love to have special dinner with our crew, it’s a perfect place to hangout before the party. We love our Tuscan traditional food and to try food from other countries when we travel. Purchase: https://8bit.lnk.to/MyVision Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/supernovaitaly/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/supernovaitaly/ SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/supernova

Supernova Interview

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? Sydney. I think the scene here is really interesting. Although the lockout laws hit us pretty hard, the quality of music is astounding. There are some killer jazz and funk bands, but it’s a shame those genres don’t get as much exposure as they do in other cities and countries. How did you first start playing music? I picked up the guitar at around 14 to be part of a high school rock band. From there it was just a process of exploring my own curiosity while trying to understand how the guitar worked. I was obsessed with metal for a few years, then moved on to blues which led me to jazz, funk and R&B. What's been happening recently? I’ve been in writing mode for a bit. It comes in waves but this last batch sounds really promising. It’s always super interesting when you stumble across new ideas or different sounds. Your new single 'Crazy' is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? Tame Impala definitely turned me on to more synth based sounds, but after spending time in London I was drawn back to the guitar, so I wanted to blend the two. I tried put in a lot of R&B influences in there too, but still maintain a rock feel. In terms of songwriting, I was reflecting on the state of the world and how we seem to be headed for further isolation and disconnection. Although it was written before the coronavirus broke globally, it has some eerie parallels. It touches on mental health because I felt it was important to talk about a subject matter that often feels uncomfortable to discuss. Music has an incredible way of opening you up to things you could never express normally. Ultimately the song carries a positive message - you’re never alone when dealing with mental health issues because they’re universal. How did you go about writing Crazy? I was staying with some friends in London for a few months in 2019. I played some shows in Europe and by the end of the trip I had run out of money. I couldn’t afford to do anything but stay in the apartment and write songs all day. I ended up with about 40 songs and Crazy seemed to be a stand out. It started out as a simple demo with just the chorus and a verse. Once I got back to Sydney I rewrote a lot of parts and recorded everything again, but the core of the song is still the same. The lyrics were written in Sydney once the instrumental was finalised. I kept rewritting them up until the last minute before I had to send it off to be mixed. Where and when did you record and who with? My friends Nick Twiney and Siebe Pogson from the band Funk Engine play keys and bass. I did all the guitars, vocals, synths and drums. We recorded most of the track in my bedroom studio at the end of 2019/start of 2020. Then I sent them to be mixed by Jackon Barclay who is a wizard at making things sounds great. What programs/instruments did you use? Logic as the DAW, Diva for the synths and samples for some of the drums. The guitars, keys and acoustic drums were either straight DI instruments or recorded live. How did you approach the recording and production? I wanted to blend rock with R&B, so I’ve got those huge synths and fuzzed out guitars in the chorus mixed with 808s in the verse. I usually record everything just as demos first in my room then eventually reach out to other people when necessary. The recording itself is pretty straight forward. I use basic Logic plug-ins and a focusrite audio interface for instruments. At the end of the day the song is the most important thing for me. If it’s a great song it should stand on its own. Who are you listening to at the moment? Theophilus London, SZA, Stormzy, Brian Eno and a 60s Argentinian band Sandhy and Mandhy. What do you like to do away from music? It’s all music for me at the moment. I teach guitar and do a lot of cover gigs on the side for regular income. What's planned for 2020? I had a few releases planned but with everything in lockdown who knows. Maybe just songwriting quarantine. Favourite food and place to hangout? Fruit smoothies in the studio. https://www.facebook.com/slinkysounds/

Slinky Interview

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? We live in italy,here the scene is around italian trapper e and house music. How did you first start playing music? I start playing at 14, for school birthday parties. What's been happening recently? We signed with Sony Music. Your debut single 'How To Fly' is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? Sound is always influenced from market, same for all, but have origins from personal style, we born with house music, and this sound is from there…. How did you go about writing How To Fly? I sent demo to Jo3l,who involved Nathan C and they wrote lyrics. Where and when did you record/produce and who with? We produce track with Jo3L and Nathan C end of last year. How did you approach the recording/production process? I start work in radio many years ago, after I decided to produce my own stuff. What programs/instruments did you use? I work old school, cubase. What do you like to do away from music? Fishing, and doing sport. Who are you listening to at the moment? All kinds of music, important is quality, not style. What's planned for 2020? We want make many collaboration with different artists. Favourite food and place to hangout? Of course Spaghetti, as Italian :-) https://www.instagram.com/lazyguysofficial

Lazy Guys

Jordyn Elliott

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? I’m in Ottawa, Ontario. There’s always work to be done to improve the local scene, but I feel like it’s getting there. There’s never been a lack of talent in the region, and I’m pleased to see so many thoughtful artists trying to support one another. How did you first start playing guitar/music? Initially, I started out on drums. I guess I wanted to be Peter Criss or something, so my parents enrolled me in drum lessons for a few years. Eventually I decided guitar was my true love, but those early lessons have proven valuable as a writer and an overall musician. What's been happening recently? I have been working on the 5th music video in support of my new album, “Lifting the Curse”. I’m hoping for an early-May release date – keep an eye on my Youtube channel! I’m also working on a follow up album, with plans for a fall 2020 release. What influenced the sound and songwriting for your new album? The album was a form of personal therapy and healing for me during the recovery of a car accident that profoundly complicated my life, to put it mildly. I spent a lot of time trying to connect with nature, and the entire summer of writing and recording was almost like a sort of spiritual awakening – not meaning to get all deep here or anything – but that is why I called it Lifting the Curse. By the time it was done, I realized I had a piece of work I was tremendously proud of, and in the process of creating it, I had left a lot of the negative energy in the past. How did you go about writing the music? Most songs started out with guitar parts and expanded from there, although I will occasionally start with a drum groove to stimulate some creativity. I am always writing little notes and ideas on my phone, or using the voice memo feature to capture an inspiration before it disappears. I’ve been writing songs with lyrics and vocals for as long as I can remember, so my approach to writing this instrumental album was actually very similar. Most of the music follows similar arrangements that we are already familiar with – verse, chorus, etc., and I don’t think any of the songs even surpass four minutes in length. Obviously I took the liberty to spill over the structural edges a little because the confines of a vocal composition were absent, but I don’t see it as a progressive album at all. Where and when did you record/produce and who did you work with? Other than the fantastic Emily Dolan Davies, who played drums on the track “was it something I said?”, no other musicians were harmed during the recording process. I recorded the bulk of the album over the summer of 2019, entirely from my home studio. I set a deadline for completion, and for certain goals to be met during the process. There’s certainly some self-discipline required when you’re producing it all yourself. It’s important to be realistic though, when setting those goals, otherwise you’ll get discouraged when life gets in the way. Allow yourself sick days, and days when you really aren’t into it, because that will happen. What programs/equipment did you use to record? I actually recorded everything through Garageband. You can do a lot with programs like that if you spend enough time learning the details. I have a long way to go, but I’m still really pleased with the overall production! The cherry on top is always getting the music professionally mastered, which I did through H-Bomb Mastering. I used some of the stock instrument plug-ins with the program, and also my live guitar rig, to get a nice blend of guitar tones. The guitars were almost entirely tracked with my Fender Telecaster and Gibson Les Paul. The bass was all played on a Fender Precision. What do you like to do away from music? I try to read as much as possible, and I love all kinds of movies (I lean toward the horror genre a lot). That keeps me occupied during the winter when I don’t enjoy the outdoors very much! In the warmer months, I try to get out in nature every chance I get, cycling, hiking, kayaking, and herping (Google it – it’s not what you think! Haha!) Who are you listening to at the moment? I’ve been listening to The Darkness and The Muffs. I have also been alternating between Youtube videos by Skating Polly and Fleshgod Apocalypse. What's planned for 2020? The release of my second instrumental solo album, along with plenty more troublesome music videos! I am really hoping to get this show on the road too, if time permits! Favourite food and place to hangout? Well, I’m not sure if this will give me street cred or not.... But if I’m actually hanging out anywhere, it will probably be the library. I also work there, so I’m definitely not winning any wild rockstar points! I love lots of different food, spicy and sweet. I make a killer plate of nachos. I’m a huge fan of ice cream and have an incurable weakness for sweets. http://www.darrenboyd.com https://www.youtube.com/user/thewhorrorcanada https://instagram.com/darren.michael.boyd https://www.facebook.com/darrenmichaelboydmusic

Darren Michael Boyd Interview

Jordan F Interview

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? I am based in Trail, a small town in the Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. There's a pretty good live music scene in Rossland and Nelson which are close to here! I can often sell out our Charles Bailey Theatre as I have a lot of home town support here! It's fun! How did you first start playing music? I started singing at 8, but when I was 15, I started playing jam sessions at a local bar. The legal drinking age is 19, so I would wait outside for my turn to sing and then be escorted to the stage. For me, it was a great chance to learn how to connect with an audience through music. What's been happening recently? Besides the time I’m spending promoting my new single, “Wait on Me”, I am a huge podcast nerd. Naturally, I released a podcast. It's called “Wild Hearts” and you'll find me chatting about the music business, health, fitness, self love, and lifestyle! You can listen to it on any of your favourite streaming platforms. Your new single Wait On Me is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? This songwriting is influenced from my own journey of balancing a music career and my relationship back at home. The sound was influenced by the writers (Dave Pahanish and Jason Thomas – my guitar player of many years), the musicians and my producer, Jeff Johnson. Jason played all the guitar parts to the song, while Jeff added a pop influence that fit in well with a new musical direction that I was eager to take. How did you go about writing Wait On Me? I wrote this down in Nashville in March of 2018 after I had moved there. Jason had accompanied me for our drive across Canada and into Nashville. Once we got there, we connected with Dave Pahanish, an amazing hit songwriter, and the song was a natural extension of my own personal and professional circumstances and artistic goals. Where and when did you record/produce and who with? This was the first song we recorded from my new album coming out, which is called “Where the Wild Hearts Beat”. We recorded the whole album in the beautiful Okanagan region of British Columbia last spring with Jeff Johnson. How did you approach the recording/production process? This song was probably the quickest to record because Jason and I have been playing it since we wrote it. We couldn't not. It didn't need any lyrical or melody changes. We started with a drum groove, acoustic guitar and a rough vocal. From there Jeff built the track and did the piano, bass and programming. He even got Travis Toy from Rascal Flatts to play the Banjo and Steel Guitar. To make it even more special I had my "band mom", Tonnie Stewart sing all the background vocals on this one. Please tell us about your experience with working with Jeff Johnson: He's the best. He worked me hard and we dug deep to get exactly what we wanted. He really took the time to get me into the right zone. Even pumped me up by doing push-ups one day in the studio, haha - He's super comfortable to work with. But basically he's a musical ninja. How was your time living in Nashville? I love Nashville. It was so good for me to spend that time writing and singing every day. It was the best way to hone in on and focus on my craft. I felt very at home there. You recently sang on stage with Keith Urban, how did this come about? How has this experience affected you? It came about when I asked him! haha - partially kidding. A few years ago, he was playing a pop up/word of mouth show that I knew about. I signed my CD to him in the line, called my family back home and told them I was planning to sing with him. Once the concert started, I made my way to front stage, waited for a quiet moment and asked him! It really literally was a dream come true. Not everyone can say they sang with one of the best male Country artists on the planet and I was fortunate to do it in Nashville of all places! The experience affected me deeply as it inspired me to go back to Nashville to live a year later. Now with my new music, I feel more determined as a result of my own choices, but they wouldn’t have happened the way they did if I hadn’t had that moment of inspiration. Who are you listening to at the moment? I love Miranda Lambert's new album "Wild Card", Maren Morris' "Girl" and Taylor Swifts album "Lover". What do you like to do away from music? I do Crossfit about 5 times a week, and also ride horses as often as possible – a couple of times a week if I can! I also love hiking and being outdoors! Please tell us about your podcast 'Wild Hearts': I really wanted to invite my fans in on a deeper level, open up and be more vulnerable and real. I thought what a better way then this! And I'm loving it! I am almost 15 weeks in and have talked about topics such as "How The Music Industry Can Make You Feel & 5 Reasons for A Hit Song" to "Peanut Butter, Crossfit And An Eating Disorder" and "How To Produce Your Own Music Video". What's planned for 2020? I’m so excited for this year! We are getting ready to hit the road in March for a Radio & PR tour throughout Canada. Of course, I will be continuing with the podcast and we will be releasing another single in time for summer. This is going to be a fun one! Throughout the summer, I will play various festivals and venues and by the time the fall comes around, we will be heading back out to Hamilton, Ontario for Canadian Country Music Week, and more shows. The album release will be after that, so stay tuned! Favourite food and place to hangout? Oh my favorite food... I love Adams peanut butter and apples as a snack! Or blending a frozen banana with peanut butter – it’s like ice cream! Also when I feel like cheating, I love fish and chips!! Favourite place to hang out, well.. I am a bit of an introvert. So I love being at home because I'm always out being social the rest of the time. BUT I do love going to the cutest town of Nelson BC about an hour away. It's full of cute coffee shops, boutique shops and great restaurants. It's fun to restaurant and bar hop and try different food with friends!

Lisa Nicole

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like? I'm based in Redfern, Sydney. I moved here to immerse myself in the music scene which I have done, but tbh I spend most of my time on my laptop or in my bedroom. I get out by DJing on the weekends when I'm not performing and try to drop into Oxford Arts Factory once a week to see something live. How did you first start playing music? The first song I wrote was a radio jingle when I was ten. After that, I was in the country music club performing at country music festivals whilst playing the drums in the school concert band. I returned to making music whilst selling handbags out of the back of my car. I was listening to a Bertie Blackman CD over and over and then started writing songs on Garage Band, literally recording percussion and drums using kitchen utensils and singing into a fan for vocal effects (until I found out how to use the software properly). I posted an ad on Gumtree and met Ben and we started Bec and Ben. After that, I taught myself guitar and started writing material which I put out as RACKETT. What's been happening recently? Recently I've returned from my first headline tour of Japan. I put out 2 new songs; Machinations and Oxytoxic. Toured them in Melbourne and Sydney. I've been working with photographers and designers to create visual representations fo my new music, learning how to edit better and DJ ing. My day to day routine since coming out as a solo pop act is more on the admin side. I dedicate a lot of my day to researching venues, playlists, artists and communities to build on my music. Your new single Oxytoxic is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? The word Oxytoxic is something I made up based on the love chemical produced by the body; Oxytocin. My obsession with love is toxic = Oxytoxic. The sound design and production is by Dave Hammer, my producer and co-writer. We wanted to create something to dance to and the lyrics are both fierce and vulnerable at the same time. We made something that sonically reflects the intensity of my toxic obsession. How did you go about writing Oxytoxic? Dave and I worked closely together on a collection of tracks to make a cohesive and informative sound to my new music. We had references but we also wanted to create something original that hadn't been heard before. I listened to a lot of pop like Charli XCX, Kim Petras, Dorian Electra to get my head around how far artists are pushing the pop music template. We shared lyric ideas and personal experiences to form a collaborative relationship. I'm really happy with what we've created. Where and when did you record/produce and who with? I produced and co-wrote with Dave Hammer (Lime Cordiale) and we recorded at a studio in Petersham after we'd settled on demos. Please tell us about the music video and production process? The approach to everything I do visually is, for the most part, DIY. As a millennial artist without much budget, I've had to learn graphic design, editing, photoshop etc. Prior to the video, I made a little green screen music video for a Christmas song I put out for fun and thought 'how much harder can this be to make a proper video using the same technique'. Well, it was a lot harder. Lucky I have tech friends that helped me clean it up. I produced it, directed and edited it myself, simply the budget does not exist right now for what I wanted to create. Having said this I curated a cast that didn't need more than for them to turn up really. I'm a real Tim and Eric fan so I found a middle ground between ultra lo-fi comedy cuts and simplicity that didn't over shadow the talent. How did you decide who to work with and why? On my journey towards pop, I've lost a lot of the die-hard rock fans. I've had to look in places to find people that are listening to pop and embody pop culture. On my first tour of Australia with the new sound I wanted to play in new places, that's when I landed a show at Pride Of Our Footscray (an LGBTQIA community bar in Melbourne). I met Joslyn Bosoms, the host. I fell in love with her charm, fabulousness and creativity, she was liberated and the people in the venue were open-minded. Her commitment to entertaining people resonated with me. After that, I started inviting queens to perform with me on stage, I want my shows to be inclusive and a celebration of unique individuality. That leads me to the cast; Copper Feel, Bae L'amour, Krayola, Cerulean, Joslyn Bosoms, Alf Alpha, Dazza and Keif. I found them on instagram, pithed them my idea and they executed it in less than 2 takes each. Who are you listening to at the moment? Alice Longyu, Dante Knows, 070 Shake, Denzel Curry, Clypso, The Presets, Mood Killer, Dorian Electra, L Devine, Pablo Vittar, Charli XCX, Cub Sport, Tkay Maidza, Ash Nikko. It's all here if you want it > https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1bwM0GbXORVdCO7o9HSX0b?si=bFZ7iAt8QJifcbQJzvjamw What do you like to do away from music? I like to DJ. It's the best job really. Getting paid to listen to music and connect with people through the nostalgia of 90s pop music and slip in a few things they might not have heard. I also like to binge watch RuPaul's Drag Race. What's planned for 2020? I released the new music video for Oxytoxic this week. Throughout the rest of the year, I'll be releasing more music, finding my home fanbase and writing and collaborating as much as I can. I'd like to tour again outside Australia, but for now I'm exploring my local community. Favourite food and place to hangout? Favourite place to eat it 'Butter' in Surry Hills, Sydney. They sell fried food and sneakers and I like to go there when I'm hungover, so like, every Sunday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DySh8kitk6U&feature=youtu.be

Rackett Interview

What is your name and role within Fossa? Hey guys, thanks for having us! I’m Nick, and I play the role of composer / producer for Fossa, and perform synths for the live show. Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? We’re based in Leeds, England, having all met at the music college here back in 2011. The music scene is incredible here - there are tonnes of independent venues, playing everything you could imagine. There’s a particularly thriving guitar, and underground electronic music scene as well, which is how we got into making the music we do today! How did you first start playing music? I’m actually predominantly a saxophonist, having studied jazz performance as my undergraduate. I was brought up listening to jazz 24/7, and was playing with bands from a young age, ranging from metal groups to big band work! Since graduating, a bunch of my friendship group started to explore other sonic realms, and slowly started to expose ourselves to electronic music, which is where my interest in learning to produce came from. What's been happening recently? Me and Tom (drummer in Fossa) have recently starting composing together more regularly which has been really fun. I found myself hitting a bit of a wall a few months back, and was struggling to come up with song ideas I was really digging. But now we can bounce ideas off of each other, write more interesting drum grooves, and have found a bit of a new sound we’re settling on. We’re hoping to keep this going and work on the debut Fossa album. Your new single 'Evolve' will be out on the 13th of March, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? There’s been such an incredible amount of electronic music being released recently, and every artist I’ve heard has influenced it in some way, but if I had to pinpoint a few, it’d have to be the latest Floating Points record, Bonobo’s recent singles and Four Tet. I think I was also binge watching Stranger Things at the time, which looking back on, seems to have had some sort of influence as well! How did you go about writing Evolve? Evolve was one of those rare occasions when I opened Ableton, and it all just happened within a day. I spent a few hours, as I usually do, messing about with some synths until I hit a sound that felt right, and took it from there! Tracks definitely usually take a lot longer, and lot more frustration is involved, but this time was very smooth - hence the title. Where and when did you record/produce and who with? When it was fully ready, we took it to a fantastic studio in Leeds called the Nave in October last year, and worked alongside our good friend Tom Orrell, who helped to record the drums for it, and also did our final mix. We took an interesting approach with this one, sampling live drums, so that we could maintain the metronomic drum style required for this type of music, but still maintaining a human feel to it. We were super happy with the results! What programs/instruments did you use? Writing the music always happens in Ableton, and we also use this software to perform live as well, alongside Moog and Dave Smith hardware synths, and always live drums. What do you like to do away from music? I love to travel (although haven’t had much opportunity recently) as much as possible. I’m also getting very into photography, and cooking has been a long time passion of mine as well! Who are you listening to at the moment? Despite the type of music we’re putting out, I’m really into guitar music at the moment; bands like DIIV, Parquet Courts, and Real Estate are topping my Spotify plays at the minute! Electronic music always has it’s place however, and am really into a local artist called Jinjé currently. Rival Consoles and Four Ten are definitely up there as well! What's planned for 2020? We’ve got two more singles to put out which we’re really excited about, and am in the throws of writing our first full length album as well! And as always, trying to play as many shows as possible! (any promoters out there, hit us up!!) Favourite food and place to hangout? Mexican and Indian food top my list! Walking about Leeds’ independent venues such as The Brudenell and Hyde Park Book Club are always good stops as well for a drink and chill! FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE | INSTAGRAM | SPOTIFY | WEBSITE

Fossa Interview

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? I’m currently based in the Netherlands near a town called Eindhoven. The music scene in Eindhoven is mainly Dutch pop/urban music but we have a lot of Electronic music festivals in The Netherlands, especially in summer.Some great colleagues in the music scene are from Eindhoven as well. How did you first start playing music/DJing/Producing? I had to do a school project when I was 15 with the purpose to develop skills and interact with people. I played piano since I was a little girl and I loved it, so I definitely wanted to do something with music. And I found that with djing and producing you can create such an intimate connection with people, which I thought was amazing. I got the chance to play at a local pub in my village. It was so fun and there were some people who asked me to play at a little festival and those little festivals became bigger and bigger, and then I met my manager and everything went so fast after that. Just a rollercoaster, but I love it… What's been happening recently? I just released my track ‘Roll Up’ on Heldeep Records and have a few other tracks ready to go! I recently got back from India playing at an awesome festival for 20.000 people and for the rest of the year, I’m playing at Mysteryland, Summerburst and a many more awesome festivals! Your new track 'Roll Up' is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? When I play in clubs, I sometimes love to switch my sets up with some groovy house tracks especially when I feel like the crowd wants that kind of music, but I didn’t really have any track with that sound yet. So with Roll Up I found a mixture of energy and of a groovy house track that will fit perfectly into my set. How did you go about writing Roll Up? A friend of mine had an awesome analog sample, which is the lead sound you hear in the drop. I started playing around and tweaking the analog sound and after a while I was very satisfied with it and decided that it would work perfectly as a lead sound, which you now hear in the drop. I started building the rest of the track around this lead sound, because I found it so cool that I wanted it to be the main focus of the track. Where and when did you record/produce and who with? I started producing this track in the summer of last year, I was playing in a lot of awesome clubs, so my music style was a little more clubby and groovy. What I really missed in these sets was a track like Roll Up, so I started working on it and I actually premiered the first version in Docks, which is a club in Hamburg. People loved the track so much that we worked on it a little more together with, James Erickson, and that is the track you hear right now. What programs/equipment did you use? I tried about every program production-wise and ended up with Ableton Live. It has such an easy workflow and I love the plugins from Ableton itself. Djing-wise I have always used Pioneer, very easy to use and it is super universal wherever you go in the world. Who are you listening to at the moment? At the moment I love to listen to Billie Eilish and Rosalia, they are both so talented and original. What do you like to do away from music? I love to do sports, which really clears my mind and makes me feel super healthy. I even started my own little fitness blog, which is updated weekly on my socials, called Beyond Fitness. Please tell us about your experience with working with and being a part of the Heldeep family: I’ve met Oliver Heldens a few times now and I love him as a person and artist, so I am really happy to release on, and to be part of the Heldeep Family. I think it’s great to work with them and also be inspired by their sound and vice versa. You have a summer tour coming up, where are you headed? So far this summer I will go to Germany - Airbeat One, Sweden - Summerburst, France - Electroland, and The Netherlands - Mysteryland to name a few. Half of my time I am in Asia and this year I am also going to South America. The schedule so far is already insane! I really can’t wait! How do you prepare for live shows and what do you most enjoy about playing live? What I always do is check the hit lists of that country, and then I will make some specific mashups and edits from tracks that are famous in that country. What I also do is I adjust my intro to the energy of the crowd. I think that the people like to hear that and then I just go with the flow. I look at the crowd, sense them and feel how they are reacting. What I enjoy most about the sets is the contact with the crowd, I love to see when they are enjoying, smiling and dancing that is seriously the best feeling in the world. What do you find most challenging and rewarding whilst being on tour? The most challenging experience is flying and the airports because there is so much waiting and standing in lines, pffff…. What is crazy challenging is when you have done a super cool gig for a few thousand people, which gives you crazy adrenaline and that moment when you are back in your hotel room a few hours later, alone with no sound. It’s always such an anticlimax. The most rewarding on tour is meeting different people from so many different cultures. It is such a privilege to meet everybody, perform for the crowd, making music, shows and to have so much fun with all the people What's planned for 2020? So far INSANE festivals and clubs around the world and so many tracks! I can’t wait to show you guys everything. Favourite food and place to hangout? My favorite food is definitely gluten and lactose free pizza with crazy amounts of toppings. But I am definitely a NO pineapple on my pizza person haha. My favorite place to hang out is at home with friends, chatting, playing games or watching a movie together.

Sophie Francis

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? Iʼve been in Philly, PA for the past 5 years or so. Thereʼs tons of music happening in Philly. House shows are still a pretty big thing here and a lot of art collectives and shared loft situations are forming, which host some cool shows and events. Also have new venues like The Met poppin up. Itʼs hard to keep up with all of the Philly bands. XPN, which is U Penns radio station, does a good job of showcasing local talent. How did you first start playing music? Hittinʼ pots and pans... like most kids. After a few long years of making rubberband / tissue box guitars and cutting cassette records with my big sister, I discovered my motherʼs old acoustic guitar in our basement. I began writing songs before I actually figured out any chords. I guess you could say I was a monophonic guitarist...for like 2 years haha. My sister dated some cool musician dudes who got me started on drums and guitar. The first band I joined was a big band / swing band that played a lot of Count, Duke Ellington and songs from other famous jazz composers. What's been happening recently? Mostly been hiding out and recording in my studio in Philly. Just finished a film score with my buddy David Carls aka Branx, which was a lot of fun. Synthy Sci - fi kinda vibe. Iʼve also been producing / collaborating with some cool Philly, Nashville and LA artists. You have an album soon to be released on Gramatik's Lowtemp, what has influenced the sound and songwriting for this album? I feel like there are primarily 2 kinda vibes happening on this record. One being a sort of classic soul and Motown vibe and the other having a more modern dancey feel. Two of the more classic artists that I always have on heavy rotation are Al Green and Sly & the Family Stone. Slyʼs vocals on the album ‘Freshʼ have definitely influenced some of the more soulful vocal moments in my recordings. For the more dancey side of things, I would say that Prince and Justice are two pretty big influences. Also, Jamie Lidell is a recent re-discovery that Iʼve REALLY been diggin. Heʼs an all around fantastic artist who always seems to keep things super soulful and fresh. Like most songwriters, things that I experience and things that I hear and read about influence my writing. I try to be conscious of what Iʼm going to release in regards to lyrical content and message. I donʼt mean tip toe-ing around and being careful with my words, but rather choosing to release the songs that may be able to effect listeners more. Iʼm not releasing music for myself. I can listen to myself without releasing anything (I know from experience). I think that qualifies listeners as being perhaps the number one influence on my songwriting. How did you go about writing the music? I usually start with a melody or some sort of hook. I rarely sit down and decide to just write a song. Most of the ideas come randomly when Iʼm taking a walk or on an airplane. Iʼve noticed that there is something sorta neat about writing and creating while 7 miles up in the clouds. At least for me anyway. Every now and then I will start writing to a beat or a loop if it really sparks something immediately. There are certain drum grooves that almost imply harmony and / or melody in an interesting way. Sometimes all I need is the right groove and a song immediately starts to take form out of thin air. Drummers who can lay down this sort of foundation are absolutely priceless. Iʼve only met a few. Where and when did you record/produce and who with? Most of the songs were recorded by my lonely ass self through out 2019. There were a few instances where I had someone come by the studio to track another instrument live with me in order to capture a certain feel, but this record is sort of my first true solo record. What programs/instruments did you use? I used Logic Pro X as my main DAW. I think of the computer and DAW as the storage device that has replaced tape . And all of these analog instruments and devices are being crammed through the butthole of the computer and stored as 1ʼs and 0ʼs. I donʼt think I will ever fully understand how this is possible, but itʼs pretty freakin rad. Please tell us how you connected with Gramatik and how the experience have been so far: My good homies in Exmag, particularly Eric, introduced me to Denis several years ago when they were all living together and making records in Brooklyn. I remember the first time we met we were watching YouTube videos and getting excited about the musical moments. When other people react to the same specific musical moments in a very similar way that I do, itʼs almost inevitable that we will end up collaborating at some point. So eventually I got my good homie Orlando Napier to link up with Denis and the 3 of us recorded some tracks. Fast forward a few years to Gramatik Red Rocks summer 2017... around this time, Denis and I reconnected and started talking shop. I sent him a track or two, and he sent me 57 tracks, which I was to learn for the 3 hour long set at Red Rocks the following week. That was an intense 3 hours to say the least. I didnʼt even realize how severely bad I had to pee until the family photo was taken after the set. Fortunately, everything has been downhill from there and we continue to make more and more music together each day it seems. We are currently working on a blues record called ‘Future City Bluesʼ, which Iʼll be released later this year. Who are you listening to at the moment? Iʼm currently listening to the new Tame Impala record, which I very much like. Jamie Lidell - ‘building a beginningʼ has been on heavy rotation. Revisiting Justice ‘audio, video, discoʼ. Iʼm always trying to keep up with what my friends are releasing as well. What do you like to do away from music? I like to take walks. Each year from ages 20-30 I became a little less active in sports and exercise until I eventually arrived at walking. Outdoor walking only, none of that mall stuff. But seriously, if I donʼt walk at least a few miles a day, I have a tough time focusing on anything. Itʼs a great way to break up the day and give your brain a much needed reset. I recommend it to everyone, especially those who are staring at screens all day. What's planned for 2020? 2020 is the year for releases. Thatʼs been my plan anyway. Iʼve become pretty overwhelmed by the amount of music thatʼs been collecting on my hard drives that I need to do something with it before I explode. Denis and I have a project in the works that will basically serve to recycle all of the tracks we make that donʼt find their way onto an album or a film that we are writing for. There will be all sorts of styles ranging from funk to spaghetti western soundtrack style recordings. Favourite food and place to hangout? I donʼt think I have a single particular favorite food, but I do eat an awful lot of ice cream. When Iʼm not in the studio, I like to hang out on the city streets. I also enjoy floating down a nice creek or river with fishing pole in hand. I usually visit with family if I have a few days off.

STEHREO

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? I have recently relocated back to my hometown in Coffs Harbour. There are some talented and hustling artists up here, but a much smaller audience as opposed to Sydney where I have been previously based over the past 5 years. How did you first start playing music? Growing up in a family of musicians and singers, music was just a part of life. I never sought out to pursue it as a career, even though I used to dream of being an international artist as every young kid does. My Mother’s heritage is Maori which hugely influenced my musical ear as well as growing up singing gospel in church. What's been happening recently? Recently I’ve come back to producing my own tracks. It has been hard to channel creativity and write whilst spending a lot of time in my other passion as a Youth Worker, but lately I’ve been looking to focus more on my art and collaborating with other artists. You've recently transitioned into hip-hop, how and why did this come about? I grew up listening to female artists like Lauren Hill, Brandy, Beyoncé and Rihanna. At the time I went to Uni, I struggled to find that type of community so I experimented in other genres for a long while. Hip-hop, R&B, Soul and Reggaeton are more so styles I feel I’m coming back to as I’ve been able to connect with an Australian hip-hop scene and staying true to myself as an artist. How has the transition to hip-hop been so far? I absolutely feel like I’ve reconnected with a huge part of who I am, how I write, what I write about and how I move and perform as a dancer also. Because I’ve worked with an Electronic producer for a while now, I’m still transitioning and I’m unsure if I would categorise my sound as strictly hip-hop. I’ve loved Rihanna for this because I feel like a lot of her tracks explore other genres. It’s more about representing a vibe and a feeling for me, rather than sticking to a genre. How was your experience supporting Tuka? It was so incredible to meet and support Tuka on his “Selling Me Out” Tour last year. He is one of the most kind, genuine and generous artists I have come across. Supporting him live was just as memorable as the day he reached out to offer me the slot. It was a huge gift and I am still tremendously grateful. Your first self-produced single 'On My Way' is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track? I wanted to write something with grit because I feel like my life and musical journey has been the school of hard knocks. I can definitely say that I’ve poured every drop of resource into carving out a musical career for myself and am still. ‘On My Way’ is a short insight to the constant hustle of mind over matter, being born into a type of situation, bumping up against it and being good with the process as you try to create something of meaning from it all. Every sound is there to represent my grind. How did you go about writing 'On My Way'? Where and when did you record/produce? I first came up with the chorus bass line. I instantly loved it and wanted to create a vibe around it. It reminded me of someone who is riding solo through life, has overcome obstacles and can smile at the future. I have a small studio space at home that I write and produce from. I recorded and produced it last year when I first moved back to Coffs from Sydney. It was a transitional time in many ways, moving location but also getting back to producing which forced me to come up with my own samples and sounds and put my own flavours into it. I was listening to DaniLeigh and Rihanna at the time which influenced the sound, as well as Banks and Beyoncé. Women who get the mashup of soulful vocals, rock guitars, eerie soundscapes, heavy bass lines and a current beat. It went through a few trials as it doesn't strictly follow a “pop structure”, but I couldn't leave any part out once it was finished. It’s a journey, which also represents the message. It’s the most soulful song I’ve written. What did you find most challenging and rewarding through this process? It has been super rewarding to remember that I can produce my own tracks. I’ve been writing, performing, dancing, making and directing videos for a while, I kind of put producing on the shelf. It began as an experiment and once I got it mixed and mastered, I realised how achievable it was. It definitely feels good to be able to express exactly how I feel through sound, as well as lyrics. What did you learn through producing this single by yourself? I learnt that by producing the track, I’m actually releasing my own sound and vibe, as opposed to writing and sending it off for someone else to create. I’m really proud of this one and I will definitely put myself back in the producer chair for future singles. Who are you listening to at the moment? DaniLeigh, Teyana Taylor, Jhene Aiko, Kanye What do you like to do away from music? Dance is a huge outlet. Design, draw.. shop. What's planned for 2020? Single releases and music videos! I’d love take my new music on tour as well, both here in Coffs and up and down the coast. Favourite food and place to hangout? Coffs has some really great coffee spots, my favourite is Salute on the beach. Favourite foods: sushi, dumplings and Mexican. INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/sarai.music SPOTIFY - https://open.spotify.com/artist/3Kec4Kc2YtCGMlCBRPViS8?si=RIGJCyA8S96p4Y7wJRrwaA YOUTUBE - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJOt3GocKeK9c-E_JLIic6w TRIPLE J - https://www.triplejunearthed.com/artist/sarai FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/sarai.officialmusic/

SARAI

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? I’m based in Melbourne, Australia. I love the music scene here, there are so many creative people which makes it easy to arrange sessions and collaborate with other artists/musicians/producers. That being said though, I write & work with people all over the place thanks to the World Wide Web. How did you first start singing? I was very influenced by my Mum and my Aunty; they’re both great singers and very creative people. I started singing lessons when I was about 8 with Connie Lemke, the same singing teacher my mum went to, and from there it was kinda game on! I started gigging when I was 13 or 14, and that taught me a lot about how to work with a band. From there I became pretty self-sufficient, got my own gear and started doing my own gigs/writing/recording. What's been happening recently? My life’s been pretty hectic lately, I’m towards the end of my law degree so I’m studying a lot, and I’m also working in a law firm one day a week. I’ve just moved house and have a sick music room set up, so I’ve been feeling pretty inspired to make new music, been dabbling on the keyboard whenever I have a spare moment. You've just released your new single and video 'Scarlet Skies' what influenced the sound and song writing for this track? I wrote Scarlet Skies when I’d just got home from a big tour, I was pretty exhausted but the lyrics and melodies came together pretty quickly. In a literal sense, the sky at the time inspired the song. I was on my balcony in Fitzroy and had a beat Allan McConnell made for me on loop. The sky was so vibrant, it was really beautiful. Thoughts and ideas just started flowing naturally and that’s how it all came about. I think there’s some subliminal influences in my sound from artists like Jazmine Sullivan, Nai palm and even Solange. How do you go about writing music? Generally I’ll give my producer a reference or direction as to what feel or vibe I’m wanting to create.. Once we come up with something we both like, I’ll then start humming different melodies over the chords or beat. Once I come up with melodies I like, then I start playing around with different vowels that suit the rise and fall of those melodies.. I then structure words around those vowels... usually the words then lead me to a concept, which ties everything together. Where and when did you record/produce and who with? It all happened throughout last year. Allan McConnell from Close Counters produced Scarlet Skies, he did such an incredible job. I’d love to post the original idea he sent me for the song so people can hear how well Allan developed those initial ideas. I laid down my vocals with Hamley who is another producer I like to work with, and he then produced my vocals. I think Hamley also added a lot to this track because so much focus is in the ambience and treatment of the vocal. Liam Quinn from Sydney then mixed and mastered and he did a killer job as always. Quinn is my go to guy! He has such a good ear and is quite the perfectionist in the studio, which I love. How did you approach the recording process? With patience, persistence, stretches, and chamomile tea! I gotta get relaxed, comfortable and in the zone before I record.. Recording is such an intimate and vulnerable thing, the tiniest imperfections are picked up and amplified which can be good and bad. I’m pretty brutal with myself, I guess the vocal coach part of me switches on and I nit-pick everything. Hamley and Quinn will be able to testify to that I’m sure.. haha How did the concept for the video clip come about? I had a meeting with Georgia and Jenny (the creative directors) and we had a massive brainstorming session. I should actually find that pile of paper we were brainstorming on; I remember it looking pretty frantic, we were overflowing with ideas. It was always my intent for the video to be something aesthetically nice to look at- beautiful colours, abstract, patterns, but not necessarily anything with narrative. From there, we worked with our producer Darren Collinson to refine the ideas and think about how everything would work in practice.. It was a really fun process, can’t wait to do another video. What did you find most rewarding and challenging with the creation of the video clip? The most challenging thing was definitely getting the shots of me out in the ocean.. The water was ridiculously cold and I was out there for about an hour. Georgia’s mum Andrea was genuinely concerned for my life haha, I had a warm shower afterwards and still couldn’t feel my toes for a solid 2 hours. But, 100% worth it, because those shots came out so sick. 11/10 challenge, 10/10 reward. You've been touring as a backup singer with Ruel for the last 5 years, how was this experience? Amazing! Some of the best times of my life, for real. I’ve learnt so much about music and the industry and had some really crazy opportunities that I’m so thankful for. I’m really grateful for being a part of Ruel’s story; he’s super talented and such a lovely person. What did you most enjoy about being on the road and performing? I mean the shows themselves are always the highlight for me, the travel can get tedious, but once you’re on stage and feel that energy, it all becomes well worth it. Also, with touring you stumble across so many places that you wouldn’t necessarily go to if it weren’t for the shows, but once you’re there it ‘s like wowza this place is incredible! A big one for me was Stockholm, absolutely loved it, like probably in my top 5 places in the world.. But because it’s so far away and I guess not overly marketed towards Australians for holiday, I probably wouldn’t have gone otherwise. Stockholm also has the best meatballs ever, I’d go back all that way just to have them again. What have you taken away from the experience? When I’m touring, I miss home, and when I’m home, I miss touring.. It’s a catch 22, but I think because everything’s so fast paced on tour, it’s easy to get caught up and forget how lucky you are to have such wild opportunities like that. So I guess it’s taught me to be appreciative and grateful for every opportunity I get to perform. Like, what a job. Can’t complain about that. What do you like to do away from music? I mean, the law side of my life takes up a lot of my time too, but outside of that I’m actually really into painting at the moment. Been replacing my Netflix time with painting, which has been really soothing and cathartic. I love hanging out with my nieces Lotus and Evie too, they’re the best! Who are you listening to at the moment? Right this moment, listening to Jordan Rakei, so smooth. More generally though, I’m on a bit of a ‘No Doubt’ bender at the moment, very down with old school Gwen Stefani. What's planned for 2020? Lots of writing! I wanna write with a bunch of different song-writers and producers. And, hopefully I will finish my law degree, that’d be nice. Favourite food and place to hangout? Well, it depends how you interpret ‘food’. If you interpret it as a cuisine, I’d say Italian because it involves lots of cheese and pizza and pasta are just the best. But, if you define ‘food’ as a singular thing, I’d probably say hot chips. I’m a pretty harsh chip critic though, has to have the right amount of crunch and salt. Fav place to hangout is probably just at my house with my friends. We can wear our PJs all day, be as loud as we want and no one can kick us out- now that’s a good time. https://www.instagram.com/thisischevalier https://www.facebook.com/thisischevalier

Chevalier

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? I live in Los Angeles, CA. The music scene is wide and varied, but is a surprisingly small world. I’m always meeting musicians that know friends of mine or have played music with them. There is a lot of music to be heard on any given night and that is an exciting thing to be around. How did you first start playing music? There was a family heirloom upright piano in my house growing up. I started playing around with that as a child. I would sit and figure out melodies of songs I heard my parents listening to, and come up with my own ideas. Later, I started learning saxophone in school and by my teenage years, picked up the guitar and quickly got very serious about it. What been happening recently? I'm consistently working on new music for Missives, collaborative projects, and instrumental music. Looking forward to releasing my debut single Dissolve. Your new single 'Dissolve' is about to be released from your debut EP, what influenced the sound and songwriting for Dissolve and the EP? My influences span quite a far and wide spectrum. Since I first heard "Music for 18 Musicians" by Steve Reich, the idea of repetitive musical figures changing over time or staying constant while everything changes around them has been an important part of how I hear musical ideas. Moving harmony versus static figures, textures, and atmosphere inform a lot of my sound. My music is an amalgam of that minimalist influence and inspiration from artists like FKA Twigs, Thom Yorke, James Blake, and Bjork. The songwriting revolves around concepts of discovery, transformation, loss, acceptance, and the passage of time. How did you go about writing Dissolve? I had recently bought a Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 08 synth. I was exploring the sounds it was capable of and stumbled into a bass line that felt like it was falling over itself. It turned into a fully realized song shortly after that once I added a beat, some synth pads for harmony and a vocal melody. Lyrically, the song is about experiencing loss and navigating the disorientation that comes along with it. Where and when did you record and who with? Dissolve and the other tracks on “Patterns of Us” (EP) were recorded in my studio over the course of the last couple years. I've worked as a composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist for years now and wrote, recorded, and mixed everything myself. I have two tracks with guest vocalists, very close friends of mine, Patrick Joseph and Eleanor Crane. I’m lucky to have close friends who are also incredibly talented artists in their own right. How did you approach the recording process? Recording and writing happen simultaneously. They are both the process of creation and flow back and forth between each other. I record one sound or instrument that then inspires an idea for another layer or texture, and so on and so on until a structure begins to emerge. This happens fairly quickly, so I often have place-holder takes of various parts or instruments. Once I have a solid song idea mapped out, I go back and refine individual instruments as needed. I definitely enjoy using recording as a way to explore different sounds, or altering instruments or objects to make them sound like something else. What programs/instruments did you use to record? I use Pro Tools for recording and mixing. I use some software synths, but the majority of the EP utilized hardware synths like the Prophet 08, Moog Sub37, and Mother 32. There is also a fair amount of guitar as that is my primary instrument. And a lot of guitar that doesn't sound anything like a guitar. I use an Echoplex Digital Pro Plus looper to create atmospheric and ambient textures using the guitar. I also like using vocal loops to create textures and pads. There are percussive elements in the songs sourced from random objects like a paper wrapper, scratching on cloth, tapping on things, etc. What do you like to do away from music? I spend a lot of time camping, hiking, and being outside. Anywhere I can find mountains, water, and quiet. I read as much as I can, and watch movies and documentaries. I enjoy spending time with friends and family. Who are you listening to at the moment? Thom Yorke's latest album Anima has been in heavy rotation for me. As well as Bon Iver's most recent album and Magdalene by FKA Twigs. Anything by Max Richter. What's planned for 2020? I'll be releasing my debut EP "Patterns of Us" and continuing to work on new music for Missives, possibly for another EP or a full length depending on how everything shapes up. Favourite food and place to hangout? Pho or sushi (at least today). My favourite place to hangout is in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California or Northern New Mexico where I grew up. There is also a neighborhood bar here in LA that I go to fairly regularly with friends. It feels like it should be a bar in a random mountain town somewhere, but it sits in the middle of Eagle Rock, a north east LA neighborhood I’m quite fond of.

Missives

Vetty Vials

Fer Sher

Missives

Your new self titled album is out now, how has the response been from peers, fans and industry? Our new album is titled 'Vol. 3', so I guess as the name probably suggests it's the 3rd one we've recorded since starting the band back in 2012. The album is actually released in a few days so as I'm writing this it's still not out in the world yet! Looking forward to finally having it out, we've released a handful of singles over the last year in the build up to it and the response from peers and fans has been great, industry not so much, haha. I've never worried too much about the industry though, you gotta just make the music you want to make and hope for the best, can't let the machine dictate how you create. What have you learned through the creation and release of this album? One thing that always drives me nuts is taking too long to release something, I think a lot of artists suffer this plight. The time from conception to birth is way longer than 9 months, I wanna try and avoid that as the years go by. In the creation process we made solid draft copies of everything before taking it to our producer Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear band member and producer, excellent cook and motorbike enthusiast), I like that method but I want to always change things so next time I would want to get the producer in earlier so they can have a bit more say early on in how the songs should go. What did you find most challenging and rewarding during the creative process? Most challenging is getting everything recorded in the small window of time you have that the budget can afford. There is not a lot of time for experimenting hence the aforementioned draft copies, we needed a solid script before the ad libs came in. It is rewarding though after 5 days of mania to listen back and feel that sense of pride of creating something that only a week ago was silence. It's a hard one to answer, but are there any tracks that stand out to you most? If so which and why? I think for me (Joshua Moriarty) it's the song Waste. Lyrically it has the most potent lines, I think the story is cohesive (if I do say so myself, ha..) and gels perfectly with the music, it has the apocalyptic melancholy I wanted to lock down for that song. How was the music written? I wrote a lot of the music myself on the acoustic guitar while in LA across the course of a year. When I got back to Melbourne we amplified everything and then the other boys brought their songs to the table and we nutted it out in the jam room. We had also done a few writing trips through the year to different locations in Victoria where we would setup the computer and record a bunch of jams etc, sift through the best bits. How were the lyrics written? I took the most care I've ever taken on this record to get the lyrics right!! Took me months and months, I figure if you are gonna say something you may as well say it right and make it compelling, I didn't settle on any phrase until it was perfect. The chorus of Tear It Down took me months, I tweaked it over and over and over until I had it exactly right. I would demo things on Ableton then go for a bike ride and listen and make notes and repeat the process until it was perfect. I don't think their is one lyric on the record I would change, very happy with the message How do you usually go about writing music and was anything new or different with your approach to writing for this album? I'll write a lot of stuff just sitting around with an acoustic guitar, I have a wee one and I'll watch the telly with it in my hands twiddling away, something about that unconscious way of playing can lead to cool ideas. You gotta keep fishing, casting the line out. Then we bring those small ideas into the rehearsal rooms and see what feels good and if they stick after 6 months then we know it's a keeper. What are your plans for the album? Put it on the internet and hope for the best, what the fuck else does anyone do?? Any advice for less experienced musicians who are wanting to make a living in the music industry? Get lots of followers on tik tok. Who are you listening to at the moment? Kashmir from Denmark are a band favourite. I missed that most recent Father John Misty record so getting into that currently. The Phoenix Foundation from New Zealand are one of my fave bands ever so I'm always listening to them. Ainslie Wills is a bad ass, Lee Hazelwood, The Karen O and Danger Mouse record is sick too. What's planned for 2020? Play, make more music, write, record, play, make more music, rest, perform, record, basically all I've been doing the last 15 years so can't see it changing, it's either that or become a pool boy or go back in time and get good at cricket. Our new album is titled 'Vol. 3', so I guess as the name probably suggests it's the 3rd one we've recorded since starting the band back in 2012. The album is actually released in a few days so as I'm writing this it's still not out in the world yet! Looking forward to finally having it out, we've released a handful of singles over the last year in the build up to it and the response from peers and fans has been great, industry not so much, haha. I've never worried too much about the industry though, you gotta just make the music you want to make and hope for the best, can't let the machine dictate how you create. What have you learned through the creation and release of this album? One thing that always drives me nuts is taking too long to release something, I think a lot of artists suffer this plight. The time from conception to birth is way longer than 9 months, I wanna try and avoid that as the years go by. In the creation process we made solid draft copies of everything before taking it to our producer Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear band member and producer, excellent cook and motorbike enthusiast), I like that method but I want to always change things so next time I would want to get the producer in earlier so they can have a bit more say early on in how the songs should go. What did you find most challenging and rewarding during the creative process? Most challenging is getting everything recorded in the small window of time you have that the budget can afford. There is not a lot of time for experimenting hence the aforementioned draft copies, we needed a solid script before the ad libs came in. It is rewarding though after 5 days of mania to listen back and feel that sense of pride of creating something that only a week ago was silence. It's a hard one to answer, but are there any tracks that stand out to you most? If so which and why? I think for me (Joshua Moriarty) it's the song Waste. Lyrically it has the most potent lines, I think the story is cohesive (if I do say so myself, ha..) and gels perfectly with the music, it has the apocalyptic melancholy I wanted to lock down for that song. How was the music written? I wrote a lot of the music myself on the acoustic guitar while in LA across the course of a year. When I got back to Melbourne we amplified everything and then the other boys brought their songs to the table and we nutted it out in the jam room. We had also done a few writing trips through the year to different locations in Victoria where we would setup the computer and record a bunch of jams etc, sift through the best bits. How were the lyrics written? I took the most care I've ever taken on this record to get the lyrics right!! Took me months and months, I figure if you are gonna say something you may as well say it right and make it compelling, I didn't settle on any phrase until it was perfect. The chorus of Tear It Down took me months, I tweaked it over and over and over until I had it exactly right. I would demo things on Ableton then go for a bike ride and listen and make notes and repeat the process until it was perfect. I don't think their is one lyric on the record I would change, very happy with the message How do you usually go about writing music and was anything new or different with your approach to writing for this album? I'll write a lot of stuff just sitting around with an acoustic guitar, I have a wee one and I'll watch the telly with it in my hands twiddling away, something about that unconscious way of playing can lead to cool ideas. You gotta keep fishing, casting the line out. Then we bring those small ideas into the rehearsal rooms and see what feels good and if they stick after 6 months then we know it's a keeper. What are your plans for the album? Put it on the internet and hope for the best, what the fuck else does anyone do?? Any advice for less experienced musicians who are wanting to make a living in the music industry? Get lots of followers on tik tok. Who are you listening to at the moment? Kashmir from Denmark are a band favourite. I missed that most recent Father John Misty record so getting into that currently. The Phoenix Foundation from New Zealand are one of my fave bands ever so I'm always listening to them. Ainslie Wills is a bad ass, Lee Hazelwood, The Karen O and Danger Mouse record is sick too. What's planned for 2020? Play, make more music, write, record, play, make more music, rest, perform, record, basically all I've been doing the last 15 years so can't see it changing, it's either that or become a pool boy or go back in time and get good at cricket.

All The Colours

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? I’m Based in Brisbane, I moved from the UK 13 years ago. If you look at the scene in Australia from history back in the 80s / 90s then you can’t compare with the enthusiasm of both venues and punters. Db limits and pokies have plagued the scene somewhat. Venues don’t have the budget or are not prepared to pay for original artists the way cover bands and Tributes get paid. Apparently bands back then were finding a gig at least 3 times per week. Now we have agents selecting their "favourites". Brisbane is a place of diverse talent but we still haven’t seen anything that will put Australia back on the map yet for A & R visits. However, please feel free to check out my new single called 'DumbStruck' How can we progress and expose new music? Great question! and I believe radio have much to answer for where educating the public and artists are concerned. A particular radio station for example, still have the same play list from when I moved here 13 years ago!! Friends and family in the UK are always saying to me "have you heard this new song" "have you seen this new rocking band" well no I haven’t ha ha, because radio in Australia does not fully support the cause for what’s developing and happening overseas unfortunately. How did you first start playing music? My late father use to sing to me and my brother. We shared a room growing up and my old man would pick a classic tune and play and sing to us on his rusty old acoustic guitar instead of reading a bedtime story. Bearing in mind we were 6 and 4 year old knippers. My father taught me the "3 chord wonder" as he called it haha. I practiced those 3 chords for weeks, I then taught myself some more from guitar books, that was before google lol. It was when I met a good old pal at the first year of high school that it really began. I taught him a scale or two and now he is a top blues rock player in the South West of the UK. We put together a little novice garage band and rehearsed in bedrooms, garages and school halls. We had real passion man! We learn’t fast and soon booked our first gig at Plymstock Comprehensive School haha. It was the Christmas school disco that we would premiere at the age of 14. From here we grew as trio with myself on bass. Let’s just say the rest is history! What's been happening recently? It’s been a hectic few weeks of late getting everything across the line ready for the single, video, EP and live show launch, and now interviews and promo. March 28th I marry the most amazing lady, so as one can imagine there is much to do. I’m also a full time driving instructor in Brisbane. Your new single is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting? I wrote ‘DumbStruck’ over 14 years ago back in the UK, as a band then with my brother Del on drums we jammed it but never recorded these songs. At the time I was listening to a mix of bands from Trouble, Kyuss, Audioslave, Soundgarden to Stereophonics and HIM. I put an emphasis on melody and hooks as this formula gives colour and emotion. This was probably inherited from growing up listening to The Beatles. With ‘DumbStruck’ it was a progressive experience to write. It has evolved from its basic form and has guitar work that Slash himself could have written haha. The Canadian guitarist who wrote the solos, performed, mixed and mastered on the track goes by the name of Trevor (Hanuman) Stefiuk. Where and when did you record/produce? It has been an ongoing project that has spanned over the last two years with Allan Lahey at Taramalin Sound recording studio in Kingston QLD. Allan has been a pioneer and platform for original artists to record in Brisbane for many years. Due to life’s obstacles and funding it has taken longer than I had hoped, but it was worth the wait. Ben Kerswell played a major role in instrumentation and producing something a bit more contemporary. Unfortunately, Ben has had a life changing illness that stopped him in his tracks. Therefore, I was required to hire guys to help perform and complete the last track called 'Plunge' While in the process of mastering the track Strive and Repair, the decision was made to invest in a music video to align with this rocking tune. So if you like it rocking and loud this is your chance to hear something new. On the 28th February 2020 the EP ‘A Thousand Years High’ will be launched in Brisbane and be available online and for hard copies of the CD. I am proud of what has been achieved here as a whole, and I humbly say that the single ‘DumbStruck’ needs to be heard on every radio station across the globe to justify its existence! You have a EP on the way, how did you go about writing the EP and what influenced the writing? All of the 5 songs were written firstly on the acoustic guitar over a decade ago. It was a great formula, I would pour a glass or two and put pen to paper. Melody always comes first with me then lyrics to fit the vocal melody. I was heavily influenced from the stoner rock and the grunge era. AIC showed how vox harmonies can be used with heavy crunching riffs. Over the years, vocally I have been influenced by Chris Cornell, Layne Staley. In the early days it was Axl Rose, David Coverdale, Paul Rodgers and Sebastian Bach I took vocal lessons from. What have you found most rewarding and challenging during the creation of the new EP? We all knew that the final track recorded on the EP 'Plunge' was going to be a challenge. With its unconventional structure and longer than average duration it turned out to certainly be that. All efforts and focus went into a performance for recording that we were happy with. The result is an epic, progressive original sounding track. Funding and time was a major factor for completing this EP. What's the EP title? ‘A Thousand Years High’ What do you like to do away from music? I like to spend time with my kids, however they are now adults and doing their own thing! I like to walk somewhere scenic, visit the mountains and coast, wine and dine. I went through an obsessive stage of practicing the ancient Martial art known as the commercial name of Ninjutsu Who are you listening to at the moment? Clutch, Killswitch Engage and Paradise Lost What's planned for 2020? Get married in March and to push this EP, Single and video and obtain as many gigs as possible. I will be writing and still have some heavy tunes to show the lads to later record a full album. Favourite food and place to hangout? Being a pomme I do like a decent hot Indian curry. There are a few good Thai restaurants at Westfield Garden City and Raby Bay harbour that I like to visit.

Marshall

Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there? I’m from amsterdam and the music scene here is very urban and techno minded. But during Amsterdam Dance Event the whole city is EDM focussed and there’s a crowd for every genre of house music haha! How did you first start playing music? When I was 12 years old I started saving money for a DJ set, around the same age I started producing as well. I heard The Prodigy and Tiësto on the radio and I knew I wanted to do something with electronic music. I was always into music, I started drumming when I was 5 years old and always loved to perform. I wrote my own rap lyrics as a kid and I still love to write lyrics now ;) What's been happening recently? A LOT, it really feels like i’m showing the world a next level Julian Jordan. I’m super motivated and I love to lock myself in the studio after touring. I have so many tracks ready and seeing my recent tracks on the top of so many charts feels like a reward for all the hard work! You have new music being released on February 21, please tell us about what has influenced the sound and songwriting for the upcoming releases: I got this vocal in my email and I was immediately hooked on it, I started making the production and finished it within a few days, but i was still trying to find the right fit with the vocals for this track. When I showed the track to my girlfriend (she’s an amazing singer from Amsterdam) and she told me she would love to give it a try to see if her voice would be a good fit. It turned out to be the perfect match and that’s how this collaboration came together. Where and when did you record/produce? When I got the vocal I was at the airport and I think I made most parts of the production on the plane haha. What programs/equipment do you use? I work with FL Studio and a basic studio at home and mostly with my laptop haha. I also work a lot in the STMPD RCRDS studios as well, those studios are really next level. How do you go about writing and recording music? I love the journey of how a track comes together because it’s always different. The thing I love about producing music is that there are no rules, creative freedom all the way. Trying out new stuff and surprising fans with new music is the best thing in the world. You are relaunching your YouTube show, what do you planned? I want to show the world a more personal side of Julian Jordan. A side they can connect with more. The thing I love about social media is that you can choose what you want to show the world and your audience, but this also means that they never see the whole story. I try to show my personal side and take the viewers with me on this journey in my life. To show that I’m just a human having fun making and playing music all around the world. You're playing Ultra Music Miami, how do you prepare for live shows and what do you most enjoy about playing live? I never actually prepare, because i think it’s important to read the crowd as a DJ. But I do make sure that I have a ton of new tracks ready when I’m playing festivals like Ultra! Especially when a lot of people are going to check out the set online, it’s important to have the best tracks ready for that! What do you like to do away from music? Kickboxing is a big passion of mine, and since I’m touring so much I think the most important thing for me now is to stay in touch with my family and friends after touring. Who are you listening to at the moment? I’m currently listening to Josh Charm - Trust. Very talented producer! What's planned for 2020? A lot of new music and dope gigs, I think 2019 was about showing the world the ‘Julian Jordan sound’ but 2020 is just about firing all the tracks at the right time. I just share my love for music with the world and I’ll just keep on doing that every day! Favourite food and place to hangout? Amsterdam during the summer and pizza:)

Julian Jordan

$Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like? We're based in Canberra, ACT. The music scene is great. There's always good bands to see at Smiths Alternative, The Transit Bar - and we love The Basement. There's some great bands and artists here. We're big fans of Citizen Kay and Witchskull :-) How did you first start playing music? Imitating and playing along to our favourite bands, then later on jamming with friends. We all started playing music very young and we’ve all come from diverse musical backgrounds. How did Glitoris form? It was magic. Witches were involved, obviously. What's been happening recently? We've been busy preparing for our tour! It's really exciting to be going all over the country. Slut Power is the last single to be taken from our album ‘The Policy’. It’s our live anthem and the song we feel has resonated at our live shows the most. So we decided to give it the single, video and tour treatment. How did you go about writing Slut Power? / Your new single 'Slut Power' is out on the 14th of February, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this single? Musically, it began as a laid back riff - Malcolm started it off with the bass line. It's a slower than average tempo by design. We wanted it to sound ominous and sparse at the beginning and build. It was designed to reflect violence against women and how it starts with the language people use to describe women; it's a completely different, and far more negative, lexicon than words used to describe the same behaviours in men. These words are common, everyday vernacular, which reflects how deeply embedded prejudices against women are. The second verse gets more intense and the chorus has a sludge-metal feel to it. We had the hook from the get go and just built it up over the course of song with the drums getting heavier and the vocals starting a bit bratty and ending in rage. Lyrically, it's obviously coming from a dark place. There are parts of that song that are very pointed and very personal, which is why it can be delivered the way it is. The 3rd verse is how the media and society generally blames women for the violence committed against them and its insidious. Look at what happen after Eurydice Dixon was murdered in Melbourne in 2018. Superintendent David Clayton stood there and told women: “So just make sure you have situational awareness, that you’re aware of your surroundings. If you’ve got a mobile phone carry it and if you’ve got any concerns, call police.” Fuck off, Clayton. Tell men to stop raping and murdering us. We have the right to walk home at night and not think about this shit. The fact is, we are burdened by this constant feeling of “how can I operate today and go about my business without getting raped or murdered?” We make these calculations every time we want to go for a jog, every time we leave a venue or club late at night. We're monitoring what's going on with the Harvey Weinstein trial at the moment and a newspaper published a story on it with a headline about the dress one of the women was wearing when he sexually assaulted her. When women are abused and raped and murdered, the media and society blames them. Another thing: when this stuff happens to us we’re forced into silence. Jim DeRogatis’s book on R Kelly evidences the dozens of occasions Kelly paid off his victims and got them to sign NDA’s. Criminal acts are committed against women all the time – some physically violent, others more psychologically violent like online trolling, gaslighting and defamation – and most of the time we have to stay silent because we’re either paid to stay silent, blackmailed or shamed into it. So there’s a subtext of vengeance in Slut Power that comes through in both the song and video. Let’s just say we’re pretty experienced in the topics that Slut Power addresses. Where and when did you record/produce? We recorded Slut Power in 2018 when we recorded all the songs for our debut album 'The Policy'. It was recorded by Jay Whalley at The Pet Food Factory in Marrickville, Sydney. The studio session for Slut Power was great - we put a triangle all the way through it, sometimes it comes it a bit muted and percussive and by the third verse, it's in the background and sounds like an alarm. The album was mixed by Clem Bennett, who is a genius mix engineer, and mastered by Mandy Parnell - another genius mastering engineer from London. Glitoris is known for having strong views on confronting subjects, please tell us a little about what you think of the current state of politics, gender issues and equality at that this present time: The whole system is fucked: we are facing the biggest environmental, economic and social issues humanity has ever faced. The harrowing summer we’ve just lived through has shown the result of denial, arrogance, mass apathy and inaction in dealing with climate change. Second to that, the wealth gap is hideous - and it’s growing. The world is being run by billionaire corporations that are focused on growth and individualisation, and it’s unsustainable. The fact that Jeff Bezos can buy a mansion in Beverley Hills for $165mUS off the back of modern-day slavery is one example of how extreme this gap has become. There could be a Billionaire Vs. Billionaire US election this year. The erosion of democracy and human rights is happening before our very eyes in many ways: surveillance, the policing of women’s bodies, the silencing of media organisations and the gross miscarriages of justice we see at all levels in the treatment of Aboriginal people. Unless we take the power back and start to create an inclusive accessible society for everyone, that values the wisdom of Indigenous peoples, scientists and scholars (that currently seem to have no voice and influence in our policies) we have no future. On one level, these issues are now so huge that it’s not surprising we’re in existential crisis. On another level, we’re hardly going to sit back with some popcorn and watch it all play out on TV. The fact that so many have taken that attitude in the past is exactly what’s got us into this mess. Equality? We are nowhere, not even remotely, near achieving this for Indigenous people and PoC, for women, for those who are LGBTQI+. In fact, we’re going backwards as human rights generally are being eroded. It’s all fucked. But fuck it, we’re not going down without a fight. You have a big Australian tour coming up with some first shows in NT, what can we expect from a Glitoris live show? Politics, humour, passion, fun, brutal honesty, musicianship, banter, protest – but to leave feeling like you had a great night out \*/ How do you prepare for shows? Scotty likes to do a bit of yoga and flex out the rhythm sticks on her drum pad. Malcolm likes to air pump and dance. Andrew likes to run through her guitar parts and deface things. Keven 007 likes to be amazing, which she does amazingly. Our band ritual includes warming up our voices up with the lady, warming our fingers up, running through some harmonies and, of course, transform ourselves into fierce glittery warriors. What do find most challenging and rewarding whilst on tour? Most rewarding: playing the shows, meeting our fans - The Gliterati, hanging with other bands and making friends, listening to fan stories, the moments mid-performance where we see The Gliterati singing the words and punching the air or yelling out for their favourite song - that's just the best. We also like finding a good bar and drinking gin, and just generally hanging out. We love touring. It feels like a holiday to us. There’s a point where it descends into a delirious stage and every single thing is funny and we laugh so much it hurts \*/ Most challenging: Sleep deprivation. Who are you listening to at the moment? Babymachine, Thelma Plum, Moju Juju, Rage Against the Machine What do you like to do away from music? Sleep. What's planned for 2020? A massive tour of the country. After that we'll have a break and then start work on the next album. We'd love to play some festivals later in the year. Favourite food and place to hangout? We love vegan food and Au Lac in Dickson, Canberra, is our favourite! We also love Tudo Vietnamese in O'Connor and Andrew and Scott also love Sweet Bones vegan in Braddon.$