What is your name role within Milo Viti?
I’m Luke and I’m the lead singer/ Synth player.
Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there?
Milo Witi is based in Sydney. Since Sydney is so big people don’t go out to just see live music for the sake of it. The Liberal government is also killing the venues for live music which I see as a good thing because it makes people more aware of how important live music is and gives you something to fight for. I see it as a really big learning experience because it makes you have to understand what makes good live music so you have a better understanding of what will bring people to your shows.
How did Milo Viti form?
It started out as a solo project and I found each of the other members through Facebook music groups but we’ve become so tight together now.
Your new single ‘Be Cool’ is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting for this track?
There’s a really big punk rock scene in Sydney like Skegss, Dear Seattle, Johnny Hunter and we really love the punk energy they have at their shows but we also wanna give our music a dance element like The Presets and Rufus Du Sol so we try to mix huge synth in to our sound.
How did you go about writing ‘Be Cool’?
I wrote it a few years ago and it started off being more of a chill pop song with piano during the verses and half-time drums but then we double-timed the drums so it was faster and gave it a whole new energy to the song with our huge synth sound and guitars.
What programs/equipment did you use to record?
We recorded in a studio with all our instruments and equipment we use live cause we wanted to try and recreate that experience so there’s nothing artificial on there.
Do you approach your live sound differently to your recording sound?
I like to keep the song pure and we play live with a lot of energy so I want that same energy to come across in our recordings. A lot of punk bands record their music more chilled out but then play their live music with a wall of distortion and energy. I love that energy that comes from live punk music and I like to try and convey that in our recording as well because it’s something that a lot of pop music is lacking so it becomes kind of numbing listening to recorded music.
Where did you record and who did you work with?
We recorded at A Sharp Studios in Sydney with guy called Justin Gonzales and he was incredible in helping us develop our sound and trying to convey that in a recording since we’re trying to do something different so there’s not a single band we can reference for our recording to sound like.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
I listen to a lot of different music but the two songs that I’m really feeling at the moment are Old Friend by Elderbrook and Lightning by Bag Raiders feat. The Kite String Tangle. I really love dance music but I want to incorporate the huge energy of punk.
What do you like to do away from music?
I love all the artwork that goes along with our music so every time we put out a song I love following the concept of the song and coming up with the artwork and for it and the general image of the band. I love the whole creative process.
You also have a new video for the single, how did the film concept come about?
Our video is coming out soon but we’re taking the idea of being “cool” and expressing the ironies that the glorification of that reveals. Everyone selfies themselves on social media these days so we’re capitalising off that idea and instead of using a big film production team we’re just filming each other off our phones and a GoPro to save costs and create a more natural/ realistic experience for the viewer.
Who did you work with?
We filmed it all ourselves but we got some live footage from an amazing photographer called Jack Thepsourinthone who filmed our single launch gig and got some live footage for us to put in our video.
What did you find most challenging and rewarding during the film process?
Finding the time is always hard with our normal life schedules but we just love having a lot of fun with each other so it was basically just us mucking around and having a good time.
What’s planned for the remainder of 2019?
Since this is our first single we’re looking to record another 2 more singles before the year is out and just generally trying to get out there and gig as much as we can.
Any secrets that you care to share?
A secret is only a secret when you have information that people want to know that you can’t share and we’ve got a lot of information that we can share but no one wants to know yet so we’ll keep you updated 😉
Favourite food and place to hangout?
We love Korean BBQ. It’s such a great experience to share and it’s something we really love doing as a band.
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