INTERVIEW: YAZMINDI

Yazmindi teases the release of forthcoming debut album with title track ‘Dream On’. This single is a distillation of the core messages that shine in the album - a reflection of the journey from dreaming teen to ambitious young woman.

This astute theme of empowerment, especially towards young women runs strong and true to Yazmindi’s core values. This self-actualised version of Yazmindi is a refreshing and bold statement of the importance of self-love. Yazmindi shared updates on her tour, the highs and lows of Splendour 2022 and the future of her music.

How are you doing?

Great! Chillin today - I want to have one day off so, I'm just gonna relax with my mum.

So have you had any of your shows yet?

I had my first show last Saturday night supporting, Greta Stanley who released her album. She ended her tour on Saturday night, and I started my tour on Saturday night. It was really fun.

And you guys work together on some of your songs as well, didn't you?

Um, no, we didn't. But the guys and her band and her producer we share like the same producer. Her drummer was my drummer in the studio. There's mutual. We've done a show together as well, a few years ago.

Small world.

Yeah, it is!

And so how long is the rest of the tour? Where else are you heading?

It's going to go until December. I want to do a whole thing on the road, I'll be back home, down and Byron Bay, but do little weekends away. Whole East Coast tour. I've got to finalise some shows. There's still more!

I did see that you're based in Byron -I have to ask were you at splendour?

Yeah, unfortunately.

You survived.

Yeah, I got pretty sick afterwards. I'm still recovering with this weird cough, which is slowly going away. But apart from that, I'm pretty good. I survived. I live there. I've had camping tickets and normal tickets for three years. I thought we'll just camp it's really fun when you camp….

I should have probably stayed home.

You came up on Thursday night?

Yeah, it took me six hours when its normally 20 minutes.

You're kidding.

It was a lot. We were exhausted all the time, because the conditions are just so exhausting.

Who was your favourites of the weekend?

I only really saw everyone who played on the main stage because that was just the easiest place to go to. I actually didn't really know a lot of the songs to be honest. I actually really enjoyed that set, the Brisbane band …..not glass animals.

The Jungle Giants?

Yeah! I've seen them in Brisbane and they were good, but, this was extra great. They were on fire. You know the sun came out and it was just a really happy vibe. I think that just made it more of a positive festival experience. I actually really enjoyed that.

10 out of 10, I think they were probably one of the best sets of the weekend.

I agree. I agree that we're just making the most of that massive stage as well. Handing out Polaroid cameras to take memories and stuff. It was just a really nice, refreshing.

Wholesome, wholesome show. It was really fun.

What was your most negative splendour experience?

You know what? It was probably the first night , because I was sleeping in my van and I opened the door and my eye mask fell out right into the mud. I couldn't have a nice clean eye mask. We were camping around the road and a big spotlight would come straight into my van. I think I definitely slipped on that big hill. My nice crochet top got muddy, gazebo broke, and our tent got flooded.

If you've got through that, anything that comes to you on tour is going be easy.

Yeah, it's just to prep! That's all it was.

But tell me a bit more about these new songs. ‘Dream on’ is the new single.

How's it been going?

It's been going great. Such positive feedback. Everyone's loving it. I dropped the film clip for it as well, which was really exciting. It's been such a treat to record this song because it's very sentimental to me because it's the title track to my album. The whole experience has been great. It's getting heaps of radio play. Awesome interviews. It feels good, releasing a female empowerment song and something that's super positive. I get messages, people saying I heard the song on the radio, and I just really love it and made me feel better. A nice reminder of why I'm an artist.

I love that. And how has this single compared to the previous things that you've recorded and the experience?

I think this this song in particular, it's more of my pop side that I got to explore which was really fun. Experimenting in the studios, I felt really confident with this. After having experience with the other songs. I felt like now I know what I'm doing. It's kind of like practising what I'm preaching in the song as well which is really cool. Everything feels right.

I know you did a lot of crowdfunding and recently hit your goal.

How did that come about?

A few artists that I've followed for a while have done crowdfunding. I thought that's really clever. I was looking at a bunch of grants, and they were all closed grants, that’s a whole other ballgame. I needed the funds instantly, because this whole project is costing me about $30,000. I've already covered half of it, that's all my savings gone. I thought, I need to pay up another $13,000 to cover my expenses. I thought, why not crowdfunding? I'm gonna give it a shot, and see what comes out of it. I literally couldn't believe that we might go over target. I was aiming for 13 grand, and then I got 14 and a half. That was a really crazy five weeks. But it was successful. It's a really, really empowering project, to have so many people reach out and go, I want to help you, I believe in the music!

That's so good. And is there any artists that you're keen to work with in the future that you've had your eye on?

I'd love to have some with Courtney Barnett actually, I think we would be really cool together. Amy Taylor from Amyl and the Sniffers - that would be awesome. There's a bunch of amazing women I look up to in the music industry that I'd love to collaborate with one day. Yeah, that'd be ideal.

I guess that leads to, is this a genre you think you'll always stick in like or do you want to try anything different? Is a country album ever going to be on the cards?

Absolutely. I love Americana and country that's where I kind of started. I'd love to do a country, and an r&b EP, then maybe a pop one. With my debut album, I've got 11 tracks and they're all quite different because I didn't really have one genre. I wanted to experiment with all the different tracks and different genres.

During your writing and recording process, what was your go to snack?

Oh, I had to be very healthy in the studio. I totally cut out, dairy and citrus stuff because that can get trapped in the vocal cords. Go to snack….. I think it was grapes. Healthy fruit or grapes. Black coffee. That was good for energy. Clean snacks, hummus dip with some carrot sticks or something.

And who is on your on repeat playlist at the moment?

I listened to the Beyonce album, that's pretty fun.

Whenever I listen to artists usually I listened to literally the whole album. I'm still old school. Dua Lipa. I just love her. She's always getting me into a good vibe, you know? Very upbeat and fun.

Is there anything that you would want your current fans or future fans to know about you?

I've got a big vision for my music and I love to make the world a better place with my music. It's fun to be my fan, you know? Everything I'm doing with good intentions.

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INTERVIEW: MATT GILBERT

Matthew Gilbert is emerging as one of Australia’s premiere indie-folk performers & songwriters. With an abundance of relatable and moving stories up his sleeve, Gilbert capivates listeners with honest melodies, lush harmonies and mysterious lyrics - hitting hard but always pulling back for a warm embrace when complete.

Personal stories, paired with enthralling storytelling, has always inspired Matthew Gilbert’s songwriting. New single ‘Out Of The Contempt’, is no different; channeling honesty, depression & heartbreak to unveil the inner-workings of his psyche, when moving past a deeply hurtful period in his life. Seeking closure & healing, Gilbert is invigoratingly honest throughout the track, reflecting on his actions and his will to fight against adversity. The first cut from his sophomore record ‘Getting Over All Of It’, ‘Out Of The Contempt’ works to introduce worldly cinematic soundscapes that is present through the album, drawing inspiration from Gang of Youth, Boy & Bear and Bon Iver throughout.

Tori and Matt talked about the new track, his sold out Wesley Anne show and the pros of kickstarter campaigns.

So, Tell me a little about this. The song.

‘Out of the contempt’ is the lead single of my album ‘Getting over all of it’ which is a 10 track. It's a mixture of lots of different things. I'll tend to be a singer songwriter with some, ambient, folk flavours within there. Lots of orchestral elements.

Have you always been this genre?

Yes. And no, I think I've developed more into it. I was very heavily influenced, and I love Sufjan Stevens. I've always loved his orchestral and Sigur Ros and anything that's ambient orchestral reverb, synth pad, melancholy type of music. I've always loved it. But I've grown up on, pop rock. Things like The Fray andReliant K - they're kind of like a bit punky. I've kind of got lots of different flavours - but I love The Fray. I wanted to be The Fray. This is my life. I got into piano and a lot of my stuff used to be more piano driven. Piano rock type of style with orchestral stuff. I think this album has morphed to be very acoustic guitar driven, rather than piano driven.

When you say singer songwriter is that you starting off usually with a piano or this one was more starting off with an acoustic guitar?

That's right. Yeah. So the other songs were definitely started off with piano like, other album that I did a while ago started off with. This has been much more writing with acoustic guitar. I had some arranging help from different strings people, because I didn't know what the hell I was doing. A lot of it was my inspiration or different ideas that I was - “hey, try this”. Singing parts for them, then they would play it. A lot of it was me and then getting loads of other people to help me record it.

You had orchestral experience recording live? What was that like?

I don't know, overwhelming. I mean, some of it, this is the thing, some of it was live, and then some of it wasn't. So the stuff that I did do live was just amazing. And it's always good to work live. Because when you do, there's the speed at which you can move through things. It flows seamlessly. When it's remote, it's so hard. There's so much back and forth. And it's very disjointed.

Did you find that different in comparison to recording your last songs?

I mean, that was all done not in isolation. I remember….both of them took a long time. And both of them took longer than I thought for different reasons, the first one just took a long time because I was young. I kept adding songs. I had no idea what I was doing. This one obviously was drawn out because of not being able to have access to people. But in terms of the differences, I felt like I had a lot more of an idea of what I wanted. This time I had a lot more of a focus and a drive. Not just with the arranging, but mixing and sonically what I was looking for, I was a bit more refined. I could communicate a lot better with my mix engineer and I could communicate a lot better with my artists and instrumentalists and vocalists. I could tell them this is what I want.

I think I believed in myself a bit more. I had a bit more backbone to be like, “No, that's not what I want. Can you try that again?”

You crowd fund for this recording as well….did you do that for your last album?

Do you mind me asking how much you ended up raising?

We ended up raising $4,000. Obviously, Kickstarter takes a percentage of that. I can't actually remember the percentage. I think after that there was three and a half. Hardly any of that actually went to the producing the album. I put a lot of my own money into the producing the album. A lot went into the promotion of the album. Getting it out there, getting some merchandise, generating a buzz around the album. Coming out of COVID, I had so little traction with people that I really needed to make quite an impact. Hence, the Kickstarter, that was really good, really successful. I was so overwhelmed with the support that people were just so generous.

I think it's something that more artists are starting to lean into, we continue to hear how horrific it is to work with a label, and that they take 90% of everything.

Is this something that you'd recommend to other bands to explore?

Oh, absolutely. Even if you're not in it for the money, its brilliant marketing. It helps you to find and specify who your audience is, who are the fans who are going to spend $20, $50, $100 on you is pretty golden information. It's encouraging. It's very, very helpful.

I guess that brings us full circle. You had a show with a live orchestra.

Two weeks ago? A week ago? I can't even remember it was life changing for me to be honest. I had no idea how it was gonna go. I had a good feeling. It was this 14 piece band. The whole time I was trying to figure out how many tickets were being sold. I had to keep going through the venue organiser, it was just like, oh, no, I'm not selling as many tickets as I was hoping for….. then we showed up on the day and sold out.

So that was a pretty surreal moment. But it was just insane. The atmosphere was wild. It was electric and unreal, it may end up being the most memorable show that I will ever play, just because of how beautifully unexpected it was.

It reminds me of Harry Potter when they get Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. That spin on your music that gives so much more depth.

To be honest, that's what it felt like, if I had my way. I would play with an orchestra every time that I play it because there's the emotion that it adds is unreal. You can't recreate it. It breathes a lot like a dimension of ambience. It changes it from a musical performance to being an art installation.

Are you hoping to do the tour with a bit of a string set or a full orchestra?

The plan is two of the two people, which is one of the violins and a sax player who are going to follow me around. The hope is that we can do a bit of a round trip around Melbourne.

Is there any dream venues on the list?

I'd love to play the Northcote social club. A lot of my dreams are probably not really huge dreams for people but to play at some of these places where I've seen some pretty excellent people play would just be pretty rad. I mean, one day, I'd love to play at the corner hotel, but, I want to make sure I can bring 300 people to that to that gig. I'd hate to show up with 30. You have to have that belief in yourself and a little bit of gumption.

Is there anything that you'd want your fans to know about?

I put a lot of lot of life into it. All the stories are real stories, not made up once. I constantly want to grow with my music. I get uncomfortable when I start writing the same thing over and over and over again. I love kind of adapting and changing with my likes and dislikes at the time. My music is pretty alive. It changes and it's always gonna be bloody interesting. I try really hard to make it always interesting and different, new and fresh.

What is your on repeat playlist?

I had a feeling you're gonna ask that question before we started! I've got a big love for this fusion jazz band. I really love this other named Mero. She was in Eurovision and she did a song. It's gorgeous. I love Mr. Timothy Wolfe. I'm always listening to Timothy Wolfe.

And finally, What is your go to snack when you're writing or producing?

Look, my wife is pregnant at the moment. One that we go to quite a lot at the moment is sweet potato chips. I'll go anything's sweet potato chip.

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INTERVIEW: KWASI

In ‘Self Sabotage’, Kwasi delivers confessional yet complex lyricism that is elegantly intertwined with Congrats’ (Ben Stewart of Slowly Slowly) singalong-worthy hooks that are aching in their honesty. ‘Self Sabotage’ serves as the second instalment of the duo’s collaboration, following on from the release of ‘Overthink’ in March 2021 with both songs produced by platinum award winning Melbourne based producer Hamley (Stan Walker, Pania, Allday).

Tori and Kwasi caught up to chat about the new track, the pros and cons of being an artist and a producer and the go-to studio snack.

Self sabotage. Very cool track. It came out two weeks ago and seems to be performing pretty well.  How does it feel now that you've shared it with the world?

Really good. It was the first song that us three wrote together. Me, Ben (Congrats’), and Hamley. I always really liked it. I know, there's something about it. Something about that energy in the first writing session. For a bit, I was worried it wasn't ever going to come out, so I'm just happy that it's out. It's getting some attention and getting the momentum it deserves. Yeah, feels good. Feels good. 

You've released music, in the post COVID world.  What do you think the differences are between, pre, during and post COVID in terms of people receiving your music?

I don't know if I can speak too much on the audience side of it. Internally, I wasn't that excited about releasing music through COVID. I was on a few features, and I did a bit of production work but the live aspect of it, for me, is where I get a lot of my energy from and just knowing that there's potential for that down the line. Through COVID I didn't have that same energy. I was creating and that sort of thing, but definitely didn't have that same drive I do when we aren't in lockdown. 

You grew up in the pop punk/garage band era of Nirvana and blink? Are they still your influences ?

Definitely go back to it, for sure. But I do like a lot of the newer stuff that's been influenced by that stuff as well, which is really cool. Nirvana and stuff will always have a place because that's the stuff my mom used to listen to when I was young.  Those droney baselines and that sort of feel, it's connected to my music DNA. 

Potentially taking inspiration  from Travis Barker's new stuff?  He seems to feature on everything now.

Yeah, he's everywhere. There's some really good stuff there. Like the stuff he does Kenny Hoopla that I really like. 

Yeah, we're big fans in his house. 

Yeah, he's incredible. Some of it’s more processed. Some of it's a bit more poppy, I like some of it, but some of it doesn't really resonate. It just depends. He's iconic. I use this program called splice to do a lot of production and stuff. They upload sound packs, and he has all these drum sounds on there, and I've chopped up some of these drum sounds before. He’s so influential. 

I want to ask you about that as well. So you run your own studio? 

Yes, yes. 

And you do all your own production?

I jump in between. I still work with producers. So sometimes I might sit back and do more of an executive production role, which I did for a lot of the stuff I did with Ben. I did that and Hamley did most of the production stuff. I might jump on every now and then, program a beat or something. But sometimes I chill back and try to sort of help on both sides to keep the momentum going. Sometimes a bit more hands on with the production sometimes I'm not, but I did mix and master self sabotage as well. 

Do you think that there's an advantage in being on that production yourself? And having more understanding of the production and mixing process?

100%, at first it was tricky, trying to do everything. It's always great to have more of a team around you. It's really good being able to speak that language and be the middle person to make sure things are cohesive. Sometimes if you're too into making the beat, you won't notice that like the energy in the room is off. If you're too heavy in the lyric, same thing. The beat might not be hitting as hard as it could be. At first it was kind of tricky, trying to spin all those plates but as time goes on, I really appreciate  being able to dip my toe in every area and bring everything together. 

You've worked with ALLDAY as well, one of the bigger, I guess, hip hop artists. I feel like can't pigeon anyone into one genre anymore. What was it like working with him?

Yeah, really cool. It's funny, because like, I think, now he's almost probably seen as traditionally hip hop, but back then he was sort of on the outskirts of it. That's why I was when I linked up with him. I always enjoy the artists that are off to the side a bit, trying to push for something a bit different. 

You give me that Post Malone vibe of having a little bit of every genre. You've got the strong vocals there that are really smooth. But you've took a bit of this and a bit of that and blend it into your own mix. 

Yeah thats my upbringing because having such a diverse background. My dad's from Africa, Ghana, and my mom's Australian, and I would always hear such a mixed bag of music. I think it was only natural to be drawn towards a lot of different things and  trying to mash them together. 

Is this the first single off an upcoming album? 

We have we have heaps of music together. I'm still not 100% sure where to go with it. I thought I was gonna do a Kwasi album. But I'm still I'm not sure. I'm so hesitant. I want to keep building momentum before I do an album or something. But we have music there. So I think I think I just want to start putting out more music and stuff. 

And what about getting out on the road? Have you got much in terms of tours planned?

Nothing. No, I've got a band. I put a band together last year, because I did a support set for Congrats’.  We played together last month as well. All the stuffs there to put on a killer show but I've got a few other things on my mind that have taken up a bit of my energy. If opportunities present themselves, I'll probably try and like put something together. Right now there's no sort of plans strictly in place to do a tour or anything. 

Is there much more that you'd want any new fans to know? What do you need to know this about this guy?

Expect the unexpected. 

In terms of my music,  I guess we delved into the pop punk trappy fusion, I've got other stuff in the bag as well. I never liked to constrict too much to one area. I've always struggled to do that which is tricky, because then people find it hard to understand you, just sit back and enjoy the ride.
What was the last thing you're listening to?

Last track I put on was actually a local artists, Akosia. She just released a song, check it out, R&B flavours and I'll give you another one….this dude from LA's Diveliner - his songs Gaslight and Teacher.

Last question for you though. What is your go to snack in the studio?

Go to snack……does a cup of tea count? Early Grey, little bit of honey and  some almond or soy milk.

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INTERVIEW: ZACHARY LEO

23-year old Zachary Leo (Melbourne/Naarm) unites deliciously grooving disco funk vibes with modern pop structures in his latest single ‘Can’t Get Enough’. The Michael Parisi mentoree has honed his signature sound, bringing all the good vibes to wash away the tensions of life. Tori met with Zachary Leo to talk about the new single and being a musician in the post-covid world.

How's your weekend going?

Yeah, it's been good! Had a show on Friday night,  which was really good. And then had a relaxing couple of days. 

Where was your show on Friday night? How did it go?

Cherry Bar! The new Cherry Bar on Little Collins Street. It was great. We had a great, great night. Great turnout. Played well. That was the launch for the new song. There was a tour planned…and then there wasn't, it has been all over the shop. So I cut everything back and just did the show, but will probably announce some more stuff soon. COVID made it super tricky, which is a bummer. But the launch was great. So that's all we can ask!

Small wins in the music industry at the moment! You're talking about the band there, but you are Zach…. tell me where this whole thing started?

I think it was 2019, that was the first single and the first show. Before that I had been in bands and had done my own music. But I got to a point where I wanted to write a certain type of music and it didn't fit the band, it didn't fit my solo thing that I was doing, which was very acoustic and the band was heavy rock. So I made a decision one day to go on my own, but have a big live show with a band. It is like the band Harry Styles would have or any big acts would have. But I’m kind of finding my sound and finding my direction. I think I'm on a really good path at the moment, settling in and creating what I think is really cool. 

I guess it's not really pop, but this new version of pop coming out at the moment, you talked about Harry Styles and I think of Billie Eilish. They're the new pop, which isn't such a traditional cotton candy kind of sound. Is that what you're aiming to go for?

I think definitely a type of pop I'm looking to go for, but a lot of my influences come from funk artists from the 70s and late 60s like George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, when they spearheaded the rap scene for a while as well. A lot of that music was ingrained into the mainstream early on. It's kind of funk. But naturally, there's this pop structure there, I guess in the melodies. It's like you said, Harry Styles, Billie Eilish - it's not your traditional pop. They take influence from there. I've got my different inspirations in the soul scene, and the rock scene that I put in there, make it a little bit less poppy, but it's definitely still pop.

And so are you primarily a vocalist? Or are you an instrumentalist as well? 

I started with vocals. But I would say guitar would be my strong point. I've been practicing the most since I was quite young. I always sang but I wasn't always very good for a long time.When I was in my early teens, I got some lessons and kept giving it a go. Now I think it's a vessel to deliver the music, rather than my strength, if that makes any sense? But the guitar, that and songwriting is one of my strengths, where I feel most comfortable.

And with this new track, was this one that you created in COVID? 

Like everyone in Melbourne I was in lockdown. It was just before the big one last year, I had a meeting with Alex, my producer to decide on which songs we will record in the studio. The night before I had a spark of inspiration and quickly wrote this song, and came to him with it the next day. He was like, yeah, let's do it. Then we sat on it for a while. We've played a few shows with the song in it, we got into pre production and then lockdown. We had to record it after lockdown ended. I had time in lockdown to make sure that we had time to go through pre production and stuff then we came out of lockdown to record. It was a day before and Alex sprung on me that I needed to rewrite half the song and he's like, “You’ve got to cut all this out”. We had all lockdown for him to tell me, and he sprung it on me at the last minute! But what came out was the best result. 

This is Alex from Delta Riggs?

Yeah, we started working together. It would have been a lot sooner but with COVID. Then we did, so good! Hopefully some more songs in the future as well.

He's definitely becoming one of the bigger producers and has an awesome sound. 

He was incredible to work with, just seamless and easy. I've always been stressed in the studio, it felt like we weren't working hard enough because it was so easy. We got the take like “Yeah, cool. That's it. That's the take”.  It was such a great and easy and stress free and creative process with Alex, he made it very, very easy, which was awesome. 

Are there any other producers that you've got your eye on that you'd like to work with in future?

I think at the moment, honestly, I think what me and Alex created was really special. He helped me find ways to bring the songs to life. We connected musically in the studio. I haven't connected with someone like that before. We both knew what we needed in the songs. I think right now, I'd be keen to jump back in with Alex, I haven't even thought about someone else!  Obviously, Mark Ronson for instance, producers that you dream of working with, Pharrell and all of them. Honestly, Alex - I'd be keen to get back in with him ASAP,  we're working towards that, but everyone's busy. 

Are there any artists that you are really keen to work with, or you've kind of started chatting with?

Not really at the moment, I'm always open to collaborating with other artists and working with other musicians, but I think I'm someone who writes very much on their own. I sit in my room and work on something then come out and show people and then go back and work on it myself. So there's no real talks with anyone at the moment. I mean, there's a few really cool Aussie artists that I would love to pick their brain and work with. Like Kesmar from Sydney, he's got this really cool synth sound that I just adore. I think it's awesome. I love his vibe as well. I'd love to work with him. We can make something really funky. 

How are you feeling about the response to the single? 

It's been awesome.  Messages and love from heaps of different people. It's been really cool. Even the last week or so it's taken off, streams have been going off and giving me so much love. I'm feeling really, really positive about it. I think positive words and reassurance is enough for me to feel really good about it. I love this song and I'm really proud of it. Everyone's been so lovely. 

Is there anything else that you'd want your new fans or people who are following to know about you or about your music?

I'm a pretty open book. I would just say thank you for the support so far. There is music coming and the show is coming. I’m keen to share it with everyone. 

Before we go, what was the last thing you were listening to?

You know, it was Harry Styles. I think it was Daydreaming off the new record. I've been playing non-stop the last couple of days. 

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INTERVIEW: PRETTY BLEAK

Tori caught up with Pretty Bleak lead singer, Sam to discuss how the band came to be, musical inspiration and whats coming next!

Tell me a little bit about yourself and the band? 

The band is a long story, Kyle, Sanji and I have been playing music together since 2014. So quite a while. We've had a heap of different names and different styles but we settled on Pretty Bleak and this musical and visual themes since the end of 2019. Our drummer, Cherie joined at the end of last year so now we're fully set. It's really good.

What were some of the names you tried out before?

The first name we ever heard was Infamous Minorities, which was edgy, teenager, stupid, sort of thing. Then we were Half the Sky, then The Avenue, now we're Pretty Bleak. 

Tell me a bit more how you met each other and how you got together as a band?

Me and the guitarist Kyle, we first met in 2011. We met because my dad taught him guitar, then we met Sanji at High School. We met Cherie at High School as well. So we've been friends with Cherie for quite a while, but she only just joined the band last year.

Has the genre of the band been the same the whole way through?

When we first started, we were doing heavier music,  sort of post hardcore, sort of metal when we were really just starting out. Over time, we have had this natural progression towards a pop style. We still have a lot of heavier influences. As we've got better at our instruments, then better at songwriting, it's been a really natural progression from being teenagers playing as loud as they possibly can, to something a bit more sophisticated. It's been very natural.

We don't necessarily conform to what we think people want to hear. We're very focused on what we find interesting, musically. It's a healthy mixture of what do we think is really cool? And what will be appealing to people as well? You can definitely get too caught up in what you think is cool, and then make something that's really abrasive to people. So it's good to have a balance.

Where do you think the new single falls in that realm?

The new songs are a pretty good example because a lot of it is really unconventional and not something that you hear all the time. The most important thing to me is having a catchy vocal, if the vocals catchy, you can pretty much put anything around it and it will work. I think with this new song, we've done a lot of things; having the extended guitar solo in the middle, unconventional drumbeat and that sort of thing. But having a really catchy chorus, or catchy vocal hook on top of that, ties it all together.
I think we've done a good job of achieving that.

As a writer, do you start off with your vocals first? Or do you write the music and then shape your lyrics to it?

It's usually a combination, it depends on the song. I'll start a song idea, based on a title and then, what the song is supposed to sound like all sorts of stems phonetically from what those words mean. With this current song, I think I had the main title, the vocal melody, I think that's the first thing that I had, everything sort of stems from there. But sometimes, sometimes it will just be like, a guitar riff or something, or like a chord on a keyboard or something that will start a song. It's just like having a really good base and something that sounds really interesting from the from the start, to make it just out from there.

You guys had a show at the workers club recently? How did it all go?

It was really good. It was definitely my favourite headline show. We had a heap of people there, especially for a Thursday night, too. So that was good. We put a really good set together. We played a few songs we haven't done before, which was fine. I think overall, it was really positive.

We've got a really good, cool group of people who are into our band, who come to our shows and know the words to songs, even though we're still relatively small. We're really lucky to have a really cool group like that who will come. The advantage of that is you can kind of do anything. It's good that I feel really lucky that we're starting to build this really good, foundational fan base that are really into our music. It's good to be able to play some stuff we haven't done before, and be validated for it, which we were so, I feel really good about it. 

Any producers that you've got an eye on that you'd like to work with?

The guy we're working with at the moment, John, from Cry Club. He's really, really good. We've done a heap of songs with him. And I'm really happy with the way we work together. I would literally love to stick with him for a while. In terms of, if I had to give a dream producer to work with, it would probably be Brian Eno. He's an old school guy, legendary and he does a lot of ambient stuff. He did a lot of stuff with Talking Heads. He would be awesome to work with.

What's currently in your on repeat playlist. What are you listening to?

You know what song I really love. It's by SZA, ‘Good Days’. Such a good song. I love that song. It's my go to song for vocal warmups. I'll just put that on. I cannot sing anywhere near as well as she can. But I give it a good shot. I love that song.

What else would you want new fans to know about you?

I think the main thing about our band is that we're super open minded and super malleable. I feel for people who are into music, basically no matter what you're into, you can find something about our music that connects with you. I think we're really open minded artistically. As a consequence of that, I think we attract open minded listeners as well. 

Do you guys have any tours coming up in future?

We don't have anything planned. But we've got a heap of songs recorded that we're just going to keep pumping out this year. We're definitely going to try and get up the east coast at least once this year. 

Check our their new song, ‘like you know better’ below!

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INTERVIEW: SPKEZY

Spkezy are true musicians who push the bounds of their creativity. Known for their poised approach to genre-bending music they have produced an extremely well balanced fusion of dark pop and alt-rock in ‘Hell House’.

Tori met up with Luke and Joel to talk about the new single ‘Hell house’, history of the band and what the future holds.

So, tell me about yourselves - how long have you been a band?

Luke: As Spkezy, I think it's about three years.

Joel: Two and a half years.

Luke: But before that, Joel and myself played in bands together since college, so we're pretty old now.

Has it always been this style or genre for your band?

Luke: No…. well, for this band yes. But the other bands, it was definitely metal core/post hardcore. I think that the older that we got, I didn't want to be screaming about stuff that I wasn't mad about anymore.

Joel: Funny thing is the lyrical content now is probably just as angsty, if not more.

I guess that leads to who are your biggest inspirations?

Joel: I'm listening to a lot of Rain City Drive, they were formerly called Slaves. They're excellent. Another band called Set It Off, they’re a genre bending band, so I really enjoyed them too.

Luke: I listen to lots of rap, but band wise, Issues are really cool. They are able to blend pop and r&b vocals into genti type metal stuff.

Tell me more about this new single?!

Joel: It originally was slated to come out as part of an album but we analysed the market a little bit to see what's working and a lot of bands are focusing on singles. So we put a heap of time and effort into the song itself, the hooks and the whole writing process. It's kind of heavy, a bit more foot to the floor, doesn't really let up. We want the single to be in your face most of the way through. We went through two or three different chorus’ before we settled on the one we did. I was really happy as soon as I heard this chorus and I knew the song was going to be potentially a single. Once that was down, everything else sort of flowed around it.

And you record, mix and master everything yourself?

Joel: I studied in college. But the landscape of recording music has changed so significantly since I actually studied it. I learnt the fundamentals in school, but pretty much everything I've learned to this point, especially over the last two years is online courses, that sort of thing.

Is this your favourite song that you've released so far?

Joel: Every song has a different memory of recording, what we're feeling at the time. So I think it's really hard to answer. It's a song that doesn't really let up and I like it for that.

Have you had a chance to play this one live?

Joel: Very much looking forward to it.

Luke: This band kind of started at the wrong time when it comes to COVID and all that stuff. We weren't able to play any shows. We've only played… I think it's three shows as Spkezy. So we just, I guess we really want to play shows!

Do you think that being based in Tassie has an impact on I guess your music and how it can be absorbed by the world?

Luke: 100% Yeah

Joel: It's a matter of getting us in front of people. That's always been the struggle. Even with the old band, we toured a lot, but theres the cost and then there's so many other things involved with being isolated by water. We're definitely looking to play shows, definitely wanting to get over to Melbourne, Adelaide. Adelaide was our second home. So, I cannot wait to get back over there again. This is really the point where we're starting to go, Okay, we really want to take this seriously.

Check our their video below!

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INTERVIEW: HUYEN ON HER SINGLE ‘CAN’T TRUST’ AND UPCOMING EP ‘SAD BOY’

Melbourne is always thirsty for a new artist and Huyen is a strong contender to capture attention. The Melbourne based musician and producer is primed to release her EP ‘Sad Boy’ and has given us a taste with her single ‘Can’t Trust’. Tori caught up with Huyen to find out more…

So tell me about you, is this your first big music thing or what's led up until now?

I have a degree in Audio Engineering. I went to Collarts and did all that for a couple years, which was pretty fun. Growing up, I played piano, I was a part of Young Australian Broadway Chorus. I've always been writing music for producers and other artists and helping them record their stuff. It's taken me a really long time to get in the space where I wanted to release my own music. I was really nervous about everything… I wear my heart on my sleeve. I feel like when I put something out there, I give too much vulnerability out to everyone. I had the roughest year last year…. I decided this year to not care and just be like, alright, just do it!

Throughout our conversation, it was clear Huyen isn’t letting anything get in her way, she is dedicated to her art

I'll do my nine to five, and then straightaway, I'll be in the studio, or stuff at home. I don't get to bed till 2:00am most nights. Then you have to get up and do it all again, to make sure things are done. But it's a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it, the whole process of writing everything and putting everything together.

With your audio experience, did you record, produce, mix and master everything yourself?

What I tend to do is start an Ableton session, and just be like, that sounds fun and if I have something that I've written that suits that vibe, then I'll try to incorporate that in there. Sometimes, you write a completely fresh song off of a new session that you've made. I find the best way for me anyways, I'll have my lyrics, and then I'll try to make something to that. But most of the songs that I've written so far have been completely fresh. I've got a whole box of lyrics that I haven't produced yet, because it's just too difficult.

I have a specific mindset for the music to the words, but I'll get the groove down and one of my really close friends, Christopher, he'll fix it up. I'm not the best producer. I won't lie. But he has an ear, and he knows exactly what I need and what I want. This was mastered by my friend, Cash. He’s a lot better at mastering than I am to the sweetest person ever. It's nice to have like a team of people with you that support you. I've learned so much from them.

Tell me more about the EP

Im excited. It's called “Sad Boy”. I'm hoping to get it out by June. I'm excited for that to come out and and be my first. This single is an introduction to who I am. I hope that the EP is a little bit more of an open book for everyone. I'm really excited for that.

You mentioned you have a more formal and classical background. How did that influence what music you made here, which is sounding more modern?

With my grandad, I grew up listening to The Carpenters, Doris Day, Lauryn Hill and then started rebelling against him a little bit. I would say “We should listen to Britney Spears, you're taking me the Britney Spears concert!”. The 90s era influenced me heavily, 90s r&b, which was great. I guess growing up listening to a combination of alternative rock and pop, I love Broadway, I cannot stress enough how much. I picked apart little alternative pieces from all these different genres and then thought, How can I put that all together and I remember listening to Banks's album for the first time. I listened and it was perfect. It was the perfect amount of r&b, perfect amount of lyricism, poetry, everything like that. She's a heavy influence for me. I think that my music is a mixture of everything.

Are there any artists or producers you hope to work with in future?

I would love to work with Social House. I'd love to work this producer called Derek Taylor, who did a lot of Banks album. He's got an ear for for everything and it's so nice. Finneas would be good to work with as well. Yeah…Finneas call me….

You can stream 'Can’t Trust’ now!

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INTERVIEW: JAMES (BASSY) KARAGIOZIS - BETWEEN YOU AND ME

For those of you living under a rock, there is a not so new band taking over - Between You and Me (BYAM). The pop punkers signed to Hopeless Records and recently released their second album ‘Armageddon’. With over two million streams in the first week and picked for triple j spotlight album of the week, BYAM are on a rollercoaster that only goes up my friend.

There may be some bias in my affection for the band as I happen to be friends with bass player and all around legend, James Karagiozis aka mister bass or bassy. I convinced him to sit down for a chat and tell me more about the band.

Image: Travis Suttie

Who are BYAM?  

A five piece rock and roll band originally from Melbourne, but now we live in Victoria and NSW.  

How did you meet? 

I was the final piece of the puzzle, Chris and Jamie obviously met when they were born. The twins moved down to Melbourne. Me and Jai played in a band prior to Between You and Me. They needed a bass player somewhere down the line….Jai called me to fill in for a tour and then me and Jake became best friends.

And that's it.  

What's your favourite song on the new album and why?  

My favourite is Real World. I didn’t have anything to do with it. I said to do one thing, and it was the break before the first chorus. That's all I did in Real World. I remember sitting in the studio a month or two after we'd finished with Sam [‘Armageddon’ producer, Sam Guiana] and Jake was flying down to Melbourne to finish the rest of the vocals. When he laid down that chorus, they had just made it and because it was newer, we hadn't heard that song, that's why I liked it.

It also has a vibe of living carefree. So that's why I like that song, it's basically how me and Jake live our lives. He told it in a song, we get money and spend it because we want to have a good time.

“And we’ll worry about real life tomorrow.  ”

— Bassy

Where did the name ‘Bass’ come from? 

This is the most random story. It was one of my friends, the first time I jammed with him to join the band. I was joining to play bass. At the end of the practice, Stu [Stu Watts of Marshall Street Studios] was saving my number in his phone so he could call me if they wanted me to be in the band. He saved my name as James Bass [like the instrument bass]. But then he said James Bass instead [like the fish]. And then from that point on, they called me Bassy and that's how I had Bassy until this day.  

What would your dream venue be to play?

Both in Melbourne and internationally? 

Melbourne - obviously it's The Forum. Absolute dream. I saw Jet play there two years ago and it was sick. They're one of my favourite bands. Playing in there is such a cool vibe, that venue with the blue roof and everything. It feels like you're playing outside. I saw Temper Trap there and it was amazing. If you can play The Forum and sell out The Forum, you have made it.   

International - probably Madison Square Garden if that ever happens. That would be the ultimate, headlining Madison Square Garden.

Attainable? I don't know. But we'll see what happens.  

Bieber did it in a year.  

Well……it's taken us five years to play The Corner! [laughs].

Who are your biggest band influences? 

Number one, Blink 182. Everything I learned is from them. I remember in high school, jamming with one of my mates. We didn't really know how the songs went, but it was so easy to figure out, we taught ourselves how to play music by listening and playing blink. That would be the ultimate influence.  

If we're talking influential for me as a musician, it'd be a lot of early pop punk bands. Pretending to be Deryck Whibley from Sum 41 in my mirror with my Les Paul, singing ‘Fat Lip’ over and over again after school. New Found Glory. In pop punk I like those jokey characters in bands, the bassist from New Found Glory. But anyone that told jokes, I felt jokes and being funny on stage came before actually being good. The instrument kind of came secondary at the start. Then I started to try and write songs after that. I could get on stage and joke around, and then we'll play songs in between our jokes. That's it to me. 

UNIFY 2020

Bass riding an inflatable boat across the crowd

After a show, what is the best post gig food?

I enjoy playing in Philly because we always get Philly cheese steaks after the show at like 2am That's always fun. It's meat and cheese and onions in bread. Whenever we finished playing, it's always late, so it's something disgusting. I do enjoy waffle house late at night in the US. In Australia we go Maccas or something. Any junk food really. I don't like eating before a show so I'm super hungry when we finish because if we're onstage on stage and I feel full I feel disgusting. I'll starve myself before show. And then after we'll pick out whatever is available.  

Actually got it!! Peanut butter jelly sandwich! When we were doing the US and we didn't really have any money I'd make sure we always had peanut butter jelly and bread 

When you are touring, what's on your rider?  

On our actual rider is a bottle of vodka, a slab of beer, slab of Coke Zero and then a meal each.  Dream rider would be a masseuse or someone to feed me grapes…..maybe someone to paint my nails a different colour every night. 

I think you will have people volunteering to do that. 

Actually, on our first US tour, I'd said that I would paint a fans nails at merch and then they bought a sign that said “Sassy Bassy Nail Salon”. I would have to set it up every night….it only lasted two nights. That's pretty fun. I made six bucks. That's pretty good. In Australia, someone paid me $20 to paint their nails. 

Between You and Me are embarking on a headline national tour in February 2022, they are not to be missed! Buy tickets here

BYAM are my top pick for Hottest 100, don’t forget to vote!!

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INTERVIEW: MONTANA SHARP IS RADIATING ‘POWER’ WITH HER LATEST SINGLE + VIDEO

Tell me more about your new single, Power?

I wrote it at the tender age of 21, mainly because it was cathartic but also because my upcoming show’s set was one-song short and I was running out of time, so I had to whip something together very quickly. I was mid-break up and just feeling frustrated that I kept creating the same dynamics over and over, so I documented that feeling in the story.

 Is this a taste for an upcoming EP or Album?

Upcoming EP at the end of the year! This is the second song on the track listing. The Ep kind of starts in more of an angsty angry place like this and then moves into more of an uplifting vibe.

 What was it like filming the video for this? I love the Alice in Wonderland vibes – it also reminds me of parts of Taylor Swift Blank Space video.

 Oh I love that! My roommate is a die-hard Swiftie so I wonder if she agrees. I shot this video and my last video (Greenhouse) with Majella Productions and I think they just really get my vibe and my music. They always make it as fantastical as possible and are so creative and imaginative. I was so nervous the first time I shot a music video, but this time round I just had fun and enjoyed getting to know everyone on set. In reality, the artist has the easiest job on the day - just gotta stand on your mark and lipsync like you’re on RuPaul’s Drag Race. 

What was the production process for this single? Did you record in a formal studio or home setup?

I record in a formal studio - Soggy Dog Studio in Melbourne. I also work there as a session musician. Steve (my producer) has been doing this for 35 years and has such a wealth of knowledge. We started laying down the track in early 2019, and continued working on it together till earlier this year - partly due to Corona and also partly due to me being a maximalist who wants to keep adding parts in. 

 You had a recent show at Wesley Anne? How did it go! Any favourite moments?

It was honestly one of my favourite performances to date. The audience rapport was so fun and I felt very comfortable. It was my first gig back since Covid and it made me remember how much I love performing. My favourite moment was me walking around in disguise before the show because I really had to pee and didn’t want to reveal my outfit. The band was particularly amazing to work with as well - I had a little string trio and they just immensely elevated the sound. I also enjoyed chucking a bouquet of faux-roses to the audience as I walked off stage. 

I am curious to know more about how you blend your classical training with the pop influences?

My vocals are pure pop - no classical influences there. However, I did the whole classical piano route through childhood and I think that has really influenced my songwriting in terms of chords. I like to go for harmonic progressions that are atypical and may seem a little bit ‘extra’ for modern pop.

Who are your biggest musical influences?

Alanis Morissette. Barbra Streisand. Judy Garland. Beyonce. ACDC. Sia. Queen - weird mix of artists really. 

What songs are in your ‘On Repeat’ playlist at the moment?

The High Road - Joss Stone, Dancing With The Devil - Demi Lovato, Stars - Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, You Oughta Know - Alanis Morissette.

What can fans expect to see next from you?

 More shows, more songs, more merch, more memes - more Montana :) 

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Montana Sharp - ‘Power’

Out May 7

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OUR FIRST PHOTO GALLERY IS LIVE Y’ALL!

Thanks to the wonderful, talented babe that is Lauren Barrey, we FINALLY have our first photography gig and gallery, now live, HERE.

As part of THIS piece for The Pierce Brothers by the also wonderful and talented babe that is Tori Louise, our first photographed review is live on our Reviews page now, and it all looks and sounds incredible.

We can’t thank Lauren enough for her fantastic skills and involvement with The BackBeat, and can’t wait to see more of what she’s got to give us!

INTERVIEW: PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS TALK ’SHYGA! THE SUNLIGHT MOUND’

Kicking off her first interview for 2021, Tori caught up with Psychedelic Porn Crumpets frontman Jack McEwan to hear about their new album, SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound. Jack talked about the impact of COVID on the album, the highs and lows of touring and the battle of the aux cord.

PPC were finishing up a tour of the USA and South America, jumped straight into the Australian Summer Festivals and squeezing in a couple of months to write and record their next album when COVID-19 pulled out their plans.

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Was the whole album recorded during covid or pre covid?

It was a bit of both. I started working on it late last year when we got back from America, we got home about November and then we had a couple of months in between Falls Festival and Laneway before we were meant to go on tour with Ocean Alley, which was scheduled for I think last April, so the album had to be finished before that cos we were going to use that as a boost, then swing back into Europe. We had South America and stuff, but obviously that all got cancelled. I was actually so happy, like thank god I could become a human again and write and feel like a musician rather than some hungover Contiki traveller just being like, where am I. It was a chance to sort of reflect a bit and we wrote a lot of that material; I spent a lot of the time writing and didn’t finish the record until about the end of July. I gave myself an extra couple……actually four or five months of writing. It was definitely more of a covid album than the others, definitely a covid record.

It was a blessing in disguise then?

Oh yeah, it was a game-changer, It was the first time I ever felt like time had stopped. Do you know that show Bernard’s Watch? It was sick, it was good.

Speaking of shows, did you have any tv shows or movies that were inspiration?

I have always been a huge fan of Mighty Boosh and Monty python, that kinda like, strange, satirical world where everything is comedy central. A good time. Thinking laterally rather than give you a drama piece. Rick and Morty as well, I absolutely binged that when it came out as well. It felt refreshing, like something that had a twist on something that’s already solidified as an idea or a concept. Like Wes Anderson, he always kind of parodies his own movies. If you can get the joke, with Porn Crumpets, we are the most serious, non-serious band, just living in this mean world, so I was like, well let’s have fun with it and see where we can go rather than kind of take it seriously and be the butt of the joke, it’s like, of course we are. Let’s move on with it and have fun with it.

After listening to the album, I have to ask, Jack: What is a tripolasaur?

A tripolasaur? A friend was in a band called bipolar bear, so I thought rather than call it bipolar bear I’d call it tripolasaur, so it’s a man with three brains, or three personalities? Is bipolar multiple or two? I don’t know? If bipolar is two, then tripolar would be a three headed dinosaur. All the lyrics are about waking up feeling rough but you’re carrying on the same way of drinking each night and the audience kind of understands, and its easy to gather why he is feeling rough. Everyone keeps calling it trip-olasaur cos they’re like, this band is a ‘trip’ band, like trip-olasaur and you’re like try!

I also need to know, Is it Shy-ga? Or Shyg-a?

It’s Shy-ga. [Like tiger?] Shyga like tiger! There you go. I was listening to a lot of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. They had an exclamation mark in their name, and I was like, that’s fantastic, it already evoked an emotion before you even listened to it. I knew I sort of wanted an exclamation mark, and I was trying to think of an uplifting word that was like Eureka. I was throwing bits, Shyga, that sounds like something you would say if you get a hole in one! SHYGA! It was too interesting and ridiculous and stupid not to use it. I kept looking at it on my phone and thinking do I take the serious approach or the wonky way? But I’ve gotta do it, I gotta call it SHYGA!

I feel with a band name like yours you kind of need to say f*ck it and do it?

That’s it. I feel like we paved the way to be absurdist’s. But then if we ever tried to be serious, everyone would be like where’s the joke? We kind of ruined both angles now.

You have always been related back to Tame Impala or King Gizz, is that the same inspiration or have you been listening to anything different?

We spent a lot of time when we were touring, passing around the aux cord was a big privilege and everyone trying to outdo the other person with some strange thing they heard. After maybe a year of passing bands that we had all known, we started going back to 70s rock, like T-rex, David Bowie, all those sorts of zingers who are dad rock now. It feels quirky, but funny, but I love this. So, we all started being dads on tour, on the tour bus. That 70s style. Something about it still felt so fun and vibrant and interesting. We wanted to, or at least I did personally, write a 70s rock record that kind of reflected that but kind of put a twist on it into now. So as I was writing, there was meant to be an album called ‘The Greatest Hits of Sir Norton Gavin’ and that was originally going to be a fictional character in the 60s and 70s who was really big in Margaret River or down south and his music got lost but folklorist. I dunno, be funny trying to do that as more of a spinal tap thing. I scrapped the heavy stuff and the folky stuff, we had Pukebox, Mr Prism and Mundungus and I really liked that flavour. So instead of doing it as a ‘greatest hits’, what if we did a 70s record? You know, Google ‘deep dream’, like deep fake where AI is predicting things. What if we could do that, but predict a 70s rock record. So, all these glitched-out guitars would be in there and sound more sort of like, technological and emulate guitars and real drums and real band. That was the sort of idea of Shyga, that with tour diary inserts. What’s my life? With supercomputer picking up synths.

You have been off for a while; how do you feel about touring with Ocean Alley if it *fingers crossed* goes ahead this year?

Yeah - I love those guys. We first met them in Hamburg of all places at a festival and they did our light show, because we played a gig at like, 12 at night, I think. It was sort of like Big Sound, but the European version. They came and watched us and we didn’t have a strobe light so they kept turning the fader on and off, really quickly. It looked great, it was hilarious. We became good friends, then obviously did Laneway together. I feel like that was one of the best Laneways, for me. I just watched King Gizz for five days or whatever it was. It was amazing.

King Gizz and 1975 every day is not at all terrible!

They actually pulled out of one of them, they got sick. Might have been the Sydney one? One of them got sick, so Gizz were like, we’ve got to headline so they did a two-hour set which was OH MY GOD! It rained too so it added to this, I don’t know, it was such a wicked night.

What is the biggest thing you guys have missed from touring?

Nothing at all. I like being safe and comfortable at home. I don’t know. I think having a good yarn with people and catching up, finding the strangest people in the cities that usually seem to be attracted to a Psychedelic Porn Crumpets gig. I would love to do more sightseeing rather than being hungover in the day. I think, not drinking as much and be planning to do something, but then everyone has to be in agreeance so it’s hard. It’s weird. It’s like being on a strange holiday but it’s not. I would like to go to a festival again though. When we are playing early and get the rest of the day off, I miss that. That’s a great day.

A few big artists have come out of Tik Tok and social media in the last year, do you think you still need promoters, labels pushing things for you? Do you think that’s still important or needed in the music industry?

Well, it’s always changing, isn’t it? I think some people find it easier doing the old school bits and pieces and I think for the younger artist or whoever sort of growing up on tik tok, I mean I would have no idea who they are but if they can pack out a venue, they are going to get big eventually and make people pay attention. I think if you can do all of it, it would be amazing. Try and utilise every angle. I am still the worst on social media, I am so glad we have a manager who deals with it. I can’t do it. I feel like an old soul. I feel like I need a Guinness by the fire with a border collie and I’m happy for the rest of my life. I don’t want to keep up appearances.

One of the songs remind me of a song Hocus Pocus by Focus.

I have heard of that song! I love that Hocus Pocus Focus! That’s so ridiculous. I was going to put it on, have the rest of the interview just Hocus Pocus Focus on. That’s great.

Did you have any special equipment or things you used when recording?

Not so much physical hardware, but I got really heavily involved in sort of the software and like how to warp a guitar and just working out how Ableton and all those features I hadn’t used before. All the glitch guitars and basically every single part and vocal is manipulated, warped or pushed up like an octave or even sometimes two or down to give it this strange visual sort of sound. I got so hooked on it I made it the whole flavour of the record but in hindsight I probably went way too overboard with it.

What can people expect from you this year?

I am working on the follow-up. I kind of have it finished, but I want to take my time. Having a month off to see, is this what I want to release or am I just writing for the sake of writing. But at the moment I am enjoying, it’s sort of different elements which is different to what I did with SHYGA!. SHYGA! was one sound and try and write as much in that frame whereas I am sort of going opposite of that now, how many different styles can I put into one record. I think hopefully more enjoyable. I am stepping up production again.

SHYGA! The Sunlight Mount is now available on all good streaming services. Check it out!

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INTERVIEW: A CHAT WITH DAL SANTO ABOUT NEW SINGLE ‘FALL IN’

Our writer Tori caught up with Dal Santo to chat about their new single ‘Fall In’ - and we’ve got the exclusive premier! Read through to the end to find out all about their inspiration, who they’re listening to right now, and what to expect coming up from the band in the future.

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When Dal Santo guitarist Gaurav wrote ‘Fall In’ he could never have imagined the global pandemic we are now facing;

“This song came at an interesting time. We wrote it just before this was all kind of happening and we had a lot of gigs lined up and a lot of awesome things happening, like every music lover and every muso in the world really” 

Dal Santo were scheduled up for a big year of gigs with two strong EP’s behind them and the addition of their new drummer, Sunny whose name reflects her impact on the band.

“It’s interesting because when you get a new member in a band, they come to you and say I really love that song, and you think, we don't play that live. Sunny’s favourite song is Radio, but we haven't played that live for a couple of years actually. On top of that you have a whole new feel because you have a new member who adds their touch on it.

We had a few friends EP launches and album launches lined up this month. We had a gig with our friends Catholic Guilt which has been moved to August. Postponed, not cancelled which is great and playing with our old friend, Late Nights. That was lined up for a couple of weeks ago but unfortunately cancelled”.

Given Dal Santo were regulars to the pubs and bars of Melbourne, like so many of us, music is a religion and we can’t go to church.

 Which venues do you miss or want to get to?
“I’ve gotta say the Gasometer is probably one of my favourites. We did a residency there last year and it was the end of summer. They would open up the roof in the big main band room, so when the support acts were on, the sun was sort of still glimmering through and its kind of light in that room. Then it gets a bit darker but has that open air, open festival - you know like when you do a stadium show when they have the open roof feel which is more intimate? So I would say its one of my favourites”

 So, tell me, inspiration, where did this song come from?
“Yeah, so this is an interesting one. We wrote it pretty recently, just before things started getting pretty grim, but it’s kind of like a pessimistic view of when good things happen and they are always bound to get a bit shitter again, until you can see thats just what life is. So, it’s kind of a bleak view on things. You kind of go, this is great, but if you are looking at the world glass half full. The themes are a bit more optimistic - when I was younger I had this starry eyed view of the world. As you get older, it’s not that you are more pessimistic or cynical it’s just you kind of, you've lived a bit more, the world might have beat you down as well and you kind of learn from those experiences.” 

The new single is coming out, does this mean there is an album coming this year?
“We are working on an EP. We jumped in, we got in just in the nick of time. We jumped in the studio in January and smashed out a couple of songs going on the EP that we are hoping to release by the end of this year. Luckily, one of them got finished which is this single, Fall In. That was the one that, especially given everything that has happened, really stood out to us. A relevant song. It’s not a sad song, but it does have that sort of ‘arm around your best mate’ feel about it.” 

Leave the Light On is my favourite!
“Funny story about that one, you can hear traffic in the background. When we were recording the album we were doing it at Laneway studios and we would work on it on a Saturday night when the venue was closed to the public so we had the place to ourselves. One night, I reckon it was about two or three AM. We thought it would be a good idea with our producer, Will, to lug out all these mics literally on to Hoddle Street. He was like, I want to get this busking feel to it so he set up all these mics with cars revving past us, probably wondering what these guys are doing in the middle of the night. So we actually recorded it on Hoddle Street. You give it a listen, you can hear a couple of beeps towards the end.”

What is the last thing you listened to?
“Last thing I was listening to was a band called Pandamic, ironically. From Queensland, we played a gig with them last year. It was the 420 show, with The Bennies headlining. These guys were on the bill and they were super fun.”

Dal Santo are hoping to be back touring again soon, but to keep us going in the meantime, here is their new single with our own exclusive premiere - Fall In.

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PHONER WITH BUTTERFINGERS FRONTMAN ‘EVIL’ EDDIE

Butterfingers frontman “Evil” Eddie Jacobson answered the phone and his laid back nature oozed through. For a newbie to doing interviews I was nervous to be talking to a guy whose lyrics I have sung hundreds of times, but after a warm greeting it felt like chatting to an old friend. From its first release in 2006, Butterfingers classic FIGJAM cemented the boys as an iconic Aussie hip hop group that I rate up there with the likes of Hilltop Hoods. The Brisbane locals smashed onto the music scene in the early 2000’s with two songs making it into the top 50 of triple J’s hottest 100 of 2003. 

It’s been 14 years since their last album release and Eddie is aware of the changes in how music is consumed. His last album launch was primarily distributed on CD’s and boosted by a promotional team. It was controlled by the promoter and out of his hands. This time is different, “I’m doing a lot more trips to the post office! You’re so in touch with the way people are responding to content on social media. You can see how it affects streams. Before you just sent it into the void”.

The album is aptly named “Bad News” which is quite ironic given current events. It has a mix of genres which is not often seen. Eddie noted ‘Dancing to the beat of my own drum’ features on a rock playlist. See our album review by Selin! Despite having to reschedule the album tour due to the coronavirus pandemic and the arts and entertainment industry being turned on its head, Eddie seemed to take it in his stride “Its not that weird for me, I work from home anyway. I don't go out a lot unless gigging”. He noted most bands are struggling, having to push back tours, delay release of music and contemplate what the music industry is going to look like when the chaos dies down. “We have pushed the tour back to the end of the year, gives the album a chance to breathe before we tour. It might be helpful that people have more time to listen to it…..people have more free time to enjoy entertainment” 

It was an album over 10 years in the making, closing track ‘(I Just Wanna Play) Music’ “musically and chorus are all the same, the thing that changes the most is the raps/verses. I have written at least seven or eight different versions.” Eddie described the approach to the album as more “big picture” than previous work which came through as a “stream of consciousness”.

We started to compare notes on favourite venues and those he has chosen for his tour, “All the venues are booked for the tour later in the year. I am excited to play at the The Triffid in Brisbane - I have played there before in my punk band days but not as a headline act, so thats pretty cool.” Eddie’s passion was palpable when describing the infamous Badlands Bar he is due to play in Perth. “This was one of the coolest venues I have ever played. It used to be a hell themed restaurant. They sprayed concrete n everything so it looks like caves. The walls are curved. The vibe is cool and acoustically there is no horrible resonance frequencies. Sounds really good, I’m excited. 

Leading up to the new album, Eddie talked about his influences, “I studied trap stuff…Post Malone, through the process of breaking down Post Malone, who I didn't particularly care for before, but found myself going wow, this is more interesting than I thought it was. Melodically I compare it a lot to Kurt Cobain writing style. The scale would change from the verse to the chorus. Made me appreciate it.” When I questioned what he is listening to right now he chuckled “its really obvious and cliche but the Queens of the Stone Age desert sessions record” and between the band they have been sharing some old favourites “a lot of old school performances of faith no more and Pantera in ’94”.

“Bad News” is out now! My favourite track is without a doubt ‘Dem Billz’

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