Your new single is called
‘Beside You’. How would you describe it musically?
It’s
got a lot of cyclic rhythms in it. I use poly-rhythms that are off-kilter and
that became the theme for the chorus, and everything was built around that. It’s
quite textured and layered and pretty up. It’s probably a bit more poppy than
my other stuff and definitely the poppiest on the release that’s coming; [it’s]
a celebration.
What’s the inspiration
behind the lyrics?
I
was thinking about those times and the exchanges you have with people that can
be coloured by the kind of mood you’re in and what you’ve experienced in the day,
and what people carry around, either positive stuff or negative [things]. I
like the idea of going back to how we want to be seen, what the vision is of
ourselves when we let go of stuff. The lyrics of ‘Beside You’ are about being
open and in the moment.
What inspired the music
video for the song?
Lachlan
Dickie, the director, is really talented. I guess I’m looking for people who
have a similar vibe to the music that I’m doing, kind of quirky or cinematic
and Lachlan has had some really cool concepts in the past and we brainstormed
on it and came up with a bunch of different scenes that reflected people
connecting in different situations. We wanted it to reflect how we connect in
one way or another and how we find ourselves in certain situations and
head-spaces. He came up with different ways of trying to connect and then we
filtered it down to the most important [ones] and decided that New Zealand was
a great place to film it, as well as Australia, there are a few scenes filmed
there, this kind of epic, expensive landscape. Then it sort of based itself in
the future, which I really liked. I’m really interested in dystopian future
worlds.
You recently completed your
UK tour; how did that go?
Yeah,
I met lots of awesome people, played in some great pubs [like] The Finsbury.
Strange Brew was a nice little specialist spot in Manchester. I ended up going
to Edinburgh just to hang out with a friend and I thought I’d play a couple of
open-mic spots that weren’t part of the tour, and I’ve got invited back to play
at the Fringe Festival, so that’s awesome. I wasn’t expecting anything, but you
never know who is organising a night!
As part of that you did a
Sofar Sounds date; was that a good experience?
Yeah,
it was so cool and intense. You’ve got fifty people crammed into a space that
normally has five, in a lounge room. It’s like having a classroom of kids looking
up at you from the carpet. It’s very intense but it’s also great as they’re
just listening very intently and it’s almost like a conversation.
How would you describe your
live sound?
I
do pretty much what you’d hear live when I perform that song. I use a laptop
with samples to kind of help, especially when I’m playing solo. But I also do a
lot of looping which you can hear in the background of 'As Far As India’ which
is already out there. I use a lot of vocal looping and layer that in the
background of the songs, with a lot of layered harmonies incorporated in. With
a little bit of mouth percussion, which you can hear throughout ‘Beside You’.
Do you have an album plan
for later in the year?
Well
I’m definitely doing it though I haven’t yet locked in when and where, but I’m
going to come back to the UK to tour a mini LP around the end of the year.
