Lucas, you play in King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard & Atolls, are there any other bands you play in that we should know about?
Just these two at the moment, I think that’s enough for now.
Who came up with idea for the pre order Compilation Tape and what other tracks are on it?
I’ve been buying a few tapes from boutique labels and I really like the idea of them – plus I have a really old car and I only have a tape player so I love cassettes. I’m doing them for us because we can record onto them and print the covers ourselves. It comes with a download code too because I guess not everyone has a tape player.
The Tape has the single and the b-side, an “Easy Listening Adult Comtemporary” version of Mumble (who knows what that means) and a bunch of old tracks I recorded in my bedroom over the last year. They’re all recordings that I did with the new band in mind. So I guess they informed the sound of Atolls a little bit.
Atolls debut show is coming up Thursday 25 October, what sort of live set can people expect to see?
It’s getting pretty racous/noisey in parts of the set – but it’s also quite dynamic. I really like the feel of playing in a trio – I never have and I’m enjoying the energy it produces. Sam and Oli are great musicians and I think we’re really starting to work off each other – It excites me!
As a DIY artist, what are your thoughts on all the new crowd funding services, Pozible and Pledge etc? Is this something you would be keen to do with Atolls?
It makes sense if you have the fan base – I mean Amanda Palmer’s pledge drive was massively successful – but she also copped a fair bit of flak over it. I’m not sure I would ever do it – the music industry is hard to make money in but I’m not down with asking for charity.
What’s your earliest memory of performing and who inspired you to start?
When I first started to going to see live music, mainly at all the coastal festivals (Queenscliff, Apollo Bay etc.) and my friends The Periscopes (now known as Sleep Decade) played prolifically – I loved em and they definitely gave me confidence that people my age could play. My first band started busking at festivals because we didn’t know how to get gigs, until we were approached and got asked to play a youth arts gig – It was all right.
What’s the first tape (depending on how old you are), cd or vinyl you purchased with your own money?
I’m not too sure but I think it’d would’ve been either RHCP, The offspring or Blink 182 haha. The 90s ruled.
How do go about seeking out new music in the very modern digital world?
I think I discover all my music through music blogs and friends. I download spuriously, too much to actually keep up with. I buy a lot of vinyl though so I like to think that justifies it.
If you could curate your own festival, where would it be, who would be on the bill, how many people would you let in and what features would it have?
There’s too much to think about there – It’d take me a whole day to answer this question. I think Meredith/Golden Plains nearly does that for me – their lineups impress me more and more each year. And it’s the perfect atmosphere and crowd.
Because it’s more fun to do things together, living artist from anywhere in the world would you most like to collaborate with? Tell us why?
I think Ariel Pink would be a really interesting guy to work with. I’d love to see how he operates. I think he could be completely crazy or equally amazing to work with.
Where we can see you play next, what releases do you have available and where can we get them?
Mumble Launch Shows
Thursday Oct 25th – Old Bar w/ Sleep Decade and Stu Mackenzie
Saturday Oct 27th – The Nash Geelong w/ Sleep Decade and Turtlenjeck
November 10th – The Tote w/Eagle & the Worm
November 30th – The Gasometer – Heavy Beach 10” Launch
You can buy our single from iTunes at: http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/mumble-water-single/id550406036
And pre-order our tape compilation and buy t-shirts at: atolls.bandcamp.com
