5Q

What inspires Lakes of Russia to continue creating music?

Listening to new music always inspires you to keep creating new music, whether it be friends band at a local bar, or getting hold of a record by someone you’ve never heard of before. The music scene in Melbourne is pretty amazing, and it is always inspiring to see bands that are playing for the love of it. It’s rare for artists in Australia to be able to earn a living from music, so this produces a music scene that is not focused on making money and is more focused on creativity and integrity.

Your last release, Stars Decorate the Fire, was a great success, what’s next?

I’m planning on releasing another full length album at some stage during this year. I have a bunch of songs written, some of which will be recorded for the album. It will probably be released later in the year by the time the recording process is finished and the release organised. As I record from a home studio, the process is very flexible. I am also planning on returning to playing live in the next couple of months after a short break from playing live, in preparation for recording the new album.

How does Lakes of Russia decide which tracks will be on a release? testing them at gigs, or a different method?

It’s usually a mix of testing song live and listening to demo’s before the proper recording process begins. This usually separates the songs that work well and the ideas that don’t. Once the songs to be tracked are selected, it can then change completely as ideas often evolve during the recording process. An example of this is the track Fireflies from Stars Decorate The Fire. This song was recorded and then left alone for 4-5 months before a whole new layer of loops and instrumentation was added. The challenge when recording alone can be knowing when a track is finished.

What have you been listening to recently that you would recommend to your fan base?

It would probably come as no surprise that I’m a big fan of bands such as Mono, This Will Destroy You, Mogwai, Dirty Three and Explosions In The Sky. Other bands that aren’t necessarily within the post-rock genre that I’m listening to at the moment include American Football, Envy, Isis and Small Brown Bike. Also, Arrows (from Brisbane, Australia) are an amazing band.

The obligatory digital media question: We all know that digital downloads (legal or not) are changing the music business, would you say this is a challenge or an opportunity, and why?

Digital downloads are both a challenge and an opportunity for the music industry. Personally, I am aware that more people have probably downloaded my music than bought it, but digital downloads have allowed a much wider audience to have access to my music. And I think that this is more positive than negative. As an independent artist, it is very unlikely that I will be able to make a living from music, so the next best thing is to be able to share music with a wide audience. I do support the need for artists to sell music and make a profit where possible, as this ultimately will help to support future projects and allows more music to be produced.