INTERVIEW:
LUCY DACUS
INTERVIEW:
BLOOM PARADE & THE ASTRAL PLANE PARADE
Brisbane's Bloom Parade has recently released their debut 4 track EP ahead of a launch show this weekend at Bloodhound with We Set Sail, The Astral Plane Parade & Kate Woodhouse. We got Hugo of The Astral Plane Parade and Mitch of Bloom Parade to interview each other before they share the stage September 22nd.
Hugo: Your first single, Recurring Dream, is full of surreal imagery. Some moments that stand out to me are the personification of plants and flowers. I find these lyrical choices really interesting because they evoke beauty but also isolation. What inspires you when writing lyrics?
Mitch: It’s difficult to narrow it down, but a lot of the time I tend to find inspiration in visual imagery. Whether it's a photo, part of a film, or simply a vivid memory, much of my writing comes from attempts to analyse and recreate the feelings associated with specific visual moments.
The lyrical content and dreamy nature of the music go hand in hand. Is it important for you to create a self-contained world for the listener to adventure in?
I find it very important to maintain that consistency throughout the songs. But at the same time, it has – so far – come together very naturally, which I think is because of my tendency towards writing much more figuratively than literally. I’ve always appreciated music as a form of escapism so I’m very happy to be able to provide our listeners the same thing.
I’ve noticed your cover design is all by the talented designer, Shyanne Trutwein. Could you speak a little on this decision for a unified aesthetic and how important you find visual accompaniment to music?
This is another instance of the importance I find in a project’s consistency. Throughout the writing and recording of Sunblushed, I was always considering how the music would be presented visually, as many of my favourite artists have been those that put a good amount of thought into that aspect. Of course, the music itself is the most important factor, but I always appreciate those that have a fuller vision of the way they want to convey the project as a whole. With Shyanne, from the very first drafts I had received from her for Recurring Dream I could tell she had a great idea of what we were going for, and I was instantly excited to continue working with her for the rest of the EP.
Mitch: As someone who has followed your work for a while now, in former projects like Toy Boats and The Dead Ends, I’m interested to know how you view the evolution of your songwriting throughout the years. Has your approach changed? If so, how?
Hugo: It’s definitely matured and with that has come a greater positivity. I want to make music that makes people feel excited to be alive, not something to wallow in. It was a point of frustration for me with Toy Boats when people would say ‘this song is so sad’ etc because to me they were really positive songs and celebrations of emotions. I definitely think there’s a difference between a work of art being sad and a work of art being emotional and I think the latter often gets mistaken for the former. With The Astral Plane Parade and my recent work I actively strive to see the positive in a negative situation so that I can present the music as such. I also hope that if someone is finding it tough to see any good in something the music might show them a way, as all my favourite songs have done for me.
Something that I’ve noticed throughout your writing is the way you take the everyday happenings that go on around us and interpret them in a way that invokes much more romance and poeticism than they might initially convey. What is about these seemingly insignificant moments that inspires you?
I think I’m drawn to them so much because they are really what life is made of. You get up in the morning and drink coffee more than you get married, have epiphanies, children, get your dream job etc. If you can find romance in the mundane life is filled with colour, it isn’t reserved for giant moments.
Outside of your musical output you also write poetry. I’m curious to know what differs in your mindset between this and your song lyricism. Do you begin with the intention of creating either one or does the writing come from the same intention and naturally lean toward a certain medium?
I’m always jotting down lines and little images, ideas, moods without much intention for their inclusion in a certain form. For example, if I have music and I want some words for it I’ll think back to those little lines and if any of them fit a melody and mood of the music they’ll find their way into a song. Whereas, with poetry it is without (traditional) melody and unreliant on music, it is (at least formally) partnerless. I find a freedom in this independence of language and find it really fun to attempt to create worlds containing the five-senses made up of only words. Ultimately though, I like to think there’s music in poetry and poetry in music, a fluidity in all things, I like it when art forms are free to relate to each other because I think that’s how new and exciting discoveries can occur.
