- Pleasure to meet you, sir.
- Oh, the pleasure's all mine.
Been a fan for a long time
- How's it going?
- Pretty good.
(Aimee and Delaney chuckle)
How about you?
- Yeah, good.
- Okay, do you like being asked questions about your music?
- Not really.
Sorry, I'm so dry in interviews.
I'm like, "Mm-hmm, yes."
- What are you thinking about in the interview?
- I don't know, I just zone out.
(lively music)
(Aimee and crew members laugh)
(lively music continues)
Do you have any hidden skills?
- How hidden?
(Aimee and Delaney chuckle)
Things people don't know, that I do normally?
- Yeah, things that you're good at.
- Pretty good at ironing shirts.
- Yep, nice.
Did you start playing music as a child?
- Yeah, I kinda got into these weird avant-garde
piano performances in the living room.
- So was piano your first instrument,
would you say? - Probably, yeah.
I don't know if instrument is the right way to describe it.
And I used to look at "National Geographic" covers,
angel fish or angler fishes with these luminous bones
that would light their way around,
and I'd play this song.
And then I'd freak myself out, and run out of the room.
Do you- (Aimee chuckles)
Yeah, really nice.
Has music always been there for you?
- Not really.
I think it was around me growing up
'cause dad is a musician, and mom used to sing opera.
- Oh, wow.
- So one side was operatic
and the other side was country music.
- That's a good combo.
- So that's,
I think I didn't start playing music until I was about 15.
- And what'd you start there doing?
- Drumming and singing. - Oh, yeah? Mm.
What song did you play today?
- "Something's Wrong."
- And why did you choose that song?
- Because I wanted to do a cover
that sounded completely different from the original
'cause that's always a fun challenge.
(gentle music)
(gentle music continues)
♪ Cry, baby, cry ♪
♪ Yeah, sing me your favorite song ♪
♪ Why, baby, why ♪
♪ Why don't you save it, save it for later ♪
♪ When something's wrong ♪ ♪ Something's wrong ♪
♪ When it's all over ♪
♪ Is something wrong ♪ ♪ Something wrong ♪
♪ Why can't you see now that it's real ♪
♪ Why can't you hear ♪
♪ Why can't you feel ♪
- Are you thinking at all about the next album?
- Yeah, a lot.
- What are the thoughts that come to mind
when you think about that?
- What's it gonna be, or what's it gonna sound like,
and what's it about? - Is there any things
that if you're thinking about it,
that you know you wanna have as a part of it,
whatever that might be?
- I wanna experiment with some Synth, Bowie vibes.
(gentle music)
♪ Lie, baby, lie ♪
♪ Yeah, I'll sing you my favorite song ♪
♪ Give it a try ♪
♪ You know it won't be ♪
♪ It won't be long ♪
♪ 'Til something's wrong ♪ ♪ Something's wrong ♪
♪ It won't be long ♪
♪ 'Til something's wrong ♪ ♪ 'Til Something's wrong ♪
♪ It won't be long ♪
♪ 'Til something's wrong ♪ ♪ Something's wrong ♪
(gentle music continues)
♪ It won't be long ♪
(gentle music continues)
(gentle music fades)
- You have a crystal ball. (Aimee gasps)
You have it covered with a silk cloth,
living in a special room in your house.
You walk into the room,
and you can feel the energy pulsating out this.
Lift off the scarf.
What do you see when you look into the crystal ball?
- Tsunamis. - Tsunamis?
- Unfortunately. (mimics explosion)
- Where's it coming from?
- Down in the CBD, knocking over the Sky Tower.
- Does it make it as far up as Tanuki's Cave?
- Yeah.
- Up to K Road?
- (laughs) Yeah.
- Up to the domain? - Probably.
- Do you think if you were on top of Mount Eden,
you'd be safe? - I think so.
- What about Mount Roskill?
- I can't remember the last time I've been to Mount Roskill.
Oh, God, sorry my answer was so morbid.
But if you had a crystal ball,
what would you see in it in the future?
- Acceptance, I would like to say,
instead of people fighting it all the time.
- Yeah.
- Love maybe.
But I don't know, that's probably a bit hippie-ish.
- No.
- Like for everybody,
not on a personal level, man. (Aimee chuckles)
(melancholy music)
The world needs a electric shock and a good scrub, I reckon.
♪ Little black boots ♪
♪ Pinned-back bangs ♪
♪ Long trench coat and black ♪
(melancholy music continues)
♪ Faux Berliners, it's a real thing ♪
♪ Little cat eyes on a string ♪
That's interesting that the song I played of yours
and the one you played of mine
have got pretty much the same chords, right,
but they're really different songs.
- Why did you choose "Hell Hole"?
- 'Cause it's such a strong song.
It just carries itself.
I felt really lucky 'cause it was such an easy song to play
in terms of its strength as a song.
I didn't have to freak out about it.
It was just, you could really lean into it.
(melancholy music continues)
♪ All of my life ♪
♪ I'll never belong to the hell hole ♪
♪ Promised myself ♪
♪ I'll never belong to the hell hole ♪
(melancholy music rises)
♪ Diving into the mouth ♪
♪ I like the feeling of suffocation ♪
♪ And I'm not coming out ♪
♪ Unless it's on my own accord ♪
♪ All of my life ♪
♪ I'll never belong to the hell hole ♪
♪ Promised myself ♪
♪ I'll never belong to the hell hole ♪
(melancholy music rises)
♪ Diving into the mouth ♪
♪ I like the feeling of suffocation ♪
♪ And I'm not coming out ♪
♪ Unless it's on my own accord ♪
♪ All of my life ♪
♪ I'll never belong to the hell hole ♪
♪ Promised myself ♪
♪ I'll never belong to the hell hole ♪
(melancholy music continues)
♪ I like drinking in the morgue ♪
- What are you working on?
- I'm working on my solo album number 10.
- Wow, number 10.
What do you think you've learned
from having done nine albums so far?
- Don't get too serious about them.
Keep on making them.
Don't get stuck on them.
- So how many albums did it take for you to learn that?
- Probably five. - Mm.
- First album, almost an accident.
The second album, you feel like you know what you're doing.
The third album's usually you find a way to let go
of that incredible control that you have
over the second one.
Fourth album felt to me like,
"Ah, yeah, I kinda think I know what I'm doing now maybe."
Five was like,
"Oh, maybe you don't actually know what to do."
And number six, to me, it was like a look under the hood,
but someone said maybe I didn't really wanna see
all that greasy old engine.
Number seven was a live album.
It was like an album I probably should have always made.
Eight was an album with a band, that felt like a real push.
Number nine was bringing more elements in
that weren't just me,
like writing a lot with some other influences coming.
This one feels like it's had a few starts,
trying out different possibilities
before committing to something.
Don't hold back.
If you think it's not good, tell me.
Let's be really clear and upfront.
I'm not gonna freak out
if you say it sounds like a load of shit.
- Yeah. (chuckles)
- I just don't care at this stage, you know?
I just want it to be interesting or good
rather than worried about if my feelings got hurt.
I think we met over there, outside,
smoking in that smoking courtyard,
here at Marlon's show, was it?
- Yeah, it was a full moon.
- It was a full moon, wow.
And it was in that window we had
of lockdowns, wasn't it? - Yeah.
- Having had gone through a pandemic
and all those things ground to a halt,
do you think they'll ever get back to normal
or what we used to think of as normal?
- No.
(Aimee chuckles)
- Please expand.
- Yeah, the value of music and arts,
well, in my mind, has kinda gone up.
- Yeah, having it taken away
so people understand what it is worth now.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Do you think there's things we can do as artists
to make it last longer,
help it retain its value?
- In some ways, maybe not to thrash playing all the time.
Do you know what I mean?
- Well, Aimee,
I have to say it's been really nice having a chat.
Thank you for being here today
and sharing your time with good people.
- Thank you very much, kind sir. (laughs)
It was lovely to meet you.
(lively music)