How good is that feeling? Finishing exams and heading towards a solid break. I was quick to discover LAMPLIGHT's vocalist and keyboardist Kirsty was experiencing the same post-exam elation as I. However, before we hit our respective locals I asked her a few questions about the band, their upcoming tour and latest album.
Lamplight's sound is all bar impossible to put into words. Kirsty agrees. "It's a bit tricky, but a good description is symphonic indie rock." She then pauses and exclaims, "no, symphonic, indie, folk rock - that's the best way I'd describe it." Ever heard of a band like that? Me neither - and their sound really is that eclectic and highly distinctive.
In the media's attempt to give the reader a visual understanding of their sound, Lamplight is often compared to Augie March. However, this is a comparison that Kirsty does not wholeheartedly agree with. "Honestly I don't actually think we are that similar," she counters. "I think it is just an Australian sound that Augie March have and maybe we sort of touch on as well... But in terms of actual musical aesthetic and the sounds that we use, I think we are quite different."
The band have received only rave reviews for their live performances, scoring accolades from both Drum and Beat magazines. Their music is powerful, with tortured and mournful strings and melodies that lend themselves to most potent and moving performances. "Our music is so intense and dynamic," Kirsty explains. "We get really involved and that is engaging for people to watch, to see a band really engaged in their own music."
Kirsty and Mijo, the group's founders and poets, came upon their band title in independent spontaneous busts of artistic synergy. "One night we both said we'd come up with something, and both said 'What's yours?! What's yours?!' and mine was Lamplight Sun and his was Lamplight, so we figured we should go with that."
A highlight of creating their new self-titled album was recording two of the tracks inside the Castlemaine Gaol in Victoria. Kirsty reckons their timing was right and they were lucky to be able to have a weekend in which to record Image House and Swallowing The Key, both haunting tracks that fit in with the gaol's dark atmosphere. "It is just a spooky place," recalls Kirsty. "There is this big wooden beam that goes across the ceiling where they used to hang people and there are confinement cells downstairs where Indiana, our violinist, actually did some of her recording. I used the piano that had been in the gaol as well."
Lamplight are also one of triple j's Unearthed artists and have most recently been album of the week. Keep an ear out for their latest track, A Sun That Will Not Rise, and await big things and another award winning performance when they next come to town.
Be sure to check Lamplight out when they perform on Sunday July 5 at the Folkus. For tickets call 62627265.
