In Conversation With - LUCIANBLOMKAMP
We had a chat with one of Australia’s most exciting new songwriters and producers LUCIANBLOMKAMP about his album ‘Sick Of What I Don't Understand’, which is out now via Good Manners Records.
How did the idea of a trilogy for ‘Sick Of What I Don’t Understand’ come about?
It wasn’t originally meant to be a trilogy. I wrote it as an album over a period of about 2 years. During this time a huge amount of things changed in my life, mostly for the better. I feel when I started writing I was in a much worse headspace than where I was by the end of it. It sounds weird but I didn’t really realise this at the time. Once I had finished what I thought was an album, I realised this emotional progression in my life had been reflected in the album. I thought I’d split the music I’d made over those 2 years into different releases to highlight the eras in my progression.
Drawing inspiration from the album title, what is something you wish you understood?
Nothing specifically and that’s kinda the point. I mean there are a lot of things in life generally I’d like to understand, but in regards to creating music/art I’ve grown to believe the less you think about it the better. At least that’s what the title is partly referring to.
Were all three parts of the album recorded within a fixed time period?
Yeah. Like I mentioned before, I never actually intended on releasing the album in 3 parts so I wrote it all as if I were writing a regular album. Only long after the fact I realised I had something a bit different on my hands.
How did the recording and writing process of the previous two parts influence the third?
The process wasn’t linear. I didn’t write the second and then moved onto the third. While external events in my life altered the overall progression of the album, this transition wasn’t so clear at the time. My headspace didn’t change from one day to the next. In other words, some songs for part three were written around a vaguely similar time as some songs on part two, and vice versa.
Can you explain the inspiration behind ‘We.’? Both sonically and lyrically?
I never write love songs, mostly because I find them to be incredibly hard to write. I don’t think of myself as much of a lyricist so I don’t trust giving myself the task of talking about love in a way that’s accurate. I think ‘We.’ is as close as I’ve gotten though. The song is dedicated to my girlfriend Rosebud Leach. I really wanted the instrumental as barebones as possible to emphasise the lyrics, while still maintaining the warmth the lyrics describe.
What were your most important reflections and lessons learnt during the process of writing ‘Sick Of What I Don’t Understand’?
Simply just realising that this transition to a more positive headspace had even occurred.The album was the realisation, as wanky as that sounds.
How do you feel ‘I’ll Find’ wraps up the whole album process? What has been your favourite part of the process?
While the lyrics are pretty vague, ‘I’ll Find’ is about looking forward to the future. Ironically, the track was actually written pretty early on in the process of writing the album. But considering it’s meaning and overall tone it just didn’t make it sense to have it anything besides the closing track. Super lame cop-out but there’s never really is a favourite part of the process because I just live to make music. Just making the album in the first place is the best bit.
Feature created by Athena Kam