Das neue Jahr hat mit einer wunderbaren musikalischen Neuentdeckung begonnen. Loki Lockwood ist seit den 80er Jahren in der Melbourner Gothic- und Elektro-Szene aktiv. In seinem neusten Musikprojekt Velatine arbeitet Loki mit unterschiedlichen Sängerinnen zusammen. Der aktuelle Song „Orange to Black“ hat mich sofort gefesselt. Es ist ein Lied zum Träumen und lässt immer wieder Raum und Zeit vergessen. Es liegt etwas traurig Überwältigendes in den eindringlichen Vocals von Nocturna, die sich unmittelbar anfühlen und einen ganz eigenen Sog entwickeln. Wir freuen uns, dass wir euch heute den aktuellen Song mit einer Videopremiere und Velatine als Band der Woche vorstellen können!
You have been active in the Melbourne music scene since the 1980s, with Velatine being your latest music project. How did Velatine come into being?
I feel like Velatine has always been there somehow, at least from my teenage years when I was recommended to a Melbourne group called Whirlywirld led by Ollie Olsen. That was one of the first bands in Melbourne doing music that I actually liked. The fact that they were meshing electronic noise with rock and even pop to a certain degree had a huge influence that resonates to this day. Up till this point it was mostly UK music I was into, but realising it was in Melbourne as well. Becoming part of the tail end of that scene was probably when I first started forming the vision of the music I make now.
If you had to describe your music in terms of something other than music, what would you say?
It’s a lot of different feelings and passions in my life mashed together. People often comment on the cinematic quality of Velatine. So an old Film-Noir or Gothic building would be a good fit.
What are you looking for in music? What are the boundaries that you look to explore with music?
When it comes to music, I really don’t want any boundaries. I like exploring different instruments to trigger ideas that force me into new moods, like a piano one day, a guitar or drum machine the next or cutting up sound and making loops with a sampler. I don’t want any boundaries around what I do, so that’s probably why it’s been difficult to get traction because I don’t adhere to any specific genre in an obvious way. If you stand back and look at the bigger picture, you’ll see the darkness in what Velatine does. Look closer at these markers and you’ll actually see my influences, of which there are many. But so many are from the early Gothic bands. They were bands who pushed boundaries: Birthday Party, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure, and I saw all of them and many more. And I guess I’m looking to write songs that resonate with people like they did. The key elements in these bands were that they all wrote amazing songs over decades and they still sound fresh. That’s the big goal for me with music: the writing, and the way a song can connect people. We’re all looking for connection, so yeah, I’m using music to connect for sure.
What is sound to you?
It’s part of my communication, it’s my emotion, my blood. Without it, I just lose all drive. It’s that essence of vibration of the world that I can connect to, an essence of interaction without necessarily involving people all the time. It’s always been with me; it’s probably the truest essence of who I am.
What are your earliest musical memories? When did you first fall in love with sound? How have your early musical influences shaped your current music project?
I grew up in a very musical household; there was classical music and a lot of rock and roll stuff. I had three older brothers and my mother all playing music, and it was just a big part of life. I think I was always in love with music. It probably wasn’t until my late teens when I realised that there were other kinds of music than what was in my household and on the radio.
How do your surroundings impact your art?
My surroundings impact my art massively. My partner completely supports me in what I do. She doesn’t care if I’m up until 6:00 a.m. composing. We both have very similar tastes in music, literature, movies and we have no children. Our cats are really the only responsibility, and they’re looked after by her; in exchange, I cook for her. So we live a life of relative freedom. She owns a funeral company, so there’s a lot of talk about death in this house as well. It’s this freedom we have that now means I’m able to make this my career and I’m very fortunate.
What themes are you currently drawn to in your work?
The themes that I’ve currently drawn into the work would be Orange to Black [death]. I know there’s a question on that one, so I’ll cover that later. Being in the music scene for work as a sound engineer for so long, there’s definitely depression, substance abuse all around. And injustice to women is a huge thing. I just can’t deal with misogynistic males at all, so I’ve actually got quite a few songs coming that dig more into that subject, often with the woman coming out on top, unfortunately still largely a fantasy in the real world. „I Won’t Be Civilised“ was really about being free to be self-expressive particularly from a woman’s perspective. There’s one about climate change, „Age of Contempt“. How I feel that we treat the planet with contempt and the speed with which we are destroying it and ourselves in the process is contemptible. I guess these really are social issues.
Videopremiere „Orange to Black“
Your new single „Orange to Black,“ featuring Nocturna’s beautiful vocals, was recently released. Can you tell us more about the process of creating this track? How did the song and collaboration come about?
Nocturna was recommended to me as a potential singer via a friend. I just decided I needed to have a period of exploration, knowing that one day I would ask someone and that would just organically develop into the right thing for Velatine. Her beautiful vocals – no doubt about it. She’s got an incredible voice. When I asked her, I sent her music only. I think there were 3 pieces and I asked her to pick one. I knew she’d pick the one „Orange to Black“ so I said I’d write the lyrics with her in mind. It was the first song we recorded together, so we’d only briefly spoken on the phone. She came over so we didn’t know each other at all. She just nailed the song so quickly and I remember that the hair was just standing up on my arms hearing her voice. After the vocals were done, it was just me mixing and developing the song more around her voice. I just thought, how can you not ask this woman back? It’s gonna be the best way to get to know each other. I contacted her and asked if she would be interested in recording another song. She said yes and so we recorded again. I think we both felt something was there. I hoped she did anyway, but I still didn’t put forward I wanted someone permanent, but a few weeks later I asked if she would do another song and she said yes. So by the third time, I said to her, „Look, I keep asking you and keep coming over, so I guess we have to explore this further“.
„Orange to Black“ is about death and how I really don’t believe in the afterlife. I never wanted the song to be about death. I actually fought really hard for it to not be about death. It could have been night and day but it just kept calling me in that direction and I guess I just gave in. When a close friend of mine died last Christmas, I just reflected on that there’s no guarantees in life. It was a tough one because he was a beautiful guy and it was sudden. It was unbelievable that I’d had to help organize his funeral and so there’s a lot of reflection that goes on in doing that. You question everything and of course one of the big questions is: „Is there life after death?“ I hope one day I’m proven wrong because there sure as hell are a lot of people I’d love to catch up with that have gone. But I just think, as we’re still living, it’s our responsibility to nurture those memories and share those memories of those that have gone, but one day those memories will die as well.
How does the visual aspect relate to and reflect your music? Which artistic influences, outside of music, have significantly impacted your approach to your art?
The visual aspect is a really big thing for me. I think it’s utilizing another sense in your audience, alongside music, when you use images. I grew up around bands who used image to say they were individuals and wouldn’t conform. I’ve never changed how I look to get a job my whole life, I refuse to. And I’ve survived. I’m not dressed up, I look like this when I go to the supermarket. I even teach at a university in sound and dress like this. Bands used to be so visual, sadly lacking in the mainstream [and a lot of the alternative] music world these days. And the visual aspect is way more important in being a musician now than it’s ever been. When I was 18 and playing in a band, I was projecting slides onto the stage to create my own atmosphere around my music. I think now, people tend to ignore stuff without that visual content. I’m sort of glad because I think that you can drive different aspects of the message you’re trying to convey with the visuals, and so I love that part of it. I recently saw Kraftwerk; their visuals were extremely minimalistic yet really effective. Another one along those lines is Laibach, one of my big influences as well, masters at it. They came to Australia at the start of 2020. I’ve been a fan for a long time, so that was huge for me. They do visuals so well.
The artistic influences outside of music would be literature, going to galleries to friends‘ exhibitions. My network of friends has an impact on me because they’re largely artistic in all different mediums. They all elicit responses and take me down lots of different avenues, so all these things impact me.
What’s next for you? What are you most looking forward to?
Now with Nocturna it’s time to show really all the things I’ve been creating after the album „I Won’t Be Civilised“. We have a new single out Jan 28th. We’re filming a clip for it this week. We’ve booked a venue to play in early March. More songs and clips will appear on a regular basis and just work on growing. I’m looking forward to that email that says, „Hey, Hey, is Velatine available to play ‚Blah, Blah‘ Festival in Europe?“ That’s really what we’re preparing to do. Australians don’t really understand us, so we feel undervalued here. Very few people in radio and media here take any interest. Some do fortunately, and it’s those ones that kept me going at the start of all this; they know who they are for sure. But now we’re connecting more and more with people like yourselves in Europe, so it’s important we get there soon. My influences are all really from Europe or the UK so the sound of Velatine reflects that. I’m not surprised by what happens here. I’m just another artist from Australia misunderstood and desperate to escape. I’m just one of the many on a long list.
Much love from Velatine – Loki & Nocturna
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