I am super proud of this EP. I wanted to make a new sound blending punk, reggae and electronica production techniques together to create heavy bangers. It’s a new territory for me and it was so much fun making it over the few months earlier this year.
This EP for me is a cohesive collection of three tunes that were produced and mixed over a short period of time. It was all recorded and produced in my bedroom, admittedly kinda roughly but it sounded cool so I rolled with it. I usually mix everything myself but I needed to step back for a bit and brought in my good friend Oman to polish and bring it to life. This was done over a couple of months due to our horrendous sleeping schedules and hangovers - also my unreasonable tendency to over analyse every tiny detail… that lesson is still in progress!
CASH MACHINE is a cover of Oliver Tree that I pop'd up a bit. It is lighter, faster and more serene - mainly because I didn't drop D the guitars so it naturally took on a different vibe. I love the original and wanted to emulate it pretty closely with my own flavour and style which is guessing - A LOT. I don’t really know if the harmonies are the same and I changed some words here and there as well, but for the most part it is very similar. I love it because it is really true to the original but feels fresh and unique at the same time. I learnt a lot about production whilst recreating this and it has made me a better producer for it.
BOY is HEAVY AF and my favourite tune off the EP. Inspired by the new alt sound I wanted to push people into the ground on the drops and it backed up my depressive state of mind over the last 6 months. I love punk rock and heavy bass lines so this is the blend of a new sound. Again a bit rough in places, almost like it’s live but with super polished distortion and massive production, I love that about this tune.
Lyrically it’s a lot deeper and more heady than it may come across. Each line kind of contradicts the previous, much like the duality of the Universe. “Loving you makes me so uncomfortable” sounds like I am talking about a human but I’m actually talking about the terror of seeing the void, the nothingness, the meaninglessness of everything. This idea is done to death in philosophy and I do wish I let the sleeping dog lay, but they tell me that I’ll work it out.
BOMBAY was written over a long time. I started it while living in London over 2 years ago and I finally had the time to really put in the work once back home in NZ. I love the blend of reggae skanks, 808 bass lines and grungy guitar tones. Melancholy summer vibes was the goal and by gosh it captures exactly how I felt during the summer of 2020. This one is a road trip bop - take me outta the city!
Fun fact the lyric “If you take me out the city, baby I’ll give you that ice-cream” comes across sexually but it isn’t meant to. So, after you leave Auckland and get over the Bombay hills there’s a dairy that sells 10 scoop ice-creams and one of my best friends (and ex-girlfriend) always went there to devour the biggest ice-cream ever witnessed - it’s a really beautiful memory of sharing time with her and is also why I have incorporated Japanese text on the album art.
Special thanks:
Cheers to my brother Simon, Tommy C, James, Roman, Antony, Kallum, and all my family and friends! Y'all pick me up when I'm down and push me to keep making new sounds and mixes <3