Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. Can we start off by asking what your musical backgrounds are? Mick: I’ve been involved in music from a very early age but it became my obsession around the age of 13 when I got my first guitar and started playing and writing songs with my mates. I started my first band at 14 and have been writing ever since. Decky: oh god where do I start? Many moons ago my parents bought me a synth for Christmas, and it all went downhill from there. Picked up a guitar when I was in my teens and joined a few bands that never got past practising in a garage! Fast forward 10 years I joined a rave act, started building my own studio, started then writing big beat as Hedrock Valley Beats, had a no.1 in Australia, national airplay no.1 in the USA, remixed some well-known indie bands and got to play loads of places I only dreamed of. When that fizzled out a few years after, I started another act called The Japanese Popstars and we toured quite a bit, released a few albums, had remixed the likes of Beyonce, 30 Secs To <strong>Mars</strong>, Pete Tong, Daft Punk, Depeche Mode and made a few songs with Green Velvet, Robert Smith from the Cure and a pile of other people I could only have imagined. It was all pretty crazy. I also released music under a pile of aliases too but never learned to play an instrument properly. Cara: As long as I can remember I have always been singing or playing instruments. I started classically trained and as i grew up my influences became more alternative. This is where my love for playing live music with a band started to evolve. What are your first musical memories? Mick: Growing up listening to Queen and Status Quo blasting in the car and tidying the house with my parents to Simon and Garfunkel and sharing a room with my big bro who showed me pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Aerosmith and other great bands. Decky: playing the Disco sounds of Star Wars and other galactic funk on a personal cassette player my dad bought me whilst i played with my Star Wars figures! Cara: My very first memory of music is standing in the kitchen with my mum as she played the most eclectic music ranging from Deep Purple to Faithless. <strong>From</strong> there I started to experiment with different genres and found my own sound. What inspired you to begin writing and performing? Mick: I always had the urge to play live. I found solace writing out stories or playing out scenarios in my head. I love reading lyrics and hearing and feeling the emotion that artists have put into pieces of music. <strong>From</strong> an early age I always thought that’s what I want to do when I grow up. Cara: I have always loved the stage. I grew up an all singing all dancing stage kid and I wouldn't be successful today without that confidence boost from a young age. My writing journey was different. As a teenager i stumbled across Etta James & Ella Fitzgerald and it really opened my eyes to the storytelling aspect of music and how you can use your own story to create art. Decky:. Money. And free stuff! How would you describe the Last Survivor sound? Decky: weirdly I blame everything I’ve been involved with up to this point. I did get a bit sick of writing club music. I had great bit of success with my previous acts but I might have grew out of writing that sound. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy a good rave! I had been listening to a lot of movie soundtracks and more chilled artists recently like M83, Air, Massive Attack, loads of 80s hair metal and some Synthwave artists like Gunship and The Midnight. The thought of trying to write music that I was currently listening to appealed to me more than club music. Having a song type structure and not having to have a long mix in or mix out for a DJ just felt so liberating! It was a breath of fresh air. It reminded me of the fun times when I first started writing music as Hedrock Valley Beats. I had never DJed at that early point and didn’t understand that side of dance music as much. I was also lucky enough to collaborate with some proper musical luminaries over the years. It opened my eyes to their song structures and sound. I think I just threw it all this together and Last Survivor was born. How do you go about writing as a group? Mick: So far it generally starts with a musical idea from Decky and then we add to it as it moves along. We let the tracks grow organically and especially with all the guest artists we have been lucky to have on this album, it’s an amazing feeling when we have the final product. Especially to see how far the songs come and how the change as the next set of hands work on it. Cara: with the pandemic it was hard for us to be in the same room but honestly the creative process was so organic. I had never met Decky in person when I was asked to collaborate. We met a few months later and the vibe we all had together made writing seem effortless. We laughed, we threw ideas about, we agreed and disagreed but eventually when we heard the final product that we had smashed it. What comes first, vocals, beats or something else? Cara: In my case Decky & Mick had generated such a unique sound before I ever put pen to paper that it just made the lyrics flow so organically. So for me it was beats first then words followed. Mick: It can change depending on the mood but for this album it was always the music first then the vocals last.
" I always had the urge to play live. I found solace writing out stories or playing out scenarios in my head. I love reading lyrics and hearing and feeling the emotion that artists have put into pieces of music " - Mick - ESSENTIALDANCEMUSIC 15
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