Creative collaboration is a pain in the arse.
With so many egos tied up in one project, it’s almost impossible not to hurt someone’s feelings, or to tarnish the product by allowing far too many cooks to spoil the broth.Indeed, for that reason, The Laurels’ Sonicology is not just a musical triumph, it’s a goddamn celebration of diplomacy – proof that a band can get together and create something of value without the creative process causing the members to straight up strangle each other.
“All four of us have different ideas of how we want a record to sound,” says The Laurels’ lead singer Luke O’Farrell. “That’s always the case when there are multiple songwriters and everyone has creative input. But we always find a middle ground, and I guess the overarching influence for this album was the production style of hip hop producers, so that was generally a good indicator of how we wanted to put the songs together in the studio, and it dictated a lot of the sounds and equipment we ended up using.”
Given how resoundingly fresh Sonicology sounds – it’s an uncompromising record, full of melodic left turns and dark subject matter – one can’t help but be surprised to learn it was written over a number of years, finely crafted rather than blurted out.
“Some of the songs, tracks like ‘Sonicology’, date back as far as the writing sessions for [2012 album] Plains,” says O’Farrell. “Inevitably they evolved quite a bit over the years, what with all the different music we listened to in that time. The songs were picked from a batch that we’d written over a three-year period and then we spent a year working on the tracks together in our studio.”
Indeed, The Laurels record and rehearse in a space they own, and have filled the hideaway with both junk and gems. “We found a space above Troy Horse Rehearsal Studios in Redfern and built our own studio in there with all the gear that we’ve amassed over the years,” O’Farrell explains. “We named it Volume Plus, after the petrol station that had just been knocked down next door. It was situated between two other studios and wasn’t properly soundproofed, so you’ll probably hear faint techno kick drums from next door leaking their way onto our vocal tracks.”
It isn’t overambitious for O’Farrell to assume people will be listening to the record that closely – Sonicology is the kind of album that encourages attention, and the band often likes to engineer significant contrast between the medium and the message, presenting dark lyrics accompanied by jaunty, shoegaze melodies. A perfect example of such a dichotomy is ‘Hit And Miss’, a song about the tendency of people with depression to cover up their struggles.
“I think anyone who has ever struggled with depression would know the feeling of having to put on a sunny facade in order to not worry the people around them,” O’Farrell says. “It is really about trying to keep a dialogue going about mental illness in order to reduce stigma and hopefully get sufferers to be taken more seriously. The majority of treatment options and services currently available aren’t good enough for the majority of those seeking help.”
A lot of that lyrical and musical complexity comes from The Laurels’ four-pronged approach, and again, it is their sense of communal creativity that explains a lot of the record’s finest moments. “We’ve always brought in our own sketches of songs that we then collaborate on together,” says O’Farrell. “It really helps add another dimension and gives us the ability to take a song somewhere completely different. For example, there was originally no guitar on ‘Reentry’ and it was a repetitive drum loop running throughout, so once everyone had their input it really evolved from the original demo into something more lively that we all helped craft together.”
The Sydneysiders are also notable live performers, known for their showmanship and ear-rupturing sonic warbles. Given that selfsame onstage confidence, it’s no shock that O’Farrell rarely has to contend with the horror of performance anxiety these days. “I don’t really [get nervous]. We’ve been doing it for so long now that it feels quite natural getting up there. I guess maybe a beer or a whisky beforehand can make it a bit easier?”
But despite all their technical skill and self-assurance, nobody has a clean run, and The Laurels have encountered one or two hiccups along the way. “There are so many contenders for our worst show that it’s hard to pick,” O’Farrell laughs. “There was a festival that we did in the middle of nowhere where we played at 3am in the morning to about 20 people. The sound guy was high on MDMA, dancing at the front of the stage instead of mixing us.”
Nonetheless, such disasters are unlikely to haunt them as they tour Sonicology over the next few months. The tour dates are the very definition of exhaustive, and will see them hit stages across the country. But despite the intensity of the schedule, O’Farrell is looking forward to it.
“We’re mainly playing weekends so it’s more like having a nice getaway from our day jobs for a few days a week,” he says. “It’s getting to play with the bands we love in each city and catching up with all our mates from all over the country.”
Sonicology is out now through Rice Is Nice, and catch The Laurels live when they play the Imperial Hotel on Saturday November 12.
