STACK August 2016 Issue 142

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12 AUGUST 2016
MUSIC
Q1/ You've said you’re the kind of person who
will keep adding to tracks, and that’s exactly
what you didn’t want to do with this record!
How do you minimise in the studio?
I do think giving yourself a deadline is key, but
I also tried to limit the amount of instruments per
track. It was easier to do because the songs are
so well known to me; I have lived with them for a
long time. Some of the main melodies only needed
insinuation.
Q2/ It’s wonderful hearing the little
environmental details in songs. Are you ever
tempted to remove them for perfection’s sake?
It depends on the song and the style of
production, but I deliberately left imperfections (or
perfections, depending on how you look at it) on
Acoustica. It wasn’t about perfection for me. It was
more about character, and I think this album has it
in spades.
Q3/ With a track like Leonard Cohen’s
Hallelujah, how do you ensure your approach
is fresh?
I know this was a big call, I just felt I had been
doing my version of this song for long time, and
my fans would want to hear it on Acoustica. I love
singing this song so much; it was an easy decision
for me in the end.
Q4/ Fifteen years on, how do you feel about
the success of Amazing? Does it impact your
stylistic decisions?
I am really proud of this song and its success.
I still enjoy playing it, it’s always very much
appreciated by my fans. Also it is a very versatile
song, and it’s easy to play in many different
styles, so I can keep it fresh. I hope people
enjoy the way I have presented it on
Acoustica.
Acoustica by Alex
Lloyd is out August 5 via
Liberation.
SCHOOLBOY Q
Blank Face by ScHoolboy Q
is out now via Universal.
Don’t let his colourful bucket
hats fool you; ScHoolboy
Q's sinister, weed-hazy
new album is drowning in
dank and justified terror.
Blank Face is an album
made in the streets, about
the streets. Like his last
effort – the hugely popular
Oxymoron – this release
reflects gang life in
his hometown of
Los Angeles,
continued
ALEX LLOYD
INTERVIEW
Despite the strong socio-political bent to
many of Trust Punks’ tracks, vocalist Joe
Thomas eschews the role of pontificator. “I
wouldn’t presume to teach anybody anything
about those issues,” he says
earnestly. “When I wrote [the tracks
on Double Bind], those were the
sort of things I was thinking about at
the time, and ‘cause I couldn’t stop
thinking about them they ended up
working their way into the lyrics.” If
you listen closely though, it’s a far
more self-reflexive approach than
even wrongfully-perceived lectern-
bashing. “They’re not written from
a perspective where I’m on the
outside – I’m trying to implicate
myself and the people around me in
those sorts of problems as much as
INTERVIEW
TRUST PUNKS anything else,” he explains. “Usually when I
speak in the second person, I’m talking about
myself, and usually when I’m speaking as
the first person, I find that I’m referring to
someone else. I don’t know why.”
The five-piece are originally from Auckland;
Thomas now lives in Sydney, and has gleaned
a new perspective between the two countries,
particularly when it comes to art and
music. “A lot of [artists and musicians]
have a love/hate relationship with
[New Zealand]. I think on one hand,
the people who feel suffocated are
right; it can be a bit restricting. On the
other hand, now that I’ve moved and
have seen other places, that sort of
isolation can be really good for music
and art. I do think that New Zealand
is now realising that part of making
good art is backing yourself, and
having that sense of confidence. The
music scene [in Australia] has a real
sense of its own worth.”
Grammy and BET Award-nominated artist
ScHoolboy Q is touring our major cities and
making an appearance at Newcastle'sTHIS
THAT festival next month;Tim Lambert takes a
look at this hip hop iconoclast's fresh offering:
fourth studio album Blank Face.
Words: Tim Lambert
being a black man in America
today, the dark realisation of
the life around him and the
temporary satisfaction he
gets from drugs and women.
There are the harder gangsta
moments like Groovy Tony
/ Eddie Kane and Ride Out,
featuring Jadakiss and Vince
Staples respectively; there
are also more sprawling,
intimate moments like the
Anderson .Paak-featured title
track, showcasing Q at his
most raw and vulnerable. The
star-studded feature roster
is truly impressive, but even
more arresting is the fact
these verses – like Kanye
West’s in That Part – stick
with Q’s brooding aesthetic.
There has been no effort to
break into mainstream appeal;
ScHoolboy Q knows his style
and executes it perfectly.
Double Bind
by Trust Punks
is out now via
Spunk.