Many of us can link a certain album to pivotal moments in our lives. Whether it’s the first record you bought with your own money, the chord you first learnt to play on guitar, the song that soundtracked your first kiss, the album that got you those awkward and painful pubescent years or the one that set off light bulbs in your brain and inspired you to take a big leap of faith into the unknown – music is often the catalyst for change in our lives and can even help shape who we become.
In this Love Letter To A Record series, Music Feeds asks artists to reflect on their relationship with music and share with us stories about the effect music has had on their lives.
Sean Harmanis, Onslow – Gorillaz, Self Titled (2001)
Dear Gorillaz,
It was a typical Saturday morning for me when I found you. I had gone to bed early the night before so that I could wake up in time to watch the early music videos on Rage. Later in the morning, I would flick between Rage and Video Hits, watching whichever channel was playing the music video which grabbed my attention the most. After some time, finally, there you were. Whilst as a child, it was the dark animation style and conceptual recounting of Del the Funky Homosapian on ‘Clint Eastwood’ which would grab my attention. As an adult many years later, I would come to find so much more to love about you.
You grabbed me and pulled me into your world, showing me not only the importance of variety, but the power of immersion, something that I’ve often, unknowingly, tried to replicate in a lot of my music. We spent time apart for so long, but you were always there in my subconscious, and I can’t apologise enough for how long it took me to realise just how important you truly are to me.
You are varied, unpredictable and so exciting. On ‘Re-hash’ you introduce me to your world of characters, and on ‘Tomorrow Comes Today’ you show me that those characters have some very deep thoughts and feelings. By the psychedelic ‘Man Research’ I’m fully immersed in your world. You have feel-good highs with ‘Rock The House’ and ’19-2000’ and some very dark lows on songs like ‘Double Bass’ and ‘Starshine’. You rock out on tracks like ‘M1A1’ and chill out on songs like ‘Sound Check’.
Thank you for always being there for me, and for showing me the value of not only having variety on an album, but also creating a sense of immersion. You’re the best.
—
Onslow are a Perth-based melodic-punk group who’ve just revealed their immense self-titled debut EP – produced and mixed by Matthew Templeman (Make Them Suffer, Voyager, Statues).
The EP is five tracks of ruthless, unyielding alternative rock music that overflows with dynamic capabilities and emphasises the diverse song writing elements that have come to define Onslow’s customary sound.
Stream it below!
