Made up of one part folk/pop songstress Lanie Lane and one part future beatsmith Master of Ribongia (Antonio Rosselli) idea idea use a tasty recipe to bake their musical goodies, the result being so delicious you have to stop yourself from gorging. Having been working together for the past two years the duo fuse together their opposing influences and styles seamlessly. Their songs sound like chart toppers for ten years in the future, but they way things are going it might not be that long.
With the duo about to take to the stage for Mum at World Bar this Friday December 17th, the last Mum of the year, we caught up with the both of them to talk about how they approach writing and performing as well as what ot expect from the show.
Music Feeds: So both of you in the band come from very different backgrounds musically, would you say that helps in coming up with ideas and refining them because it’s never in danger of getting stagnant, you’re both offering very different suggestions?
Lanie LaneL: Having been writing songs for at least 10 years own my own, I have obviously had to find my own processes, so it was great when I started writing with Anto as he has been honing all those crazy sounds for so long. It’s very exciting having very different perspectives in songwriting and it’s been a nice few years slowly compromising with each other and coming up with our own method.
MF: How does the collaboration work, do you guys bring finished ideas to each other and the other adds their work to it or do you work on ideas together at every stage?
LL: We sometimes start something separately and bring it to the other. Often Anto will be working on something for a while before I come in and write the melody etc. Other times, we start it together from scratch, maybe with a beat or bassline, then work everything else in slowly. It’s nice to get on a roll like that, working ideas off each other.
I have been enjoying recording the vocals as I write them, as I find it really captures the feeling properly. Of course it helps that Anto has all the equipment to make this happen on the spot.
MF: The fusion of sounds is very unique, has it gone through different stage before getting to Set Sail or has it been a logical progression to this point?
Master of Ribongia: Our music goes through quite an instinctive process during writing and recording. In the case of Set Sail, the first drafts were a lot more busy and had more of an electronica feel with intricate textures and some crazy unrecognisable sounds. Once Lanie had layered the vocals, we kept on chiseling away, opting for fewer sounds and more space. For me, the last year has seen idea idea develop, in a natural way, its own palette of sounds almost creating a genre of its own. It’s been interesting for both of us seeing our own styles evolve in different directions as well within the combined effort with idea idea.
MF: So you’ve got you’re single Set Sail out now, are there any plans on working on say and EP or LP?
LL: We have been writing for quite a bit now, so we have a decent amount of mostly finished tunes up our sleeve. Not exactly sure when the release will be though.
MF: The live shows range in scope from just the two of you to extravaganzas with lights and dancers, what are bringing to Mum?
MoR: We will have the band which includes Duncan Ford (Svelt) on guitar and the delicious Sarah McCullum (Miss Little and recently collaborated w Crowded House!!!) playing the Fender Rhodes (electric piano) and a Roland Sh 101 (synth) and back-up vocals. Due to the size of the venue we won’t have visuals or dancers this time.
MF: I can imagine with the nature of your performance being singer and for lack of a better word DJ, the more visual element is important to you guys in terms of giving the audience more of an experience. Would you say that you try harder then when performing without them to put on a show cos it’s just you two on a stage?
LL: We just do our thing and just be ourselves really. For example, I don’t dance less or more on stage or sing any differently when it’s just the two of us. I think being best mates, we have our own special stage chemistry that comes across either way. It’s not a very good idea to ”try harder” as you just end up losing the genuine vibe you have already.
MF: Do you often experiment with the sound, try and take it in new directions?
LL: We’re always trying to push our sound in the right direction for us. Anto is always buying new bit and pieces of gear and experimenting with them. We’ve been bringing in a lot more organic instruments and mashing them with future sounds as well. Recently we’ve been recording the parts Sarah and Duncan play in the live show. Sarah is the casio queen and also plays rhodes and sings harmonies and Duncan plays electric guitar. It’s very interesting for us mixing these sounds and then having my voice in with it all.
MF: The music is very modern, setting aside the tired stereotype of a band with guitar bass etc, and I think it is very much a direction that a lot of music is taking, melding the visceral impact of electronica or dance music with more classic songwriting and performance. Where do you see it going though?
MoR: As a foundation to get your feet stomping, we want that grunt, swing and kick that left field dance genres such as dubstep, glitch-hop and wonky have. Mesmorising songwriting to make your core breathless and cinematic cosmic particles to tickle your brain!
