Fresh off their respective EPs, lucidbloom and Adorer dive deep into songwriting, visuals, and their upcoming joint show in Sydney.
Last week, we were treated to the haunting soundscapes and vivid storytelling of ‘Calamity’, the debut EP from Blue Mountains ensemble, lucidbloom.
Given the sheer scale and brilliance of the project — which sees the five-piece warn of an impending apocalypse — it’s unsurprising that lucidbloom have booked a gig at Sydney’s Oxford Art Factory on May 30. Find tickets here.
While attendees will no-doubt revel in the band’s ethereal sounds, they’ll also be lucky enough to see Adorer, who share the bill with lucidbloom as the supporting act.
The Sydney-based four-piece also shared a project this month, with their five-track self-titled EP arriving on May 2.
In celebration of their releases and in anticipation of their show next week, lucidbloom and Adorer swung by Happy for an exclusive Artist on Artist interview.
Catch that below, and scroll down to listen to lucidbloom’s debut EP ‘Calamity’ as well as ‘Adorer’.
LUCIDBLOOM: Who are Adorer? What’s something we should know about you (before we share a stage at Oxford Art Factory!)
ADORER: We’re a 4 piece shoegaze band based out of Sydney. We’ve been playing together in this current line up for just under a year. At the core of our sound is the intricate weaving of heavy and ethereal sounds.
Our songs are scene setters more than they are stories, they’re intentionally ambiguous so that people can read into them in their own way. You should know that we play loud…..bring your earplugs.
LUCIDBLOOM: Congrats on the new EP – it’s epic and lush! Even though we sound different, it feels like there are some parallels in building layers and texture across our tracks.
What do you feel are the key elements to your sound (perving on your pedal boards FYI)?
ADORER: Eyes off the boards!! ;) We’ve spent a lot of time on our guitar tones to make sure texturally they work together and fill out the songs.
We’ve always wanted to sound about as big as a shoegaze band can sound, but we’ve been careful to make sure that each element is still clearly audible and serves a distinct purpose. We treat vocals in the same way.
You’ll notice our songs aren’t really vocally driven. Having Otis on the drums hitting as hard as he does and playing in a sort of non-shoegaze way definitely helps to keep the songs moving along with a bit of pace as well.
LUCIDBLOOM: Can you tell us a story behind one of the tracks on your EP – what is it about, or what was the writing process like?
ADORER: Interestingly we don’t have a standard process for writing songs. The songs on the EP were all written in different ways.
Some in the room as a band, some that start as a guitar riff that one of us brings to practice, some on an acoustic guitar. We’re very open / free as a band and just let it happen when it wants to happen.
“To River” is probably the anomaly on the EP in that it’s really more of a post rock song. I had that guitar part for years and never knew what to do with it.
I used to play it to my wife when she was pregnant in the hopes that the baby might hear it. It is pretty special to have it come to life with the band as a full blown song.
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LUCIDBLOOM: There’s a beautiful nostalgia surrounding your music that takes us back to some of our early musical loves, some timeless Deftones vibes. Do you see yourself as having any key influences sound-wise or thematically?
ADORER: I mean that’s a huge compliment. We all love Deftones. Whilst we don’t sound like them as such, there’s definitely parts of the music that are inspired by them.
We’re inspired by all sorts of stuff and none of this will surprise you but bands like Nothing, Slowdive, Explosions In The Sky are just a few.
As individuals we all lean into different genres which is cool as it means we’ve got more to draw from when we develop our songs.
LUCIDBLOOM: How do you find the Sydney live music scene and who are the local bands you’re excited about at the moment?
ADORER: You mean aside from Lucidbloom, right? There are so many awesome bands that we’ve met in Sydney. Some honorable mentions would go to Pitt, Charles Carnabuci and Airline who we absolutely love.
We’re really lucky to rehearse at Talon Music (shout out Brent) in Rose Bay. There’s so many amazing bands and musicians that practice and record there, it’s kind of a scene in its own right. We’re fortunate to be surrounded by all of those wonderful folks.
Right, our turn!
ADORER: Who are lucidbloom? Your EP Calamity just dropped and we’ll be celebrating on stage with you 30 May at Oxford Arts! What’s the story behind the EP?
LUCIDBLOOM: LUCIDBLOOM are a femme-fronted indie dream pop outfit from the Blue Mountains.
We like to think of ourselves as a whirlwind of sound, colour and haze due to our tendency to perform alongside immersive light installations and billowing smoke.
We love layers, a million harmonies, and building a general sense of lushness. Oh, and we like to sing about the intensity and uncertainty of modern life, unforeseen futures, and impending calamity that live deep inside us all (but especially at 3am.)
Our debut EP ‘CALAMITY’ is a collection of songs written while we were facing multiple situations (as were many) in the Blue Mountains that were classified as Natural Disasters, that were having a real impact on our daily lives.
The songs emerged within and between evacuations from bushfires, skies full of smoke and ash, disintegrating roads, landslips and flooded bridges, successive pandemic related lockdowns.
References to natural forces and a sense of foreboding danger and tension are threaded throughout the songs, but also musings on loneliness, human connections and how beauty and light creep into dark places.
The surreal quality of living through these times is reflected in the lyrics in most songs and we also wanted things to sound beautiful – there’s lots of lush vocal harmonies and instrumentation that plays with dynamics, building, peaking and subsiding like waves.
ADORER: You’ve built up an epic light installation for your live shows, tell us about your collab with SIRCUIT?
LUCIDBLOOM: We are a band of musicians but also designers, artists and curators. We have always had a vision for this project as existing alongside a strong visual component.
SIRCUIT is like a network of amazing nerds that share a fascination with technology, lighting, art and music.
There’s a membership crossover between SIRCUIT and LUCIDBLOOM so we’re fortunate to have lives full of light, events, music and other fun stuff like experimental performance art.
We will often host one off events in industrial spaces and curate the line ups ourselves while testing out new lighting concepts.
SIRCUIT is quite special because all the lights are designed, manufactured and programmed in house, so they are custom created – you can’t order this stuff online!
We love being able to have a dynamic and modular live show that allows us to bring a unique visual experience to each show.
There are lots of concepts in the pipeline from swirling coloured led installations, to experiments with lazers, to expansive installations with programmable filament light bulbs…. We could go on.
We’re just really excited and like to collaborate and work across artforms and working in and around SIRCUIT expands the creative possibilities of this project immensely.
ADORER: We both have a strong focus on the visual side of the band, how has that developed alongside the music?
LUCIDBLOOM: Beyond the lighting side of things we also have art directors, designers and artists among us so that really helps us to put our best foot forward and has allowed us to create a project that feels visually and musically aligned.
Being independent, as I’m sure you can relate, you have to be as resourceful and multi-talented as possible!
Where we can’t do things inhouse or we just want to pull in other creatives, we feel lucky to be connected to photographers and filmmakers to create content.
Making music is like owning a mini-creative business and the visual side is such an important communication method.
ADORER: Which local bands are on your playlist right now?
LUCIDBLOOM: Safety First, Julia Why, Hotel, Bridge Dog, Adorer (hehe!) The Melodrones, Gloomie… there’s a lot out there that is much deserving of attention!
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ADORER: What should people expect from the launch at Oxford Arts Factory – Gallery Bar on 30 May?
LUCIDBLOOM: They should expect three very cool bands (The Postcards, Adorer and LUCIDBLOOM) who are all distinct from each other but have developed a mastery of building atmosphere through music that takes you on a journey.
There will be an epic responsive lighting installation by SIRCUIT, activated for all acts to dial up the immersion vibes. We’ll also have our limited edition vinyls and tote bags on sale. We’re very excited to play with you and hear your EP tracks live!
