Laurie Luke’s versatility rings loud and clear. The singer-songwriter began his career as a musician with the prog-rock outfit SOMA, who enjoyed local success in their home of Perth. It was then that Luke made his first serious foray into home recording, learning the intricacies of creating and honing his sound in the comfort of his own space.
It was not too long after that the artist’s second band Heavy Love formed, creating music the polar opposite of his first. Both bands soon parted ways, but by this point, Laurie Luke had amassed a back catalogue that rivalled fellow musicians he had been playing beside for years. It was in the ashes of his previous bands that Laurie Luke’s solo project took flight.
Way Back When, the debut EP from singer-songwriter Laurie Luke, is a raw, genre-defying musical statement that rose from the ashes of turbulence and heartbreak.
Thrilled and inspired by his predecessors – The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix of the ’60s, Soundgarden and Tool of the ’90s – Laurie Luke has channelled both the aggression and politically motivated sounds of his youth and the skilful sonic cohesion of bands past. The result is the raw musical statement Way Back When, the singer-songwriter’s debut EP.
EP teaser Seventeen is a nostalgic slice teenage life in the late ’90s. Laurie says of the track:
“Seventeen is a story about looking back to some of my more fond memories of youth. I used to hang out and surf with an older crew in the northern Perth suburb of Mindarie, which at that time was just bushland around a marina where emus ran around dirt roads. It was a fun-rough-and-tumble-teenage-life sans police or security guards.”
Coming in at just over 20 minutes, Way Back When is heavily energetic and aggressively passionate. It’s an extension of the singer-songwriter himself, who took to writing and recording the EP following tumultuous happenings in his personal life.
Way Back When, as Laurie Luke describes, is both an EP and an experience.
Laurie Luke and his live band The Renegades are playing a string of shows in their home state of Western Australia to launch their Way Back When EP. Check out the dates below:
Saturday, February 15 – Indi Bar, Scarborough
Saturday, March 23 – The Prince of Wales, Bunbury
