There’s a lot to like in Laguna’s hazy, analogue-flavoured artistic output. A lover of anything warm and fuzzy – sonically speaking – the Australian musician has long championed an aural ethos that’s part vintage and part psychedelic, finding the perfect outlet in the jagged and vibrant listening experience of a cassette. The project’s 2024 album, ‘Orphan To The Sunshine’, was the perfect evidence of it, a striking blend of DIY production and lo-fi character.
‘Sweetlips’ is the continuation of that very same journey, albeit with a more prominent 60s psych aesthetic. Blinking an eye to modern indie, lo-fi goodness and the whole hypnagogic movement, Laguna still maintains his loyalty to electrifying guitars and compressed drum grooves, penning a timeless alternative anthem that’s detailed and nuanced.
What’s more, ‘Sweetlips’ also comes with a hand-drawn alphabetic typeface inspired by the song’s title illustration. This is an important aspect of the Geelong-based artist’s eclectic creativity, proficient in both the musical and visual fields. Intrigued by Laguna, we caught up with him to learn more about his artistry and future goals… Interview below!
Hey Laguna, thanks for chatting with us! I have enjoyed delving into your hazy, nostalgic artistic universe. I see that you are a cassette connoisseur… do you favour analogue formats over digital ones? What attracts you to them?
Hey Gab, glad to have ya! Things are much more vague than we like to admit. I just like to make things honest. I come in the name of harmony, but I come with all the fuzz of being me in the universe. Our edges are brittle and like tape, we come with surprise artefacts.
Doubling down on my previous question, I’d like to ask you something that has been bugging my mind in the last few weeks. From a customer/listener standpoint, are we better off today – when we get all music that’s ever existed in the palm of our hands – or 30 years ago, when we had to buy and conserve physical records?
Having it all in the palm of our hands has its blessings and curses. It all comes down to how you use music, the more accessible it becomes the easier it is to exploit. I say it all the time, that’s why we can’t have nice things.
I do think that cassettes are the perfect match for your fuzzy and hazy music; also because it comes with a distinct analogue warmth to it. How do you go about recording your material? Do you have a studio you are based at?
I’m obsessed with this Tascam 688, it’s been with me since like 2013. The 688 is a supreme cassette-multi-tracking recording device, developed to compete with the ever echoing digital advances of modern daw’s in the late 80’s and early 90’s. 8 channels simultaneously straight to 1/4″ tape.
I’ll usually start recording by a process of trial and error, getting all my beds [base instruments] sounding the way I want them to be recorded, commonly printing drums first and trying to leave mic’s and settings as they were whilst tracking in case I need to change anything crucial later on in the process. I work out of my house studio, currently based in Drysdale VIC, Australia.
‘Sweetlips’ is your latest effort, out now via Mountain Girl Records (who you own). What was the inspiration behind the piece?
Leading up to the recording I was listening to a lot of Thin Lizzy and Sabbaths isolated recordings, trying to understand how to navigate writing songs like Scott Gorham and Tony Iommi. I hear any mix in my head, atmosphere, depth of field, shape and texture, it comes to me out of thin air, it’s pure magic. But, anything I make usually has to come out from within a place that only I can go, alone. Sweetlips comes from one of those places.
Do you feel more confident writing music alone, or within a team?
The first thing I do each day when I wake up is turn my studio on, even if I won’t be using it right away. The whole room’s mic’d up and just a button away from recording. It’s hard to get that sort of commitment from anyone else. It’s out there.
What’s Mountain Girl Records up to at the moment? Do you publish other artists too? What’s the ethos behind the label?
Yeah I’m sure we’ll put other peoples material out eventually. MG’s just chillin, it’s got nothin to prove, the work speaks for itself, it will always be that way, that’s never changed.
Artistically speaking, what challenges have the last two years presented you with?
Not too many, there’s a lot of up keep involved in what I do, 18 months ago we moved to this mini ranch getaway retreat near the beach, to record and surf and run around with my hounds. It’s dreamy and won’t last forever. Still it’s not enough, you’ve got to show up for yourself each and every day.
What are the next steps for Laguna? Anything exciting on the horizon?
Laguna should be pumping around the live scene again by the end of the year with a new show. Keep your eye lids pinned your forehead, we’ve got a bit on the goat, should be another single out by the 25th of August, if I kick my ass into overdrive.
