Interview: Lucianblomkamp Thrives in What He Doesn't Understand

From playing the violin to working with 6lack: Lucianblomkamp is letting his music do the work

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lucianblomkamp

lucianblomkamp

Lucianblomkamp is one of Melbourne’s newest and most unique exports. His music exists in a chamber of gloom, smothered in layers of atmosphere and monstrous synths. Each song is almost like a movie soundtrack in its own, travelling through a series of maximalist, blockbuster barrages and faint, low-key melodic sections. It’s a style that is entirely his own, and can’t be pigeonholed to a particular style or influence.

The last two years have seen Lucianblomkamp’s profile rise globally. He has become an important part of 6lack’s production camp, working on songs like “Nonchalant” and “Seasons” from the artist’s sophomore album East Atlanta Love Letter. This has resulted in more eyes than ever being fixated on his latest album Sick Of What I Don’t Understand, which has been seeing a scattered release in the form of 3 parts (the last of which dropped October 19). I sat down with Lucian to talk about his experience working with 6lack, and the influences and processes behind his new album, as well as not understanding the current climate of the music industry. It seems odd that a man that has seen this much success so early in his career would not know what’s going on. But it’s simple; he just lets the music speak for itself.

For the people who don’t know: How did you initially get into making music?

Like many kids, I played an instrument when I was younger. I've played the violin since I was 6, and continued to play it all throughout high school. Through violin, I started dabbling in guitar, and then through guitar, I started dabbling in production. It's been a gradual snowball – a very slow snowball from age six to now [laughs].

There’s always been this sort of underlying murmur of musicians from older generations kind of pinpointing electronic music as a ‘cop out’ or ‘not actually making music’. Was it a hard thing for you to transition into this style from traditional instrumentation?

No, it was the most liberating transition. I only started using Ableton and stuff because I was playing the guitar, and I wanted a way to put drums in. And then realising there were infinite possibilities for creating sounds you can't hear in the real world made it far more exciting. It was like “holy shit, I can do all of this stuff!”

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You've been releasing your new album, Sick Of What I Don't Understand, in separate parts over the last year. It’s a unique approach considering the current climate of the streaming and ‘surprise album' era. What inspired this?

It's funny because this is music I've been sitting on for a while now. And the process of writing it from beginning to end happened over a two year period. And I think the biggest shift in gears during that time was my headspace throughout it because I moved house with some of my friends and my girlfriend – and my headspace changed dramatically over these years. So the music I was making over that period of time – well, I went into this album planning to make a normal album like I normally would – but I was coming from so many different angles over this time that it didn't sound like an album any more. Instead, it felt cemented into these different eras of this two year time period. So it felt like I had to release it in separate parts. From a darker place to a much lighter place.

The album title, Sick Of What I Don’t Understand,  alludes to something much bigger on a symbolistic front. Does it have a larger meaning in the grand scheme of things?

Well, I don't know how to say it very eloquently without really writing it down or thinking about it. I think a lot of it is that I took myself way too seriously, and I took my music way too seriously. I put too much pressure on it, and too much pressure on myself. The title came from a particular conversation with somebody. It had nothing to do with my music, but we were talking about music in general. It was in reference to streaming, and how patience is getting shorter these days. And he said "I'm sick of listening to things I don't understand, I want something that's straight to the point," and the funny thing is that I totally agree with him. I think over the years I've become way more impatient with the way I consume music and art. I didn't think about it in this way for a while, but I realised if I had become more impatient as a listener, I should become the same as a musician; you know, cut the fat. It's not really a big revelation, but for some reason through this conversation, I was inspired to reassemble the music I was making.

It sounds as if there’s a bit more pop influence in your music on this new project. Is the exploration of different formulas and ways to reach mainstream audiences something you prioritise now?

I was initially way more hesitant to work inside of a pop formula, But as the years have gone by, it has proved itself more and more to me. It's not a cop-out, it's complexity in simplicity. When the formula and cliches are there it allows you to ponder more about the other nuances in the production - you're less focused on weird time structures or something like that.

You work with a diverse roster of artists on the album, from grime artists like Trim to pop singers like Rosebud Leach. But instead of assimilating to their sounds, you bring them into your world. Was this a conscious decision?

I think it's similar to just my instinctive habit of making music in a dark atmosphere, which is something I should probably do less of. But I'm lucky with how well it came together because I think a few people more than others really stepped out of their comfort zone on these songs.

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Someone who thrives in that atmospheric, gloomy style of music that you're so familiar with is 6lack; someone who you have worked with frequently over the last two years. Can you tell us how your relationship with him started?

I started working with 6lack around two years ago. It was before the first album Free 6lack had come out. And 6lack’s lawyers reached out because there was a track off my second album called From Afar which is sampled on the closing song of Free 6lack. I didn't know who 6lack was at the time because I had been living under a rock [laughs], and he was still on the come up at the time. But his producer Trevor (Singawd) reached out to me then because he had been a fan since the beginning, and he was the one who chose to sample it. Through that, we started talking a bunch and sending each other beats, and as of now, we've probably shared around 100 ideas with each other. It just kind of turned into a friendship more than anything else. Trevor and I talk all the time and are always down to collaborate. I think people assume my connection to 6lack is with 6lack himself, but it is much more with Trevor and it's much more of an indirect thing.

You worked on 6lack’s recent album East Atlanta Love Letter, co-producing “Nonchalant” and “Seasons”. Was it a different process heading into this considering the hype and anticipation surrounding it?

I mean, it was and it wasn’t. Nowadays I work with a lot of different artists and producers, but Trevor and I have a very casual way of producing music. There’s no pressure to do anything we don’t want. Which is different because when I usually go and do a session with someone there’s a specific context that they want the sound to exist in. But Trevor and I usually just throw everything at the wall to see what sticks – and these new songs were the same.

That’s surprising to hear considering 6lack is signed to Interscope, and we always hear stories of labels pushing for a specific aesthetic.

Yeah, it’s shocking [laughs]. I really thought that when we started to work together that everything would change, and we would have to do specific things. But they’re really good with encouraging creativity.

What is the most important thing you’ve learned working with 6lack and his team?

Just to not limit yourself. Because there's a lot of sounds that 6lack has done, as well as Trevor and I have done, that has been the result of throwing things at the wall and them happening to work. I think a lot of people, and myself included, don't take that into account. There was a lot of crazy stuff we did that I didn't think would become anything. Like the song "In Between" I produced for 6lack and Banks. I made that in 20 minutes before going to bed once, and a month later it was released.

What is your favourite 6lack song?

Hilariously enough, it's not one that I'm on [laughs]. I think it would have to be "Scripture" off the new album – a timeless classic. Daniel Cartisano from Sydney produced on that track, as well as Fwdslxsh, who I met when I was working on the album was also on that track. Obviously Trevor as well. It's a great track!

Your work stretches through various different fields including writing and producing songs for yourself, other artists and for film and television. Does your approach to music change when switching between avenues?

It probably should change, but it doesn’t. I think it’s got something to do with what we were talking about before in reference to Sick Of What I Don’t Understand. I feel like I don’t create as good if I overthink things. I guess it’s the same with anything. I think if I were to change my approach throughout different fields, it would be more detrimental to what I write.

Is sticking to a style and solidifying a brand something you’d recommend other producers to do?

Yeah, but I think that goes against what I said before. I think during the writing process you should just throw things at the wall, and when it comes to the album, you need to cut it down to make it more cohesive.

Lastly, Sick Of What I Don’t Understand is shaping up to be your biggest project yet, with everything that has happened over the last few years and the hype that you’ve generated. Going into the future, what are some things you would like to start understanding more?

Oh jeez, that’s a really good question. I think I’m going to have to leave you in the dark on that one. To be continued [laughs].

The third part of Lucianblomkamp’s Sick Of What I Don’t Understand is out now.

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