Perth Music

Alex Lloyd has a new lease on life. His contract was up with EMI Australia after completing three very successful albums and he was growing apart his manager who was also his best friend. He got married, had a son and decided to change record companies. From all this he recorded his new album ‘Alex Lloyd’ and can’t wait to let the world hear it. He caught up with Perth Music for this exclusive interview.

Click here to download the podcast of the entire interview. (9:01 - 2.1Mb)

“My son was about 4 months old and I severed all ties from the music industry, I had a pretty good run with three albums over six years and going around the world, experiencing a lot and I just wanted to be a father. When I did that I kind of freed myself of all my obligations but about 4 months in of being a dad all these songs started pouring out. There was a lot of emotion involved and I guess the theme of the album is to overcome adversary and move positively into the future.”

Lloyd recorded his new album in Seattle’s London bridge studio’s and was produced by Rick Parashar (Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains). “I had about 30 different producers to choose from for the record but the one that I was most keen on was Jerry Harrison from Talking Heads. I was pretty excited about working with him, then I met Rick at the end of the meetings. He sent me the list of musicians and that is what sold me on Rick.” These musicians include drummer Brian Mcleod (Sheryl Crow, Jewel, Pink), bassist Curt Schnieder (Five for Fighting) and guitarist Eric Schermerhorn (Iggy Pop, Seal).

“The fact that I didn’t produce this record let me concentrate on just being the singer and song writer and that was the real emphasis for me. That made the songs better, and some songs that I took to Seattle I worked that much more on. It felt like I was making my first record again and it wasn’t about me making a record that had to come out for Christmas it was about me making a record for myself.”

First single ‘Never Meant To Fail’ is out now through Sony BMG and second single ‘The Wonder’ is available now as a digital download through Bigpond Music. The album ‘Alex Lloyd’ is released on October 9 and he is touring Perth in November. Alex will be playing at The Capitol on November 11^th, The 3 Beers Tavern in Dunsborough on November 12^th and Metropolis Nightclub in Fremantle on November 13^th. For more info visit http:\\www.alexlloyd.com

Four years after releasing his debut solo album ‘3000 Feet High’, Paul Mac is back with his follow up ‘Panic Room’. It was recorded in his new home studio in Sydney where he could escape the outside world and explore the world inside his head. He caught up with Justin Middleton for this exclusive interview.

Click here to download the podcast of the entire interview. (14:04 - 3.3Mb)

“After the last album I was a bit freaked out at how successful it actually was. It was like ‘Shit, how do I follow that up’ and initially I think I really started writing really, really poppy songs. I got to a point where it was like ‘This is horrible, this is not what I want to do’ and I wouldn’t listen to this sort of album and none of my friends would either.”

“So I threw away a whole bunch of stuff and really started again and I think that’s really where all the melancholy stuff started happening and I was really happy with that direction. I love that beautiful sadness that ends up transcending the pain through the beautiful melodies; I think that’s just what I do.” And that is just what Paul Mac does. With rich melodies, beautiful beats and breathtaking vocals Paul Mac is able to take listeners to a place that they love and always want more.

“When the album comes out there is going to be a remix disc with it which has all the favourites. I intend to just keep remixing the album as it goes, for the singles. On the remix disc there’s an Itchy & Scratchy Remix which is the first thing we’ve done in five years! It was weird as we had kind of grown apart and that’s pretty much why Itchy & Scratchy finished and we hadn’t even spoken in three years. I called him (Andy Rantzen) up because on the final track on the album there is a little girl’s voice and that’s his daughter. I had to talk to him about that and we got on really well and I asked him if he wanted to do a remix and it went from there.”

The first single from the album is ‘Sunshine Eyes’ and is about a New York affair and looking into your lovers eyes as they smile and you see your own reflected smile looking back at you. I asked Paul if that person will ever know if this song is about them. “No probably not. It’s a danger if you get to know me, be careful what you say as it might be used against you in lyrics. Well it isn’t really just about that or that one experience. I think when I write I get into a certain mood and it is an amalgamation of different relationships anyway and different experiences. Stuff gets stored in the back of my brain and comes out as imagery.”

You can download the new single ‘Sunshine Eyes‘ from the Triple J website. More info about Paul Mac can be found at his website - www.paulmac.com.au