Nice Filly

It’s nice to get massively inspired by things that are local to you, people who surround you, stuff that you can see, hear and appreciate in the now.

Carlin Dally has just released his new album Teenage Trees and since I started listening to it I can’t stop. For the past twelve days I’ve listened to it from start to end at least once a day, in the car, at the shops, running, at work and home and have become connected to it in an almost now indescribable way other than most possibly a bordering obsession.

The album is a beautiful collaborative collage with each contributor bringing their own tones of light and dark to the piece, some with words, vocal, music or a combination of all, and as the album swells around the Wasted mark it is clearly definite at the same time as being beautifully fragile.

Carlin was nice enough to answer some questions I had on the release…

What was your recording process for Teenage Trees??

Teenage Trees was me sitting in my old bedroom in the house where I grew up, trying to readjust to the whims and ways of Newcastle. My mum was pretty unwell at the time so I think in writing these songs i was hoping they’d make her feel better somehow.
I recorded it all using my laptop and little bitty mic. I’d basically sit down with an idea, write a song in a few hours, call up a friend and get them to sing on it. Then I’d spend 5 weeks tweaking the song in ways that weren’t necessary or audible, but i suppose an important part of the whole process. Fenton from the Morrow gave me some sweet help getting my head around using ableton.

How would you describe the sound captured on the album?

An alright beginning….. or…… hopepop

To call Teenage Trees a solo project would be somewhat ill directed. Who did you get involved musically, lyrically, vocally and how did those collaborations come about?

I am ridiculously lucky to be friends with heaps of fucking amazing musicians. For most of the songs I’d record the basic idea, and then it just seemed obvious – this song needs…….. Lily Ray / Ashleigh Campbell / Georgina Liversidge / Bethany Reeves / Mark Whittaker / Shion Yoshioka / Di Drew or maybe Jacqueline Kennedy. Working with other people is my favourite way to write music.

What inspires or influences what you write and play?

Lately I’ve actually been listening to a lot of pop music. I didn’t consciously set out to do this, but Triple J just kept on playing such consistently bad music that my ears longed to be bitten off, so I’d flick thru to the other radio stations. From there my love of Katy Perry began and has since has blossomed into a beautiful rose. Turns out my dad (who is a classical music buff) randomly is a big Katy Perry fan too – guess we’re all just victims of our genes.
The musician which truly inspires me is Kaki King. She takes me to a happy underwater cave full of goose bumps and goodness. Lately I’ve been reading every book I can find by a guy named William Saroyan and the stuff he writes is so good it just makes me want to create something truly worthwhile.

Describe your thoughts on the Newcastle music scene…

Firstly, bless the Lass O Gowrie, and bless the underground venues like the pharmacy. I love the DIY attitude of Newcastle, and that absolutely anyone can start a band. It’s great that in Newcastle there isn’t really a sense of hierarchy, everyone is just doing their own thing, hoping for something more. i think the scene is only going to get better, and there’s bound to be big things happening soon.

Go right now and listen to Teenage Trees, from start to end http://carlin.bandcamp.com/album/teenage-trees

The beautiful film clip for Every Now & Then is worth a look as well and was filmed , edited + directed with Benjamin Fraser