After many years as the lead guitarist for You Am I, Davey Lane has gone out on his own and has just released his debut solo album. Tomatrax caught up with Mr Lane to ask him about his latest work!
You’re about to release your debut album, what’s it like to have it finished and ready to go?
A relief more than anything. It’s the first time I’ve ever made a record that was only written a month or two prior to recording, so I’m not completely sick of the tunes just yet..having said that I’m ready to hit the ground running and make another one. I wrote about 60 songs for this one, so I have plenty good ones left over.
Where did the name Atonally Young come from?
It’s from the closing song on the record, In The Light Of The Sun. It’s just a malapropism really. There’s a certain atonality to youth isn’t there? And though I ain’t hardly a spring chicken, the atonal racket I make keeps me feeling reasonably youthful so it just sorta made sense.
Was it hard to pick what songs made it onto the album?
Yep. I wrote so many classic guitar pop songs and it was hard to decide where to head. Its still a bit of a stylistic mixed bag but I wanted to step away from the usual fare that everyone would have expected of me in the past. It’s made it bloody easy deciding what’s going on the next one but!
How will the album compare to the Good Borne of Bad Thymes EP?
This is a little more focused I guess. Because it was recorded over a week in a studio and not over months in my bedroom, there’s a bit more cohesion to it I guess.
You wrote and demoed songs while at sea, where did you get this idea?
I was stuck on a cruise ship for 10 days, playing keyboards for Jimmy Barnes (which was pretty surreal in itself, and not a little frightening when I completely fucked the intro to Khe Sanh in front of 2000 people, but that’s a story for another time). I had a week to kill before we even had a gig, just brought my recording stuff onto the boat and wrote about 10 or so songs, two or three of which made the record.
What was it like writing and recording music at sea?
There was a certain wooziness to some of the songs which came from being constantly seasick. There were a couple of shanties that will go on my inevitable novelty album when that comes around.
You’re about to tour in support of the album, what can fans expect from your shows?
I dunno! Just a great band playing this new record. It’s gonna be good.
What was the inspiration for the video to You’re the cops and I’m the crime?
I’ve always been fond of that Cold War era imagery, which I guess has seeped its way into the latest single, Komarov, too.
Where did you get the idea to start a Pozible campaign to fund your album?
I ummed and ahhed about it for a long time, I thought it was presumptuous of me, an artist with no real fan base, to ask for money to help make a record that no-one’s heard yet and may well be a steaming pile o’ trash, but I thought, well, no one’s gonna hand me money to make a record, so I may as well give it a crack. Thankfully I’ve got plenty of generous friends and family!
Do you think campaigns such as Pozible are the future way for artists to produce their albums?
In this age, definitely, us sisters are doing it for ourselves, so we gotta find ways to get our art over the line y’know?
Did you receive any unusual alternate “reward” requests as part of the Pozible campaign?
No. I’m not interesting enough to have dinner with and I’m not smart enough to offer songwriting workshops or anything like that, so we kept it pretty standard.
You’re also releasing your album on your own label. What’s it like to have your own music label to release your music on?’
It’s just an umbrella to put everything under, someone said a while ago that I was a “record company mogul” now, which is hardly hitting the mark! It’s still a straight distribution arrangement with MGM. Plus everyone else’s logo sucks so I was glad I could get a good one for mine to slap on me records.
How does performing solo compare to playing with You Am I?
It’s completely different. I don’t sing the songs in You Am I, and no one knows my songs so it’s a bit of extra graft doing the solo thing, but I love doing both unconditionally.
Do you ever listen to your own music?
Only in the writing and recording stage. Or when I’m drunk at home by myself.
What music do you listen to?
Heaps, check out my Talky Time page to see me blabber on about my favorite records.
What do you plan on doing after your tour?
Make another record. Pronto.
Check out Davey Lane’s Facebook page to find out more!
