STACK #192 Oct 2020

FEATURE MUSIC

BLAKE SCOTT In his first collection of solo material, Blake Scott – the sarcastic-Banjo-Paterson frontman of revered Melbourne act The Peep Tempel – grabs your wrist and leads you down a eucalypt-swept backpath, where dreams, promises, and ominous truths fill the air. Words Zoë Radas How did you come across the word ‘Niscitam’ and why did you choose it to title your first solo album? Niscitam is the Sanskrit word for 'definite' or 'confidently.' My partner is a long-time teacher and practitioner of Yogic philosophy and thought that I was saying "Niscitam" in some of the early demos of Fever. It is a great-sounding word, and the meaning was fitting, as I needed continual affirmation that I was capable of finishing and releasing the album. It is that: a personal affirmation to move forward with confidence. The brilliant Kalashnikov touches on many different horrors: the tribalism of class, the condescending postures of big business, violence against women, deaths in custody.

Niscitam by Blake Scott is out Oct 9 via Wing Sing Records.

Why did you decide to use the casual words of aWestern tourist in Cambodia as the chorus kernel that threads them together? I’d heard someone say “You can do what you like with them” in a conversation about travelling to Cambodia some years ago, and it has always stuck with me. It is a jolting statement – to boast of and casualise another's suffering or misfortune. The goading arrogance still unsettles me and I feel unresolved for not interjecting at the time. I’m not sure as to why I used that line, I’m possibly trying to expel it from my being. The casual indifference certainly lends itself to the sentiment of the song.

your song lyrics begin as imagined essays or prose? Most of my lyrics are written post-music. I don’t write very often, so it usually takes a deadline to get me on my bike. Usually deadlines are for recorded music that needs vocals. The Plainsman is a rare occasion that I had written something that was to be read instead of sung. It is a loose recollection of a dream I’d had starring the great Gerald Murnane. I’d been reading his novel The Plains , which led me to his spoken word album, Words in Pictures . Both influenced the writing of the album. I thought it fitting to tie it together with an attempt at prose.

The Plainsman begins and ends with a mesmeric spoken word tale. Do many of

Read the full Q&A online at stack.com.au

An expansive collection of tracks embracing a myriad of sounds, GORILLAZ Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez

ORDER ONLINE HERE

genres and attitudes from a breath-taking line-up of guest collaborators including Beck, Elton John, and Robert Smith. Out October 23.