Axolotl Interview

Axolotl Interview

AXOLOTL is a collaboration bred in a Melbourne home studio spearheaded by Ella Thompson and Dustin McLean. They share a love of cinematic, lush, layered production combined with lyrical song writing. Inspired by artists such Little Dragon, Leonard Cohen, Feist, St Vincent and Radio Head, AXOLOTL blend electronics and raw sounds to create innovative work.

The debut single -Garden Lane' released November last year received rave reviews, being described as -World class' by Triple J's Richard Kingsmill. Punctuated by the lead single and clip -Electricity,' AXOLOTL's unique blend of whimsical pop (with a nod to classical music and cutting edge electronica) will see them gaining a whole new stack of fans as this breadth of influences is synthesised almost perfectly in to just six trim songs on -Autonomy.' They are also one of the few bands using electronics whose live show successfully translates from the studio to the stage.

Autonomy Tracklist:
Mother
Electricity
Bird on the Line
Garden Lane
Wonder
Debris

Interview with Ella Thompson

Question: How would you describe AXOLOTL's music?

Ella Thompson: Electronic, ambient rock.


Question: What was your main motivation behind Autonomy?

Ella Thompson: Autonomy is an EP and we've been working on the songs for over a year in the studio, on and off. We've been working on developing the sound of the band and at the same time putting the EP together.

Question: When writing what is your inspiration?

Ella Thompson: That's a tricky thing because you never know what comes first, sometimes you have the idea that you want to write about lyrically and sometimes it's the musical side of things that inspires you like putting together sounds and then writing comes over the top of that. We try to write songs about life and how we live.


Question: What music/artists do you listen to when you are not playing your own?

Ella Thompson: I'm always listening to new music, at the moment I'm really into The Projectors, Bjork and Radiohead as well as classical music; I'm really interested in the mix of orchestral arrangements, electronics and the classic singer/songwriter.


Question: Was there a moment you contemplated throwing in the towel?

Ella Thompson: I have been writing and performing since I was 13 years old and I studied music at school and I never thought about doing anything else. Obviously there is always times were you kind of second guess and ask -why am I doing this?' as I'm only doing it for myself and is that self-indulgent? You always question and that's an important part of the process as it aids in dissecting why you do this thing. I've always stuck to it and can't imagine doing anything else!


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Ella Thompson: I love the creative element of putting together a record including building and producing it which is really fun but also seeing it come together as a final product, as a live performance, is really gratifying as well. It is hard to compare the two things but I see the studio, writing and recording as the start of the process and the performances as the end of the process. I don't have a preference.


Question: What is the biggest challenge you have faced along the way to your musical success?
Ella Thompson: Being any kind of creative artist you always have to supplement what you do with something else to financial make it viable and sometimes you can be distracted by those other things; staying motivated and positive about why you're doing what you're doing is the biggest challenge. Also, when choosing to ignore people being competitive or negative towards what you're doing.


Question: What has been your favourite part of becoming a music artist?

Ella Thompson: You can't even describe that connection that you get with the other musicians and artists that you collaborate with and when you join that love for the same thing you become such good friends and you have an unexplainable connection and I've made such amazing friends through playing music that are from all ages and backgrounds that I may not have come across in any other working environment.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Ella Thompson: I'd love to work with Nick Cave, that would be amazing; someone totally different from what I do and I think if you put yourself with an unlikely combination then something really amazing can come out of it.


Question: What is the story behind the band's name?

Ella Thompson: A few members of the band have pet Axolotls and I think they are very amazing animals because they can totally rebuild by reforming and regenerating limbs if one is cut off and I think that is a good metaphor for being resilient and I like that about them as they are not the norm and very resilient.


Interview by Brooke Hunter