#also my settings reset for some reason and they exported in shit quality

[danrifics]

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[theseventhhex]

Scraps Interview

Laura Hill

Brisbane “dehydrated disco” producer Laura Hill explains her faded headspace of dazed electro-wave as “bogans in the Queensland sun – so dehydrated cause the water tastes like shit.” The latest Scraps full-length, ‘TTNIK’, draws from a persuasive mood-board of 80’s hairdresser magazines bleaching in the desert and cubist synth-pop. Since her debut LP in 2011, Hill’s synthesis of raw rhythms, sequencer intuition, and echo-soaked storytelling has honed and decayed, heatwaving between low-lidded new wave, woozy acid ballads, and alienated karaoke. The eight songs of ‘TTNIK’ were self-tracked at her home studio allowing her to indulge accident and chance and disregard pressure and polish, resulting in inspired fatalist electronic romantica by and for freed spirits… We talk to the captivating Laura Hill about being in research mode, pulling from fantasy and being out in nature…

TSH: Do you require a creative spark when you form new music?

Laura: The way I work is definitely organic. I never really go out with specific intentions, some artists can do that, but it’s not for me. If I try to move in one specific direction, it will always turn into something completely altered. I like the natural approach, where I can freely experiment and just accept my normal impulses. Also, when I record; I can sometimes put heaps of layers on my music, with ‘TTNIK’, I used many layers of audio and video in there because everything was being done directly to cassette and then edited on computer. Even now, with my upcoming work, I’m incorporating tiny snippets of audio and video aspects into my music.

TSH: What does ‘TTNIK’ signify to you over a year on?

Laura: I guess it originally was a snapshot in time for me, but the music on this release always changes for me. You know, it’s really hard to make an album and be happy with it as a solid version of something in time. When you look back, the context of each song changes over time and the ideas and feelings around each song evolve and fade.

TSH: How did you go about forming ‘Touch Blue’?

Laura: That one was a cranky break-up song. I was pretty pissed off at the time and questioning my relationship. With that particular song I was trying this technique where I have a collection of different picture books that I’d go through. I’d then take out two or three columns of words from each book, and use them to make lyrics. I actually only found out recently that Bowie did this too with a randomising program, but I just jot them down on paper. I was super into the tone of 70’s drum snares at the time; I think you can hear that disco beauty in there a bit.

TSH: What stands out to you most about a track like ‘She Devil’?

Laura: A cool thing happened when I was recording. I was exporting each cassette track of that song - out to the computer separately for mixing. But while using tapes is cheap and fun, I didn’t realise that they have this organic quality for stretching and each track ended up with slightly different timing. I got annoyed but then lazily accepted that it was part of the “letting go” mood for the track. The effect is this kind of pulling, dragging in and out of time thing and the synth part at the end of the song mimics this as it freefalls in its own zone.

TSH: How would you summarise your songwriting stance right now?

Laura: I guess I’m mainly in a research mode. I’m mainly staying at home and watching loads of old videos. People around here know that I collect videos and that I have a video collection, so when nobody wants old tapes anymore, they just dump them on my doorstep. I’m watching all of these videos taped off the TV from the late 90s and early noughties. It’s quite cool to watch stuff in the context of when they were popular. I tend to try to use anything as subject matter really, but what I’m mainly interested in is retro stuff, fashion and nature vibes.

TSH: You also like to pull from fiction and fantasy too…

Laura: Yeah, because life in general is a mixture of both fantasy and real. I feel we are stuck in our bodies at times. We have dreams often and sometimes things do not feel real – I guess we have to make it all real with our own purposes. I don’t know? I just feel it’s really strange being human at times. Maybe this is why I like using songs as a platform to express what happens in the minds of others and my own mind too.

TSH: Does your home studio space allow you to excel?

Laura: Definitely. I think it’s really important to be relaxed and to not put too much pressure on yourself. I feel that if you want to capture something pure in an audio recording, you have to be so relaxed and almost forget that you’re recording, otherwise you can really hear the tension and things being forced. It is great working from home and I like being in control too. I’ve tried being in studios and often people will tell me what to do - it’s kind of a case of ‘Hang on, who’s the artist here? Don’t tell me what to do!’ Ha!

TSH: It’s been mentioned that you have a disaster fascination…

Laura: Oh! I think that’s in regards to early on in my career. Basically I would just break up with people just to have the ability to know how it feels and to write about it. I guess that’s pretty messed up, isn’t it? Maybe I wanted to capture a range of emotions and incorporate that heavy feeling of losing love.

TSH: You also like to play pinball?

Laura: How did you know that? No one’s ever asked me that apart from you, hmmm…Well, in my early days I had pinball on my computer and I would sit in my room smoking j’s and playing pinball, haha! I guess that’s all you can do in Brisbane at times. There isn’t too much to surround yourself with out here.

TSH: Does Brisbane still feel like home for you?

Laura: Yeah, I still like it, even though everyone leaves Brisbane for a bigger or better city. However, it doesn’t really matter what city you live in because you can never really escape yourself, so you have to live with what you’ve got ultimately. Brisbane can be desperate and weird at times but it does have its cool qualities. The underground punk scene is so diverse and everyone sticks together. I guess all the people that leave are losers that get filtered out, ha! Just kidding.

TSH: Are there certain distractions that you look to avoid?

Laura: I don’t really trust words online. You can’t really trust your surroundings because everything nowadays is a trick for advertising. As soon as I see words I almost shut down and stop reading. For example, on buses it’s so overwhelming and annoying reading constant advertisements and bullshit. Even when I go on the internet, it’s like a rabbit hole, plus I have to skip over massive chunks of ads, which is another reason why I’m watching all of these old videos. Even though you may not want to watch an episode of “The Footy Show” from 1996, it’s still cool somehow, besides the ads are so irrelevant because the businesses are out of date – this process of viewing is just way more interesting and makes me feel free. The Australian ads retrospectively are actually really witty and clever. I feel the sense of humour back then really sticks out, the world looks very different.

TSH: What keeps you composed and relaxed?

Laura: I like to mainly have time to myself. I really like it when I don’t do anything in particular. I like to just sit on the carpet for hours and hours and not do anything. It can be quite psychedelic. Being in nature is a really good way of resetting too. I also get into listening to records.

TSH: How do you foresee your preferred forthcoming musical direction?

Laura: I just want to keep on trying. I’ve recently been looking at adding a couple of new pedals to brighten things up and add more layers in a live context. I’ve been performing a bunch of new tracks in my live set over the last few months and now, I’m in the process of trying to catch these tunes onto tape. Like I mentioned earlier it’s hard to capture a true version of a song, so I’m just going to relax and take my time, and keep experimenting with the recordings. Hopefully I can share new music in the very near future.

Scraps- “Touch Blue”