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In this series, Gilles Peterson, one of the world’s most influential DJs, hosts live sessions with innovative musicians you’ve (probably) never heard of. In this episode, it’s Australian four-piece, Mildlife.
Born and raised in Melbourne, Mildlife have crafted a sound entirely of their own, a sort of jazz-kraut-psych-disco hybrid. Gilles, the band and their collaborator Maria Moles chatted about ACDC, creative pain and the difference between Brits and Australians...
Gilles: Tell us a little bit about Mildlife. Where do you come from? Where did you start?
Kevin: We all went to the same high school and started jamming as teenagers. Well Tom, James and I did, Adam was a couple of years younger.
Gilles: Melbourne is a sprawling town, it’s all over the place. Whereabouts was the school?
Kevin: North East, on the suburban fringe. A lot of space to get out into the nature, kick a footy, cause mischief and all that.
Gilles: What was the music you listened to at school?
Kevin: It was just guitar music, classic rock. Some of the pychier stuff but mainly Led Zep.
Gilles: Where does the groove come from?
Kevin: A bit of Can, a bit of disco. We wanted to make music that people could dance to. It’s such a good feeling when the energy in the room means that people start moving. I’ve always liked groove music.
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Gilles: There’s a buzz about Melbourne at the moment – there’s certainly something going on. I’ve been going to Australia for 20 years now and in the early days it was all about Sydney but that’s changed...
Kev: There’s a big record culture in Melbourne. Good stores have opened up in the suburbs and big DJ nights go on now. There’s a good bar scene where the DJs go to play more eclectic stuff. There are two really good community radio stations – KPS & Triple R. Those two have been really good to us.
Gilles: For somebody who doesn’t know the Melbourne scene, who’s one local artist that people might know? Is it Kylie?
Kev: Yeah, I guess. ACDC? I don’t know if they are 100% Melbourne but they are pretty iconic Melbourne.
Maria: Flea?
Kev: Flea! Yeah, good one! He’s from Melbourne. I don’t think he spends much time there now though.
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Old fashioned radio has been very good to us. Radio still has the authority that it’s always had.
Gilles: What’s your favorite part of making music?
Adam: I like discovering something that takes me into a new place – for me that’s a big part of it. I also like it when we take a jam and capture that essence to turn it into something we originally intended. That’s super rewarding because it takes a bit of work to get to that point.
Kevin: Yeah, the jamming, that's the best bit. The creating is the most frustrating but also the best bit.
Adam: There were some depressing times creating the album – when the ideas just weren’t there or just weren’t great. When you finally get something you’re happy with, it’s really rewarding.
Gilles: If you could collaborate with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?
Kev: The enigma of Prince for me. Just hear him leading a band and picking out things. That would be quite a thrill. What do you guys reckon?
Adam: Holger Czukay, The Can bass player. He’s just a wacky guy...
Thomas: Sun Ra, for sure.
Gilles: Why Sun Ra?
Thomas: Just being in the room with that guy and being in the band would be crazy. A massive experience.
Maria: Maybe someone like Elvin Jones? To play together and get some of that energy could be fun.
Gilles: Tell us what you’re listening to at the moment. How do you find new stuff?
Thomas: We all share. A lot of our friends in Melbourne are DJs so you go to a bar and you’ll be like what’s this one? What’s that one? I also really enjoy trying to understand the catalogue of an artist so I’m currently trying to get into Brian Eno’s body of work.
Thomas: We’re all listening to Nu Guinea at the moment. We hung out with them and that collective listening experience is really great.
Kev: I love their whole ‘doing a homage to their native land’ thing. I didn’t realise the record has a whole bunch of Napolese dialect in the lyrics, that a non Italian speaker wouldn’t pick up. I love that.
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Gilles: How do you think people are discovering your music?
Kev: Old fashioned radio has been very good to us. It puts it in people’s ears. Radio still has the authority that it’s always had. Bandcamp has been amazing. I hope it keeps growing because it’s a really solid platform – it’s artists first. It isn’t algorithms, it’s real people talking about music. Music is all about people and communication and algorithms take a lot of soul out of music.
Gilles: How is it being out of Melbourne? Do you feel the crowd reacts differently?
Kev: It’s hard to tell if it’s the novelty of being in a different country but it seems everyone is so much more passionate about music. The feedback you get is so detailed, it’s about sections.
Thomas: I’ve got this theory that Brits are better at small talk than Aussies. They come up and talk about the music.It doesn’t seem to be this stale conversation of “great set.”
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Gilles: If you didn’t do music what would each one of you be doing?
Adam: I remember in Year 7 I wanted to be a paleontologist. There’s something really appealing about digging holes and looking for those lost animals. That or a carpenter, like my dad.
Thomas: Kevin and I, running parallel to music, we do graphic design. So I guess we’d do that.
Maria: When I was a kid I always really liked massaging so maybe a masseuse? But yeah, now I don’t think I’d like that. I’m glad I’m playing music instead.