Madder Lake is a band from the past, hurtling through the present to the uncertain future, like something out of a psychedelic lost world. Don’t mistake them for dinosaurs however, this band has always looked to the future.
Hopefully we will soon see the release of Brave New World, a concept album based on Huxley’s book, lost in the eddies of time and currently being searched for in the dark jungles of someone’s music archive.
“At the start of the youth generation from, I suppose, 1963-4 onwards, fashions reflected the change in attitude as did the music. In Australia the thought of original music was far from most musicians minds, it was more a case of replicating the music that was imported into the country.”
The Lost World of music is a dark, forbidding place, not suitable for the naïve.
“My eyes were opened wide when I began at Art School in 1968. It was there that I met the members of San Sebastian which evolved into Madder Lake. What a time we had! Imagination central, I still regard it as one of the most influential periods of my life which has determined my creative direction to this day.”
Fighting off velociraptors can be hard work. Surely some chemical stimulation was required to survive.
“We have been writing and recording for a long while and it shows. We know that what we do is special, unfortunately for the fans we do not play live as much as we would like but when we do the magic is still there minus the drugs. We are creative people and the music comes naturally, stimulants may have assisted in the past but now we like to know what we are doing and where we are!”
The music industry is definitely a lumbering dinosaur and, like the brontosaurus, has become virtually extinct (MusicFeeds believe in Nessie) and evolved into smaller, more versatile lifeforms.
“The nature of the industry now appears to rely on strong individual efforts through small circles that grow. In the sense that massive success is reliant on public acceptance through various forms of media, nothing has altered. It is the media that has changed the most.”
The flitting butterflies of pop have been around since antedeluvial times. Pretty, flimsy things with short life spans.
“We are not so much into pop music today, as we weren’t into it all those years ago. I suppose that has helped with the longevity of the band. The sum total is that good music is good music, be it any of the myriad forms that exist today. We have lived through so many changes that when we hear something outstanding we share it. With the advent of the current technology the transfer of tunes is so much easier.”
The Wheel of Time is ever turning and now the time has come for Madder Lake to take the next steps on their long road towards the light.
“At present we are writing new material and working through unreleased material for a third album. It is a slow process. Already we are seeing results. We headlined at the Queenscliff Festival last November and did a couple of new songs that went down a treat. We have shows coming up in Victoria over the coming months and a large tour at the end of the year. Hopefully the album will be completed soon and the wheel will keep on turning.”
‘Stillpoint’ and ‘Buttterfly and Farm’ have been re-released on Aztec music with many more sounds, old and new, to follow.
