September 7, 2026 • 15 mins
Featured Artist: What So Not
Featured Vinyl: Not All The Beautiful Things
Alexis’ Hot Pick
Warlord
Sam’s Hot Pick
Beautiful
Aus Music Alert! Support this artists by purchasing this record via Bandcamp: https://whatsonot.bandcamp.com/album/not-all-the-beautiful-things
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CREDITS
Created and Hosted by Alexis Naylor
Co-Host: Sam Timmerman
Music by Alexis Naylor & Ruby Miguel
Voiceover: Ruby Miguel
Edited and Produced by Ruby Miguel
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:49):
I have a sneaking suspicion that you've got another Aussie artist for us,
Yeah, Oz Music Alert, right?
It is one of my favorite things when we bring Australian artists to the table.
It just makes me so happy.
And the fact that I could just walk into the local record store, which I got to do for the first time in a long time, and could just go down and go, "That's an artist that I've not owned before." And it turns out to be not even their latest record, which is super cool.
(01:24):
It took me a while before I came across What's or Not.
It had been a long time of me not knowing what I was missing out on
The genius that is, I do believe his real name is Chris Emerson
His name, his real name is Chris.
Chris.
That's true
He's from Sydney, right?
(01:45):
Yes, he's a Sydney boy.
Sydney Sado
And WhatSoNot became a project, I believe, in the early 2010s with none oth- none other than Flume
Yes, that's right.
Knew there was a reason why that name sounded familiar
And some of the early stuff went amazing.
They split about 2015, 2016, and then out of that came Not All The Beautiful Things,
(02:10):
and
you showed me a photo that you found of this horse that's on the cover,
which was just incredible.
So for those listening, this album cover, they conceptualized it a- like it was like made into like a gigantic sculpture that was used for his live productions and represented the album's artwork.
(02:35):
So they, made it into a… It's like a peacock horse monster truck sculpture
If that's the best way to describe it,
Yeah I don't know.
I- why I'm stuttering is 'cause it's like I'm looking at the image and it's how do you describe something that is trying to encapsulate so much?
Yeah.
(02:55):
'Cause really he describes, yeah, like I guess it's like Warlord, which is one of the songs, as the arrival of this new consciousness, which is this album.
So at the time and like you said, this is not his latest work, but at that time, I think it came out in 2021, did it come out?
(03:21):
Something
a little earlier
Oh, a bit earlier?
Sorry.
Yes.
No, 2018.
Sorry.
Yes, 2018.
So yeah like it's just, I like everything with artists, right?
It's like you're on different iterations, different chapters and yeah, this one was this album.
So yeah, love it
(03:43):
I want to know how you get so many amazing collaborations onto one release
One, one way to do it is to do an A, B, C, D sided album.
This is
know
double album.
There are two records in here.
Yeah
It is absolutely monstrous.
(04:04):
Crew, I will put it in the show notes.
As we always say, if you're gonna support our local Australian artists, best way to do it is via Bandcamp.
It's the best way for artists to get their, what's due to them.
They get a little bit more than what they would get for those other players.
Not naming any names, not trying to get myself, I don't know, blacklisted or something.
(04:29):
No canceling.
We're going to cancel you for not liking
No canceling.
But if you wanna go with a platform that supports musicians a bit more, then yeah, head to your Bandcamp and buy artists' merch and music from there
It's true.
Do you have a hot pick off this?
(04:49):
I do.
Which again, you just said that this whole entire album is just feature, like feature, feature all the way through.
Would be lying if I didn't say I have a soft spot for Toto, and the fact that Toto features on
blew my mind when I looked at the back cover and saw Toto in there
Oh my goodness, and it's just epic.
(05:10):
Every time you listen to it, you just hear more and just go, "Wow."
It's just, it's like a never ending wrapping.
You know the pass the parcel, where like you get a present every couple of times you open?
That's how it really felt,
I will very quickly read out Chris's message to Steve Lukather from Toto.
Hello
"Thank you, Steve, for your multiple-page emails of pure excitement and persistent nagging tweets to have me finish our collaboration. Also, the rest of the band for being so humble and welcoming in the studio."
(05:42):
Yeah.
I can't imagine how spectacular it would be to work with them.
Yeah, how amazing.
So found it very difficult to pick a final top pick, 'cause again, you've got the caliber of Daniel Johns for the early noughties,
all those silver chair heads out there.
Yeah, the Silverchair heads out there.
Yeah, his voice has always been cracker, and he's always been a great songwriter, so anything that he touches yeah, just really sparkles.
(06:08):
But that's just to name a few of the amazing features.
But yeah, picking one, had to do it.
Had to go with the first banger, first top of the list, first song on the album,
Oh, warlord?
Warlord,
Yeah.
It, again really hard to pick one, 'cause there are just so many of these songs just really stuck with me.
(06:31):
But I do think that when you have a song where if you haven't had any opportunity to listen to his body of work before, and you put on this first record, and I'm halfway through a song, the first song, and like my first reaction is, "Oh shit, I'm gonna love this album."
It just, if this is what it is, then I'm already there.
(06:53):
You've already sold me.
I'm there.
Y- yeah, no more.
And I think I think Sam, you'd agree that you perhaps maybe got a message from me when I was halfway through the first song going, "Oh, my effing God."
This is true.
I did
Yeah.
'Cause I was like, "Shit, if this is what it is I'm there.
Yeah
But yeah, Warlord, it's got a very I wanna say it's very moody, very cinematic
(07:18):
Cinematic was the word I was gonna use as
well, Yeah,
yeah.
I feel like it really gives you that statement of what you're in for.
Also the- also has a collaboration on this one with a Perthling electronic duo Slumberjack, which again, I h- always have a soft spot for our creative family that are in Perth.
(07:38):
So yeah really nice to be able to see that all come together.
And yeah, just seeing how the duo and Chris worked together to design like such a beautiful album in this way, like all the bits and pieces, especially for this song.
But how that also transpired into what So Not's live performances ended up, and I think that comes from, yeah, a lot from this song.
(08:02):
The song itself, it follows a pretty normal verse chorus pop structure.
But it does it, it does have a little bit of that, but really, like we said, it has that cinematic it really behaves more like it's the soundtrack to the beginning of a film.
So
it's produced orchestras for half
(08:22):
of it.
It's
yeah.
Exactly.
The orchestral textures, holy shit kebabs.
Yeah, like really that tension that it builds, absolutely spectacular.
Yeah, like we said, production's just top-notch.
I could go on and on about.
Like it just is, just constantly feel like there was like little dropping in of explosive bits of sound that's like huge aggressive bass that's like peaking in certain points and yeah, there was just the taste of sample vocals and yeah, there's just so much in there that yeah, it sold me.
(08:58):
I don't know how else to, like it just, yeah, I don't have the words.
And they have the peacock horse monster truck
Oh my goodness.
For anyone who wants to know what the helly we're talking about, you need to Google Watsons Notts Warlord.
But look up the peacock horse monster truck sculpture that he used for his live productions, and you will just see this glorious, spectacular image of… Yeah, I want that on a stage.
(09:28):
I want it
I'm trying to work out.
I have to check out videos again.
It was a stage installation that formed part of the DJ booth, I think
Yes.
So in the truck is the DJ booth.
Yeah.
But there's little mushrooms
talk, yeah.
Turn,
turn a monster truck into a chariot and
make that your DJ booth
(09:49):
Love.
Yeah.
Did you have any runner-ups before we move on?
Did you have any runner-up songs?
Yes, I did.
Even though Toto is just… I loved that song.
Obviously, I can't have everything be a runner-up, so I would have to say that Be Okay Again that features Daniel Johns was just like, there's something really smooth about that.
(10:13):
Do I have a s- soft spot for Daniel Johns?
Yes.
Are you allowed to?
Yes
Do I also think that his vocals in that and how the production was done, like it just really serves the song?
Yes.
Like I just… There was nothing about it that I went, "This is a bit cringe-worthy or a bit boring," or whatever.
I was like, "Oh, I'm here for it." Really engaging.
(10:35):
Yeah, really
Have you had a chance to check out the video clip for that, the music video?
No, I haven't had a chance yet.
and put that in your eye holes, 'cause it was produced by Luke Eblen who designed the album cover.
Amazing.
Yeah,
produced and filmed by Luke Eblen.
And they got a fun little story there because they-- the two of them are close friends as well.
(10:57):
And the story goes that he'd just finished playing Splendour in the Grass in New South Wales, and they traveled over to Tasmania and someone-- Chris had been in contact with the Tasmanian surfing community to see if they could get out to this particular point that's called Shipstern's Bluff, just so that they could go film a video clip.
(11:22):
Love
so something like 12-foot swells, he's out there fully clothed
Yes
shooting shots for this music video.
But I was blown away with some of the edit- editing of Luke's work in the music video between that and shots of Daniel Johns in studio.
உம்
There's a moment that if you watch the video, you'll know what I'm talking about.
(11:42):
There's just some amazing editorial work between the surf shots and the studio shots that are just beautiful.
Worth checking out, definitely
No, on the to-do list.
Love.
Yeah, otherwise I really loved Bottom End.
Great
Yeah.
And I don't, I'm not even gonna… Just listen to it.
(12:04):
It's a great song.
"Be Okay" again ended up as my runner-up as well, 'cause I did love that.
Ah, see, you little lo- just
but I was bal- that was my little fulcrum that I was balancing two others on trying to decide.
There was that, that track thr- two, three, four from the top end of the A side.
I was just putting those three on repeat all day for a couple of
(12:27):
it's so good.
"Stuck in Orbit" was gorgeous.
That was-- I really loved that.
Almost some synth wave sound to it, which was
really cool
it's, yeah, very cyber trance, hey?
That's the-- And that was the word I was trying to think of that I
couldn't think of.
Yeah, No,
which was really cool.
Another, and ag-ag-again, Boy is another Australian artist as well, which is fantastic.
(12:49):
Ja
but I had to go with Beautiful Which aside from anything else, nominated for Best Indie Dance or Electronica at the 2019 ARIAs.
With Swedish sensation Oak/Oaks/Evergreen
(13:11):
Oak/Winona Oak.
She's gone by many different names.
I cannot work out which one is- she goes by anymore.
Her online credit in the record is different to the physical,
Which I get to forever treasure in my hands as Evergreen Oak.
She's worked with Chainsmokers, she's worked a whole bunch of her own solo work and is amazing.
(13:32):
That track sat right in where I wanted it to be from a dance music perspective, but also from a pure listening electronica perspective.
And lordy, when the synth hits on its own at the start of the drop, that went…
that got me very excited first time I heard it, and still does
(13:54):
Just, it just w- it makes your whole chest makes you all warm and fuzzy
Yeah
Yeah
Oh,
Isn't it fun when these ones make you feel more than you have to think?
Oh, it's
We don't have to talk about the lyrics too much.
There's some amazing lyric work in there.
But hey, the production's just incredible.
(14:17):
It is so amazing when you just don't pull it apart and analyze it because it's so good
"Not All The Beautiful Things" by What So Not
Thanks again.
It's been fun
I have a sneaking suspicion that you've got another Aussie artist for us,
Yeah, Oz Music Alert, right?
It is one of my favorite things when we bring Australian artists to the table.
It just makes me so happy.
And the fact that I could just walk into the local record store, which I got to do for the first time in a long time, and could just go down and go, "That's an artist that I've not owned before." And it turns out to be not even their latest record, which is super cool.
(01:24):
It took me a while before I came across What's or Not.
It had been a long time of me not knowing what I was missing out on
The genius that is, I do believe his real name is Chris Emerson
His name, his real name is Chris.
Chris.
That's true
He's from Sydney, right?
(01:45):
Yes, he's a Sydney boy.
Sydney Sado
And WhatSoNot became a project, I believe, in the early 2010s with none oth- none other than Flume
Yes, that's right.
Knew there was a reason why that name sounded familiar
And some of the early stuff went amazing.
They split about 2015, 2016, and then out of that came Not All The Beautiful Things,
(02:10):
and
you showed me a photo that you found of this horse that's on the cover,
which was just incredible.
So for those listening, this album cover, they conceptualized it a- like it was like made into like a gigantic sculpture that was used for his live productions and represented the album's artwork.
(02:35):
So they, made it into a… It's like a peacock horse monster truck sculpture
If that's the best way to describe it,
Yeah I don't know.
I- why I'm stuttering is 'cause it's like I'm looking at the image and it's how do you describe something that is trying to encapsulate so much?
Yeah.
(02:55):
'Cause really he describes, yeah, like I guess it's like Warlord, which is one of the songs, as the arrival of this new consciousness, which is this album.
So at the time and like you said, this is not his latest work, but at that time, I think it came out in 2021, did it come out?
(03:21):
Something
a little earlier
Oh, a bit earlier?
Sorry.
Yes.
No, 2018.
Sorry.
Yes, 2018.
So yeah like it's just, I like everything with artists, right?
It's like you're on different iterations, different chapters and yeah, this one was this album.
So yeah, love it
(03:43):
I want to know how you get so many amazing collaborations onto one release
One, one way to do it is to do an A, B, C, D sided album.
This is
know
double album.
There are two records in here.
Yeah
It is absolutely monstrous.
(04:04):
Crew, I will put it in the show notes.
As we always say, if you're gonna support our local Australian artists, best way to do it is via Bandcamp.
It's the best way for artists to get their, what's due to them.
They get a little bit more than what they would get for those other players.
Not naming any names, not trying to get myself, I don't know, blacklisted or something.
(04:29):
No canceling.
We're going to cancel you for not liking
No canceling.
But if you wanna go with a platform that supports musicians a bit more, then yeah, head to your Bandcamp and buy artists' merch and music from there
It's true.
Do you have a hot pick off this?
(04:49):
I do.
Which again, you just said that this whole entire album is just feature, like feature, feature all the way through.
Would be lying if I didn't say I have a soft spot for Toto, and the fact that Toto features on
blew my mind when I looked at the back cover and saw Toto in there
Oh my goodness, and it's just epic.
(05:10):
Every time you listen to it, you just hear more and just go, "Wow."
It's just, it's like a never ending wrapping.
You know the pass the parcel, where like you get a present every couple of times you open?
That's how it really felt,
I will very quickly read out Chris's message to Steve Lukather from Toto.
Hello
"Thank you, Steve, for your multiple-page emails of pure excitement and persistent nagging tweets to have me finish our collaboration. Also, the rest of the band for being so humble and welcoming in the studio."
(05:42):
Yeah.
I can't imagine how spectacular it would be to work with them.
Yeah, how amazing.
So found it very difficult to pick a final top pick, 'cause again, you've got the caliber of Daniel Johns for the early noughties,
all those silver chair heads out there.
Yeah, the Silverchair heads out there.
Yeah, his voice has always been cracker, and he's always been a great songwriter, so anything that he touches yeah, just really sparkles.
(06:08):
But that's just to name a few of the amazing features.
But yeah, picking one, had to do it.
Had to go with the first banger, first top of the list, first song on the album,
Oh, warlord?
Warlord,
Yeah.
It, again really hard to pick one, 'cause there are just so many of these songs just really stuck with me.
(06:31):
But I do think that when you have a song where if you haven't had any opportunity to listen to his body of work before, and you put on this first record, and I'm halfway through a song, the first song, and like my first reaction is, "Oh shit, I'm gonna love this album."
It just, if this is what it is, then I'm already there.
(06:53):
You've already sold me.
I'm there.
Y- yeah, no more.
And I think I think Sam, you'd agree that you perhaps maybe got a message from me when I was halfway through the first song going, "Oh, my effing God."
This is true.
I did
Yeah.
'Cause I was like, "Shit, if this is what it is I'm there.
Yeah
But yeah, Warlord, it's got a very I wanna say it's very moody, very cinematic
(07:18):
Cinematic was the word I was gonna use as
well, Yeah,
yeah.
I feel like it really gives you that statement of what you're in for.
Also the- also has a collaboration on this one with a Perthling electronic duo Slumberjack, which again, I h- always have a soft spot for our creative family that are in Perth.
(07:38):
So yeah really nice to be able to see that all come together.
And yeah, just seeing how the duo and Chris worked together to design like such a beautiful album in this way, like all the bits and pieces, especially for this song.
But how that also transpired into what So Not's live performances ended up, and I think that comes from, yeah, a lot from this song.
(08:02):
The song itself, it follows a pretty normal verse chorus pop structure.
But it does it, it does have a little bit of that, but really, like we said, it has that cinematic it really behaves more like it's the soundtrack to the beginning of a film.
So
it's produced orchestras for half
(08:22):
of it.
It's
yeah.
Exactly.
The orchestral textures, holy shit kebabs.
Yeah, like really that tension that it builds, absolutely spectacular.
Yeah, like we said, production's just top-notch.
I could go on and on about.
Like it just is, just constantly feel like there was like little dropping in of explosive bits of sound that's like huge aggressive bass that's like peaking in certain points and yeah, there was just the taste of sample vocals and yeah, there's just so much in there that yeah, it sold me.
(08:58):
I don't know how else to, like it just, yeah, I don't have the words.
And they have the peacock horse monster truck
Oh my goodness.
For anyone who wants to know what the helly we're talking about, you need to Google Watsons Notts Warlord.
But look up the peacock horse monster truck sculpture that he used for his live productions, and you will just see this glorious, spectacular image of… Yeah, I want that on a stage.
(09:28):
I want it
I'm trying to work out.
I have to check out videos again.
It was a stage installation that formed part of the DJ booth, I think
Yes.
So in the truck is the DJ booth.
Yeah.
But there's little mushrooms
talk, yeah.
Turn,
turn a monster truck into a chariot and
make that your DJ booth
(09:49):
Love.
Yeah.
Did you have any runner-ups before we move on?
Did you have any runner-up songs?
Yes, I did.
Even though Toto is just… I loved that song.
Obviously, I can't have everything be a runner-up, so I would have to say that Be Okay Again that features Daniel Johns was just like, there's something really smooth about that.
(10:13):
Do I have a s- soft spot for Daniel Johns?
Yes.
Are you allowed to?
Yes
Do I also think that his vocals in that and how the production was done, like it just really serves the song?
Yes.
Like I just… There was nothing about it that I went, "This is a bit cringe-worthy or a bit boring," or whatever.
I was like, "Oh, I'm here for it." Really engaging.
(10:35):
Yeah, really
Have you had a chance to check out the video clip for that, the music video?
No, I haven't had a chance yet.
and put that in your eye holes, 'cause it was produced by Luke Eblen who designed the album cover.
Amazing.
Yeah,
produced and filmed by Luke Eblen.
And they got a fun little story there because they-- the two of them are close friends as well.
(10:57):
And the story goes that he'd just finished playing Splendour in the Grass in New South Wales, and they traveled over to Tasmania and someone-- Chris had been in contact with the Tasmanian surfing community to see if they could get out to this particular point that's called Shipstern's Bluff, just so that they could go film a video clip.
(11:22):
Love
so something like 12-foot swells, he's out there fully clothed
Yes
shooting shots for this music video.
But I was blown away with some of the edit- editing of Luke's work in the music video between that and shots of Daniel Johns in studio.
உம்
There's a moment that if you watch the video, you'll know what I'm talking about.
(11:42):
There's just some amazing editorial work between the surf shots and the studio shots that are just beautiful.
Worth checking out, definitely
No, on the to-do list.
Love.
Yeah, otherwise I really loved Bottom End.
Great
Yeah.
And I don't, I'm not even gonna… Just listen to it.
(12:04):
It's a great song.
"Be Okay" again ended up as my runner-up as well, 'cause I did love that.
Ah, see, you little lo- just
but I was bal- that was my little fulcrum that I was balancing two others on trying to decide.
There was that, that track thr- two, three, four from the top end of the A side.
I was just putting those three on repeat all day for a couple of
(12:27):
it's so good.
"Stuck in Orbit" was gorgeous.
That was-- I really loved that.
Almost some synth wave sound to it, which was
really cool
it's, yeah, very cyber trance, hey?
That's the-- And that was the word I was trying to think of that I
couldn't think of.
Yeah, No,
which was really cool.
Another, and ag-ag-again, Boy is another Australian artist as well, which is fantastic.
(12:49):
Ja
but I had to go with Beautiful Which aside from anything else, nominated for Best Indie Dance or Electronica at the 2019 ARIAs.
With Swedish sensation Oak/Oaks/Evergreen
(13:11):
Oak/Winona Oak.
She's gone by many different names.
I cannot work out which one is- she goes by anymore.
Her online credit in the record is different to the physical,
Which I get to forever treasure in my hands as Evergreen Oak.
She's worked with Chainsmokers, she's worked a whole bunch of her own solo work and is amazing.
(13:32):
That track sat right in where I wanted it to be from a dance music perspective, but also from a pure listening electronica perspective.
And lordy, when the synth hits on its own at the start of the drop, that went…
that got me very excited first time I heard it, and still does
(13:54):
Just, it just w- it makes your whole chest makes you all warm and fuzzy
Yeah
Yeah
Oh,
Isn't it fun when these ones make you feel more than you have to think?
Oh, it's
We don't have to talk about the lyrics too much.
There's some amazing lyric work in there.
But hey, the production's just incredible.
(14:17):
It is so amazing when you just don't pull it apart and analyze it because it's so good
"Not All The Beautiful Things" by What So Not
Thanks again.
It's been fun
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