December 16, 2025 • 29 mins
HighSchool formed during Melbourne’s lockdowns, making songs fast and with intention. In this episode, they talk about starting with images and mood before melody, recording wherever they could, and keeping tempos high so the songs stayed sharp and emotional. We get into how Lily’s shift from drums to synth helped shape the band’s sound, why restraint matters more than polish, and how Sony Ericsson came together in a single day after nearly being dropped. From writing in London to releasing a self-titled debut, this is a conversation about momentum, trust, and finding your sound by keeping things simple.
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Episode Transcript
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colleyc (00:38):
We are another episode of the ifitbeyourwill Podcast
coming at you, season six.
Um, is a machine at this point.
I can hardly stop it.
Um, it just keeps going andgoing.
And today um we're kind of I'mI'm reaching over.
Well, they're in transit withuh high school, um, who are kind
of traveling between shows anduh so they're kind of in the
(01:00):
world.
We'll just say they're outthere in the world at this
point, enjoying themselves, anduh we're gonna have a little
chat about their their latestrecord, which came out October
31st, which is theirself-titled.
Uh we were just talking a bitbefore we hopped on how I have
needed it to help me sleep.
Um, it's a really not to saythat it's uh slow core or uh you
(01:22):
know dream poppy, but it hasthis gene to it that is really
um calming and and exciting atthe same time.
And they'll tell us how theycreated this sound because I
think it's quite individual andspecial to hear.
Um, I have uh Rory and Scottyhere with um uh Rory and his
(01:45):
sister Lily is also Lily is inthe band.
She's not here with us today,but he will definitely represent
because I have some questionsabout sibling musicians.
Um so guys, thanks so much forhopping on here and and and
sharing a little bit about yourmusical journey here thus far.
Rory (02:01):
Oh, thank you.
Thanks for having us on, Chris.
colleyc (02:04):
Yeah, yeah, totally, totally.
Well, Rory, I'm I mean, let'sjust start with that.
Like, so you and your sisterhave been in this band since the
get-go together.
Is that correct?
Rory (02:14):
That's right.
So we sort of the origins ofthe band started during COVID in
2020, uh, and we were in a verysevere, extensive lockdown in
Melbourne.
Um, we had a very strict sortof regulations, and um, me and
Lily were living together.
So, you know, work kind of bothdried up for both of us, um,
(02:39):
and we had nothing better to dobut to sort of start a new
project.
Uh and it was it's kind ofLily's first experiences as a
musician.
Uh, I've been in bands for along time, but um, me and Scotty
had been in bands together inthe past.
He was living in Poland at thetime.
Um, and me and Lily sort ofcultivated this almost this kind
of look and this aestheticbefore it was anything kind of
(03:01):
sonic.
But um we had this, you know,idea of this sort of gothic uh
imagery and these ideas of thesekind of sibling sort of gothy
twin thing or somethinginitially, and then it kind of
developed, and then initially wewere called Rosary, like the
the sort of um origins of it.
(03:23):
We were called Rosary.
And then Scotty came back,obviously because of COVID, had
to come back to Melbourne, andwe sort of talked to him about
it, and we had this idea of whatit was going to look like, and
we we knew what it wanted wewanted it to sound like.
Um, and then yeah, that becamelike a bit of a kind of
springboard for the wholeproject.
We sort of just used thatinitial sort of cultivation of
(03:43):
the look and everything, and thesound kind of came around it.
But um, yeah, Lily was actuallyplaying drums initially, which
was quite funny.
Um, you know, and she's she'spicks up things very quickly, so
she was she was good, but thenwe decided all the tracks needed
to be at least 180 BPM.
Um, so she moved on to thesynth at that point.
Um, but yeah, she's a massivepart of the sort of origins of
(04:06):
the band and um still tours withus uh to this day, but yeah,
she's she's finishing uni at themoment, so she's not with us in
Europe right now.
But yeah.
colleyc (04:15):
Interesting.
And Scotty, what about whatabout your beginnings?
Like, where did you first umkind of get the idea to either
you know to reach out to Rory orto like want to be a part of a
band with him?
How did how did thatrelationship first start off for
you guys?
Luke (04:32):
Yeah.
Um, well, me and Burie were inbands together kind of a couple
years before um high schoolstarted.
Um and that kind of band thatwe were in kind of disbanded.
We were doing our own thing.
I moved to Poland and was doingmy Masters of Fine Art in
Poland, and then COVID hit, um,and I had to come back to to
(04:52):
Melbourne.
Um yeah, and then I just linkedwith Rory and we were talking,
he talked me through the idea ofthe band and Yeah, you know,
like you said, I didn't reallyhave much else to do because uh
Melbourne was in such a severelockdown, it kind of gave us a
lot of opportunity to writemusic.
Rory (05:11):
We weren't super spreaders, but we were a little
bit sneaky with you know, sortof we were only supposed to go
out for an hour a day foractivity or to be able to do
shopping, that was it.
But you know, we'd find ameeting point or we'd sneak over
to each other's houses and workon a track and pull out the the
focus right, the little ScarletPro.
Yeah, yeah, it was juststealthy.
First EP was recorded on and umstealthy origins, but yeah, uh
(05:35):
very sneaky goes, very sneakygoes.
Stealthy in time, and I feellike that worked itself into
that initial EP.
And you know, a lot of peoplecame out of COVID obviously
being like, wow, that was theworst experience.
But for us, it sort of gave usthis kind of focus in a way,
gave us this opportunity to justnot really have anything to
think about besides wanting tomake art.
Luke (05:56):
I really liked it because we made so much music, and like
we got signed to this UK labelin COVID, and then once COVID
lifted, we like moved to the UK.
So, like I kind of look back onon lockdown, you know, it was
difficult in some regards, butin other regards, it was like I
look back on it quite fondly.
colleyc (06:12):
Yep, totally.
Well, I've spoken to manymusicians and they they all kind
of reflect on COVID as a timewhere they created so much
stuff, um like inventories ofsongs that they're still dipping
into now, you know, like whatare we maybe four or five years
later?
Um it it seemed like a realcreative creative spurt.
(06:34):
And yeah, Scotty, I'm I'm I'mcurious about when you look at
Rory and what his sister weredoing during COVID and them
sharing the music with you whatdid you think about it and what
did you think that you could addto it that uh that you were
excited about?
Luke (06:56):
Well, I suppose like Rory said, it started more as an
aesthetic than it did a um anauditory thing.
Uh and it was presented to meas like kind of a mood board and
like uh like like photos of ofof Rory and Billy.
Um and yeah, it's just cool andit resonated with me, and then
um yeah, man, then we just likestarted to get the tracks
(07:18):
together.
Rory (07:19):
It is an interesting way to sort of start a project
though, is sort of you kind ofall land on something outside of
what the music is itself, andlike that in its own way lets
everyone interpret that look andthat visual and kind of give
their own flaves of what thesongs should sound like.
So it was a quite aninteresting sort of angle, and
(07:40):
um it was super beneficial forus because it kind of meant
we're all on the same pagewithout ever having to really
you know jam together on thisproject, so you know, at that
point.
colleyc (07:50):
So um do you think do you think it was the influence
of just because you guys hadplayed so previously together
you'd been in bands togetherthat you kind of already knew
what you know someone was gonnabring into the mix?
Rory (08:05):
It was also that the bands were in together in the past.
I feel like we're you know,four and five pieces and stuff.
Um a lot of them were sort ofshoegazy, very like uh Brian
Jonestown Massacre, sort of uhmy bloody Valentine inspired
kind of bands.
And I feel like we were alwaysmost aligned out of all the
members, you know, and sort ofwe had other members that wanted
(08:26):
to sort of take it a slightlydifferent direction, and we sort
of collectively wanted to takeit another direction.
So it did feel, although it'svery different to the music we'd
made in the past, it did feellike an extension of like what
we wanted to do with it, and uhyeah, it's almost a continuation
of our past, you know.
Luke (08:43):
And yeah, yeah, when when the band that we were in
together broke up, it was kindof like we didn't really want it
to break up, so it's kind oflike a continuation of like the
collaboration we'd already had,I feel, yeah, in a sonic sense.
Rory (08:56):
Yeah, it's very easy to sort of once you find someone
that you have that creativeconnection with, it's very sort
of easy to continue to progresstogether.
It's almost like yeah, I feellike it takes a very long time
to find someone that you cancollaborate with like that.
And when you have fewer people,um it it really is uh it speeds
(09:22):
the process up a lot, I think,you know.
Luke (09:24):
Yeah, two two or three is very agile.
I feel like once you startgetting into four or five, it's
like it's difficult to manage.
And one is too lonely.
One is too lonely.
colleyc (09:36):
And how do how do your songs come to be?
Um, who brings what in, andlike how do you build a song as
a group?
Rory (09:46):
We have a few different processes.
Um we're both sort ofmulti-instrumentalists, like we
have our kind of instrumentsthat we play live, but in the
studio, you know, uh althoughScotty plays bass live, like I
might pick up the bass and comeup with a bass line.
Scotty plays a lot of guitar,we both play synth, uh, I play
(10:06):
drums as well.
So, you know, there's normallyone core thing that gets brought
to the table, it might be abass line, and then the other
person, I think, will often tryand just riff off that and find
our our usual um sort of focusis to make kind of the catchiest
(10:27):
and the most sort of emotiveharmony we can between two
instruments.
So if Scotty comes in with abass line, I'm gonna we'll work
together for an hour, he'll belooping the bass line, and I'll
be kind of riffing on guitaruntil I find the notes that gel
with that to create this sort offeeling that you were speaking
(10:48):
about before.
This kind of comforting butalso nostalgic kind of feeling.
Luke (10:53):
But there but there's no one way to skin a cat.
You know, there's no formula,uh, we don't do things in a
particular way or a particularprocess.
It just comes together or itdoesn't, and there's not really
any way that we do it.
We just it's just tied in,isn't it?
You just have to put in thework.
Yeah, we got totally damning.
Rory (11:12):
I talk about that a lot, how like you just have to be
there, you know.
90% of the time you're in therein the studio, it's not
landing, it's not working, andthen that random 10% of the time
this thing sparks, and as longas you're there to catch it.
I know that um Noel Gallagherhad a famous saying that you
gotta be in the studio everyday.
So when the you know, when thesong falls out of the sky, you
(11:34):
you gotta be there.
Because if you're not there,then Bono will Bono will be and
Bono Bono will get the song.
So um I like that.
colleyc (11:42):
Yeah, I like that.
And what does Lily bring tothis mix?
So I mean, you were you werementioning too that she is was
just starting when COVID washappening music-wise.
You guys already had this bond.
What was it that she brought tothe two of you that that really
helped start to establish thedirection that you guys would
(12:05):
head towards?
Rory (12:07):
I I think it's really interesting and important to
have a person in a project thatdoesn't have necessarily a
musical background and that canadd this sort of spontaneous,
uh, very expressive nature tothe whole dynamic.
Um, you look at, you know, lookat bands like the Sex Pistols,
for instance, the the banditself are all, you know,
(12:30):
relative, especially the drummerand the guitarists are great
musicians.
Then having that wildness of ofJohnny Rotten or Sid Visitts or
whatever kind of throws it intothis chaos mates sort of order
that I think is reallyimportant.
Yeah, yeah.
And you know, that Stooges is agreat example as well.
Like I think um you you youthere's a great contrast there.
And Lily um was good at that.
(12:53):
She sort of we kind of had thiscertain way we'd approach
things because we've both beenplaying music for a long time.
And to have someone who's alsoa bit younger than us uh to come
in and and add their own thingwas really important.
Luke (13:07):
Provided like taste, you know.
She had like a good good taste,and like, yeah, maybe because
she was divorced from the musictraditional music creation
process, she's had a good likeoverview of like what was
working and what wasn't, youknow, in a non-musical sense.
That's very valuable.
You know, it's very valuable.
Rory (13:25):
I do think that also, you know, we'd been working towards
this for a long time, and thefact that we were able to, you
know, move over here to the UKand then tour and get to the US
and try all these things for uswere these big goals, and it was
interesting that we'd sort ofworked up to that, and this was
her first band.
So I think there was someadjustment in that sense of
(13:46):
like, you know, we'd really beenhad this goal ahead of us for a
long time.
So for her, it was all kind ofhappening quite quickly.
Um, and you know, thateventually got to a stage where
she went, you know, I want myfocus to be touring live and and
doing this, but she also hasher own aspirations and her own
things.
So she's kind of this figurethat sort of dips in and out of
(14:08):
the band at different points,which is a really cool thing as
well, you know.
colleyc (14:11):
Yeah, that's really cool.
That's cool.
And like when do you guys likestart to figure out that you're
on to something with a song?
Um like you had mentioned,okay, you'll start riffing on a
bass line and then you'll startto layer in a guitar riff or
some chord progressions.
Like, when do you guys get asense that you're on to
something that would be worththe put down on tape or a
(14:34):
record?
You know, like where do youwhere do what is that feeling or
that sense of look that youguys give each other when it's
like, oh yeah, this is gonna bea banger?
Rory (14:45):
It's a brilliant feeling.
Um, and like I said before, itdoes it is quite rare.
And when and you know, when itpops out, it's like it's the
best, it's the best feeling, youknow.
Um but I think we both knowmutually like something will
land and we'll just hope that wesort of captured it or we can
remember it.
And so so often, you know, I'llbe half asleep just about to
(15:06):
nod off, and then something popsinto my head on a track we've
been working on, like a vocalmelody, and I roll over and grab
my phone and sort of blurt thissort of melody into a voice
memo.
Um, and then try and listenback to it the next morning, no
context, and often it doesn'treally make any sense.
I'm like, okay, that actuallysounds shit.
But um but uh no, we'ddefinitely dream state almost,
(15:28):
eh?
colleyc (15:29):
Like that's yeah, it's a great technique as well.
Rory (15:32):
Who is that philosopher that held a spoon?
He held a metal.
This is someone's philosopherheld a spoon in his hand, and as
he was falling asleep, his griphe'd drop the spoon, and the
spoon hitting the ground wouldwake him up and he'd write down
ideas.
That's what he's thinking.
Um, we both know, and there'sno real way of um articulating
it through words, what thefeeling is, but it just sort of
(15:56):
hits, and we go, like, okay,that that's something, you know,
that that's it's a tonal thing.
Luke (16:00):
I think it's a tone that like is like high school.
It sounds like a high schooltrap.
I don't exactly know what itis, but it's like, oh, it kind
of has this like happy, sad,nostalgic sort of feeling.
Timeless feeling in the moment.
And then you're like, oh, thereit is, and then you can you can
work with that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hard to say what it is, but youknow it when you come across
it.
colleyc (16:19):
Yeah, totally.
And I was trying to like placeyou guys, like where you know,
where do you fit in between likeyou know, everything that's out
there?
And I mean, there are sometouches of so many different
kinds of music that it's hard tosay it's this, you know.
But like you just said, uhScotty, I love that, is that you
know when high school isplaying, you know, the sound,
(16:42):
like because it just sounds sooriginal um and unique in a way,
you know.
Yeah, no, I think that youryour your relationship is
delivered through these songs ina way, and it just shows the
tightness because they are tightsongs.
And it kind of brings me to mynext question about you know,
the record it came out in inOctober uh 31st of this year.
(17:05):
What was the process of puttingthis record together?
Um, how did it begin?
Are these songs that maybe dateback to COVID, or are these
songs pretty recent that are onthis record?
Because I mean it's a 1212-song record.
I mean, it's it's a you know,you got a lot of tunes on there,
and um kind of maybe walk usthrough a little bit of like how
(17:28):
did this get legs and and howdid it come to be?
Rory (17:32):
We kind of moved, uh we're uh we met a guy called, well,
we got a guy called Rich Walkerreached out to us.
He works at a label called 4ADin London, and he sort of
started managing us, startedtrying to help us kind of he
signed us to his own labeloutside of 4AD just for the
first EP, which we'd alreadywritten and recorded.
But the incentive was theincentive was always to get us
(17:54):
over there, uh, try and sign abigger deal and start touring
and you know pushing this thingin the UK.
Um and we did that basically.
We we we came over and we youknow toured and got on some
really great support tourspretty quickly and were starting
to really build something.
Um but yeah, the idea wasalways heading towards this sort
(18:17):
of debut record.
Um, and things could havehappened a lot quicker, I feel,
in terms of us turning itaround.
But between touring and, youknow, lifestyle in London is
very turbulent, you know, it'squite hard to, you know, get
everything together quickly.
But I'm very glad that it tookus as long as it did because I
feel like our songwriting justkind of continued to develop.
I feel like if we did a fulllength as soon as we rocked up
(18:39):
in, you know, the start of 2022,it would have a more, you know,
this naivety to it or somethingin the songwriting, which could
have been cool as well.
But um the process of thisalbum was a lot of demoing um
over the years that we're in inLondon.
Uh, we had a studio in SouthBermansey.
Uh, we'd go in there every day,very grisly part of town, very
(19:01):
grim, very rainy.
Uh, so we kind of set up thislittle haven in the studio that
was warm and nice and had youknow nice couches and some art,
and we sort of used that as thiskind of little hub where we
could escape the you know, thegrisly London winter.
But we yeah, we just kind ofworked in them most days, tried
(19:22):
to treat it like a nine to five,try and go in and sit in there
and just chip away at tunes.
Um, and there's plenty ofplenty of songs that came to you
know, we wrote quite quicklywhen we rocked up, and they're
three years old now, and it'sgreat to see them, you know,
yeah, be able to be releasedeventually after so long.
It's so such a nice feeling tosee things that you've worked on
(19:46):
for a long time be uploaded andbe able to be listened to by by
your audience.
Um, but then there's plenty ofsongs that came together
incredibly quickly, quite closeto your release date, really.
Yeah, exactly.
So we're working right down tothe wire.
Um We have a slight issuesometimes of overworking things,
I think, and not knowing whento call it.
But then every now and thenthat extra five percent put in
(20:07):
totally makes the song.
Um Sony Erickson, for instance,one of the lead singles.
You know, we'd packed upeverything in the UK, we'd, you
know, finished recording andwe'd move back to Melbourne uh
for summer.
And we were just listening toit, we're like, God, that could
really just use some littlething.
And we ended up totallyreworking the track, and we just
(20:28):
had this magical day in thestudio where everything kind of
reworked itself and it turnedout to be a much better song
than I think what we hadinitially.
So we wrote and recorded it allin one day.
So yeah.
Luke (20:43):
Uh and we released most of the uh recorded most of the
tracks uh with them over a monthlong period.
Um and then we got it uh mixedby Claudius Mittendorfer uh in
London as well.
So most of it was done in theUK, in London, between London
and Lewis.
Um and then a few pickups inMelbourne, but mostly mostly in
(21:04):
the UK.
Rory (21:05):
Yeah, we joved a lot of songs.
There's a lot of extra stuff werecorded that didn't make it,
but yeah, yeah.
Hopefully we'll get onto asophomore album or something,
we'll say.
Yeah, we write a lot of songsand then call a lot of songs.
colleyc (21:17):
Okay.
And Scotty, how do you feel thatthe album's been received by
the world?
Um have you noticed thingsunexpectedly, or are people
getting kind of what you guyswanted to deliver?
Like how how's how's your kindof retrospect on, you know, it's
been out for you know almosttwo months now.
(21:38):
What where where are you guysat with how you feel about what
you created?
Luke (21:43):
Yeah, it seems to be uh receives really well.
Um people seem to really likeit.
Um I'm really happy with umwith what people are saying and
um the reach it's getting.
Yeah, yeah.
No, I'm super happy.
Rory (21:54):
I think uh uh Yeah, I feel like I try and not focus too
heavily on, you know, numbersand algorithms and there's
something just vapid and that Ifind unartistic to me about that
kind of comparison betweenother bands or expectations, but
obviously at the same time, youknow, you want it to be
(22:16):
business, you want it to work.
So I'm really happy with withall that side of stuff.
It's been great to get a lotmore sort of coverage on radio
in in Oz in the US and inEngland.
Um and it's good to see thenumbers, you know, spike up a
bit.
Yeah, as much as you try tocare about that stuff, it's
good, like you know, the thefollowing is continuing to grow,
and it's nice to see that everyday new people are discovering
(22:38):
the band and looking back intothe archive of stuff we've done
in the past as well and gettingto discover that, you know.
Um I think we're a real slowburn sort of sort of band.
I think we just continue to dothings and let that um, you
know, continue that audiencecontinue to grow quite
naturally.
I think that's just sort of Ilike being this sort of hidden
secret kind of more of a cultyfollowing thing, but you know,
(22:59):
yeah, I'm really, really happywith how well I mean the
validation is great.
colleyc (23:03):
I mean, I think it's very well deserved too.
I think you guys put outsomething that will be listened
to for a long time to come.
Um the great thing about musicis it just keeps going
regardless, right?
I mean it's out there in theether now, which I really
appreciate you guys putting itout there.
Uh kind of to wrap things up,guys, again, thanks so much for
(23:23):
for finding a spot to have thischat with me.
And um I've really enjoyed yourkind of stories of how all this
came to be and your process.
Um I guess like my lastquestion is what what what can
we expect uh for the end of thisyear going into 2026 for high
school?
Luke (23:42):
Yeah, well we we have a world like a tour of the US and
then Europe and then the UK andCanada and Australia and Canada
too, yeah.
Um two shows in Canada uhstarting next year.
Um and then I feel like afterthat tour is done, we're gonna
get onto the second album reallyquickly.
We're gonna get it done.
Rory (24:00):
Yeah, I think even the plan is almost like we get we
got this show in Berlin, it'sthe last run of the in-store,
the rough trade in-stores.
And it was sort of back inMelbourne for for summer, so we
were even thinking about takinga very different stroke to the
second record and kind of notletting it blow out to be this
two-year process and and tryingto write most of it between now
(24:21):
and when we head on tour, roadtest the tracks, you know, um
alive and then record it when weget back and you know, album a
year, that's that's the goalnow, I think.
Just try and not get tooprecious about things and put
stuff out and just allow that tobe a representation of that
time rather than you knowfalling into perfectionism and
(24:41):
making things, you know,overworking stuff.
So but yeah, definitely justyou know, we want to be
prolific.
I think we want to try andrelease release as much as we
can moving forward and um yeah,uh making the exact sort of
music that we want to make andnot you know making music we
think other people want to hear,just doing exactly what we
(25:02):
think we want to do, and we'relucky enough to work with a team
of people that allow us to dothat and not have to compromise
on our sounds at all.
So that's you know, that'sbrilliant.
colleyc (25:10):
Yeah, yeah, so that's a great guy.
Well, I wish you all the bestum in this leg.
I mean you're on tour rightnow, and um I'll put all the
info for the tours on uh on thispodcast so that people can go
and check you out and uh I'lldefinitely if you're coming my
way, I'll come and uh check youguys out.
I'd love to see you guys playlive.
(25:31):
Like, wow.
It must be quite the show.
Luke (25:35):
All right, thanks so much, Chris.
Thanks so much, Chris, reallyappreciate it.
Thanks for having us on theshow.
We are another episode of the ifitbeyourwill Podcast
coming at you, season six.
Um, is a machine at this point.
I can hardly stop it.
Um, it just keeps going andgoing.
And today um we're kind of I'mI'm reaching over.
Well, they're in transit withuh high school, um, who are kind
of traveling between shows anduh so they're kind of in the
(01:00):
world.
We'll just say they're outthere in the world at this
point, enjoying themselves, anduh we're gonna have a little
chat about their their latestrecord, which came out October
31st, which is theirself-titled.
Uh we were just talking a bitbefore we hopped on how I have
needed it to help me sleep.
Um, it's a really not to saythat it's uh slow core or uh you
(01:22):
know dream poppy, but it hasthis gene to it that is really
um calming and and exciting atthe same time.
And they'll tell us how theycreated this sound because I
think it's quite individual andspecial to hear.
Um, I have uh Rory and Scottyhere with um uh Rory and his
(01:45):
sister Lily is also Lily is inthe band.
She's not here with us today,but he will definitely represent
because I have some questionsabout sibling musicians.
Um so guys, thanks so much forhopping on here and and and
sharing a little bit about yourmusical journey here thus far.
Rory (02:01):
Oh, thank you.
Thanks for having us on, Chris.
colleyc (02:04):
Yeah, yeah, totally, totally.
Well, Rory, I'm I mean, let'sjust start with that.
Like, so you and your sisterhave been in this band since the
get-go together.
Is that correct?
Rory (02:14):
That's right.
So we sort of the origins ofthe band started during COVID in
2020, uh, and we were in a verysevere, extensive lockdown in
Melbourne.
Um, we had a very strict sortof regulations, and um, me and
Lily were living together.
So, you know, work kind of bothdried up for both of us, um,
(02:39):
and we had nothing better to dobut to sort of start a new
project.
Uh and it was it's kind ofLily's first experiences as a
musician.
Uh, I've been in bands for along time, but um, me and Scotty
had been in bands together inthe past.
He was living in Poland at thetime.
Um, and me and Lily sort ofcultivated this almost this kind
of look and this aestheticbefore it was anything kind of
(03:01):
sonic.
But um we had this, you know,idea of this sort of gothic uh
imagery and these ideas of thesekind of sibling sort of gothy
twin thing or somethinginitially, and then it kind of
developed, and then initially wewere called Rosary, like the
the sort of um origins of it.
(03:23):
We were called Rosary.
And then Scotty came back,obviously because of COVID, had
to come back to Melbourne, andwe sort of talked to him about
it, and we had this idea of whatit was going to look like, and
we we knew what it wanted wewanted it to sound like.
Um, and then yeah, that becamelike a bit of a kind of
springboard for the wholeproject.
We sort of just used thatinitial sort of cultivation of
(03:43):
the look and everything, and thesound kind of came around it.
But um, yeah, Lily was actuallyplaying drums initially, which
was quite funny.
Um, you know, and she's she'spicks up things very quickly, so
she was she was good, but thenwe decided all the tracks needed
to be at least 180 BPM.
Um, so she moved on to thesynth at that point.
Um, but yeah, she's a massivepart of the sort of origins of
(04:06):
the band and um still tours withus uh to this day, but yeah,
she's she's finishing uni at themoment, so she's not with us in
Europe right now.
But yeah.
colleyc (04:15):
Interesting.
And Scotty, what about whatabout your beginnings?
Like, where did you first umkind of get the idea to either
you know to reach out to Rory orto like want to be a part of a
band with him?
How did how did thatrelationship first start off for
you guys?
Luke (04:32):
Yeah.
Um, well, me and Burie were inbands together kind of a couple
years before um high schoolstarted.
Um and that kind of band thatwe were in kind of disbanded.
We were doing our own thing.
I moved to Poland and was doingmy Masters of Fine Art in
Poland, and then COVID hit, um,and I had to come back to to
(04:52):
Melbourne.
Um yeah, and then I just linkedwith Rory and we were talking,
he talked me through the idea ofthe band and Yeah, you know,
like you said, I didn't reallyhave much else to do because uh
Melbourne was in such a severelockdown, it kind of gave us a
lot of opportunity to writemusic.
Rory (05:11):
We weren't super spreaders, but we were a little
bit sneaky with you know, sortof we were only supposed to go
out for an hour a day foractivity or to be able to do
shopping, that was it.
But you know, we'd find ameeting point or we'd sneak over
to each other's houses and workon a track and pull out the the
focus right, the little ScarletPro.
Yeah, yeah, it was juststealthy.
First EP was recorded on and umstealthy origins, but yeah, uh
(05:35):
very sneaky goes, very sneakygoes.
Stealthy in time, and I feellike that worked itself into
that initial EP.
And you know, a lot of peoplecame out of COVID obviously
being like, wow, that was theworst experience.
But for us, it sort of gave usthis kind of focus in a way,
gave us this opportunity to justnot really have anything to
think about besides wanting tomake art.
Luke (05:56):
I really liked it because we made so much music, and like
we got signed to this UK labelin COVID, and then once COVID
lifted, we like moved to the UK.
So, like I kind of look back onon lockdown, you know, it was
difficult in some regards, butin other regards, it was like I
look back on it quite fondly.
colleyc (06:12):
Yep, totally.
Well, I've spoken to manymusicians and they they all kind
of reflect on COVID as a timewhere they created so much
stuff, um like inventories ofsongs that they're still dipping
into now, you know, like whatare we maybe four or five years
later?
Um it it seemed like a realcreative creative spurt.
(06:34):
And yeah, Scotty, I'm I'm I'mcurious about when you look at
Rory and what his sister weredoing during COVID and them
sharing the music with you whatdid you think about it and what
did you think that you could addto it that uh that you were
excited about?
Luke (06:56):
Well, I suppose like Rory said, it started more as an
aesthetic than it did a um anauditory thing.
Uh and it was presented to meas like kind of a mood board and
like uh like like photos of ofof Rory and Billy.
Um and yeah, it's just cool andit resonated with me, and then
um yeah, man, then we just likestarted to get the tracks
(07:18):
together.
Rory (07:19):
It is an interesting way to sort of start a project
though, is sort of you kind ofall land on something outside of
what the music is itself, andlike that in its own way lets
everyone interpret that look andthat visual and kind of give
their own flaves of what thesongs should sound like.
So it was a quite aninteresting sort of angle, and
(07:40):
um it was super beneficial forus because it kind of meant
we're all on the same pagewithout ever having to really
you know jam together on thisproject, so you know, at that
point.
colleyc (07:50):
So um do you think do you think it was the influence
of just because you guys hadplayed so previously together
you'd been in bands togetherthat you kind of already knew
what you know someone was gonnabring into the mix?
Rory (08:05):
It was also that the bands were in together in the past.
I feel like we're you know,four and five pieces and stuff.
Um a lot of them were sort ofshoegazy, very like uh Brian
Jonestown Massacre, sort of uhmy bloody Valentine inspired
kind of bands.
And I feel like we were alwaysmost aligned out of all the
members, you know, and sort ofwe had other members that wanted
(08:26):
to sort of take it a slightlydifferent direction, and we sort
of collectively wanted to takeit another direction.
So it did feel, although it'svery different to the music we'd
made in the past, it did feellike an extension of like what
we wanted to do with it, and uhyeah, it's almost a continuation
of our past, you know.
Luke (08:43):
And yeah, yeah, when when the band that we were in
together broke up, it was kindof like we didn't really want it
to break up, so it's kind oflike a continuation of like the
collaboration we'd already had,I feel, yeah, in a sonic sense.
Rory (08:56):
Yeah, it's very easy to sort of once you find someone
that you have that creativeconnection with, it's very sort
of easy to continue to progresstogether.
It's almost like yeah, I feellike it takes a very long time
to find someone that you cancollaborate with like that.
And when you have fewer people,um it it really is uh it speeds
(09:22):
the process up a lot, I think,you know.
Luke (09:24):
Yeah, two two or three is very agile.
I feel like once you startgetting into four or five, it's
like it's difficult to manage.
And one is too lonely.
One is too lonely.
colleyc (09:36):
And how do how do your songs come to be?
Um, who brings what in, andlike how do you build a song as
a group?
Rory (09:46):
We have a few different processes.
Um we're both sort ofmulti-instrumentalists, like we
have our kind of instrumentsthat we play live, but in the
studio, you know, uh althoughScotty plays bass live, like I
might pick up the bass and comeup with a bass line.
Scotty plays a lot of guitar,we both play synth, uh, I play
(10:06):
drums as well.
So, you know, there's normallyone core thing that gets brought
to the table, it might be abass line, and then the other
person, I think, will often tryand just riff off that and find
our our usual um sort of focusis to make kind of the catchiest
(10:27):
and the most sort of emotiveharmony we can between two
instruments.
So if Scotty comes in with abass line, I'm gonna we'll work
together for an hour, he'll belooping the bass line, and I'll
be kind of riffing on guitaruntil I find the notes that gel
with that to create this sort offeeling that you were speaking
(10:48):
about before.
This kind of comforting butalso nostalgic kind of feeling.
Luke (10:53):
But there but there's no one way to skin a cat.
You know, there's no formula,uh, we don't do things in a
particular way or a particularprocess.
It just comes together or itdoesn't, and there's not really
any way that we do it.
We just it's just tied in,isn't it?
You just have to put in thework.
Yeah, we got totally damning.
Rory (11:12):
I talk about that a lot, how like you just have to be
there, you know.
90% of the time you're in therein the studio, it's not
landing, it's not working, andthen that random 10% of the time
this thing sparks, and as longas you're there to catch it.
I know that um Noel Gallagherhad a famous saying that you
gotta be in the studio everyday.
So when the you know, when thesong falls out of the sky, you
(11:34):
you gotta be there.
Because if you're not there,then Bono will Bono will be and
Bono Bono will get the song.
So um I like that.
colleyc (11:42):
Yeah, I like that.
And what does Lily bring tothis mix?
So I mean, you were you werementioning too that she is was
just starting when COVID washappening music-wise.
You guys already had this bond.
What was it that she brought tothe two of you that that really
helped start to establish thedirection that you guys would
(12:05):
head towards?
Rory (12:07):
I I think it's really interesting and important to
have a person in a project thatdoesn't have necessarily a
musical background and that canadd this sort of spontaneous,
uh, very expressive nature tothe whole dynamic.
Um, you look at, you know, lookat bands like the Sex Pistols,
for instance, the the banditself are all, you know,
(12:30):
relative, especially the drummerand the guitarists are great
musicians.
Then having that wildness of ofJohnny Rotten or Sid Visitts or
whatever kind of throws it intothis chaos mates sort of order
that I think is reallyimportant.
Yeah, yeah.
And you know, that Stooges is agreat example as well.
Like I think um you you youthere's a great contrast there.
And Lily um was good at that.
(12:53):
She sort of we kind of had thiscertain way we'd approach
things because we've both beenplaying music for a long time.
And to have someone who's alsoa bit younger than us uh to come
in and and add their own thingwas really important.
Luke (13:07):
Provided like taste, you know.
She had like a good good taste,and like, yeah, maybe because
she was divorced from the musictraditional music creation
process, she's had a good likeoverview of like what was
working and what wasn't, youknow, in a non-musical sense.
That's very valuable.
You know, it's very valuable.
Rory (13:25):
I do think that also, you know, we'd been working towards
this for a long time, and thefact that we were able to, you
know, move over here to the UKand then tour and get to the US
and try all these things for uswere these big goals, and it was
interesting that we'd sort ofworked up to that, and this was
her first band.
So I think there was someadjustment in that sense of
(13:46):
like, you know, we'd really beenhad this goal ahead of us for a
long time.
So for her, it was all kind ofhappening quite quickly.
Um, and you know, thateventually got to a stage where
she went, you know, I want myfocus to be touring live and and
doing this, but she also hasher own aspirations and her own
things.
So she's kind of this figurethat sort of dips in and out of
(14:08):
the band at different points,which is a really cool thing as
well, you know.
colleyc (14:11):
Yeah, that's really cool.
That's cool.
And like when do you guys likestart to figure out that you're
on to something with a song?
Um like you had mentioned,okay, you'll start riffing on a
bass line and then you'll startto layer in a guitar riff or
some chord progressions.
Like, when do you guys get asense that you're on to
something that would be worththe put down on tape or a
(14:34):
record?
You know, like where do youwhere do what is that feeling or
that sense of look that youguys give each other when it's
like, oh yeah, this is gonna bea banger?
Rory (14:45):
It's a brilliant feeling.
Um, and like I said before, itdoes it is quite rare.
And when and you know, when itpops out, it's like it's the
best, it's the best feeling, youknow.
Um but I think we both knowmutually like something will
land and we'll just hope that wesort of captured it or we can
remember it.
And so so often, you know, I'llbe half asleep just about to
(15:06):
nod off, and then something popsinto my head on a track we've
been working on, like a vocalmelody, and I roll over and grab
my phone and sort of blurt thissort of melody into a voice
memo.
Um, and then try and listenback to it the next morning, no
context, and often it doesn'treally make any sense.
I'm like, okay, that actuallysounds shit.
But um but uh no, we'ddefinitely dream state almost,
(15:28):
eh?
colleyc (15:29):
Like that's yeah, it's a great technique as well.
Rory (15:32):
Who is that philosopher that held a spoon?
He held a metal.
This is someone's philosopherheld a spoon in his hand, and as
he was falling asleep, his griphe'd drop the spoon, and the
spoon hitting the ground wouldwake him up and he'd write down
ideas.
That's what he's thinking.
Um, we both know, and there'sno real way of um articulating
it through words, what thefeeling is, but it just sort of
(15:56):
hits, and we go, like, okay,that that's something, you know,
that that's it's a tonal thing.
Luke (16:00):
I think it's a tone that like is like high school.
It sounds like a high schooltrap.
I don't exactly know what itis, but it's like, oh, it kind
of has this like happy, sad,nostalgic sort of feeling.
Timeless feeling in the moment.
And then you're like, oh, thereit is, and then you can you can
work with that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Hard to say what it is, but youknow it when you come across
it.
colleyc (16:19):
Yeah, totally.
And I was trying to like placeyou guys, like where you know,
where do you fit in between likeyou know, everything that's out
there?
And I mean, there are sometouches of so many different
kinds of music that it's hard tosay it's this, you know.
But like you just said, uhScotty, I love that, is that you
know when high school isplaying, you know, the sound,
(16:42):
like because it just sounds sooriginal um and unique in a way,
you know.
Yeah, no, I think that youryour your relationship is
delivered through these songs ina way, and it just shows the
tightness because they are tightsongs.
And it kind of brings me to mynext question about you know,
the record it came out in inOctober uh 31st of this year.
(17:05):
What was the process of puttingthis record together?
Um, how did it begin?
Are these songs that maybe dateback to COVID, or are these
songs pretty recent that are onthis record?
Because I mean it's a 1212-song record.
I mean, it's it's a you know,you got a lot of tunes on there,
and um kind of maybe walk usthrough a little bit of like how
(17:28):
did this get legs and and howdid it come to be?
Rory (17:32):
We kind of moved, uh we're uh we met a guy called, well,
we got a guy called Rich Walkerreached out to us.
He works at a label called 4ADin London, and he sort of
started managing us, startedtrying to help us kind of he
signed us to his own labeloutside of 4AD just for the
first EP, which we'd alreadywritten and recorded.
But the incentive was theincentive was always to get us
(17:54):
over there, uh, try and sign abigger deal and start touring
and you know pushing this thingin the UK.
Um and we did that basically.
We we we came over and we youknow toured and got on some
really great support tourspretty quickly and were starting
to really build something.
Um but yeah, the idea wasalways heading towards this sort
(18:17):
of debut record.
Um, and things could havehappened a lot quicker, I feel,
in terms of us turning itaround.
But between touring and, youknow, lifestyle in London is
very turbulent, you know, it'squite hard to, you know, get
everything together quickly.
But I'm very glad that it tookus as long as it did because I
feel like our songwriting justkind of continued to develop.
I feel like if we did a fulllength as soon as we rocked up
(18:39):
in, you know, the start of 2022,it would have a more, you know,
this naivety to it or somethingin the songwriting, which could
have been cool as well.
But um the process of thisalbum was a lot of demoing um
over the years that we're in inLondon.
Uh, we had a studio in SouthBermansey.
Uh, we'd go in there every day,very grisly part of town, very
(19:01):
grim, very rainy.
Uh, so we kind of set up thislittle haven in the studio that
was warm and nice and had youknow nice couches and some art,
and we sort of used that as thiskind of little hub where we
could escape the you know, thegrisly London winter.
But we yeah, we just kind ofworked in them most days, tried
(19:22):
to treat it like a nine to five,try and go in and sit in there
and just chip away at tunes.
Um, and there's plenty ofplenty of songs that came to you
know, we wrote quite quicklywhen we rocked up, and they're
three years old now, and it'sgreat to see them, you know,
yeah, be able to be releasedeventually after so long.
It's so such a nice feeling tosee things that you've worked on
(19:46):
for a long time be uploaded andbe able to be listened to by by
your audience.
Um, but then there's plenty ofsongs that came together
incredibly quickly, quite closeto your release date, really.
Yeah, exactly.
So we're working right down tothe wire.
Um We have a slight issuesometimes of overworking things,
I think, and not knowing whento call it.
But then every now and thenthat extra five percent put in
(20:07):
totally makes the song.
Um Sony Erickson, for instance,one of the lead singles.
You know, we'd packed upeverything in the UK, we'd, you
know, finished recording andwe'd move back to Melbourne uh
for summer.
And we were just listening toit, we're like, God, that could
really just use some littlething.
And we ended up totallyreworking the track, and we just
(20:28):
had this magical day in thestudio where everything kind of
reworked itself and it turnedout to be a much better song
than I think what we hadinitially.
So we wrote and recorded it allin one day.
So yeah.
Luke (20:43):
Uh and we released most of the uh recorded most of the
tracks uh with them over a monthlong period.
Um and then we got it uh mixedby Claudius Mittendorfer uh in
London as well.
So most of it was done in theUK, in London, between London
and Lewis.
Um and then a few pickups inMelbourne, but mostly mostly in
(21:04):
the UK.
Rory (21:05):
Yeah, we joved a lot of songs.
There's a lot of extra stuff werecorded that didn't make it,
but yeah, yeah.
Hopefully we'll get onto asophomore album or something,
we'll say.
Yeah, we write a lot of songsand then call a lot of songs.
colleyc (21:17):
Okay.
And Scotty, how do you feel thatthe album's been received by
the world?
Um have you noticed thingsunexpectedly, or are people
getting kind of what you guyswanted to deliver?
Like how how's how's your kindof retrospect on, you know, it's
been out for you know almosttwo months now.
(21:38):
What where where are you guysat with how you feel about what
you created?
Luke (21:43):
Yeah, it seems to be uh receives really well.
Um people seem to really likeit.
Um I'm really happy with umwith what people are saying and
um the reach it's getting.
Yeah, yeah.
No, I'm super happy.
Rory (21:54):
I think uh uh Yeah, I feel like I try and not focus too
heavily on, you know, numbersand algorithms and there's
something just vapid and that Ifind unartistic to me about that
kind of comparison betweenother bands or expectations, but
obviously at the same time, youknow, you want it to be
(22:16):
business, you want it to work.
So I'm really happy with withall that side of stuff.
It's been great to get a lotmore sort of coverage on radio
in in Oz in the US and inEngland.
Um and it's good to see thenumbers, you know, spike up a
bit.
Yeah, as much as you try tocare about that stuff, it's
good, like you know, the thefollowing is continuing to grow,
and it's nice to see that everyday new people are discovering
(22:38):
the band and looking back intothe archive of stuff we've done
in the past as well and gettingto discover that, you know.
Um I think we're a real slowburn sort of sort of band.
I think we just continue to dothings and let that um, you
know, continue that audiencecontinue to grow quite
naturally.
I think that's just sort of Ilike being this sort of hidden
secret kind of more of a cultyfollowing thing, but you know,
(22:59):
yeah, I'm really, really happywith how well I mean the
validation is great.
colleyc (23:03):
I mean, I think it's very well deserved too.
I think you guys put outsomething that will be listened
to for a long time to come.
Um the great thing about musicis it just keeps going
regardless, right?
I mean it's out there in theether now, which I really
appreciate you guys putting itout there.
Uh kind of to wrap things up,guys, again, thanks so much for
(23:23):
for finding a spot to have thischat with me.
And um I've really enjoyed yourkind of stories of how all this
came to be and your process.
Um I guess like my lastquestion is what what what can
we expect uh for the end of thisyear going into 2026 for high
school?
Luke (23:42):
Yeah, well we we have a world like a tour of the US and
then Europe and then the UK andCanada and Australia and Canada
too, yeah.
Um two shows in Canada uhstarting next year.
Um and then I feel like afterthat tour is done, we're gonna
get onto the second album reallyquickly.
We're gonna get it done.
Rory (24:00):
Yeah, I think even the plan is almost like we get we
got this show in Berlin, it'sthe last run of the in-store,
the rough trade in-stores.
And it was sort of back inMelbourne for for summer, so we
were even thinking about takinga very different stroke to the
second record and kind of notletting it blow out to be this
two-year process and and tryingto write most of it between now
(24:21):
and when we head on tour, roadtest the tracks, you know, um
alive and then record it when weget back and you know, album a
year, that's that's the goalnow, I think.
Just try and not get tooprecious about things and put
stuff out and just allow that tobe a representation of that
time rather than you knowfalling into perfectionism and
(24:41):
making things, you know,overworking stuff.
So but yeah, definitely justyou know, we want to be
prolific.
I think we want to try andrelease release as much as we
can moving forward and um yeah,uh making the exact sort of
music that we want to make andnot you know making music we
think other people want to hear,just doing exactly what we
(25:02):
think we want to do, and we'relucky enough to work with a team
of people that allow us to dothat and not have to compromise
on our sounds at all.
So that's you know, that'sbrilliant.
colleyc (25:10):
Yeah, yeah, so that's a great guy.
Well, I wish you all the bestum in this leg.
I mean you're on tour rightnow, and um I'll put all the
info for the tours on uh on thispodcast so that people can go
and check you out and uh I'lldefinitely if you're coming my
way, I'll come and uh check youguys out.
I'd love to see you guys playlive.
(25:31):
Like, wow.
It must be quite the show.
Luke (25:35):
All right, thanks so much, Chris.
Thanks so much, Chris, reallyappreciate it.
Thanks for having us on theshow.
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The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.