Creative Conversation 001: Breaking Down Black & Blue With SLUMBERJACK

We caught up with Fletcher from the legendary Perth outfit, SLUMBERJACK. As you probably know the Futuremag Music team are big fans of the project with the outlet continually featuring the duo. Now SLUMBERJACK have returned with Black & Blue, a collection of four sensational records. Delve in as Fletcher breaks down the EP track by track, plus gives us insight to another recent release, ‘Inferno’.

Futuremag Music: Title track ‘Black & Blue’ is a collaboration with Cory Enemy, featuring strong vocals from Mothica and is a great introduction to the EP. What was the process behind this collaboration?

SLUMBERJACK: Cory was one of the very first people we met over in LA and we immediately clicked and became friends. Similarly to the way a lot of the tracks on this EP came together, we just worked on it bit by bit when we were hanging out as mates, never really switching on “work” mode. It took about 3 years of tweaking and some luck of the draw that it landed where we wanted it to at a time when we felt ready to release it. Of course, Mothica absolutely killed the vocal line, that was one of the things which we felt didn’t really need to change at all from the get go.

Futuremag Music: ‘Hades’ with FOMO takes a more sinister turn with gnarly synths and harsh drums. What was the production process behind this track?

SLUMBERJACK: We met the FOMO boys when they supported us at a show in San Francisco – very shortly after they sent us a little loop of the drop part which we fell in love with. There was just so much grunt and energy and we were honestly shocked that we somehow managed to build it even bigger. When you have such a strong drop section, breakdowns can be quite tough so we went through a ton of different versions from this, at one point it sounded very Tim Burton-esque.

Futuremag Music: I love the cyberpunk and militaristic aura that appears in ‘NORF’. Could you talk us through the track’s production and how you achieved such a powerful atmosphere?

SLUMBERJACK: The final version of ‘NORF’ is a testament to the power of technical tweaking. We generally try to avoid getting overly involved with the finicky details of sound design when it comes to ‘writing’ music because it definitely takes away from the emotional aspects. But once we had the general ideas down here, we really got stuck into the hard math of digital sound and tried to absolutely maximise the “largeness” of the sound. It’s a constant learning process but we’re really happy with how this one came out.

Futuremag Music: ‘Crucified’ with Daktyl and MOONZz is a great finishing track to the EP. Throughout the release, what was it like working with all these different artists?

SLUMBERJACK: This EP has been all about working with friends and I think you can really feel it in the music. Everything came about quite organically; ‘Crucified’, for example, started after a game of chess in Daktyl’s back yard and built from there. Even though Morgan and I are always collaborating with each other in a way, it’s refreshing to get a different person with their own techniques and style in the room.

Futuremag Music: Black & Blue is a return to the classic SLUMBERJACK sound, how does this EP compared stylistically to SARAWAK?

SLUMBERJACK: The Black & Blue EP is our first real “LA” record. It definitely feels more grounded in an urban environment, quite grungy sounding in parts and definitely a cleaner sound. And of course, every track on it came from its own unique LA experience.

Futuremag Music: To wrap up the EP talk, if Black & Blue was a cocktail, what would be in it to best describe its sonic?

SLUMBERJACK: To me it feels like it would be something berry flavoured, probably with a vodka base and a garnish of chilli salt. Morgan’s synaesthesia has always described the ‘SLUMBERJACK sound’ as being distinctly elderflower flavoured so hopefully that would be in there too.

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Futuremag Music: Shifting away from the EP, could you please give us some insight to 'Inferno' your mammoth collaboration with ShockOne, HWLS, TWERK and Loston? How did you orchestrate so many artists into a cohesive piece of music?

SLUMBERJACK: As I’m sure everyone is aware now, there have been horrendous bushfires happening in Australia this summer. Being on the west coast of Australia, we’ve been pretty lucky to avoid the brunt of the disaster but we wanted to do our part. It just so happened that all these artists (all originally from Perth) happened to be back in town after Christmas and we decided to jump in the studio to write a record to raise some money. There was also a limited edition tee that Loston designed and all the profits are being donated to the Australian Red Cross.

Futuremag Music: With the extreme climate events happening around the world, in particular fires in Australia; what role does music play in raising awareness and support for climate causes?

SLUMBERJACK: It’s been incredible and humbling to see the music industry rally to raise much needed funding to support those affected. I think everyone has a part to play though, not just the music industry, in talking about these issues and taking responsibility for their personal actions. It’s easy to feel insignificant in the face of the atrocious polluting and pillaging of earth’s resources that big corporations engage in but at the end of the day, those products filter down to and are consumed by people like you and me.