Creative Conversations 030: COLLAR's Strangest Desires [Video Premiere]

Words by Joshua Bowling (Dream Coast)

Making their debut with the brooding Strangest Desires EP, COLLAR is a collaboration between Brisbane’s Spencer White and Charles Murdoch. Engrossingly dark, the release is the product of the push and shove between Murdoch’s immersive electronic production and White’s intense lyricism and yearning vocals. We caught up with Spencer White from COLLAR to learn more about the origins of the group and how they approached the writing of the Strangest Desires EP.

Futuremag Music: Happy Birthday COLLAR, congratulations on your debut EP! How does it feel to have this collection of music out?

COLLAR: Thanks! It’s a relief to have it finally seeing the light of day. We’ve both been eagerly standing by, testing our patience over the past few months. Of course there’s always the nerves of an initial response you gather from the first few days after releasing, but I think we’re just happy that it’s out there .

Futuremag Music: To the outsider, it seems you have both come together from opposing ends of the music sphere, with Spencer coming from a band background (Morning Harvey) and Charles being an electronic producer. How did you begin collaborating?

COLLAR: We’ve known one another for almost ten years now, playing in similar bands and having the same circle of friends, Brisbane being the tight knit place that it is. Initially I was probably just a fan of Charles’s production and had a need to explore that side of music at some point.

The both of us had pretty similar tastes in experimental/ avant-garde music whether it was electronic or otherwise, so I think it really just stemmed from that. There was a certain need to make something that was an all inclusive performance, making it as much about the interaction of our light installations and visuals as the music. Collaborating together I was totally immersed and made aware of, a world of things that I had little idea existed, which was exciting.

Futuremag Music: There is a dystopian atmosphere that is created across the EP, particularly in the sound design of ‘Euclid’ and ‘Tomorrow I’ll Disappear’. I imagine this mood pervades the writing process. How do you approach recording and production together?

COLLAR: It usually starts with a concept from either of us, whether that’s a loop or a song. From there it’s just throwing it back and forward with arrangements and ideas. Most of the time we have a fairly concrete idea at the start of writing.

Then it generally evolves quickly into something we’re happy with. The atmosphere and mood usually steers us into a concept of how to translate and express each song with the visuals and light installation.

Futuremag Music: The year has given us some unexpected collaborations brought about by the pandemic. The urgency of COLLAR sounds very timely, did the current social climate factor into this release?

COLLAR: We haven’t really stopped writing since we started working together. I think it was at the beginning of 2019. I can’t speak for Charlie but I can remember being fairly exhausted creatively at that point which is quite normal for anyone I guess and definitely helped in a huge way for getting me back to being excited again.

This year hasn’t changed much in the way we work together, it’s only really made us write more and spend more time on the visual aspect of our show. Oh.. and eagerly awaiting to play live.

Futuremag Music: The title track ‘Strangest Desires’ and the EP announcement have an undeniably cinematic quality. How do visuals play into what you do together?

COLLAR: Trying to take the performance side of things further was always high on the list. The idea of immersing people into some kind of “fabricated experience” and having the ability to change the way your music is perceived & swallowed is a huge part of where we want to be. Hopefully by gelling those facets together it becomes more of an experience rather than just a show.

Futuremag Music: What is next for COLLAR?

COLLAR: We’re going to continue to release music as it comes and take the visual side of things as far as we can. Hopefully this year will have gone quickly enough.