Melbourne's LUCIANBLOMKAMP is a fearless producer. He's not afraid to experiment with his music, and he's not afraid to confront the big questions in his work. Life, death, survival, and the fate of everyone. These are some of the topics Lucian meets head on with his latest single Help Me Out. Jagged synths, narcotic beats and compelling melodies form a delicately fractured reflection on our shared humanity. It's the first sample of his forthcoming Post-Nature album, and we could not be more interested to hear what's next. In the meantime we caught up with Lucian about the ideas behind the song and his upcoming record.THUMP: A couple of years ago you released a self-titled EP, and the upcoming release will be your first full-length album. What has changed, and what remains constant in your musical interests and methods?
I would think that the biggest change this time around would definitely be how I've disciplined myself during the music making process. I made most of the songs from the EP while I was still in school, so I didn't really have much time to perfect things. Listening back there are so many things I know I would have made differently if I had have put more time into the songs. This time around I've kind of had to eat my own words seeing as I first started creating Post-Nature just as I dropped out of university. At the time it really felt like an all-or-nothing situation, so these songs are pretty much a product of me wanting to make the absolute best album I could. No short-cuts. I'm definitely happy with how things have turned out.That's great. And there are some strong overarching themes to the album Post-Nature. You've mentioned it's an "examination of how we experience and interpret our lives in the modern era. As mankind progresses, we become more and more detached from the ideas and concepts that make us human." Could you explain how you arrived at this as a starting point for the record? And how did your thoughts evolve as the writing and recording developed?
As I said before, I started making Post-Nature just as I dropped out of uni. My entire life up until that point had been focussed on violin, and to leave that one aspect of my life in which I felt most confident kind of made me question everything. At the time nothing really felt real. In a sense, nothing really felt authentic. But that's not quite what I mean. I'm sure it doesn't makes sense to hear from the outside, but it was as if I just woke up to the world. Playing and making music was all I knew and loved. It seemed strange to suggest that doing what you love isn't enough. It seemed as though the entire world was living out of fear, and now after all these years of doing what I loved, I too would have to fall into line. We assume people enjoy their lives living in the modern era, although I don't think many people do. It seems to me that no one is really happy. We, as human-beings have become post-natural. The world is designed so there's no escape and because of this people need to cover up their unhappiness. We've all essentially become clones. This applies to every single aspect of our lives and it's worse to know there's no going back from here. I won't pretend like this doesn't apply to me. My music itself is no doubt just a reinterpretation of everything that's come before me. I guess I just want to try my best to stay aware of these things, especially when writing music seeing as it's so close to me.These ideas of what Post-Nature might mean seem particularly timely and interesting. How do you go about exploring these concepts musically?
I think this whole Post-Natural concept actually ties into music a lot. I would love my music to capture an essence of human expression, within all of the benefits of electronic production. I would love to create a sound which had the passion of a human voice. This was definitely another reason behind the album's title. Obviously I'm not at that point yet, but I think that's somewhat my goal with music making. The single and video deals powerfully with ideas of mortality. Do you remember the first time you were aware that life is finite – what triggered this realisation, and what if anything did you do about it?
Oddly enough this was actually just before I finished school. I can't say what exactly triggered this feeling. I think I started to feel unwell about it before I actually knew what it was I was stressing over. Looking back, it could possibly have been because it was when I was first starting to take control of me life, and perhaps subconsciously I wasn't happy about this. At the time everything just seemed pointless. These feelings continued to play on my mind for a really long time. I was still feeling this way when I first thought to create Post-Nature so obviously these feelings hugely influenced the direction of the album._Post-Nature _is released August 15 on Yes Please / Remote Control__
I would think that the biggest change this time around would definitely be how I've disciplined myself during the music making process. I made most of the songs from the EP while I was still in school, so I didn't really have much time to perfect things. Listening back there are so many things I know I would have made differently if I had have put more time into the songs. This time around I've kind of had to eat my own words seeing as I first started creating Post-Nature just as I dropped out of university. At the time it really felt like an all-or-nothing situation, so these songs are pretty much a product of me wanting to make the absolute best album I could. No short-cuts. I'm definitely happy with how things have turned out.That's great. And there are some strong overarching themes to the album Post-Nature. You've mentioned it's an "examination of how we experience and interpret our lives in the modern era. As mankind progresses, we become more and more detached from the ideas and concepts that make us human." Could you explain how you arrived at this as a starting point for the record? And how did your thoughts evolve as the writing and recording developed?
As I said before, I started making Post-Nature just as I dropped out of uni. My entire life up until that point had been focussed on violin, and to leave that one aspect of my life in which I felt most confident kind of made me question everything. At the time nothing really felt real. In a sense, nothing really felt authentic. But that's not quite what I mean. I'm sure it doesn't makes sense to hear from the outside, but it was as if I just woke up to the world. Playing and making music was all I knew and loved. It seemed strange to suggest that doing what you love isn't enough. It seemed as though the entire world was living out of fear, and now after all these years of doing what I loved, I too would have to fall into line. We assume people enjoy their lives living in the modern era, although I don't think many people do. It seems to me that no one is really happy. We, as human-beings have become post-natural. The world is designed so there's no escape and because of this people need to cover up their unhappiness. We've all essentially become clones. This applies to every single aspect of our lives and it's worse to know there's no going back from here. I won't pretend like this doesn't apply to me. My music itself is no doubt just a reinterpretation of everything that's come before me. I guess I just want to try my best to stay aware of these things, especially when writing music seeing as it's so close to me.These ideas of what Post-Nature might mean seem particularly timely and interesting. How do you go about exploring these concepts musically?
I think this whole Post-Natural concept actually ties into music a lot. I would love my music to capture an essence of human expression, within all of the benefits of electronic production. I would love to create a sound which had the passion of a human voice. This was definitely another reason behind the album's title. Obviously I'm not at that point yet, but I think that's somewhat my goal with music making. The single and video deals powerfully with ideas of mortality. Do you remember the first time you were aware that life is finite – what triggered this realisation, and what if anything did you do about it?
Oddly enough this was actually just before I finished school. I can't say what exactly triggered this feeling. I think I started to feel unwell about it before I actually knew what it was I was stressing over. Looking back, it could possibly have been because it was when I was first starting to take control of me life, and perhaps subconsciously I wasn't happy about this. At the time everything just seemed pointless. These feelings continued to play on my mind for a really long time. I was still feeling this way when I first thought to create Post-Nature so obviously these feelings hugely influenced the direction of the album._Post-Nature _is released August 15 on Yes Please / Remote Control__