“The EPs were both definitely experiments where I was figuring out how to record stuff and write stuff. The album was still quite an experiment, it always is when I’m recording, but I think I had a more definite goal in mind.”
Turning garage recordings into national hits, Nick Sowersby has transformed psych-pop with his catchy, layered blend of tunes through the band, Sunbeam Sound Machine. AARON BRYANS speaks with him upon the release of his debut album, Wonderer.
Whilst having a live band behind him, Nick Sowersby has very much dedicated his time to writing layered and lyrically engaging tunes. Fresh out of his garage in Collingwood, Sowersby broke out of his home and onto Australian radios when his debut double EP, One/Sunbeam Sound Machine became feature album on both FBi and RRR.
Now, after a lengthy writing process, Sowersby has an album’s worth of new Sunbeam Sound Machine tunes ready for fans.
“The album took about eight months to finish which I didn’t anticipate,” Sowersby reveals. “It’s sort of a lengthy process. From song to song sometimes they happen really quickly but getting an album’s worth certainly took a while. It hasn’t been too hard translating it into a live setting, we get it down to the most basic parts of the song and putting that together doesn’t usually take to long. The album was definitely trickier then the EP, though. I recorded it all myself, that definitely makes it take a bit longer but there’s definitely some benefits to it.
“It’s a lot more dynamic live and you can sort of improvise a bit more which is really good.”
Continuing the entrancing sound he achieved in his first EP, Sowersby has taken his sound to the next level, fine crafting each tracks layers and enlisting Stu Mackenzie (King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard) and Andrei Ereman (Chet Faker) to respectively mix and master Wonderer.
“Stu and Andrei had a big impact,” Sowersby explains. “They made it sound a million times better then if I had mixed and mastered it. They made it sound bigger and wider and definitely more cohesive.”
“The EPs were both definitely experiments where I was figuring out how to record stuff and write stuff. The album was still quite an experiment, it always is when I’m recording, but I think I had more definite goal in mind. I think the sound has evolved, it’s a little bit more rhythmic and I tried to use the layers a bit more effectively. With the EP I was throwing everything at it whilst with the album I made sure everything was there for a reason.”
Drawing inspiration from a collection of questions within his mind, Sowersby looks to take listeners on a musical journey in Wonderer by generating its own atmosphere no matter the environment.
“I didn’t have anything in mind to achieve, I just sort of had some stuff on my mind that I naturally started to sing and write about. It’s more questions than answers, but it was just a few things that kept naturally coming up.
“I think there was a few different kinds of music that I’d been listening to and I just wanted to take little elements of each. I wanted the album to have a good flow to it and lyrically I wanted it to be a bit stronger than the EPs as well.”
