Ahead of the release of their debut EP Polychronic, MICHAEL HOLLICK chatted to Laura Bailey and Kat Harley from Sydney electronic duo Mezko about synths, Soulwax and their New Year’s Eve plans.
How did you two meet?
Laura – We were introduced to one another by a mutual friend and first met at a festival in Sydney. Following that, we reconvened to play music and from there we just discovered common ground in the type of music that we both want to create.
What does Mezko mean?
Laura – It doesn’t mean anything. We wanted to create something that can have it’s own meaning and not something that already is defined.
How about the name of the EP then, Polychronic? Is there a meaning behind that or did you just like the sound of it?
Laura – [laughs] Well yes, and no. We first came up with the word as a phonetic thing and it seemed to suit the way that we worked. Then we looked into the word further and discovered that it has a really cool meaning about time not being linear, so that also seemed to fit. But yes, we are very attracted to the sound of words and their rhythm and I assume that comes from our musical nature.
What music inspired Polychronic?
Laura – At the time (of songwriting and recording) we were listening to a vast range of stuff and I guess the things that ties it all together, regardless of genre or era, is that lovely synth sound. So that includes things such as the 80s-pop of the Cars, modern French electro like Air or Justice and also Krautrock (like) Neu, through to the current releases of Johnny Jewel or the Dewaele Brothers (Soulwax).
Kat – In particular, that Soulwax record (From Deewee, released March 2017) showcases some of the musical goals that we really aspire to. Like it has great production and use of instruments, but there’s also a lot of play with songwriting and that’s something that we really try and do. Like on Trucks (the first song on the EP) there is a key change, well actually the whole song is basically a key change [laughs]. And something like that can be kind of risky as it’s so easy for that to sound cheesy. But somehow we managed it and so we’re pretty happy. And also it’s got a one word chorus. That was something that I always wanted to write, a chorus that is just one word repeated.
What are you most proud of on the EP?
Kat & Laura – Overall it would be that we didn’t just stick to one genre but rather mixed genres together. In terms of songs on the EP, it would be the track Polychronic. It’s an instrumental and it allows us to step away from the mics and get back to the things that we really love which is playing our instruments and the synths.
What does the future have in store for Mezko?
Laura – In the immediate future we are launching the EP this week and playing several live dates. And we just found out that we are playing a festival in Sydney on New Year’s Eve that 2ManyDJs are headlining, so that is very exciting given our love of Soulwax.
