Interview: Getting to Know LANKS

November 22, 2016

LANKS has recently released his highly anticipated EP ‘Viet Rose’ and is heading out on a national tour with Hein Cooper this December. We asked him to tell us about himself:

I am LANKS, or as my mum calls me, Will. I am a musician making alt-pop kinda music. I studied music improvisation – ‘winging it’ as I fondly think of it – at the Victorian College of the Arts and now make as much music as I can without going too crazy.

“Viet Rose” is my favourite laksa restaurant in the world. It is also the name of my latest six track EP, which came out last month. It is an homage to the broth that accompanies the $10 vege laksa at Viet Rose, my main source of sustenance over the past year.

Home is Melbourne I guess? Except for a stint in Germany on exchange in high school I have always lived here in Melbourne. But I also spent a lot of time sailing with my family on the boat they built around various parts of Australia, and that always felt like home too. I think home will start being more clearly defined to me now that international opportunities are starting to open up to me and I may be spending more time away from home. Home is being surrounded by great people I think, at least that is my current disposition.

My upcoming tour will be exciting! We’ve had so much practice playing live this year and the live show has felt like it has really only been scratching the surface in terms of potential. So I think we’re just gonna keep stepping it up, challenging ourselves, and bringing more to live shows. Also very excited to be playing with my good friend Hein Cooper.

I spend too much time over-analysing things. Sometimes you just gotta do stuff. I like to think and talk, especially with my friend Jess, but I’m trying to achieve more focus with my writing. I have been playing with a lot of instrumental/production ideas at the moment, but need to focus on writing songs or I won’t ever have the next record done.

It might surprise people to learn that I love sport. On tour my drummer and I spend most of our time talking about and analysing football (AFL). The other half of our time is talking about pop bangers and debating which ones are our favourites and why. I also play indoor soccer when I’m not touring. I used to play twice a week but my schedule doesn’t allow for it now really. I am pretty competitive and could chase a ball around for hours. I’m a lot like a dog I guess?

In the future I want to not be a starving musician. It is only very recently that I realised I am worth something, and even then I still struggle accepting the idea. I think a lot of creatives do. We create because we love creating, and it’s weird to put a $ value on that. But not starving is definitely a goal of mine. I also work as a receptionist during the day to pay my rent and would love to earn the right to be full time music. I’m working on it.

LANKS x HEIN COOPER CO-HEADLINE TOUR DATES
Tickets at lanksmusic.com/tour