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The Lazy Eyes lean into nostalgia and play up a jazz education on ‘Tangerine’

It can be a trap to throw yourself into a certain sound that’s supposedly been done before, again and again. With their lo-fi sound, The Lazy Eyes could have easily fallen into that trap if they weren’t careful – or rather, if they weren’t intuitive.

“Tangerine,” the middle child off their forthcoming EP, sounds like something you already love but maintains the joy of having only heard it for the first time. The band’s jazz training surfaces in the rhythms that are just unfamiliar enough to make you stop and think for a second what the time signature is, encouraging a more active and engaging listen.

The Aussie band is determined to make up for all of the first times they missed out on in recent weeks by moving forward with their releases and possibly cooking something else up for the near future.

This was the first original song you learned to play as a group. What were you covering before that? How long ago was it that you learned it?

It was! We learned ‘Tangerine’ in 2016 to play at our first ever show which was at our High school’s annual music / environmental festival. At that same gig we played ‘You Broke My Cool’ and ‘Waiting Around For Grace’ by Pond. A little down the line we experimented with covering ‘Race For The Prize’ by The Flaming Lips. Both bands were really influential in shaping our sound early on as we were becoming a band.

Did any of you study classical or jazz or any other kind of instrument when you were younger? How has that affected your songwriting either way?

Harvey started out early with classical piano training. In the high school we attended, which had an emphasis on performing arts, we all studied jazz music – with the exception of Blake who was actually a ballet dancer during those first few years of school! We ended up becoming a little band in our own right by frequently being asked to accompany other musicians or singers, and by being in a bunch of different ensembles. Studying music in general definitely helped us get comfortable on our instruments which made songwriting easier and less restricting.

Nostalgia’s always been big, but I feel like people in our/your generation are just now discovering what that actually means because we’ve actually got things to be truly first-hand nostalgic about. Right? We’ve always had bands to look back on but we weren’t actually there for when the songs were written. I feel like Tangerine combines firsthand and secondhand nostalgia – do you feel that way? why/why not?

Nostalgia is a hugely inspiring and cool state of mind to be in. It definitely has a unique kind of magic when a song hits you in a nostalgic or overly romantic way and you can’t really describe why it’s doing that ‘thing’ or where exactly it takes you. Seminal albums to us have this weird quality of launching you back into old memories or putting you in a day dreaming state. I think Tangerine has a different type of nostalgic feel to it, which is that it sounds like an old or retro leaning song. Partially because we were going for a lo-fi sound, but also because we were still learning the ropes of production at the time.

What is your relationship with nostalgia? As a band and individually?

We love it! It’s got a certain emotional quality to it. Kinda in-between an eager hope for the future and a blissful view into the past.

Do you feel like you set out with the intent to bridge the gap between past and future with what you write? If not, what was your intent? Was there one? Or is it more of a process?

We usually don’t write a song with anything in mind. We just let them come out naturally. It’s similar to crying in a way; You don’t usually do it but when you do it’s cathartic and it’s coming out for a reason. I think movies or poems are better suited to coming in with an idea or a story and then fleshing it out. Songs tell themselves.

Who are you asking to wait/don’t go without you in Tangerine?

No one in particular. The lyrics to Tangerine were written phonetically to match the ebb and flow of the melody rather than to tell a story.

Kind of feels like everyone has to wait for everything right now. Do you feel like your music means something different than it did when you wrote it given that you’re releasing it at this insane time to be alive?

So true. It’s all a big waiting game right now. Music can mean anything you want it to mean, really. For us, we are just eager to keep the ball rolling on our releases!

What have you been doing with this time? Have you as a band done any online concerts or taken part in that? Have you as individuals taken up something new or learned something new about yourself?

We recently did our first Instagram live stream as a part of the newly founded Isol-Aid festival. It was awesome and super surreal! As individuals we are just trying to stay active by doing things we love at home and trying not to get bogged down by the whole situation.

Why do we need music now more than ever?

Because everyone’s at home and all ears!

Will nostalgia have a different connotation after all of this is in the past?

Only time will tell. I’m sure that even though things are looking grim right now, people will look back on these weird times with a positive light and attribute a lot of self-discovery and societal development as consequences of the limitations of being stuck at home.

What’s next for you? Have your touring plans been upended? Are you already looking towards LP1?

We had to cancel our first headline shows and also had trips to SXSW and The Great Escape which got canned too. We’re bummed but everyone’s in the same boat! Can’t wait to eventually get over to the US and Europe for our first international shows! For now we are slowly chipping away at more recordings. That is all I can tell you unfortunately. The matter is highly confidential 😉

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