Interview with Lost Dogs of Ultimo

• What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

  As long as Ii can remember Ive been drawn to music My father and his siblings were quite good playing in London youth orchestras.. I prefer power chords and distortion. I think I would be  in the Arts or live shows from a back stage supporting  role

• What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

  I immerse myself in street art and photography and reading Biographies i get a lot of influence from other peoples journey it tends to make My crazy world  seem normal

• How long has your band been around?

  This edition of My music has been an evolution of a  work in progress.  The Lost Dogs Project was initiated during the first Covid lockdowns 2020 in Melbourne Australia

• Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

  Currently I am based  in Melbourne but  the other musicians and Engineers, Artists that  have collaborated or  had involvement in the tracks released in 2022  are in Byron Bay, Bathurst

  Melbourne is an incredible part of the world for developing Artists  Bands and  musicians. I got to as many Gigs and festivals as possible seeing emerging artists. I love  getting into their sounds and performance. Some of our Indigenous artisst are lifting the lid on the music scene right now and that fusion of music and culture blows my mind. I live off artists raw energy and creativity  and bring it in to My studio    

• How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

  I lived in Ultimo  a suburb from the inner city of Sydney that seemed to resonate as a place where artists activists and musicians lived  squatted couch surfed we all  breathed music partying and Life. So we slowly navigated to other cities and towns. I liked the idea of bringing  people back that wanted to contribute with  the collective approach to a project without a large commitment away from their own projects .

• Tell me about your most memorable shows.

  I have to say having an album release night with Bits Of Kids one of my other projects that was produced by Rob Younger ( Radio Birdman & The New Christs ) had to be a highlight The New Christ played as well and they had such raw power we all lifted our intensity and  the noise level that night blew the roof off the Iconic  Maxs Band room in Sydney. We all suffer industrial deafness now just from the one Gig  

• What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

  Here in Melbourne we have The Corner Hotel and The Croxton that are incredible venues with great PAs I would really love to get back to the UK and play a Gig in Manchester where I grew up.

• If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

  I think being in a festival with multiple stages is just a blast maybe Splendour something like that where there are both successful acts headlining and emerging bands getting their grounding in this industry. I would love to play with Warumpi Band such powerful songs or Suicide if they were  still around they were so creative and experimental every track I  hear is a banger  

• What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

  Dont let the bastards grind you down critics are normally people who are to scared or talentless to try something new. Keep looking and  listening to new artists music read lots of books and poets.  

• If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

  Dont Give Up its a short life but and long and winding journey

• Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

  My current favourite is Driving The Rhythm Of My Mind it explores mental health and anxiety issues that affect the whole community and should talked about more with more support from health providers especially since Covid and lockdowns the next generation have to  navigate a lot of lost socializing and isolation later in their life it is going to haunt them

• Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most

  Ive just released My first ever cover song as a tribute to The MC5 Looking at you a guitar driven power  song 2 chords great dynamics with the drums and bass kicking it a long with a 60s  Northern Soul snare sound running the length flips the lid and gets my rocks off just as The MC5 intended  

• What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

  The creative process always start in the studio bringing beats loops and abstract sounds out this is followed by multiple bass lines ascending and descending riffs with a little bit of space for guitar to fill in the gaps. We love guitar but we love Bass more.

• What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

  The project is theme based depending on what is current in our world  we have topics like Surfing Death Serial Killers and Mental health  we take Death and Mental health serious Surf and Skateboards are outlets and activities we do

• Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

  Creative processes are challenging and disagreements are  a natural part of that as long as we are respectful to each others voices and concerns and we are, we navigate like any family does we yell and shout then hug and cry

• What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

  The future is based around releasing  The Smells Like series of songs that inspired us Ive already mentioned Looking At You The next release in March is Police and Thieves the Junior Murvin and The Clash song.

  Then collaborating with more local artists to build stronger relationships in this industry. Currently waiting on new management contact to help generate a bigger presence