28/06/2020

Bluesfest Bound LamBros. Step Out With New Single ‘Don’t Say My Name’

Sydney-based band LamBros. have bounced back from isolation with a fresh new single ‘Don’t Say My Name’, cementing their place as blues powerhouses.

A fusion of blues, funk, and rock, this new track by real-life blues brothers Connor and Harry Lambrou balances lyrical emotional weight with hard hooks and hypnotic bass to make it a searing anthem.

With Connor on vocal, guitar and bass and Harry on drums, percussion, Didgeridoo, and backing vocals, LamBros. were set for a jam-packed year of shows and new releases, including a debut at Bluesfest – until they (much like the rest of the music community) were devastated by the lockdown. It looks like their grand plans have at least been pushed back by at least a year.

LamBros. sat down to chat about their new single (now available on Spotify), making music in lockdown, and their thought and their thoughts on incorporating

Q: I would like to start off by asking how you guys have been keeping sane during COVID-19?

A: It’s definitely been really tough not playing gigs, but we’ve tried to use up the time by spending more hours in the studio writing and recording. Aside from that, we’ve been listening to heaps of music, watching movies, and eating way too much food.

Q: You dropped a new single recently called ‘Don’t Say My Name’, which from my first few listens has a level of vulnerability to it and taps into a kind of emotional breaking point but is also wrapped in a motivating and feel good energy, could you tell me more about what the song means to you guys?

A: Yeah for sure. It’s one of those songs where it was really about capturing an emotional snapshot.

We tried to express that point in time where you’ve been pushed so far that despite your own weaknesses you lash out. When you’ve been constrained emotionally for so long that you’re suddenly filled with the energy to speak up and shout back.

We’ve had experiences like this in our lives, and it’s definitely cathartic to put those emotions into a song and let it out. It means a lot to finally have this song out there, and it’s been awesome seeing the response from people so far. 

Q: So you were set to premiere this song at Bluesfest earlier this year which has since been postponed.  What sort of year did you have planned back in January and how different did the reality end up being?  

A: Yeah we had massive plans lined up at the beginning of this year. Obviously Bluesfest was at the forefront, but we also had a complete 7-stop tour locked in, with support shows alongside The Marcus King Band, and Larkin Poe to be highlights in our careers.

Everything was going ahead right up until the announcement from the government that weekend in March, and then we basically lost everything overnight. It was devastating because it felt like things were really coming together. But that feeling has been shared by so many, it’s like across the arts community we’ve all taken this hit together, and hopefully we can all bounce back together as well.

Fortunately for us, Bluesfest has been rescheduled, as well as a few shows for next year, so it looks like things have all just been pushed back a year. Guess we’ll have to wait and see how things pan out. 

Q: Would you say your creative process has changed since you’ve been in the lockdown period?

A: Not really to be honest. We’re fortunate in that we’re brothers and we live together, so it’s easy to make plans and still be together in the studio to write and record. If anything, I’d say that we’ve just had a bit more time to think about the direction of our next releases and music without the time pressure of fitting sessions in between gigs and tours and everything else. 

Q: I’d like to also speak a bit about your other songs which features an instrument we don’t often see in Sydney’s contemporary music scene, how did you come to incorporate the didgeridoo into your music? 

A: Our father actually introduced us to the didgeridoo. He travelled up to the Northern Territory and learnt about the instrument from an Aboriginal elder. Dad was taught to play, was taught about the significance of the instrument, and passed it down to us. We took an instant liking to the didg, and we wanted to be able to feature it in our own music.

It was actually the didgeridoo that was one of the catalysts for writing our first songs, because we had never really heard it used before, and wanted to show people how amazing it was, and what it can contribute to the songwriting community.

The didgeridoo was created to tell stories, so it seemed all the more fitting to be able to share our stories with the aid of it’s mesmerising sound.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Q: There is a lot of discussion regarding non-Indigenous people using elements of Indigenous culture/tools/music for their art especially in the current climate of the Black Lives Matter movement, how does this debate sit with your musical style? 

A: It’s actually really interesting you mention that, because over the 6 years of us touring across the country, performing for, speaking to, and interacting with thousands of audiences, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, we’ve never encountered anything but excitement and support for our use of the didgeridoo, despite audiences being fully aware that we’re not Indigenous ourselves. 

I guess with the way that we came into contact with the didg and it being so close to our hearts, we always took it upon ourselves to be informed about it’s importance to Indigenous culture and use it in a way that celebrates Aboriginal heritage. We’ve introduced the instrument to countless people through our music, and we’re so proud to be able to give audiences a means to start learning about Indigenous cultures. 

That being said, it’s never been our aim to make the didgeridoo the sole bearer of our sound. It’s one of many elements that we’ve meshed and merged together from cultures all across the world in order to form our own unique style. As is the case with all music. I guess that’s the whole beauty of music in itself. Every single instrument, sound, scale, beat and musical component can be traced back to a single culture, where it had significance in some way, and it’s up to musicians who are captured by that story and sound, to innovate and develop that element into something new and exciting.

Q: Can we expect more new music from LamBros. in the next few months and have you got any gigs lined up for the end of year? 

A: You can definitely count on us delivering more music soon. We’ve got a whole stack of tunes to be released, and we’re gearing towards our debut album release next year.

We’ve got a heap of gigs lined up for next year, and as Australia begins to emerge from this period I think you can bet that there’ll be gigs popping up everywhere soon, and we’ll be there performing for sure.

‘Don’t Say My Name’ is out now on Spotify, and it’s well-worth a listen.

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