El Schlong Newsletter Interview

Thanks Leah for answering these questions:

What can we expect to see from El Schlong over the next year?

We are coming home to NZ to do four shows (Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin and Invercargill) and to hang out for summer. Our drummer has just had a child, so our “slowest world tour ever” is on hold until his baby is old enough to stuff into his cymbal bag. Hopefully we’ll have a pile of new material ready to record by the end of next year, but it’s slow going because of the commute (we are now living between New Zealand and Berlin).

What advice would you like to give to other aspiring musicians?

Don’t mould your music to other people’s definitions of what is good and what isn’t. Just play it how it comes out and you will never get bored of it. Playing for other people has a shelf life.

How do you come up with your lyrics?

I wait until the song is fully written so I can feel how it is moving along, then I do a big free association rant and pick out any phrases that sound good and start from there. At first I ignore meaning and concentrate on bits that just sound good, like nice vowel or syllable combinations. A meaning eventually appears and you can start pulling and twisting it into shape from there. My biggest beef with lyrics is that most people try too hard to say something specific right from the start, and they miss the importance of how words and word fragments actually sound together. Meaning is a subjective thing, and lyrics should be poetry – not necessarily the abstract arty farty type, just word combinations that sound musical even without music.

Who would you most like to support live?

Tom Waits. It would be a bit of an odd mix of a gig, but I would love to hang around the refreshments table backstage and listen to that man speak.

How do you believe El Schlong fits into the NZ music industry?

I guess we’re like the retarded younger cousin.

What can you never leave home without?

Clothes. That would be embarrassing.

How would you describe El Schlong’s music?

That’s a tough one. Reviewers also have trouble with this as well and they’ve come up with a whole spectrum of different sub-genres to try and fit us in somewhere. We usually get called “something something metal with a something something something”. We tend to just go with “avant-metal” as it covers a few bases. Either that or “a bit yelly”.

What is your favourite NZ venue?

Refuel in Dunedin. Ah home!

What is the best part of being a musician?

Traveling the world with your best friends playing the music you love playing and meeting lots of good people along the way.

What rumour would you like to start about El Schlong?

That we are playing four NZ shows this summer and everyone’s invited. Who knows when we will be back home again – it would be great to catch up with everyone, so come along and have a beer 🙂