HOW DID LOCAL AUTHORITY COME TO BE?

It started as a small ambient bedroom project I had, I guess that's kind of where I cut my teeth with songwriting. As my confidence grew, I felt the need to take it further, I booked real studio time, invited friends to record which was a really lovely time and had no intention to do anything more with music we made but after a while I guess the urge to bring it to life came about and then Local Authority as we knew it was born. Fast forward a few years and there's been a few changes - most notably now Erica is playing bass and singing, Kailan is doing dual synths, I'm back on guitar and singing while Lachlan is forever banished to the drums.

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHAT INSPIRED THIS LATEST RELEASE ‘FOREVER, FOR NOW’.

I think what really made it come about was just time. Last year, like a lot of people, we didn't do too much. We took most of the year off from doing anything as a band which was actually quite refreshing. Erica and I are always talking about how we would want our music to come across live when we play, and what we'd like to see and feel if we were watching ourselves. Even though as a band we weren't playing or writing we were still talking about these ideas.

When Queensland opened back up a bit, we got an offer to play a small show down in Ipswich. It was a very low-key and intimate setting among friends due to the venue capacity restrictions which meant it would also be the perfect chance to experiment with some new stuff without any repercussions, and time to play around with some ideas we'd been thinking about. That thought of change was kind of what kickstarted some new ideas again and ‘Forever, For Now’ was the first song we came up with during that initial time.

HAVE THERE BEEN ANY SIGNIFICANT SHIFTS BETWEEN THIS SINGLE AND THE RELEASE OF YOUR DEBUT ALBUM NEGATIVE SPACE IN 2019?

The biggest change is probably not so much in style, as we are still inspired by the same sounds on both records, but more so in the execution. ‘Forever, For Now’ came about a lot more quickly and naturally, with more of an equal input from everyone as it was across rehearsal rooms in more of a live collaborative setting. Whereas Negative Space was meticulously crafted within a studio space with a lot of attention going into layers and overdubs.

Another big difference between this release was throwing a dedicated synth guru into the mix. We invited our friend Kailan to join the band and as a result we found having another melodic texture in the mix changed up how we played songs and wrote music, it kind of took the pressure off me and Erica, allowing us to get lost and explore our spaces in the music more.

WHAT OTHER MUSIC (AND CREATIVE MEDIUMS) HAVE INSPIRED YOUR WORK?

We are all about the post-punk/shoegaze/goth/dreampop realms. In particular the mid 80's through 90's. The 4AD and Creation Records labels among others had rosters during those times that were un-fuck-withable. In more recent times there have also been a lot of bands that have carried the torch with this sound in new and refreshing ways, especially in Australia. Bands like Lowtide and Bloodhounds On My Trail are very influential to Local Authority.

Continuing that tangent non-musically, we're infatuated with old media. I love looking at old hi-fi's, cassettes, CRT TV's etc etc. I designed the launch show poster around a photo of an old Russian reel-to-reel tape recorder.
Even for our first single we made a music video filmed entirely on an old super 8 camera, I guess subconsciously now we've carried on this theme by making a music video for ‘Forever, For Now’ using old 90's video mixers and text scrollers.

WHAT CAN LISTENERS TAKE AWAY FROM ‘FOREVER, FOR NOW’?

I think people can take away whatever they want from the song. All our music comes from a very personal space, we know what it means to us, and that differs from person to person. It's more like an emotional expression, to be interpreted however you would like.

AND HOW CAN WE KEEP UP WITH LOCAL AUTHORITY?

The ‘Forever, For Now’ launch show spectacular is happening on February 26th at The Bearded Lady in West End, Brisbane (tickets here). I don't want to jump the gun but I have a feeling it's going to be one of my favourite shows. We're really lucky to be joined by fellow Brisbane bands Relay Tapes and Ancient Channels, who both had amazing records released last year. There will be lots of vibes and lots of guitar pedals no doubt. Social conditions pending we will also be working on making our way around south-east Queensland for some shows too.

Then finally we just have some very loose plans to lock ourselves in the studio and dive into making some new moods and textures.

Listen to ‘Forever, For Now’ here.

Tickets to Meanjin (Brisbane) gig here — 26th February.

“We are all about the post-punk/shoegaze/goth/dreampop realms” — Local Authority on Latest Single

Equal parts evocative punk and shoegaze sensation, Local Authority have delivered once again with their latest track ‘Forever, For Now’.

We had a chat with Jacque McGill about the band’s evolution, inspiration and upcoming gig in Meanjin (Brisbane).