Music / Features
Line of Inquiry
with Good Lekker
with Good Lekker
With the dynamism and colour of 2000's indie-rock and the depth of character of brit-pop, Good Lekker’s brand new EP Samsara is golden hour in a leather jacket.
Very quickly, you’ll notice Samsara is packed to the hilt with depth. Tracks like ‘Pipe Dream’ and ‘Prague’ showcase the uplifting, triumphant side of the EP, featuring jangly guitar riffs reminiscent of early Foals or Bombay Bicycle Club.
Conversely, ‘Save Me’ and ‘Bones’ fizzle Good Lekker’s boisterous side to the surface with anthem-esque vocals, punctuating fuzz basslines and breakdowns built-up to disastrous effect. You’re definitely going to be seeing your mate crowd surfing into the distance.
To celebrate the release of Samsara, we got in touch with the Wollongong six-piece to have some pressing questions answered.
Conversely, ‘Save Me’ and ‘Bones’ fizzle Good Lekker’s boisterous side to the surface with anthem-esque vocals, punctuating fuzz basslines and breakdowns built-up to disastrous effect. You’re definitely going to be seeing your mate crowd surfing into the distance.
To celebrate the release of Samsara, we got in touch with the Wollongong six-piece to have some pressing questions answered.
Introduce every band member, what they play and their unique intangible quality.
Dooley Whitton - drums. Dooley could have a conversation with a goat. He’s a real people person.
Mal Hurley - lead guitar. Mal could charm your grandmother with his in-depth knowledge of rocks and geomorphic activity.
Hamish Starr - bass. Can pull of any hat that you throw to him so long as it fits. He’s a girthy boy.
Alex Gray - vocals/guitar. Gray’s grumpiness is the reason that we’re a band in the first place. Amazing dedication to the cause.
Oliver Critchley - keys. The biggest peacock in the band by a golden mile, he single handedly covers up the supreme social ineptitude of the rest of the band.
Josh Fahy - vocals/guitar. Grammer nazi, nerd, Josh brings intelligence to this six peice organism. Loves an argument.
Where do you practice, and who is most likely to be late?
We’ve had a heap of practice rooms over the years because none of us grew in Wollongong so we all rent places. Most have been at Hamo’s places - in living rooms, storage rooms, a garage, Dooley’s shed (currently) and a studio when we can get the cash together.
Gray is a king lag in the band, though it is mostly because Dooley doesn’t have his licence and has to be picked up.
Sleep, marry, or kill: Alex Turner, Brandon Flowers and Julian Casablancas.
Given that Flowers is in The Killers, we’d probably have to knock him off. Nothing personal. We’re all big fans of AM so we’d have to marry Alex Turner (is he still single?). Casablancas would be a wild night so sleeping with him could be fun. He has that old school sex appeal.
The tracks on Samsara are packed with depth, what is your songwriting process and how many layers didn’t make the cut?
Some songs exist as demos or ideas in heads, but most come to be through jamming them out as a group. That’s why most of our songs start their life being around seven minutes then get whittled down later by our producers. We’re doing our best to keep things simple, but it is hard when you’re in the studio having fun and trying to make weird sounds fit songs. Our producer, Sam Swain, loves getting productiony and that is always great fun.
Go-to keys-tone?
Keys boy Oli Critch has locked in the following pretentious answer: "a mellow Roland Juno sounding tone peppered with a bit of lfo."
Dooley Whitton - drums. Dooley could have a conversation with a goat. He’s a real people person.
Mal Hurley - lead guitar. Mal could charm your grandmother with his in-depth knowledge of rocks and geomorphic activity.
Hamish Starr - bass. Can pull of any hat that you throw to him so long as it fits. He’s a girthy boy.
Alex Gray - vocals/guitar. Gray’s grumpiness is the reason that we’re a band in the first place. Amazing dedication to the cause.
Oliver Critchley - keys. The biggest peacock in the band by a golden mile, he single handedly covers up the supreme social ineptitude of the rest of the band.
Josh Fahy - vocals/guitar. Grammer nazi, nerd, Josh brings intelligence to this six peice organism. Loves an argument.
Where do you practice, and who is most likely to be late?
We’ve had a heap of practice rooms over the years because none of us grew in Wollongong so we all rent places. Most have been at Hamo’s places - in living rooms, storage rooms, a garage, Dooley’s shed (currently) and a studio when we can get the cash together.
Gray is a king lag in the band, though it is mostly because Dooley doesn’t have his licence and has to be picked up.
Sleep, marry, or kill: Alex Turner, Brandon Flowers and Julian Casablancas.
Given that Flowers is in The Killers, we’d probably have to knock him off. Nothing personal. We’re all big fans of AM so we’d have to marry Alex Turner (is he still single?). Casablancas would be a wild night so sleeping with him could be fun. He has that old school sex appeal.
The tracks on Samsara are packed with depth, what is your songwriting process and how many layers didn’t make the cut?
Some songs exist as demos or ideas in heads, but most come to be through jamming them out as a group. That’s why most of our songs start their life being around seven minutes then get whittled down later by our producers. We’re doing our best to keep things simple, but it is hard when you’re in the studio having fun and trying to make weird sounds fit songs. Our producer, Sam Swain, loves getting productiony and that is always great fun.
Go-to keys-tone?
Keys boy Oli Critch has locked in the following pretentious answer: "a mellow Roland Juno sounding tone peppered with a bit of lfo."
Which track/album is your biggest guilty pleasure?
Alex - I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it by The 1975
Josh - ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Dools - Nothing Great About Britain by slowthai
Hamo - A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out by Panic! At The Disco
Oli - ‘Work it’ by Missy Elliot
Mal - All the Little Lights by Passenger
What is your favourite piece of musical equipment, what is the most useful and what was the biggest impulse purchase?
Tambourine is hands down the most underrated instrument in the world. The tamby carries so many songs and no one realises it.
When it comes to biggest impulse buy, Oli once bought himself an old 70's guitar that’s as delicate at cardboard. Very impulsive for a keys player. In all honesty, most of the guitars in the band have been impulse buys as well though. We’ve bought nearly all of them off Facebook from a guy called Pete Sells Guitars in Melbourne. He puts some beautiful Japanese guitars online and they sell ridiculously fast so you can’t sleep on them.
Jam for one hour or spend two hours in the studio?
Two hours in the studio just so we can go see Sam Swain in Melbourne. Shout out to sad boy fuego.
And finally, if you could choose any, which Aussie artist would love to collaborate with?
It is hard to speak for those of us not here, but Stu Mackenzie from King Gizz is an absolute magician. It would be an honour to work with him on anything. From a lyrical perspective I’d love to work with someone like Courtney Barnett - I couldn’t be a bigger fan of her writing if I tried.
Alex - I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it by The 1975
Josh - ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Dools - Nothing Great About Britain by slowthai
Hamo - A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out by Panic! At The Disco
Oli - ‘Work it’ by Missy Elliot
Mal - All the Little Lights by Passenger
What is your favourite piece of musical equipment, what is the most useful and what was the biggest impulse purchase?
Tambourine is hands down the most underrated instrument in the world. The tamby carries so many songs and no one realises it.
When it comes to biggest impulse buy, Oli once bought himself an old 70's guitar that’s as delicate at cardboard. Very impulsive for a keys player. In all honesty, most of the guitars in the band have been impulse buys as well though. We’ve bought nearly all of them off Facebook from a guy called Pete Sells Guitars in Melbourne. He puts some beautiful Japanese guitars online and they sell ridiculously fast so you can’t sleep on them.
Jam for one hour or spend two hours in the studio?
Two hours in the studio just so we can go see Sam Swain in Melbourne. Shout out to sad boy fuego.
And finally, if you could choose any, which Aussie artist would love to collaborate with?
It is hard to speak for those of us not here, but Stu Mackenzie from King Gizz is an absolute magician. It would be an honour to work with him on anything. From a lyrical perspective I’d love to work with someone like Courtney Barnett - I couldn’t be a bigger fan of her writing if I tried.
Good Lekker's debut EP Samsara is out today - check it out above.
