"For my own sanity, I need to keep on writing”
Elderbrook and his steep rise has been nothing short of phenomenal. The electronic musician’s background in indie and folk music helps him sit apart from the pack with many original and distinct tracks. We caught up with the producer while he was down under, a few hours before his Aussie tour kicked off at 170 Russell.
Early in his career, Elderbrook found a great deal of attention in his home country of the United Kingdom, and soon thereafter, his music quickly became popular in other corners of the world, including Australia, a feat that is still exciting, Elderbrook notes.
“It is a crazy feeling,” Elderbrook (Alex Kotz) says. “From the very beginning, I found it so strange that I could just do something in my bedroom at university, like seven years ago or something, and that anyone would listen to it.
“It’s absolutely amazing, not everyone can just come to Australia, I’ve been here twice in six years or something, it’s amazing, it means I can travel about which is what I really love doing.”
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For an artist as popular and prolific as Elderbook, this means he plays shows all around the world on a regular basis, and gets to experience different crowd reactions to different songs.
“A lot of it (crowd reception) depends on how well each song does in different territories. ‘Cola’ was my biggest song, I think that goes down particularly well here because I think in Australia, it was the first place where it went like gold or platinum or something.
“But the thing is I haven’t been here in a few years now. So, I’ve got so much new music to see what everyone see what everyone thinks about.”
2023 will see new music from Elderbrook, his first new album since 2020’s Why Do We Shake in The Cold. He’s just dropped the first single ‘Beautiful Morning’ inspired by a big addition in Alex’s life during lockdown.
“A lot of this second album, I kind of started during the lockdown like a year and a half ago, two years ago, year and a half, anyway, when everyone was locked down doing their separate things, so that meant that I could work with people all over the world, which is kind of what I do anyway.
“But everyone was way more up for it because no one was leaving. So rather than having to go to America to write with Americans, we were just doing stuff online. And that’s how it came about when I wrote with Odessa, those guys, so we were like sending stuff back and forth.
“And at the time, I had just had my little baby girl who’s now two. And the beautiful morning is kind of about that about wanting to share some time with people you love, which I was able to do, because it was the pandemic.”
When it comes to creating and consuming music, Alex has a visual representation of the sounds he is hearing, helping to build an interesting relationship with his discography.
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“Whenever I make songs, I definitely have a vision in my head, not so much a music video, but it’s like a scene in my head when I write the music. And whenever I play the song, I’m taken straight back to those same colours, that same vibe, that same scene, scenario and picture.
“To be honest, I think whatever song you’re listening to, whether it’s your own, or someone else’s, or your favourite band, or a new song, you’re always like making up a scene for that song, like a scene of like feelings, images that correlate to your own experiences.”
Being in a picturesque mecca of Australia, a walk around any one of our major cities will be jam packed with images and feelings that inspire sounds and ideas. While down under, Alex notes he’s planning on doing some writing.
“When I’m in the Gold Coast next week, I’m going to get a studio, and I’m just going to work on all this new stuff. Because, yeah, for my own sanity, I need to keep on writing.”
Check out more info on Elderbrook over on his website here.
