ESCAPE WITH HEART EYES 

 

What does the word escape....
Feel like? Buying unnecessary electronics at Duty Free
Smell like?  Large flat white from 7/11
Sound like? The tubular bells in the intro of 'Heaven (Must Be There) by Eurogliders

Who was your favourite artist at 13? Hmmm, from memory I was super into hardcore and metal around then. So on a cultural level probably this band from Melbourne called Carpathian, but I was playing a lot of Sepultura and Machine Head in my room around then. 

Who is George Michelle? A has-been that used to make dance music.

Who is Heart Eyes? The real me. A manic, fun-loving, larger-than-life person who will stop at nothing to make people laugh, cry and find entertainment in the most banal aspects of life. 

If you weren't music, who would you be? An animal groomer :)

What/who do you draw inspo from? Literally anyone or anything that has shocked, provoked and challenged any type of status quo. Since high school I've always been drawn to the writing of Richard Brautigan; the paintings of Francis Bacon; the cinema of Gasper Nou - literally anything that makes me think of life and all its inhabitants beyond whatever conventions we've imposed on ourselves for generations. Super inspired by all types of pop music and using production akin to that as a palatable vessel to communicate darker, morbid and sometimes sardonic themes.

Has the gong/ Leichhardt/ Sydney influenced the music you write/ produce? why? Growing up in Wollongong there wasn't much in terms of live music than hardcore shows and I think being exposed to that for some eight years influenced me in how to articulate a particular type of energy into the music I make today. I was a pretty quiet kid in high school and spent most of my time searching for music on blogs, Soundcloud and a record store called Music Farmers. Jeb, who ran it (I think still might), helped expand my musical palette as a 15/16 year old by introducing me to more leftfield records and in turn that introduced me to new forms of music writing, composition, lyricism, production etc. Moving to Sydney when I was 18 I went through the typical motions - I got more into club music, more leftfield electronic music, indie etc just because there was more to do and experience here culturally and musically. Production just came by necessity of wanting to create music by any means - this attitude I owe to my experience in hardcore bands in Wollongong. I keep to myself a lot and don't really go out in Sydney, so a lot of what influences me in what I write about comes from these chronic nightmares I had for six months and just life experiences living in my own world.

 
You’ve said in a recent interview, “In this age, anything is possible.” How does this fit into the way you release your music?
There are no rules anymore. The platforms are there for you to create and showcase your music direct to an audience without the middle man. If I have a song I want people to listen to, I'm going to make it as available as possible. I've always lived with the mentality of wanting 3 die-hard fans who await your next release, rather than 1000 passive listeners whom you can't engage. Soundcloud and Bandcamp afford musicians this ability to create a fanbase through its interactive interface. Spotify also has been amazing platform for unsigned artists to get heard and grow a following through their "fresh finds" playlists. It really comes down to what you want to make out of creating music; I do it for the passion and that means I got no problem releasing 14-track mixtapes every two months in the face of people saying "you can't release music like that anymore". Those people should stick to chasing cheques.

What are you manifesting for 2020?
New L-shaped couch and a dirt bike. I also want to see Jorge Masvidal flying-knee someone again in the octagon, and hopefully take my best friend Romy to the ARIAs in head-to-toe Philipp Plein.

______

Here, the long time Double Rainbouu friend, takes us on a food tour through the Italian Forum in Leichhardt, where he currently lives with his mum and dad (Pictured below along side his 20 year old soccer boots that he was given for his 25th bday). 

Hearteyes wears:
Cream Pink SS Shirt in Cupro
Party Animal SS Hawaiian Shirt
Party Strip Night Swim Shorts