When I’m composing music, it tends to be somewhat random, but that’s when the things that have captured our subconscious attention start to surface. Personally, I’ve noticed some similarities in my riffwork with Placebo at times. It’s a band I initially struggled to connect with as a teenager, partly because their provocative and androgynous image was unfamiliar to me, and likely threatening to my developing sexual identity, but also because I felt they were using their association with the LGBT movement more as a tool for gaining exposure than simply raising awareness or expressing genuine identity. However, it seems my subconscious accepted them long before I realised it.

We’re inevitably influenced by everything around us; whether it’s a meaningful conversation, something we’ve seen or experienced, or the artistic visions of people whose work we admire and have shared stages with. It happens somewhat involuntarily! After our gig with Sivert Høyem, for example, I found myself exploring an Americana-style ballad inspired by how he interprets his influences from The Doors and Nick Cave. If the band would be in agreement, we might develop this idea further and include it in an upcoming release. That’s the essence of creating music—engaging in that ongoing, evolving discussion!

Funny you should mention that! I can definitely see where you’re coming from with that comparison, and there’s an interesting story relating to this. Back in 2004, when I set out to re-form the band with my good friend Chris Gioldasis, we began writing new songs. I brought a few of my ideas, which eventually evolved into tracks like The Smile and Next Illusion to Fade as well as some other songs including ones yet to be recorded. In return, Chris showed me a sitar melody he had composed, inspired by a video game he was playing at the time. I went home and developed a song from it, which became Perdition. The game he was playing was Ubisoft‘s Prince of Persia, the soundtrack of which was composed by Stuart Chatwood of The Tea Party as it turns out.

I’ve always felt that musically, we share a close connection with The Tea Party, and have a similar fusion of influences. I was pleasantly surprised to discover, after their breakup, that they used similar approaches in filtering the influences we both draw from. It was an honour to share the stage and hang out with their frontman, Jeff Martin, and even more special was that he loved our set and came backstage to congratulate us with a hug. I’m really curious to see where they’re headed with their new album.