1. The First Record I Bought:
My dad helped me buy Michael Jackson’s Thriller. It’s completely battered but I still have it. I obsessed over the backing vocals so the second side is more worn than the first. I wrote Michael Jackson a song and sent it to him – just lyrics and some notes on the ‘mood’ of the song. I was seven.
2. The Last Record I Bought:
Hiss Golden Messengers HAW. Merge Records puts out a lot of stuff that I love, and I stumbled into their previous record via a merge compilation that Nick from Destroyer gave me last time I went home to Vancouver. This record is everything I loved about the last one. Very soulful southern vibes.
3. The First Thing I Recorded:
I borrowed a four-track and spent a weekend in my bedroom recording the songs I’d been secretly writing. My brother found them and encouraged me to get more serious about songwriting. I listened to them a while back. They’re not shit, but they’re not awesome either.
4. The Last Thing I Recorded:
Me and Strine Singers are in the middle of making our first long player. Our house is our studio and Jimmy Saunders (Gotye/colourbomb/Hoy) is helping us get it done. The last thing I recorded was my vocal on a song called Be a Man About It. There’s a lot of me and Jimmy crapping on about Jeopardy categories we’d be good at in the outtakes.
5. The Record That Changed My Life:
Elliot Smith’s Figure 8. I was completely drawn in by the songwriting. Very visual. I was living miserably in paradise at the time, and this record became a good friend. It’s dark, but the overall tone of the record is completely uplifting, and I guess that’s something I strive for in my own music.
Larissa Tandy with Strine Singers play on Wednesday August 20 at The Yarra with Isaac de Heer and The River Tracks. It’s your last chance to see them until their record comes out in the new year.
