An Interview with Dope Lemon
Interview by Sarah Morrison
It was twenty-four hours of my life that I'd never forget. I accidentally stumbled into a local London pub where I found myself surrounded by band members and crew from the Dope Lemon tour. Knowing that I'd be meeting Angus Stone the following day for the interview, I took a chance and introduced myself to the singer.
Angus Stone was nothing but kind, and one could perhaps even say cheeky. I was thrown off guard and overwhelmed; the fact I was out with a performer I looked up to as a teenager was surreal. I wasn't expecting to face the singer on a hefty hangover caused by a night out with him and his band.
Did growing up with musical parents present any sort of internal pressures to pursue music as a career?
My father was a band conductor, as well as taught music at my high-school. While we were growing up, he also worked as a wedding singer. Music and performance were in the blood. There was never any pressure; it was everywhere in the house. It was really a matter of us picking up the instruments and figuring it out for ourselves. Dad taught us piano and some other bits and pieces, but most of it was purely just winging it.
Last night you mentioned you currently live on a ranch. Could you paint me a picture of what your ranch looks like?
It’s pretty magical; it’s like the jungle meets the sea. There’s horses, cattle, wallabies, koalas, snakes, spiders; it’s very wild! But it’s also very beautiful and open. It gets the coastal breeze coming in; it’s quite magical.
Was the ranch inherited or did you purchase it yourself?
I bought it, I’ve always wanted my own ranch!
What was it like to record your record on your ranch? It what ways made it a haven to write in?
I was talking with a friend about it; I think you just fall out of the constraints of worrying about time. With that, your creativeness opens up a lot more. It’s really freeing to be able to lay on the couch and think a lot about what you’re doing; then, get up and walk back into the studio and activate those daydreams. It’s very precious at times. I think it’s cool just to be able to get up and go to your fridge to make a sandwich.
Did it make you nervous at all walking into a record not having anything written or ready?
No, I don’t really get nervous when it comes to… well, I just don’t really think too much about what’s ahead. It’s always, for me, for my heart and my philosophy, trying to be a better person to myself is just to realize you can’t change what’s coming. You need to step into it with an open mind, and great things will happen.
You started off writing each song with a different instrument. Did you have an idea in mind of which instrument you wanted to begin with? Did you pick any that you felt would really challenge you as a songwriter?
I mean, I grew up where there was every instrument in the house, from clarinets to timpani, the range was pretty open and vast. For me in the studio, there are lots of instruments like that and you sort of just walk around and go ‘Oh, that could be cool!’ Then you jump on it and see where it takes you. You’ve got to have rhythm, and it’s quite universal. Rhythm and feel; then you can play anything!
A big part of the “Smooth Big Cat” is the character and his story. What initially drove the inspiration to create a concept album?
I didn’t really conceptualize too far ahead of the writing. When I listen back to this record, it’s very different from the others in the way that there’s a very common thread; the songs sound like they were recorded back to back, and that’s exactly what happened! We’d finish one and then move onto the other. We never took any breaks; we never took a week off or stepped away. I think that’s what makes it special, that it does have this nice fluidness to it and I’m really proud of that.
Would you say the character “Smooth Big Cat” is an embodiment of you?
(Laughs) Yes, I mean, I’m still trying to figure that out as I go along. He’s this mystical character that I made up for one of the songs. He’s just one of those cats that doesn’t get involved in all the nonsense, and he arrives when you need to mellow out from the world. I’m still trying to figure out who he is; I think in a way, he’s some sort of guardian.
Was “Smooth Big Cat” the first song you wrote for the album? Did you shape the record around this totem or did you unknowingly piece that together afterwards?
No, I probably wrote that song half-way through.
Did you have the character in the back of your head?
Ya, he’s always there!
What would you say the biggest benefit was from taking a self-sufficient approach?
Doing it on your own - to be honest, we’ve pretty much done that for every record. The only one we haven’t was when we made a record with Recruitment, maybe two albums ago. We’ve just always known what we wanted. It’s something that both Julia and I when we stepped into the studio from when we were young kids, we just knew. Writing songs and recording; for us, that was producing. Then you put other instruments on, and you talk about it; it’s pretty straight forward.
I think it’s just not being afraid and not second-guessing yourself. I believe that is the main key to making something that you can be proud of.
In the future, do you think you will continue to produce and mix your own material? Were there times where you ever found it overwhelming to have that much more control?
I’ve thought about going to different parts of the world and doing something special, like going somewhere really strange and making a record. I think that’s going to be the next one.
What would you consider ‘strange?’
I can’t give away too many secrets! Nah, I don’t know; somewhere strange.
Every record reads like a new chapter of your life, do you ever get fearful of being that vulnerable with the world?
Yes, there are things that come with that within your private life that it can affect. But, I can’t see any other way to live really, than to just share what’s going on. Sometimes the things you say are quite personal in songs, and it can affect people that are close to you when they know it’s them you’re talking about. There are definitely ramifications for being an open book for certain things, but at the same time, I feel that’s the only way forward; to just talk about it.