The Lazy Susans Bring a New Meaning to Heart-on-Sleeve

Having just released their debut full-length, Now That The Party’s Over, we caught up with Melbourne-based four piece The Lazy Susans to discuss the new album, performing live, pissing off their neighbours, and the intention behind their open, heart-on-your-sleeve songwriting style.

Hey guys! So, your debut full-length album was released just a few weeks ago and you’re about to head out on a national headlining tour! Huge! How are you all feeling?

We’re feeling very excited to finally have our debut LP out in the world, and so overwhelmed by the positive response. Plus, we’re very keen to get out on the road with our good friends Face Face.

Can you tell me a bit about how the band formed?

The band originally formed in the Blue Mountains, NSW. Ash didn’t even know how to play drums, so Tones taught them some beats and we started playing shows really quickly with Kieren, who we met at a fox rescue we volunteered at. It was actually a pretty weird way to start a band, now that I think about it! Wes joined a few months later and we got progressively better, practicing at our (Tones & Ash’s) house in the mountains (annoying our neighbours in the process, sorry!) and playing MANY more shows!

You’ve played all over the country in the last two years, performing with a huge variety of fantastic Aussie artists at some of our best festivals. Is touring - and live shows - an important part of the whole music thing for you guys?

I think it’s an extremely important part of music for us. We started off playing very small shows, sometimes 3 in the one week, which is very tiring… but you make so many beautiful friends and fans along the way, and we’ve gotten to play with some of our favourite bands. It definitely opens you up and exposes you to a whole lot of great things, and helps you keep growing as an artist. We love being on stage and sharing those intimate moments with people who relate to our music — it’s awesome.

“[playing live shows] is an extremely important part of music for us… it opens
you up and exposes you to a lot of great things, and helps you grow as an artist.”

You’re living in Melbourne at the moment, and I was just wondering how you thought the city and scene here has shaped the band so far?

Yeah, so we moved to Melbourne a year ago almost exactly this week! Melbourne has definitely helped us grow as a band, and given us so many wonderful opportunities. The music scene is thriving, people are always going out to see their favourite bands and it’s a really nice thing to be a part of. We’ve truly never felt so at home.

I want to dive into the new album, Now That the Party’s Over - can you tell me about the few singles you released? Why them?

We first released Mutual Memory, as we thought that song represented our growth as a band sonically, and it seemed to be one of the catchiest on the album. Then, Care About Yourself has always been a favourite of everyone in the band, as it has a more positive message and is a bit of a fun sing along! We thought those 2 made the most sense as singles, because they work well on their own as well as well as being a part of the album as a whole.

Your song-writing has been described as very heart-on-sleeve, and the entire album comes across as quite vulnerable and emotional. Did you set out to make something along those lines when you were writing it, or did it just happen?

It kind of just happened organically. I (Tones) only feel the urge to write a song when I’m feeling a strong emotion, as a way of processing my thoughts. We’ve tried writing happy songs but it’s just not who we are; they always end up sounding like a cheesy jingle. We relate mostly to emotional music, because it tells a story that connects us all together.

“We’ve tried writing happy songs but it’s just not who we are;
they always end up sounding like a cheesy jingle.”

If there was one thing you could hope someone would feel after listening to the album, what would it be?

Comforted, less alone, and hopefully ready to tackle the next day after having a much needed cry!

Do you all maybe have a favourite lyric/line from a song off the album, and why?

Mine (Ash) is probably from the last song “Joy” – ‘Find what fills you with joy, and hold on til’ you die' because I find it so uplifting and hopeful, and like no matter what you’re going through, as long as you have something that makes you happy, and you’re trying, then things are gonna be okay.

Mine (Tones) is from ‘If I Hurt You’ and it’s ‘I don’t want you to think I’m a monster, even though I am’. It’s my favourite lyric because it’s actually something that Wes said to me over the phone once as a joke and I thought the words themselves were just really vulnerable and upfront.

Make us the perfect playlist for a sunny day.

The Man – Taylor Swift / Bloom – Troye Sivan / Breath and Chime – Freya / Good – Moaning Lisa / Elevator Love Letter – Stars / Truth Hurts – Lizzo / Old Town Road – Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus (a band fave). How’s that for a wide variety of taste!?

What advice would you throw out to the teenager reading this right now, wanting to start their own band or just starting out making music?

Do it! Pick up an instrument! It doesn’t matter if you think you sound ‘bad’ – as long as you keep at it and you’re happy, who cares what people think? Play music for you, don’t try to impress people. Different people like different styles of music, and you’ll get some bad reviews… but to quote Lizzo, you’ll be feeling ‘Good As Hell’ anyway!