On The Importance Of Regional Tours

It may have taken longer then planned but for I Know Leopard the precision within their debut EP Illumina marked a clinical point in the group’s uprising, pleasing eager fans awaiting its anticipated release. The group have had a quick turn around since then, with their second release Another Life seeing the light of day early this month.

“I think Another Life is the culling of the best recordings we’ve done over the last year,” vocalist Luke O’Loughlin reveals. “Illumina took a while to do. We’d finished writing and recording it quite a while before we released it, it was just the mixing and odds and ends took a while to tie up. We kind of already had the material for Another Life going. The fourth track came together within a couple of days. It’s weird, with us some stuff is planned before but some happens spontaneously and if we’re writing song and its sounding good we’ll track it straight away.”

“We’re always listening to new music and discovering old gems and constantly being influenced by new music we come into contact with. We’re always morphing. Another Life is something different. I think the celestial nature of our music is always going to stay because the core of our influences is making floaty, atmospheric pretty music but in terms of the sonic textures it will always be changing I think, we’d get bored doing the same thing for too long.”

Despite the constant touring alongside Lost Dinosaurs and Gang Of Youths in between working on their latest release, the group have jumped aboard the bandwagon looking to take full advantage of the success awaiting them.

“It’s been a great year,” O’Loughlin states. “We’ve still got a way to go, we’ve got a lot to prove. We’re really enjoying it at the moment, it’s been fantastic. We’re so grateful for how much support we’ve had and it’s so nice to have people like your songs and get where you’re coming from.

“We’re getting busier and we’re starting to feel like a real band, we’re touring a lot and getting better at playing our instruments and playing together. It’s been wonderful, we’re still a baby band and we’ve got a lot to grow but it’s been great.”

Setting out on their own headline national tour in support of Another Life, I Know Leopard has paired up with The Set List program to visit rural and remote communities alongside their main city shows.

“We basically were approached by Arts on Tour who were recently backed by the Australian arts council about this program which is usually run for theatre and other arts around Australia. It’s about getting music and culture out to communities that don’t often receive it much. It’s a great program, it’s great for those communities and great for us as well to broaden our fan base and we like doing regional stuff as well. They’re always fun shows, lots of enthusiasm and real friendly crowds.”

Originally published in X-Press Magazine