Young Heretics

Melbourne duo Young Heretics have been quite busy as of late. Having caused a stir by releasing their debut album, “We Are the Lost Loves”, initially as a free download, the band are now ready to take their brand of sugary pop music on the road with their first national tour soon to be announced.

As one-half of Young Heretics, Kitty Hart sat down with Killyourstereo for a chat about their debut album, gaining inspiration from video games and working with Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame).

G’day, could you please introduce yourself with your name and role in Young Heretics?

My name is Kitty and I sing my little heart out.

As a duo, it is stated on boomtownrecords.com that you have actually been writing together for over 15 years. So how did you first meet and what made you decide to form Young Heretics?

15 years? That’s a long time. I would have been really, really young. Mitty and I are related but also married or something, I hear a new story every week.

Having written together for this long, why have you chosen to release an album now? Was it a case of waiting for the right time as artists?

A couple of years ago we both sort of realised how bored we were with our projects at the time. We started playing shows together and loved it so much we thought we should probably record the music we were making.

Many musicians are incredibly protective of their material and are strongly opposed to downloading, yet you released your debut album “We are the Lost Loves” as a free download for your fans. While the physical release is still going ahead, what was the reasoning behind initially releasing the album this way?

Just for fun. Now everyone gets a chance to listen. Isn’t that lovely?

In my opinion, the album has quite a diverse mix of sounds and moods. Therefore, what/who influenced the different styles contained on the album?

So many things. There is some Lion King in there and Phantom Of The Opera and some Resident Evil. Actually, survival horror games in general. I have played 1 million hours of Silent Hill and Resident Evil so maybe the music leaked in and infected my brain?

Can you describe the steps in your writing process as a duo?

I will hum a ditty and then maybe put some chords under it and then some words and then Mitty will come along and make it lovely. He is the pop and I am the… whatever's left I guess.

Was it difficult both producing and funding this album yourselves?

No, it was ok. The producing was easy because we had the lovely Tom Larkin watching over us and we are used to recording because we do it at home all the time.

You credit Peter Jackson with sound effects on this album. Is this Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings and King Kong fame? If so, how did this collaboration come about?

Yes, it is. I am from New Zealand, Tom (Larkin) is from New Zealand and so is Mr Jackson so… it just happened. New Zealanders are just lovely and generous and love to help one another creatively. You should move there, it's wonderful.

With "We are the Lost Loves" containing instrumentation provided by more than 60 musicians, did you have strong control over the direction/sound of the instrumentation or did you allow these collaborators to interpret the songs themselves?

Matty and I had put the arrangements together before the recording process began and the musicians we worked with were all really talented. They could do anything we asked of them. We got exactly what we wanted out of each musician.

You have become renowned for playing only a select number of shows during your time as a band. Why is this?

We just play the shows we think will be fun or nice.

According to your myspace, you have a single show scheduled for the release of the album coming up on May 8. Do you intend on doing any touring after this date?

Yes, our first national tour is being announced next week! How exciting!

Where do you see the band in a year’s time?

Maybe New Zealand?

What musicians/albums are you currently enjoying and would recommend?

Worlds End Girlfriend (every album), MGMT (Congratulations), Circa Survive (Blue Sky Noise)

Any final advice for Killyourstereo users?

Mediocrity is raging