Getting To Know... Spectoral

Having earned a place as core committee member of Beat Collective, which has seen him collaborate with notable Australian heavyweights such as Tim Watt & Tim McArtney (Golden Features, MUTO), Ben Feggans (The Kite String Tangle, Ngaiire), Sebastian Ivanhov (Alius), Melbourne-hailing artist Spectoral has now returned with his latest breezy single 'Fade To Grey'.

With a sound that takes influence from the likes of The Weeknd, Partynextdoor, Joji, and Golden Vessel, 'Fade To Grey' makes for an incredibly bright and diverse new offering. Now enlisting the help of co-producers Julez Jadon & SVRN, mix engineer Blake Malone (Amy Shark) and mastering engineer Ben Feggans (Flume, Cut Copy, RÜFÜS DU SOL), his latest jam is sure to see him break on British shores just as much as the Australian.

So with his new release delighting us on all fronts, we sat down with him to find out more about his background and what has inspired him over the years.

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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?

The Yamaha Electone electric organ. My parents gave me this beast to learn on as a little kid. I wasn’t that interested in too many of the straight forward songs in the books, I was a button flicker and knob slider and pedal pusher who would push that thing to create some weird arpeggiated drone patterns and strange bass music that would’ve made any church choir pull the plug.

What has been the most prominent inspiration behind your music so far?

Well I have heaps of inspirations, but the most prominent? Myself. That might sound kinda up myself but honestly, the heaviest thing that inspires me to create is my life and my innate need to create. I’ve tried going a long time without producing music and I end up feeling empty, unfulfilled and neglecting a huge part of my identity.

What kind of music did you love as a teenager?

I really grew up loving the music of the 2000s, defined for better or worse by this realisation that electronic music was popular in America rather than just in Europe and the UK. Genre-wise I’d always been drawn to hip-hop, trip-hop, electronic and pop, so it’s no surprise I create a blend of the three now. I’d been listening to electronic godfather acts like Faithless, Paul Van Dyk, BT, Air, Royksopp, Orbital and Boards of Canada for years, but when that world collided with Billboard pop in the 2000s, you suddenly had Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake, Kanye & Timbaland dropping in some really interesting electronic textured stuff, and that was it for me. I was like “I wanna do what they’re doing, but evolve it”

Can you remember the first song that made you want to pursue a life in music?

I reckon it was my parents playing me Jean Michel Jarre - Oxygene Part 2 and Laurie Anderson - O Superman. How cool are my parents?!

When you wake up in the morning, what kind of music do you like to listen to?

Always the cutting edge newest genre-blending stuff I can find. I’m that person who trawls through artists’ latest albums after hearing one song on a curated playlist like SuicideSheeep Uploads or Mellow Pop. I curate an Apple Music and Spotify playlist myself, called FUTUREPOP so I’m always looking for tracks that basically I wish were mine.

How many of your songs have you written about people in your life?

Only some. Many are about me and my internal monologue. Some are fiction, some are like, me acting in a scene about a theme I want to explore. For example, I’ve written a few songs about loss, or about the afterlife, or about the frustrations of being bound to time itself. I try to stay just a little ambiguous or even arcane with my lyrics sometimes.

What has been the most memorable moment in your career so far?

It’s going to be the return show I put on when COVID ends, and all these banger singles are finally out.

Outside of music, what is your biggest passion?

Cooking! When I can’t create in the studio, I’ll create in the kitchen. Here in Melbourne we’ve had two full blown lockdowns, and during that time I’ve made about 70 different dinner recipes from all over the world, and my plating game is getting good too thanks to fawning over Masterchef Australia. I post them in a little Highlight on my instagram. Thinking of doing a dedicated TikTok or Reels for them actually.

If you weren’t a musician, what other path do you think you might have taken?

See above. It still might happen! Strangely, my passion for cooking is only something that happened to me in the past 2 years. Before that, you wouldn’t see me attempt anything beyond like, two minute noodles or really bad home made hot chips (that I thought were really great at the time). I think it was because the share houses I rented in had the world’s shittest, dirtiest, kitchens and I didn’t feel like cooking something fancy for myself would be appreciated by anybody, let alone me.

And what advice would you give to other musicians looking to start a career in music?

This a long game. If I dig into the pre-Wikipedia careers of many of the star acts I admire, I find that they hustled for years and years and years before ever being discovered let alone being signed. It’s like Survivor. Outwit, but most importantly, outlast.

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Spectoral's new single 'Fade To Grey' is available to stream and download now. Have a listen to it in the player below.