Exclusive Interview with LIPOSUCTION

Liposuction’s debut single, “She Hz,” was entirely written and produced by the band’s lead singer, Sunday Hunter. While Guy Drory plays drums, Shannon Kilcoyne plays bass guitar, and Sunday performs vocals, guitar, and synthesizer on the song. Heath Storrie, a native of Brisbane, mixed the song, and Steve Smart, of 301 Studios in Sydney, finished the mastering. Check out the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?

SUNDAY HUNTER: None of us are from Brisbane originally, we’ve all just made our way here. I met the guys through my studies and had wanted to start a band after working on my solo career for a while. I put out the call for band members and that’s really how it all began. I made some demo tracks of our songs at home and shared them with the guys and we started playing them together.

2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

SUNDAY HUNTER: I am mostly self-taught but I did have had some guitar and vocal lessons when I was younger. I would assume the guys have too. In terms of producing, I taught myself a lot of that using YouTube videos, but studying sound production improved my production skills.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘LIPOSUCTION’?

SUNDAY HUNTER: I grew up on artists like Frank Zappa, Deep Purple and Devo. Those kinds of bands still influence me but since then I have been listening to a plethora of all different types of music and artists. For the name of the band, we were looking for something short, memorable, possibly a bit controversial and something that no-one else was using. “Botox” was taken, and Liposuction seemed like a pretty bizarre, memorable name.

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

SUNDAY HUNTER: The up-beat, fun nature of the songs – I don’t think you’ll hear us doing any sad, ballad songs. We kind of sound like Devo and Garbage had an alien baby and that baby then started making beats. But at the same time we don’t sound like that.

5. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

SUNDAY HUNTER: I enjoy writing music and playing and I find the creative process therapeutic – so yes, I do gain fulfilment from it. When we play together and make some truly whack ass sounds which I really enjoy, so that is also very satisfying.

6. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

SUNDAY HUNTER: So far with this project, I create the general song on my DAW – bass, drums, synths, weird vocal ideas, etc. And then send it off for the guys to learn or throw their ideas into. I wish I could just sit on one instrument and write a song like I used to when I was young, but technology and the process of creating has shifted me into only doing it this way… It’s more satisfying to hear an idea of the completed song and its production.

7. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

SUNDAY HUNTER: Starting a band always comes with challenges. When you pull together people from different backgrounds into a collaborative environment it is hard to know how and if everyone will get along and work well together. We had some challenges in the beginning in sorting that kind of stuff out but other than that Liposuction is fairly new so we haven’t faced any particularly hard challenges yet – would like to keep it that way too.

8. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

SUNDAY HUNTER: For this song, I was actually invited by my former sound production teacher, Heath Storrie, to record the song with him so he could test out some new equipment. To me, that was a huge compliment as he could’ve asked anyone. He was also kind enough to offer his services to mix the track which was great. Being given that opportunity was really cool and I’m so grateful to Heath for that.

9. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?

SUNDAY HUNTER: They are both very awesome experiences. I would say at this point I enjoy the creation process more, but that’s probably because we haven’t hit the gig scene as hard yet. My perception could change once we’re out playing shows more often which we hope to do very soon.

10. Do you think it is important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?

SUNDAY HUNTER: When I’m writing songs I don’t think I usually start with a particular “story” or “message” in mind – it’s more about the overall sound. Really, I sincerely hope people interpret these songs in their own way. That’s something I find very special about music, a song can mean different things to different people and impact them in different ways.