Introducing Lemonbait, who just dropped a very lively debut self-titled album

Warrambool-based (currently) four-piece outfit Lemonbait is the brainchild of Sam Pyers, and just last week they unveiled their debut LP, Lemonbait. It's a rollicking collection of 10 rock'n'roll burners that harkens back to the bands like The Pixies, Sonic Youth and The Cramps. It's slightly dishevelled and a little bit all over the shop, but that's what makes it great.

Fresh from playing the inaugural - and successful - Goomfest (a festival of their own making), we got to know them a little better below - and you can too while you listen to the album:

Tell us about yourselves?

We originate from Warrnambool and we all love rock‘n’roll. Our drummer Declan and I have been playing together for around 10 years and the other members have swapped and changed over time. At the moment we have Matt Rowan on bass and Tom Boote from Astrocrypt Hellsurfers on guitar.

What kinda tunes we talkin’?

Our influences are ever-evolving so our tunes are a sort of soup of genres. Although it all stays within the domain of rock‘n’roll and alt-rock. Our environment has had a big impact on the direction of our music. We generally find ourselves playing gigs at night. Audiences of a night time seem to want something to move to, something evocative. So, that's what we try to create.

Production/writing process:

A number of songs on our new LP were spontaneous ideas which we refined into a final product. Other songs like I Wanna Be Your Man Tonight were initially pen to paper at first, and Natures Illusion was written in the studio. I produced and recorded the songs, with a lot of augmenting during the recording process, attempting to make them a bit more spicy. It made for an interesting process as I was trying to record, produce and perform the music all at the same time. Completing the whole production/writing process independently was great, as there was less time restrictions and I could experiment with more elements such as synths, effects, percussion etc. Although sometimes I felt like I was polishing a turd! I think they all turned out great in the end.

Can you tell us about your new album?

The recording process of our new LP started about a year ago in Wangoom. We rented a friend’s farm property and spent a week or so getting the bass and drums recorded. I spent the next year recording the rest of the album in my bedroom. It was done over a long period of time as I was finishing off a degree and organizing my first music festival, Goomfest. We got there, and I am super stoked with the final product. The album has a bunch of different vibes going on, there’s some punk, some rock‘n’roll and some other influences floating around in there.

Any shows coming up?

We recently played at the inaugural Goomfest, held at the same property that we recorded the album. It all went fantastic and we are now starting to book a string of shows throughout Victoria. We are organizing album launches in Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat so keep an eye out.

What’s the rest of the year have in store?

We had a bit of a break from playing shows in 2018 so this year we are looking forward to getting back into the scene and playing a bunch of gigs. If it all goes well we may even book a tour interstate.

Where can we hear more of your music?

Our self titled LP is available on most streaming services. As well as Bandcamp and Soundcloud.

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