Dan Sultan
Image: Malcolm Turnbull at the 2014 Bingham Cup Sydney - the world cup of gay rugby union (Photo: Benedict Brook; Star Observer)
Earlier this year Dan Sultan released his new record, Killer, which was an exercise with experimentation and free thinking creativity throughout the process.
Speaking to City Hub prior to the start of his over month long tour in support of the record Sultan talked to us about how he keeps the creativity flowing, the process of writing music exciting and finally growing as an artist.
Coming off the back of Blackbird, which proved to be an incredibly successful record both critically and commercially Sultan says the key for this new record was to “simply clear the mind and push forward.”
Before Killer came to be what it is today Sultan was writing relentlessly, even without a clear target in mind. As he explained to us he does this in order to both improve his craft but also to keep the mind open.
“It’s good to write just for the sake of writing,” Sultan said, “Once I knew where the record was headed and what it was going to sound like then I could hone it in a bit more.”
This idea of simply letting the creativity flow was something Sultan also carried over to the production of the music videos for the album’s first two singles. For these videos Sultan collaborated with production company Dropbear, who Sultan says he essentially gave free reign to.
“With someone like Dropbear you just let him go because he’s a bit of a genius and if I got too hands on it would just pollute the process.”
Taking risks like this was not unusual for Sultan with this record as he had already chosen to incorporate new techniques and ideas during the recording process. As Sultan described this decision was born both out of excitement and necessity.
“I have a pretty short attention span so I need to keep things interesting for myself and that’s how I do it. Some bands have their formulae and they make great record after great record but this is my approach.”
Although not intentional Sultan believes that subconsciously throughout this entire process he was reflecting on life and his journey through music.
“A few people have mentioned that this record sounds more reflective but that’s not something I ever really thought too much about but I guess as I get a little bit older I get a little bit wiser as well.”
Sep 30, Metro Theatre, 624 George St, Sydney. $56.20+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.metrotheatre.com.au
You May Also Like
