INTERVIEW: Cavetown On Being In Church Choir, His Pet Chameleon & Coming To Australia

  • INTERVIEW: Cavetown On Being In Church Choir, His Pet Chameleon & Coming To Australia
    POSTED

    Cavetown

    The music scene has been experiencing a change of tides of late - instead of the bombastic productions of the 2000s and early 2010s, as we near the end of the decade, we've seen a focus on sonic restraint. From the lo-fi productions and bedroom pop of Clairo to the alt-hip hop sounds of Rex Orange County and the rise of minimalist beats a la Billie Eilish, it's clear many music lovers are now craving a sense of relatability and realism, and no one does that better than Cavetown.

    20-year-old Robin Skinner is an artist in every way - he paints, produces his own music, sees beauty in the simpler things in life (his new song Things That Make It Warm is about two birds building a nest) and conceptualises a lot of his own creative. 

    Ahead of his arrival on our shores this January for his very first Australian tour, we caught up with the young up-and-comer about his start in music, what he was like in high school and who his bucket list collaborations are.  

    Firstly, how and when did you first get into music? Do you remember the first song you ever wrote?

    I’ve pretty much always been into music. Both of my parents are in musical careers and so music and creativity was always heavily nurtured as a grew up. My parents would encourage me to learn instruments and explore my imagination. It’s something that I’m constantly grateful for and fully recognise this as a privilege too!! So many kids have parents who don’t understand the legitimacy of music as a career, so I feel incredibly lucky to have always had their support for what I wanted to do. 

    I’m sure I wrote things before this, but the first song I remember writing was the earliest track you can find on my bandcamp page titled Rain. I wrote it in late 2013 at the age of 14, and it was just about rainy weather because I was emo and liked dark sad things (still kinda do honestly). 

    Did you teach yourself how to produce?

    Yeah, I started myself off with Garageband and learnt how to use it through just trial and error! Rain was the first track I remember fully producing and actually finishing. I recorded both vocals and the guitar in 1 take on the same recording, and downloaded some foley of rain falling and cars driving by from YouTube. In the early days I was inspired by other Bandcamp artists like Spookyghostboy and Fox Academy, who had a very lo-fi and homemade sound to their stuff. I figured that if my stuff was gonna sound low quality I might as well do it on purpose.

    When I was about 16 I think, my Dad bought be Logic for Christmas, which is like the upgrade from Garageband. He printed out a picture of the email receipt, taped it to a brick, and wrapped it in like 6 layers of differently sized boxes. I was so stoked about it and taught myself all of the basics and was able to navigate the DAW pretty well on my own! Soon after, I went to sixth form college and managed to get into the Music Tech course, where they taught us how to really use Logic, and that’s when I started to become really passionate about producing and pretty much decided that it was what I was going to do for the rest of my life.

    Tell us about what you were like in high school – were you in a band/orchestra?

    I was a very anxious and isolated kid in school. In Year 9 I figured out that I didn’t fit in with anyone, and just gave up trying to form any meaningful relationships to avoid feeling disappointed by any unreciprocated feelings. I took every opportunity I could find to escape the school property, even if it was just to sit in the grass outside and draw, or hide away in the music room and write songs. I tried playing music a few times with some friends, but nothing really clicked, so it was just easier to focus on my solo project and post songs secretly to Cavetown on Bandcamp without telling anyone at school.

    I did sing in a church choir outside of school though, and did so for like eight years! It was a really nice community. When I moved up to sixth form, I was actually able to just go home between classes and during lunch breaks, so I would zoom off on my bike as quickly as possible. My chameleon was my best friend during these years, and I’d just sit and talk to him or watch him doing lizard stuff until the last minute, and usually ended up being late to my next class.

     

    Who would you say has been your biggest musical inspiration?

    It changes a lot. When I was younger I hugely looked up to bands like Pierce The Veil, All Time Low and Sleeping With Sirens. But today my favourite artists are Alex G and Andy Shauf. Alex G never fails to create straight bangers… I’m constantly blown away by his ability to tap into a part of my emotions I never even knew existed, and his instrumentation is so genius yet comfortingly simple and familiar. Andy Shauf is also a big inspiration to my instrumentation and production. I love the wide variety of instruments he uses, the warmth of his voice, the chromaticism of his progressions. 

    A look at your social media shows you LOVE animals – I saw that you wanted to visit a cruelty free zoo here in Australia to see koalas. Is there anything else you do to be as environmentally friendly as possible, particularly when stats show that touring is not very environmentally sustainable?

    My tour crew is still learning to adjust as our team grows on the road! Something which we’ve been doing is using reusable bamboo cutlery, reusable water bottles, and making sure our rider doesn’t request anything which we don’t actually need. For all of the shows on this run (October - November) we’ve been partnering with charities, some of which are environmental/animal welfare, which we’re hoping somewhat balances out the huge carbon footprint we’re having to make to put on the gigs. The sustainability of our tour setup is far from perfect, but we’re still working on it and learning every day from things we notice should be improved.

    Not a question, but I love your cat, Fig. Please give him a hug from me.

    Ok :)

     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

    Wont see this peanut until november :'((

    A post shared by Robbie (@lemon.socks) on

    What’s the easiest thing and the toughest thing about writing music for you?

    The easiest thing and the hardest thing are both coming up with ideas. Sometimes a song just decides to fall out of me and it’s the best most relieving feeling in the world, but other times my mind just blanks out and I feel like I’ll never be able to write anything ever again. Writer’s block drives me into the ground almost 80% of the time.

    If you could work with anyone in the world, who would you want to get in the studio with?

    I don’t know if I’d really want to hit the studio with anyone I didn’t already know that I vibed with. I do have a nice vibe with Vic from Pierce The Veil, so would love to try some writing with him someday! I don’t know either of them personally but if we got along I’d of course love to try working with the legends Alex G and Andy Shauf.

    What are your goals over the next 24 months?

    I hope to have written and released a killer 10-track album as my first label release, maybe followed by a few nice singles, some big music videos that make me feel like a cool guy… I’d also like to get a bunch more tattoos and experiment with some fun weird clothes. And also adopt at least one cat.

    What’s on your list of things to do in Australia when you arrive?

    Literally just wanna meet a bunch of cool animals!! Would also love to walk around the desert and just experience some of the country’s nature. I rarely get to explore the places I visit on tour so I’m planning on getting outside and seeing as much as possible.

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Cavetown

The music scene has been experiencing a change of tides of late - instead of the bombastic productions of the 2000s and early 2010s, as we near the end of the decade, we've seen a focus on sonic restraint. From the lo-fi productions and bedroom pop of Clairo to the alt-hip hop sounds of Rex Orange County and the rise of minimalist beats a la Billie Eilish, it's clear many music lovers are now craving a sense of relatability and realism, and no one does that better than Cavetown.

20-year-old Robin Skinner is an artist in every way - he paints, produces his own music, sees beauty in the simpler things in life (his new song Things That Make It Warm is about two birds building a nest) and conceptualises a lot of his own creative. 

Ahead of his arrival on our shores this January for his very first Australian tour, we caught up with the young up-and-comer about his start in music, what he was like in high school and who his bucket list collaborations are.  

Firstly, how and when did you first get into music? Do you remember the first song you ever wrote?

I’ve pretty much always been into music. Both of my parents are in musical careers and so music and creativity was always heavily nurtured as a grew up. My parents would encourage me to learn instruments and explore my imagination. It’s something that I’m constantly grateful for and fully recognise this as a privilege too!! So many kids have parents who don’t understand the legitimacy of music as a career, so I feel incredibly lucky to have always had their support for what I wanted to do. 

I’m sure I wrote things before this, but the first song I remember writing was the earliest track you can find on my bandcamp page titled Rain. I wrote it in late 2013 at the age of 14, and it was just about rainy weather because I was emo and liked dark sad things (still kinda do honestly). 

Did you teach yourself how to produce?

Yeah, I started myself off with Garageband and learnt how to use it through just trial and error! Rain was the first track I remember fully producing and actually finishing. I recorded both vocals and the guitar in 1 take on the same recording, and downloaded some foley of rain falling and cars driving by from YouTube. In the early days I was inspired by other Bandcamp artists like Spookyghostboy and Fox Academy, who had a very lo-fi and homemade sound to their stuff. I figured that if my stuff was gonna sound low quality I might as well do it on purpose.

When I was about 16 I think, my Dad bought be Logic for Christmas, which is like the upgrade from Garageband. He printed out a picture of the email receipt, taped it to a brick, and wrapped it in like 6 layers of differently sized boxes. I was so stoked about it and taught myself all of the basics and was able to navigate the DAW pretty well on my own! Soon after, I went to sixth form college and managed to get into the Music Tech course, where they taught us how to really use Logic, and that’s when I started to become really passionate about producing and pretty much decided that it was what I was going to do for the rest of my life.

Tell us about what you were like in high school – were you in a band/orchestra?

I was a very anxious and isolated kid in school. In Year 9 I figured out that I didn’t fit in with anyone, and just gave up trying to form any meaningful relationships to avoid feeling disappointed by any unreciprocated feelings. I took every opportunity I could find to escape the school property, even if it was just to sit in the grass outside and draw, or hide away in the music room and write songs. I tried playing music a few times with some friends, but nothing really clicked, so it was just easier to focus on my solo project and post songs secretly to Cavetown on Bandcamp without telling anyone at school.

I did sing in a church choir outside of school though, and did so for like eight years! It was a really nice community. When I moved up to sixth form, I was actually able to just go home between classes and during lunch breaks, so I would zoom off on my bike as quickly as possible. My chameleon was my best friend during these years, and I’d just sit and talk to him or watch him doing lizard stuff until the last minute, and usually ended up being late to my next class.

 

Who would you say has been your biggest musical inspiration?

It changes a lot. When I was younger I hugely looked up to bands like Pierce The Veil, All Time Low and Sleeping With Sirens. But today my favourite artists are Alex G and Andy Shauf. Alex G never fails to create straight bangers… I’m constantly blown away by his ability to tap into a part of my emotions I never even knew existed, and his instrumentation is so genius yet comfortingly simple and familiar. Andy Shauf is also a big inspiration to my instrumentation and production. I love the wide variety of instruments he uses, the warmth of his voice, the chromaticism of his progressions. 

A look at your social media shows you LOVE animals – I saw that you wanted to visit a cruelty free zoo here in Australia to see koalas. Is there anything else you do to be as environmentally friendly as possible, particularly when stats show that touring is not very environmentally sustainable?

My tour crew is still learning to adjust as our team grows on the road! Something which we’ve been doing is using reusable bamboo cutlery, reusable water bottles, and making sure our rider doesn’t request anything which we don’t actually need. For all of the shows on this run (October - November) we’ve been partnering with charities, some of which are environmental/animal welfare, which we’re hoping somewhat balances out the huge carbon footprint we’re having to make to put on the gigs. The sustainability of our tour setup is far from perfect, but we’re still working on it and learning every day from things we notice should be improved.

Not a question, but I love your cat, Fig. Please give him a hug from me.

Ok :)

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wont see this peanut until november :'((

A post shared by Robbie (@lemon.socks) on

What’s the easiest thing and the toughest thing about writing music for you?

The easiest thing and the hardest thing are both coming up with ideas. Sometimes a song just decides to fall out of me and it’s the best most relieving feeling in the world, but other times my mind just blanks out and I feel like I’ll never be able to write anything ever again. Writer’s block drives me into the ground almost 80% of the time.

If you could work with anyone in the world, who would you want to get in the studio with?

I don’t know if I’d really want to hit the studio with anyone I didn’t already know that I vibed with. I do have a nice vibe with Vic from Pierce The Veil, so would love to try some writing with him someday! I don’t know either of them personally but if we got along I’d of course love to try working with the legends Alex G and Andy Shauf.

What are your goals over the next 24 months?

I hope to have written and released a killer 10-track album as my first label release, maybe followed by a few nice singles, some big music videos that make me feel like a cool guy… I’d also like to get a bunch more tattoos and experiment with some fun weird clothes. And also adopt at least one cat.

What’s on your list of things to do in Australia when you arrive?

Literally just wanna meet a bunch of cool animals!! Would also love to walk around the desert and just experience some of the country’s nature. I rarely get to explore the places I visit on tour so I’m planning on getting outside and seeing as much as possible.

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