“Discothèque Inside My Head” reflects themes of escapism with lyrics like ‘spinning out of breath,’ which could describe someone experiencing burnout. What inspired this song, and how do you nurture your creative instincts in a world that demands fast and instant content creation?
Josh: The song came from a voice memo I recorded of my electric guitar. You can actually hear that guitar in the intro, it’s the one playing the opening chords. I then built the track up and Ed added a bunch of production ideas. After that it’s over to Ange to write the vocal melodies and we all pick our favourite parts. Lyrics are the final piece of the puzzle. Ange I went through a few different iterations before we landed on ‘discotheque inside my head’. Once we had that chorus lyric the theme was apparent and then it’s easier to build things around it. It’s a balancing act between inspiration and just getting to work and ploughing ahead.
Your music captures the tension between light and dark, hope and sadness, creating a cinematic experience. Besides music, what other mediums of art inspire you in your creative process?
Josh: I watch a lot of TV and movies, there’s always something that I’ve been recommended. I actually write down everyone’s name next to their recommends so I can figure out if they are trustworthy or not!
Ange: During the writing of this record I was really loving powerful representations of light and dark in romantic paintings like that of John Martin and J.M.W Turner, so I love that you picked that up. I love standing around in art galleries for hours at a time. I played Super Mario 64 when I was a kid with my brother and I love how you can dive into the paintings as a portal to another world. I always have that kind of feeling in an art gallery in real life too. T.S Elliot’s ‘Four Quartets’ was another thing I was consuming - lots of themes on time and the frustration of the ephemeral - poetry I don’t entirely understand but love the way it washes over me and you can find your own meaning in it that others mightn’t see. And I love movies!
With social media, it can be difficult to let someone go or move on as their digital presence is so accessible, especially if being ghosted. With your new album centering around yearning and love, what advice do you have for someone wanting to move on and let go?
Ange: Funnily, I think what the record says time and time again is moreso empathizing with the reality that you can never really let them go…Tremors, Traces and Time Is A Flower are both songs about how past loves and memories seem to weave in and out of the fabric of the present, as if they’re never fully gone, and a part of you somehow even now. Whether it ended well or badly - there are still beautiful things that linger and make you who you are. On the other hand, Margot is a song about watching someone from afar - including over social media - and mistaking their life for something perfect and free of insecurity or pain. But ultimately realizing they’re just as insecure and lost as you are ‘heaven could’ve sent her’ but ‘did I have it all wrong?’ probably the advice is don’t torture yourself unnecessarily with the deception of social media to add to the haunting. But for better or worse, I think you never truly forget things from your past because they become a part of you.
In “Discothèque Inside My Head,” you use the lyric ‘Reborn in a forest of lotus flowers.’ The lotus flower symbolises rising from a dark place into beauty and rebirth. Can you elaborate on the significance of this image in the song and how it relates to the broader themes of the album?
Ange: I think you’ve already hit the nail on the head. At its rawest, I find that coming out of an anxiety attack can feel like this sudden clarity and light when you’re at the other end. Suddenly everything that felt like panic and unmanageable and overwhelming is oddly quiet and clear. That feeling reminds me of what happens to lotus flowers - they sink into the dark mud of a pond at night, its murky and dark and strange, then they rise again, fresh with the dawn.
What role do live performances play in the evolution of your music? Have any songs taken on new meanings or dimensions as a result of performing them live and connecting with your audience?
Josh: A lot of them stay pretty true to the original but there are a few we play around with. Comedian off the first EP’s is the most obvious, it starts with Ange on acoustic guitar and slowly we all come in culminating in the full band by the second verse. I think songs do reveal themselves to you more as you play them and get to experience the audience’s reaction to them in real time. Funny things jump out at us like in Stained Glass Love off, our second EP the opening lyric is ‘Endless Skies’ whereas now to us it sounds like ‘Endless Guys’ 😂
Ed: Blue Valentine from the 1st EP is a real highlight when we play it live. I don’t think it’s been synced or streamed particularly well, but once we finish playing it, it always seems to get a positive response. Something that I couldn’t foresee when we were writing it.
In the digital age, many connections happen online, but live music is a physical, shared experience. Are there any interactions with your supporters that stand out to you?
Josh: We like meeting the audience after our shows over at the merch desk and we’ve had a lot of fun and interesting interactions. One girl got us to sign her arm, then the next day she went and got tattoos of our signatures! Wild stuff.
Ed: Our fans are bloody lovely. Josh nailed it with the girl asking for our signatures. I strongly advised against it for the record.
Make sure to check out Telenova's debut album 'Time is a Flower' which is OUT NOW!
