million is an exciting new Melbourne band. I came across them via a post on another site. Love what I heard when I heard their debut song Problem and had to interview them for the site. This is what they had to say.
https://www.facebook.com/this.is.million/
- How did million form?
The three of us got together in June 2020 after the first Melbourne lockdown for a writing session, and we quickly discovered that we had great chemistry as a trio. While we didn’t see the second lockdown coming, we didn’t let it stop us, and made the decision to continue writing together virtually. We came out of the second lockdown with about 15 song ideas and a clear idea of what direction we wanted to head in.
- What inspired the song problem?
‘problem’ was essentially inspired by a bad relationship and an even worse breakup. While there were personal elements in the song, we wanted to make sure the story seemed universal enough for anyone to be able to relate to it. At its core, ‘problem’ is about rediscovering your self-worth and looking back on a bad situation with a bit more clarity and confidence.
- How did 2020 help shape the band?
All those months in lockdown really helped us discover what our sound was. We played around with so many different aspects of pop, and eventually we ended up with a selection of tracks that worked well together as a collection. It also helped us focus on all the behind the scenes aspects of starting a creative project. Lots of Pinterest boards, playlists and planning.
- Are you happy how people have responded to the song so far?
We’re absolutely stoked with the response! Everyone has been so supportive; we’re so happy people seem to be enjoying it. Sitting in the car with your mates while they blast the song and know all the words is the best feeling in the world.
- What is the goal for the band in 2021?
The goal is just to keep making music that we love and putting it out into the world.
- How does a song start for the band?
As the majority of our songs were written during lockdown, it was mostly one of us coming up with a basic idea and sending it across to the other two. For instance, Lil might come up with a chord progression that Jacinta would then add a melody to, and Craig would play around with it in Ableton. We’d always brainstorm the song’s subject matter and find reference tracks for production ideas. Once we had the bones to the song, we would have Zoom calls to flesh the song out into a demo that we can take with us into the recording process.
- Do you write when you have inspiration or set time to write?
A bit of both really! It’s hard when you set aside time and nothing comes out of it, but I think if we all waited around to write when we were inspired, we’d have no material. There’s definitely a sweet spot in the middle we try to hit.
- What have you listened to recently that inspired you?
We were lucky enough to feature on The Australian Music Scene playlist on Spotify, and it’s been cool listening to all the other artists featured. Great to know there are so many solid Aussie acts emerging.
9.How import is Spotify to you and getting on the right playlists?
Spotify is an amazing platform for artists and that isn’t lost on us. We’re so grateful to have made it onto a couple of playlists with ‘problem’ and really hope the rest of our tracks get some Spotify love as well.
- Do you think social media is more important than it’s ever been?
Social media seems really important in the industry right now, especially since COVID hit and the live scene has changed dramatically. We’re just hoping our socials will give people insight into who we are as a band, so people can get to know us as they get to know our sound.
- Do you have a plan in place for releasing more music this year?
We have a number of singles we’re planning on releasing throughout the year, which we’re really excited about! The tracks we’ve landed on are quite different from each other, so it will be cool to see what resonates with people and why.
- When do you plan to start playing live?
We’d love to be playing live as soon as possible; however, it’s going to be quite a time consuming process getting the set together. At this point we’re aiming for the second half of 2021, so keep at eye out!
