Ahead of his performance at Changing Lanes Festival in Sydney, we catch up with Spookyland.
Who are you and were might we know you from?
Marcus Gordon, I write songs.. I perform and record them under the name SPOOKYLAND.
A story you’ve probably told far too often… but where do you come from? (How did your band form / What made you start playing the music we’re listening to now?
I started writing songs when I was 11 years old. I was never a natural, it was a long and painful process.. a good 6 or 7 years of sucking and hurting my families ears with atonal dribble before I wrote anything excusable.
I was aware even back then however, of some special essence in all the muck. I guess I’ve been trying to present that essence in something that’s passable as music. That is how someone with limited musical talent or promise is compelled to sing and play guitar every day for 9 years.
Changing Lanes Festival is all about supporting FBI. What does FBi Radio mean to you?
FBI is Sydney music’s white knight.. our Mother Teresa. In our region it’s the only radio station worth listening to and the only station that thinks it’s audience and bands are worth listening to. Without FBI we’d be screwed.
What can we expect from your performance at the festival?
I’ve just gotten a band together; we’ll be playing a fairly high-energy, heavy and fun-going set. Very different to the solo shows I’ve been playing the last couple of years.
What are YOU expecting from us / the audiences?
Hopefully the band will inspire a different reaction to the solo shows. We played our first show as a band the other night at the art factory and I think I saw a couple of people dancing.. Some dancing would be beautiful.
Choose a band who’s also on the lineup that you like, and tell us why you like them.
I really dig The Snowdroppers, they’re entertainers first and foremost and I think that’s a great creed. That’s not to say they’re not artful either, I find them very artful.
Have you played a festival before or is this the first time? If not the first time, what have your festival experiences been like in the past?
I did a couple of shows at Peat’s Ridge last year. Between the broken showers, toilets and lack of shade my girlfriend and I had the best time. Playing a festival is like being part of some cool cult, you feel like you’re part of something bigger than yourself.. It’s an encouraging thing.
What would be your #1 festival tip for a punter?
…gozlemes and freshly squeezed orange juice.
Your year highlight so far, as a musician?
Supporting Kinky Friedman.. he’s all the things I romanticise about American mythology and culture incarnate.
We got to talking and he was very kind, he seemed genuinely interested in my music in a meaningful way. He talked about my lyrics and talked about what I was about as a songwriter, all the while imparting wisdom and advice in insightful Cowboy anecdotes.
What’s next for you/your band?
So my band is Liam Gordon (guitar), Nath Mansfield (drums) and Nic Malouf (bass). SPOOKYLAND (BAND) is a new thing, we basically just want to get drunk and try to entertain people at the moment.. I want SPOOKYLAND to be the kind of thing people want to see live. In the meantime there’s an album plotted out and ready to be made which I’m very excited about.. the end’s there, I just need to find the means.
