More often than not, the music you hear is born from the city. For some reason, the bright neon lights, the clutter of personalities and the muddle of noises seem to inspire so many musicians. Consequently, the very nature of the city may also prove to be quite distracting. Some artists feel the need to escape to find a place where they can close their eyes and hear nothing but the humming of music from within – a place where their creative energy can be nurtured and gently massaged without a care in the world. Such is the case with Lamb. Take a breezy walk through the English countryside and you may notice that among the green pastures and lush landscapes a beautiful lamb is born from darkness to wonder. Similar to Led Zeppelin who escaped the confines of the city to dream up their masterpiece, “Stairway to Heaven”, trip hop duo Lamb also took on the same approach when composing their latest album “Between Darkness and Wonder”. Living a carefree existence in a farmhouse immersed in pastoral beauty, Andy Barlow and Louise Rhodes finally completed their highly anticipated fourth album, before leaving their little slice of paradise to embark on tour. Evidently, Between Darkness and Wonder is one of Lamb’s most honest work. Like most of Lamb’s sounds, it stirs the human soul and delves deep to tug at those heartstrings we often conceal. It’s music that needs to be listened to in the dark while thinking about that special someone, it’s music that reflects a certain element of completeness and maturity that only Lamb could convey. Admittedly, we can all smile about what’s next to come.

You were initially interested in photography but then switched over to music? What motivated the transition? Was it hard?
Well music was just something I had to do at that time. It was a creative outlet for me you see. I still love photography but back then, I felt there something missing in the music scene, there was a gap that needed to be filled. It was my passion and something I had to do.

How did you and Andy meet?
Mutual friends introduced us to each other. He was a technical wiz kid and I was looking for one. So I was given his phone number and called him up and we met up arranged to work together. We thought we’d try one song and it happened and we were happy so we decided to continue collaborating.

I know that you both bring different aspects to music. But how would you and Andy collaborate in the studio to produce a track? Who comes with the ideas? What’s the process like?
The idea for the music comes from both ends really. Sometimes Andy will come up with the beat and then I might come up with a song idea and then we’ll work with that. We just throw all the ideas together in a pot and let it grow.

I got sent your new album in the mail today, and I love it! Congratulations, it’s beautiful. What was the experience like working on this album?
Thank you! It was great working on this album. The songs and emotions take on many levels. It’s quite interesting because the songs are inspired by my personal life most of the time and then bringing it into the studio is another matter. The actual process of producing the music was a very mellow process, a very chilled process. We actually rented a farmhouse out in the countryside and it was just a very beautiful place. We had one man looking after us and making us food and we just had a very carefree existence while writing the album. It was a very pleasurable experience.

What was the main idea behind the album? What did you want to express through it?
When I work on music, I never really sit down and think about an idea I want to express through it. It just comes about and unfolds in the process. Surprisingly I’m never that conscious really about sort of stuff; for some reason it doesn’t really work that way for me. I never really set out with an idea or a plan when making an album. Ideas grow and change constantly. I guess the center of all music is expressing what’s there at any given time and doing that as honestly as possible. I think one of the things about this album is that it’s very open and natural and kind of uncluttered. There’s no mask there. It’s very much, what you hear is what you get. Although everyone is open to their own interpretation.

You’ve done four albums now. Do you think Lamb’s sounds have evolved and changed much over the years and what direction would you like to see it heading in the future?
I think lamb has had an interesting journey where our sounds have changed immensely over the years. From our first album where we just trying to break in and show people what we were all about to our latest album which I believe is our most mature and honest work. Our second album was probably one of the most difficult albums we’ve done. We were trying to experiment with the second album and it was a little less accessible and had more rocks sounds. Meanwhile with What Sound and our latest album Between Darkeness and Wonder, I think we’re finding that path we had set from the first album and developing it in the right direction. I’m really happy with this album. I think Between Darkness and Wonder is quite a grown up album, it’s got an element of completeness about it.

Similarly do you think you’ve grown much as an artist since then? If so how? Has motherhood mellowed you down a bit?
I would say motherhood would have mellowed me down over the years. I guess it’s hard for me to say whether I’ve changed or not over the years, I can’t really be objective about what I was like back then and what I’m like now. I go forward. I guess one of the most incredible things about being a mother is that it just brings you right down to earth. So I don’t really have any great pop star aspirations in terms of wanting to be famous or anything like that. I’m just a human being struggling with my life and everybody else struggling with theirs.You know I sometimes find it kind of weird being a band and being a mother at the same time. It’s interesting; you’re changing diapers one minute and then performing on stage the next. You just got to be who you are.

Some of your lyrics are quite profound. Where do you get the inspiration for your lyrics?
My lyrics are all from personal experience, day to day encounters in life you know. Some of it is very philosophical and a lot of it is significant on different emotional levels. I guess I’m worried that my writing palette is narrow in the sense that it’s all very half faced, but that’s how I write, that’s what motivates me, I can’t do it any other way really.

You speak about being creative in different ways; do you think you’ll be making music for as long as you can?
I always like to be busy and challenged and looking at new horizons you know. I don’t know what it feels like to be absolute content, I’m always trying to push things forward. To be honest I don’t know if I’ll be making music for the rest of my life. As you said, I like to think of myself as being creative in different directions and music’s an important part of that. I love anything creative, it could be drawing, photography, writing or music, and it’s just great to be able to express something creatively. I’m also doing a fine arts course at the moment so I’m really enjoying that as well. I just want to sustain being creative in as many different areas as I can really.

Are you looking forward to coming to Australia? What was your last experience here like?
My last experience in Australia was fantastic, it was amazing. We didn’t really know what to expect and then we came over and it was just amazing. The audience were really so warm and excited. It was just brilliant. More of the same I hope this time we come around.

What can Australian’s expect from a Lamb performance?
I guess what I’ve found with playing live is that it’s become more and more of a process of self expression. In a really good show at the end, I’ll feel like I’ve completely expressed myself. I think it’s a real privilege to have that and have that experience. I hope to share that this time around.


Catch Lamb at:
Wed Oct 8th – Metropolis, Fremantle
Sat Oct 11th – Livid Festival, Sydney
Sun Oct 12th – Livid Festival, Melbourne
Tue Oct 14th – The Metro, Sydney
Thu Oct 16th – Prince of Wales, Melbourne
Sat Oct 18th – Livid Festival, Brisbane