Robin Davey Lusk (Melanie)

Where are you from?

Waitākere, Tāmaki Makaurau.

Was there music around you when you were growing up? How?

There was always music in the house growing up. My parents were hippies who met sailing with Greenpeace, which shone through a lot of what they played at home, such as Cat Stevens and the OG Melanie from Woodstock '69 days. Alongside this were the Kiwi classics. Special shoutout to The Great New Zealand Songbook compilation album, I have memories of my mum dancing to 'Swing' by Savage while we were baking cookies because of that CD haha. My grandad gave me my first album when I was in primary school, Green Day's "American Idiot", which was the first musical project that fully clicked for me. He then gifted me their album "Dookie" a few months later with similar impacts. Later, my dad gave me the Led Zeppelin live album "How The West Was Won" when I was also in primary school, which really turned me onto guitar work. My dad was and is into a lot of music and still shows me new stuff now, however, I remember him showing me an avant-garde band he grew up with called "Henry Cow" and their album "Legend". It confused but impressed me with how free music could be. I had been to a few gigs in high school, but seeing Te Kooti Brotherhood's final show at Zeal West when I was 17 made me fall in love with live music. The energy and emotion in that room was intense and powerful, as well as feeling communal and shared. That set off my passion for live music and what it could be.

When did you start making music? How has the music you make changed over time?

I started playing my brother's bass in intermediate and then changed to guitar in high school. I was quite late to the songwriting game. In those days, I'd make riffs and jam them but never developed them into songs, I was more focused on having fun covering songs I liked and learning new skills and techniques through that. I played bass in a Smokefreerockquest band, fantastically named "4 friends + Robin". In that band, I mainly contributed the bass work to existing songs or ideas brought to the band by our guitarist Sean Oakley and vocalist/guitarist Rita Laing (Rita Mae), who did the main songwriting.

I think the music I make has changed over the years in the sense that I've started to pull isolated ideas and riffs into developed ideas and songs faster and easier. It comes with practice and repetition, slowly working out how ideas can be linked or altered to work with others. Learning to share your ideas with others can be scary but rewarding and a great way to learn from other perspectives.

You participated in Smokefreerockquest... how was that experience for you? Do you have any advice for this year's participants, or young musicians in general?

‍Smokefreerockquest was great fun and the opportunities you get from it are so helpful! You can learn a lot about what being a performing band feels like, while in a safe and supportive environment filled with familiar faces! Also getting to see and meet other bands and musicians at similar levels of experience to each other is a great way to meet other people who share the same passions and aspirations. Give someone a "Sick set" after they play and see what happens, maybe that'll be the start and end of the interaction, or maybe you'll make a friend!

My advice would be to just get out there and do it! I wish I did it earlier and committed harder. Find some friends and make some tunes, doesn't matter if you're good musicians or not. If you're having fun, the audience will as well! I only entered Rockquest in my final year of high school and immediately thought "Why didn't I do this earlier?". Plus, you might get to take time out of class to practice in the music room...

You have played on some major stages and had some great media coverage of projects you've been involved in... is there any part of your musical journey that stands out as particularly special / a favorite moment?

Independently releasing our debut album 42 Losers was a ride, and the reception was much better than we expected, holding the physical LP was and is still a trip.

Playing the album front to back at our first sold-out gig for the album release show was so special, especially playing some songs for the only time live thanks to our mate Liam Walker jumping on stage to provide the necessary 3rd guitar layer! That aside, any gig that has the crowd moving and screaming the words back will always hold a special place.

When you're writing, what do you start with? What is your process from beginning to end?

Step 1 - Set BPM to 200. BPM and "good" have a positive correlation in music.

Na yeah, it depends on what type of music I'm working on. If I'm working on some emo/indie/punk, it usually starts with a guitar melody which is then backed up by some chords or vice versa! However, if it's something more metal/hardcore punk, I'll flesh out the core rhythm and drum beats first!

The music of Melanie is mostly Jame's mahi, with him writing the bulk of the music by bringing ideas or mostly-completed songs to the rest of the band for us to then flesh out. I would typically contribute guitar ideas such as melodies/riffs to go into existing songs or sections. It's become more collaborative as time has gone on, and I've since brought fresh songs to the table which were then fleshed out with everyone else. When the band started, I felt like I was at a different songwriting level than the others, who had been writing full and finished songs for a couple of years, and that I couldn't keep up with their workflow. Now that it's been a few years, I'm still not at the same level, but I can keep up, contribute, and bounce ideas off each other, which is heaps more rewarding.

How do you choose what songs to release?

Whatever is the most 'single' worthy (not too long, catchier, and represents us) gets tactical priority. After singles, we try to make the album or EP song structure feel cohesive and balanced, e.g., don't put all the slow and fast songs together, and try to think of how they start and finish song to song to create a flow! (We do the same for our gig setlists)

What are two things you have learned along your journey, that you would tell yourself if you could go back in time? - Stop wasting time trying to be perfect! You'd be much further ahead if you just committed and made mistakes to build from! - Turn your treble down, punk.

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