Originally from Millicent in country South Australia, Amaya Laucirica started afresh in Sydney and found writing songs a solution to her solitude. When she next moved to Melbourne things fell into place for her with a label and noted producer coming to the party to create her debut album. yourGigs illuminates the story behind the making of Sugar Lights.
yourGigs (yG): How do you think your rural upbringing effected your musical development and influences?
Amaya Laucirica (AL): I think growing up in a small town allowed me a lot of space for the imagination. There wasn't much to do, so it kind of left me to my own devices to entertain myself.
Also growing up in Millicent, there wasn't that much exposure to more underground music. Most music my friends were listening to was pretty mainstream. I spent a lot of time in Adelaide later on, and would buy all my records there at Big Star, stuff that you just couldn't get in the country like My Bloody Valentine and the Velvet Underground. So discovering these records and going back to Millicent, I felt like I was discovering this whole different world of music on my own, and I guess there was a real thrill in that. I guess discovering these records on my own gave me a sense of identity early on which definitely aided me leaving town and try to find my own.
yG: Was there one certain point you decided to make music your focus and what advantaged did moving to the city have for your musical exploits?
AL: About two years into living in Sydney I realised that this was what I wanted to do. And moving to Melbourne definitely was a key move. It was kind of like starting again, and refocusing on what you want to do. And Melbourne's music communities definitely inspired the move.
yG: Were you easily able to find and work with like-minded people once you moved? And what sort of an impact did it have on your songwriting?
AL: Yes, it happened quite quickly. But I've met most of the people I work with and play shows with in Melbourne at live shows. You meet a lot of bands by purely just playing live. The musicians I've met and been inspired by along the way has definitely had an impact on my songwriting. I guess you're always learning, and learning from other writers so the impact is quite inevitable.
yG: Was recording your debut album a big step for you?
AL: Yeah it's huge, I've been working towards this for many years and I guess you place a lot of expectations on how it will turn out. But once it's done it's done, and you can't dwell on it too much because it stagnates any desire to keep going. There's still some work to do in getting it out there, but as well I'm quite happy writing for the next record which hopefully becomes a bigger focus in the next year.
yG: What has been the highlight of your musical career thus far?
AL: Recording the album with Dave was a lot of fun. And getting RRR Album of the Week was pretty cool too because by the release date I felt like I had waited so long for this record to come out and so to get some recognition straight away, especially locally, was a real boost in confidence again.
yG: What gig in history do you wish you were at?
AL: Well I was at the gig that I really wished I could have seen, but missed the show. We went to see Nick Cave at the Enmore Theatre many years ago in Newtown, but didn't know he had support acts. And the support acts were Calexico and Neko Case, and we didn't realise so we just drank in the bar waiting for Nick Cave to go on. We realised months later what happened and was pretty pissed that we were, well, getting pissed instead.
yG: What ambitions do you have for the album and your music?
AL: I would love to take the album overseas and see how it goes down. I think it's so many musicians desire to travel with their music, and it's definitely at the top of the list for 2009.
Amaya Laucirica's Sugar Lights is out now on In-Fidelity through Inertia. Catch Amaya live at Brunswick's The Edinburgh Castle on 6 December, Lakes Entrance's Freakscene Festival on 20 December, and Melbourne's The Tote on 10 January.
Andy Ryan
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