INTERVIEW: Godlands releases new EP 'Ready 2 Rage': "It's an ode to all of my fans and the people that like to party with me"

Interview: Jett Tattersall

Adelaide DJ and producer Godlands today releases her new EP Ready 2 Rage. A legend of the Adelaide club scene, Godlands starting releasing music in 2017 and after a period working in LA she came to the attention of Grammy nominated producer Steve Aoki who signed her to his label Dim Mak.

She has since released a string of electro club bangers with her debut EP 4 U Only garnering critical acclaim on its release last year. Ready 2 Rage’s five tracks follow in a similar vein, with life affirming hardcore club anthems sitting alongside more introspective synth tracks such as the single ‘My Weakness’ (featuring vocals from BRUX) and closing track, the swirling, atmospheric otherworldly ‘Paradiso’.

We recently caught up with Godlands to chat more about her career and the creation of Ready 2 Rage.

Hi Godlands, compliments on the EP - Ready 2 Rage, talk me through the title.
It's an ode to all of my fans and the people that like to party with me really, because I just want to say thank you. Thanks for always being there. Thanks for being psychos. You have to say cheers to the people that come out and see you till 3am on God knows what. Even through the shittiest of years last year, they still hung around supported me. Big thanks to those guys!

That's such a lovely thing to do, I like that. Speaking of coming out and raging the EP opens with ‘Bring The Fire’ and it most definitely does bring the fire. Was that always was the track where you though ‘yeah, this is my opener?’
Yeah, 100%. I was like we have to, it's the perfect opener for an EP called Ready 2 Rage. I thought it was the strongest and it really does do what it says - bring fire

'My Weakness', a recent single, features this beautiful elusive vocalist BRUX, it's such a beautiful track. How did this particular collaboration came about?
It was actually originally a remix for Marshmello and Halsey. And unfortunately, it didn't make the cut. I thought it was such a great instrumental and I could definitely work with it, but I felt it needed a strong vocalist. I talked to my manager and we threw some names in and asked around and some people weren't available and we just couldn't quite get there. Then it actually fell on The Kite String Tangle who actually wrote the top line and he wasn't available to actually sing on the track. So we're like, we're halfway there, we just need a vocalist. Originally I  hit BRUX up through Instagram. She's a producer herself and vocalist, [but'] I wanted to stick with what The Kite String Tangle did. And she was like, ‘Yeah, let's do it’. And she threw it down. And that's basically how it came about. She had just recently moved over to New York, so the time difference was a little bit harder to work around, but Instagram messages go far!

You know what, the amount of people we talk to, and they say exactly the same thing. Instagram DMs are the way to go for collaborations.
Literally. There is just a sense of personality in it. Because when you go through managers, and managers ask managers, it feels very detached. But if you approach an artist, as an artist, you create a connection. You have more of a chance of getting what you want.

On this EP you've got vocals on most of the tracks, but it's very much your EP and the thing that sells it is the disjointed production, particularly on ‘My Weakness’, which I think is absolutely beautiful. It must be such a line to walk when you're creating a song - vocals are so important, even more so than instrumentals at some points, but at the same time you're putting yourself out there as producer. There's such a delicate line
I totally get what you mean, and it [comes down to] what do you want to show off, more the vocalist or your production, and it is a very hard line to sell. Because that song is actually pretty hard to sing on to be honest, because there is a lot of disjointed aspects and elements to it. And it's very strong that you have to sing over and belt over, but you don't want it to be clashing too much. So props to BRUX for bringing that sort of melodic-ness to it. It's hard as a producer to work with a vocalist who maybe doesn't quite get it or can't quite sing through it. And then unfortunately, you just have to say ‘I don't think this is quite going to work’, because you can hear how you want it to sound in your head. And if if someone can't quite get to where it is, then you might have to say ‘on to the next one’. even if you love their voice, like it might just not be the right song to work with. But that happens all the time. With all producers working with vocalists, they might get a couple of people singing on the one track, and they'll choose their favourite.

We did an interview with [Australian producer] Kito, and she was saying the best thing about producing is that it's like constantly being in different bands for the perfect moment without ever having to fall out.
And happy mistakes always, you all have one idea to write a song, and I think it's going one way and then the next day, I'll work on it, and we'll go a completely different direction. And that's right, you can be a million different people in one person. You have to be a drummer, you have to be a guitarist, a pianist, you have to be everyone in one person. And you get influences from people that you look up to. Sometimes it gets super overwhelming. What do I want to do next? Like where am I going with this? I will do like 60 different versions on one song, and it's it can become super overwhelming, but that's sort of the beauty in it. You can go any direction with producing.

Obviously, it's just such a tangible love of music that you have. What are some of your first memories of it? And how did you make it your own?
In terms of production, it started with DJing with me. I was in maths class - not doing maths, obviously -and my friend who happened to be one of those friends who went out under age, more so than the others, she was just, ‘hey, check this video out’. And it was video of The Bloody Beetroots, their music video ‘Cornelius’. And that was actually filmed in the club that I currently play at. And so I was like, ‘I want to be a DJ so bad’. I loved the music. And I was just like, yep, I want to do that. And so I started DJing. And it got to a point with DJing whereas I thought I can only go so far. I want to push myself, I want to edit tracks and do mashups, and all that sort of stuff. So I decided to enrol in a quick electronic music production course. And it sort of grew from there. COVID is a terrible time, but last year, for me, growing as a producer, it was huge for me, it gave me the time to actually sit down and work on my craft properly for hours and hours and hours. Whereas years before I would be travelling, working, all that sort of stuff. And I felt like I didn't have as much time as I should to be working on my craft. And that's probably one good takeaway from last year. I feel like my production has improved immensely from that year.

You make dance music and, obviously, there’s nowhere to dance. I imagine watching a crowd, just cut a rug to your music is both euphoric, and a learning tool. How has the past year affected the music that you write?
All I can say is it's been positive. Every time I sit in front of my computer, and I attempt to write something, I'm never not learning. And I just love learning and I love happy mistakes, like ‘oh shit I accidentally did that, that that sounds fucking wicked’. I would spend hours on YouTube looking at other people's tutorials, you know, other people's live streams, other producers that I look up to people that uploaded their live streams on Twitch and just seeing some little tips and tricks that help in my production. The more time I spend working on the craft is only positive. But obviously, you get in those ruts where you work work work for a week, and heaps of cool things come out and then I'll have a week where I can't do anything, my brain is just overloaded. And my for that week, it's like my depression week where I'm like, ‘I'm shit. I can't do anything bla bla bla’. And I feel like some of these [other] producers only ever make bangers, but that's all you see. You don't see the other 60 projects that they've half done and like they're like, ‘that's shit’, you know? It's always working harder and trying to better yourself.

I want to talk to you about 'Middle Man'. There are some ridiculously layered sounds and then you've got these gorgeous vocals from East AV3, there's a gorgeous, beautiful, distorted Indian charm. And I can't tell if it’s vocals or production at the beginning. Where did all of this come from?
Do you know, that track is so funny because I literally just did that beat one afternoon, it was like a couple of hours. I just laid down the beat. And I thought this is really wavy, really bouncy, and it was just really banging. And I thought a hip hop artist could really throw down some cool lines to it. And I sent it to the guys and they're like, yeah, this is a vibe, this is a vibe. But that that sample that you're talking about was just from a sample pack. It is a vocal that I just chopped up and sort of distorted a little bit. And it just sits in the back. It's a bit all over the shop, but it's kind of cool that way.

Now, clearly, the music industry is dominated by dudes I just wanted to know what your personal experiences with regards to producers and DJs is? And do you feel the need to be that much better, that much louder, that much more of yourself to be heard?
Do you know what, it's probably ingrained in me from a child, I have two older brothers. So I always need to be proving myself, you know, I was very much the black sheep in the family. And that has gone over into my career, I suppose. It was a very sports oriented family, and I was just ‘I want to be a DJ’. And everyone was like, ‘is this another hobby that you're going to give up in a year's time?’. In terms of getting gigs it's kind of funny because in Adelaide there wasn't many female DJs, and venues were hunting for female DJs because it was a point of difference, because it was overflowing with male DJs. So I was pretty lucky, I would get a lot of gigs. And I just so happened to actually be good at it. But in terms of production, you definitely have this feeling that the guys think, ‘did she actually do this? Or did somebody else do it for her?’ And it’s always a thing of mine to try and show as much as I can that yes, I did this.

Your closing track 'Paradiso' is my personal highlight. Much like the intro to 'Middle Man', it's just layers upon layers of sound. And it's visual, no raging, it's just the perfect ‘good night’. Given its title is this basically the audible journey of your own paradise or your own drive home?
Literally, because I feel like the first drop, it has those trap elements and it's kind of stripped back, and then when it heads to the second drop, it really does take you on a journey of bare bones to fuller, melodic sounds. I thought it was the perfect closing track and, it’s a five minute long track and it just does it takes you on a journey, and of paradise I suppose. That's exactly it. You nailed it. 

Yeah, it's the one you go home to, you go home to that track. 
Definitely It's the one that closes off the show and everyone feels all warm inside. 

That's what you want. You don't want to anger at the end of that set especially at that time in the morning. And lastly, Godlands what is coming up for you - we've got your EP out but what else is going on?
I've got a massive tour guys! End of June and all of July I'm going around Australia. Hopefully if COVID… please COVID allow me to go please! I'm worried about Victoria, but hopefully hopefully Melbourne as well. But yes, Sydney Brisbane, Perth. I'm heading to you guys and we're gonna rage. 

Ready 2 Rage is out now. You can buy and stream here.

To keep up with all things Godlands you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Godlands Tour Dates
Tickets Available HERE

25 June - Fiction Club, Canberra, ACT
2 July - The Warehouse, Brisbane, QLD
3 July - Max Watts, Sydney, NSW
9 July - Lions Arts Factory, Adelaide, SA
16 July - Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, VIC
17 July - The Court, Perth, WA