When the 2021 Armlock song Power of a Waterfall finally came together in the studio, Hamish Mitchell could only muster a few words for his bandmate Simon Lam.
“We figured out the track and at the end we played it through,” Lam told Alt-Mart as he cooked dinner in his Melbourne, Australia home. “At the end of it, [Mitchell] just said ‘I love music.’
“It’s one of my favourite memories.”
It was a cheesy line, and one that Mitchell clearly thought would stay in the studio — “I’m going to kill you, Simon,” he interjected with a laugh — yet the remark itself reflects what Armlock is all about.
Mitchell and Lam, who have been close friends since they met as jazz musicians in university roughly 14 years ago, started the two-piece band because they love making music together.
“We really don’t know how to do anything but art and music,” Lam said. “We made this band because we had free time, and that’s what we do with our free time.”
“We’ve just constantly been in bands together,” Mitchell agreed. “We really love songs. Whether it’s electronic or guitar-based or whatever, it doesn’t really matter. What we’ve always done is try to make songs.”
Armlock has not released any new music since Trust, the seven-track 2021 debut that Power of a Waterfall landed on. But they have been hard at work on a new project over the last few months, and are hoping to begin rolling it out around April.
Musically, Trust was understated. It was an exercise in restrained songwriting, and an excellent example of the fact that less is often way, way more. The new project, which does not yet have a name, is “not as acoustic,” according to Mitchell, and “definitely a bit noisier.”
“There’s definitely a little more guitar-playing going on,” Lam agreed. “But you know, the fundamentals are the same – the harmonies, the songwriting.”
“It’s a similar sort of format. We like that mini album, long EP kind of thing. It’s a great length. You can put something together that’s super cohesive.”
As for the lyrics, while Trust dealt with feelings rooted in hindsight – regret, disappointment, even shame – the new project will be more forward-looking.
“It’s got a weird kind of spiritual thing about it,” Lam explained. “Not literally spiritual, but it’s got this kind of searching-for-something thing about it. It’s a little less self-deprecating [than Trust], and a little more mad.”
Mitchell and Lam don’t spend all their time in the studio. They have other hobbies. They listen to music. Mitchell likes Sonic Youth. Lam likes Adrianne Lenker and Big Thief. They both “love” Yung Lean. Lam likes to play Call of Duty and cook. Mitchell says his bandmate’s feta and spinach risoni is “the best.”
They play shows, too.
Armlock has a couple of gigs scheduled for early February. One is a short flight or long drive away in Sydney. The other, like most of their performances to date, will be in Melbourne. But that’s not a problem. They like playing on home turf.
“There’s nowhere really like Melbourne,” Mitchell said. “There’s a lot of small venues. You could go see a gig six, seven nights a week if you wanted. There’s always stuff going on, and there are really good bands that you’ve never heard of.”
“It’s poppin’, for lack of a better word,” Lam added.
Armlock’s affection for their home city doesn’t mean they’re not bent on world domination.
The band has plans to take their shows on the road soon. The United States is of particular interest, but there are some obvious logistical hurdles to clear, namely being “very far away” and having to spend “a lot of money,” as Lam put it.
The first priority, of course, is finishing the record Armlock fans have been waiting for since Trust dropped nearly two years ago.
It’s a tall order, even for two experienced pros.
There are moments and even days when the process becomes “incredibly frustrating,” Mitchell admits, but it rarely feels like work for either member of the band.
“Me and Simon spend so much time together, we’re never not working in some sense,” Mitchell said. “It’s hard to know where Armlock ends and us just hanging out begins.”
Lead photograph by Phoebe Go/@imphoebego.
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