2017 With Richard Kingsmill

Before they made their second album, the Sydney band needed to have some 'honest chats' between the members. Polaris toured the world non-stop after their 2017 J Award nominated debut album put them on the map as one of Australia's best new heavy acts. Despite watching their popularity grow, that constant contact threatened the existence of the band and their friendships. Richard Kingsmill spoke to Daniel Furnari and Jake Steinhauser about how they pulled the band back from the brink to make The Death Of Me.

The English musician soared high with his debut album Phase in 2016. But since ending the world tour for that, he promptly disappeared. Despite all the acclaim and success, he struggled with imposter syndrome, and those feelings of self-doubt lead him to scrapping a whole album and starting again. Jack Garratt explains to Richard Kingsmill more about that struggle, and how he eventually found the road to making his upcoming second album.

Richard asked triple j listeners to once again nominate their favourite albums of the year. From all the thousands of votes, here’s the Top 10. Hear why these records meant so much to music fans. The artists themselves also talk about the making of them.

It’s a simple question.  Richard gets the triple j team together to ask each of them for their album of the year. Hear what Bridget Hustwaite, Vance Musgrove, Al Newstead, Angus Truskett, Declan Byrne, Gemma Pike, Josh Merriel, Mitch Alexander, and Richard himself selected.

Richard got Bridget Hustwaite, Dave Ruby Howe, Ebony Boadu, and Declan Byrne from the triple j team to pinpoint their one standout release from November. Spoiler alert: Billie Eilish, Mura Masa and Jaguar Jonze were just some of the picks.

With the making of their third album Mind The Moon, the German group Milky Chance stopped touring for a whole year to concentrate on the creative process. It was the longest break they've ever had, but it paid off. Giving them probably their most focused album to date, singer Clemens Rehbein speaks to Richard Kingsmill about the decision, working with new people, and how everything from Portugal to an Airbnb in Melbourne influenced the song writing.

Renowned Japanese video game designer Hideo Kojima asked some of his favourite acts to be involved in the epic and long awaited Death Stranding release. One of those was Bring Me The Horizon. But there was a catch for them to be involved.  Richard Kingsmill speaks to singer Oli Sykes to find out more, and to talk about where the band is heading nearly a year after the release of their 6th album ‘amo’.

At the start of 2018, the Brooklyn talent King Princess (a.k.a. Mikaela Straus) attracted interest immediately with her queer love anthem called 1950. Now she’s delivered Cheap Queen, an equally striking debut album that is largely written, produced and played by the 20yo herself. The first signing to Mark Ronson’s Zelig Records, King Princess speaks to Richard Kingsmill about growing up in her father’s recording studio, her openness to her writing and talking about her sexuality, and how the record changed after getting her heart broken.

Richard asked Linda Marigliano, Hau Latukefu, Karla Ranby and Tommy Faith for their one standout release of the past month. Spoiler alert: Jim Alxndr, OKENYO, flowerkid were some of the acts mentioned.

With his first two indie albums, English artist Rex Orange County quickly established a fanbase. That following increased massively with the 2017 single ‘Loving Is Easy’, with Australia giving the now 21yo his first Gold record. But behind the scenes of packed venues and constant airplay, the singer/songwriter born Alexander O’Connor was struggling with issues around him. Richard Kingsmill tries to find out more of what he went through in the lead up to writing his 3rd album Pony.

She made the move to Los Angeles straight out of high school, and that leap of faith is now paying off. After an impressive run of singles the last two years, Sydney singer CXLOE is enjoying millions of streams and a growing fanbase. But it’s come after a much longer journey. When she premiered her latest single ‘Devil You Don’t’ with Richard Kingsmill this week, she spoke about finding her way in LA and the struggle of finding others in the industry who share her vision.

In just 18 months, the 20yo girl in red (aka Marie Ulven) has taken songs born from boredom in her bedroom in Horten to the world. And plenty of the world has been listening. She talks here to Richard Kingsmill about growing up in her small Norwegian town, about not fitting in, and how a present from her grandfather set her on track for (hopefully) life.

From the council estates of Northampton, Tyron Frampton is the 24yo English rapper known as slowthai. Richard Kingsmill speaks here to him about his tough upbringing, the influence of his mother, his outlook on Brexit, and his Mercury Music Prize nominated debut album Nothing Great About Britain.

Richard asked Linda Marigliano, Max Quinn, Ebony Boadu and Declan Byrne for their standout release of the last month. Spoiler alert: FKA twigs, Rex Orange County, Stormzy and KUCKA may have been mentioned.

After all they’ve been through, how Boy & Bear came to record such an impressive album is remarkable. Four years since Limit Of Love, Suck On Light is the Sydney band’s fourth album. It has come after years of undiagnosed illness for singer Dave Hosking. Battling a serious bacterial infection in his gut that was also affecting his nervous system, Hosking was eventually prescribed a treatment called Faecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT). Many of us found the story both fascinating and disgusting. Richard Kingsmill finds out more about Hosking’s slow recovery, and speaks to keyboardist Jon Hart as well about how the band bounced back to write and record the album in Nashville with engineer/co-producer Collin Dupuis.

In May, the US duo ended their Groovin the Moo tour here in dramatic fashion. Ironically, that incident also set them up for writing some of their best material so far. With their new EP now out, Richard Kingsmill speaks to Sofi Tukker about what happened at the end of that tour, the vision behind their Animal Talk parties, and their continuing love for the Portuguese language.  

Officially now a trio, and riding high after last year’s successful Bloody Lovely album, Brisbane’s DZ Deathrays have released the first of two albums to come in the next 12 months. Founding members Shane Parsons and Simon Ridley speak here to Richard Kingsmill about their fresh creativity and influences, and how recording in Los Angeles helped shaped their new outlook.

After collaborating with the likes of Halsey, Kanye West, Major Lazer, Ariana Grande, Shawn Mendes, and The Weeknd, Cashmere Cat is ready to take the limelight again with the release of his second album.

Richard asks some of the team from the triple j networks to spotlight their standout release from the last month. Spoiler alert: BROCKHAMPTON, The Murder Capital, and Oliver Tree are a few of the acts mentioned.

One of the best singles going around right now is “Conversations (With The Moon)” by the NZ based Harper Finn. The 21yo is the eldest son of the legend Tim Finn (Split Enz/Crowded House). In his first Australian interview, Harper speaks to Richard Kingsmill about his upbringing and father’s legacy, playing as a teen in a hip hop band, and the inspiration behind his latest songs.