Words: Nugie Rian
Photos: Garrin Faturrahman

I first discovered Mildlife’s music back in 2018 when a friend introduced me to their captivating sound. It was after a long week of classes and assignments, and we were unwinding with friends when my friend shared Mildlife’s video for ‘The Magnificent Moon.’ Their blend of old-school and contemporary sounds immediately drew me in.

From that moment on, Mildlife’s music has held a permanent place in my playlists, and I’ve found myself enthusiastically recommending their music to friends, both old and new. Their music has not only enriched my personal experiences but has also served as a bridge for connections with others.

I’ve been particularly captivated by their award-winning video ‘Live from South Channel Island,’ and graduating from watching them on my computer screen to experiencing their live performance at Joyland Festival 2023 was definitely a core memory.

And imagine my surprise that I was asked to do the interview with Mildlife, since I usually play the role of the photographer and had to do a little switcheroo with my colleague who usually does the interview because their music has become so interwoven with my life.

During our conversation, we delved into their musical progression from 2012 to the present, the influence of Confetti Studio on their work, and the grueling yet rewarding process behind the creation of ‘Live from South Channel Island.

So, anyway, I want to start off by talking about 2012.

*Joyous chuckles unite*

Jim: The apocalypse?

So, I recently revisited the live video of you guys playing in The Grace Darling.

*A symphony of laughter*

Tom: Next interview!

*Laughter continues*

I wanna know the creative process from changing that sound to the sound you have right now.

Tom: It’s the same sound.

Kevin: No, it’s different.

Kevin: What do you mean? It’s different. It’s way different.

Tom: Oh, okay. I’m joking!

Tom: We… there’s no intention… I guess it’s like, it’s not an intentional decision for us to go, we wanted to be like that then, and we want to be like this now. It’s just a natural progression based on music you’re listening to at the time, music you’re sharing with each other, different phases of your life that you’re going through. You might be going through something really sad, so you need to connect with music that helps you through that. Whether it’s sad music, happy music, whatever it is. So all these different things just go into this melting pot in your mind and then you just make music. And because that changes all the time, you end up making different music at different times. So 2012, we were feeling that, and now we’re feeling this.

Oh, okay. That’s fair enough, I guess. So I understand you guys started playing music together in high school, right?

Tom: Yep.

You’ve said ‘70s rock played a big part in it. What was the ‘70s rock that still influenced the sound of Mildlife till today?

Tom: I would say Pink Floyd. Certain areas of Pink, Led Zeppelin, you know, the classic music that your dad makes you listen to and disowns you if you don’t listen to it. 

Jim: Like The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd. Even Blue Star Boy. 

Adam: All you want. Maybe your mom forced you to listen to them. 

Kevin: Either way, we were all forced to. 

Tom: Either way, we grew up listening to that music and I still love that music.

Jim: It played a big part in your life. 

Tom: It played a big part. Yeah. That’s what I’m saying. And I feel like we, I don’t know about you, Adam and I grew up together since we were born.

Adam: Yes, correct.

Tom: So, I went through a stage in my life where I resisted that music. I’m looking more forward and I’m not looking back at Pink Floyd and The Doors. And as I got a little bit older, I embraced it a little bit more within myself and thought, you know, I enjoy that music and I…  it’s not the most…excel or intellectual this or whatever, but I just, it makes me feel good.

So it was like a phase of teenage rebellion for a bit, yeah?

Tom: Yeah. I wouldn’t say it was that rebellious though. It was just a phase of being a teenager.

Adam: I was a rebel, dude.

Tom: Yeah, of course. 

I noticed you guys used the word “phase” a lot in our conversation. Is that why some of your releases are named Phase? [chuckles]

Tom: Well, we kind of saw that as, that’s the phase that we’re in for this album.

Okay, so I want to switch up a bit on the questions. So I want to ask about Confetti Studio.

Tom: Hey! Yooo. Nice. What do you need to know, man? 

Kevin: *Laughs*

You guys hiring?

I’m kidding. So, Confetti played a big part for my life—aesthetically, but does it have any influences outside of aesthetics? Maybe, a meaning, like, “it influences my life sonically” or anything like that?

Tom: Well, Confetti is also… it’s us as well. So in terms of the influence that it plays…

Kevin: it’s the same as us

Tom: Confetti is a design studio and we make the design, we make the music. So they’re obviously forming each other in a lot of ways.

Oh, okay. So it’s just, like, one big, unity thing, right?

Tom: Well, I guess so, because it’s one brain.

Oh, one brain?

Tom: Confetti is my brain and Kev’s brain.

Well, yeah. But you make the design for other people.

Tom: I do the design. I do the design for Mildlife. And I also contribute to the music for Mildlife. So, I think it’s going to be interwoven into a knot. It’s one way or anyway. One hand washes the other.

Kevin: One hand washes the other.

I understand that.

Tom: I’m not sure I even know how to do it.

I love the way, without telling, it’s like the DNA of Mildlife exists within Confetti as well.

Tom: Cool.

So maybe the question is for you. Can you see, as you just said, you can see the Mildlife sound, at least a little bit in the Confetti aesthetic?

Oh, yeah. Definitely.

Kevin: Really good questions.

Adam: Yeah. These are great questions.

Jim: These are all new questions.

Tom: These are new ones. We’ve never been asked these before.

Great! So, if you guys can make a piece of music with someone you know existing or…

Jim: They have to be alive?

Well. Dead or alive.

All: Oooh.

But outside of the realm of music.

Jim: Another good question.

Tom: Nice. That’s a good one. So, they’re not musicians. You’re just maybe having a few wines with them, banging on some drums.

Yeah. Maybe, like, you’re making music with Christopher Nolan or something like that.

Kevin: Oh. It wouldn’t be Christopher Nolan.

Adam: No. I don’t think… 

Tom: A bit too serious.

Jim: Too serious.

Tom: Yeah. It might be… Who are you? *asking Adam*

Adam: I’m Dr. Seuss. Oh, he’s gonna be… 

Kevin: Oh, he’s canceled. Alright. Scrap that. 

Adam: What has Dr. Seuss done? 

Kevin: I don’t know, man. He’s got a bad smell about him.

Adam: Oh, okay. Cool. Alright. Scrap that. I don’t know. Alright. I’m just thinking about his artwork. I wanna answer this question, though, because it’s a really good question.

Jim: Um… People to do, like, um… What’s his name? Um… Who’s the guy who did “The Thing”? What’s his name?

Kevin: The director?

Tom: The director, and he’s also a musician. Kev? 

Kevin: David Cronenberg.

Tom: Nah, nah, nah. Um… Oh… It’s killing me.

Adam: Not David Cronenberg?

Jim: Nah, Cronenberg didn’t do “The Thing”. And he’ll come to me later and I’ll be, “It’s That Guy!”

Cronenberg…

Cronenberg. 

*Laugh*

Tom: Jim Carrey.

Adam: Yeah, actually, Jim Carrey. 

Jim: Yeah, Jim Carrey would be great.

Tom: I would love to…

Kevin: He’d just steal the limelight. He’d just be getting up there whining his limbs around.

*Kevin imitates Jim Carrey’s noises while flailing his limbs around*

It’s like, you wanna collaborate? But he’s changed now. He paints now.

Tom: Oh, cool. I didn’t know.

Kevin: We could do a live painting maybe. I reckon something comedic could be good. Like a good comedian. I know you hate comedy music, but like, there’s a place for it.

Tom: I don’t think comedy music should exist.

Jim: It’s a hard question. It’s a really hard question.

Adam: There’s so many people.

Tom: But we’ve got to do the one.

Kevin: Aragorn? 

The book or movie version of Aragorn?

Kevin: I love Viggo, but… You nerds.

*Laugh*

Adam: I like it more than the elf.

Tom: I like to make music with, um… Gimli.
*Someone’s laughing*

No. What’s the, um, little dragon out of Mario Kart?

Adam: Um… The little dragon?

Tom: The dragon guy.

Jim: Bowser?

Tom: No, not… Well, Bowser would be good.

Kevin: Jack Black’s Bowser from the movie?

No. But he sang tho. He sang. 

Tom: Jack Black is the answer to the question. 

Jim: Jack Black.

Adam: Yeah, he sang, Jack Black.

Tom: So… I would love to hear Jack Black sing…

Kevin: Bob Saget. 

Tom: *Laugh* Bob Saget, actually. 

Adam: Oh, my God. Yeah, Bob Saget!

Jim: Bob Saget.  Rest in peace.

I’m moving to a bit more serious question, I guess. 

Tom: No, we would like to take that last question seriously. It just caught us unaware, and it’s actually something we can probably talk about after the show. 

Kevin: Yeah, we’ll think… We’ll get in the van tomorrow and be like, that’s the answer. 

Jim: We should have said that.

Well, I mean, I’m watching you guys on Monday anyway. 

Tom: Ask us again on Monday. We’ll have a better answer for you. 

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. 

Jim: We need to think about it. 

Tom: Who’s yours? Who’s yours?

I’m kind of curious about, like, the president for some reason… 

Tom: The president? That’s great.

Yeah. 

Kevin: JFK? 

No. Nah, man.

Kevin: What? Joko Widodo. 

Yeah. I think, like, there’s that one video that he rapped. That’s pretty weird, but I want to know if he can make… music, you know 

So, anyway, moving on to a bit more serious question, I want to talk about the ‘Live from South Channel Island’. Phenomenal video and record, by the way.

Tom: We owed our award winning producer for that live: Benny Rausa

What were the logistical hurdles to create that piece?

Tom: All of them! Oh man, the entire thing from conception through to execution was a hurdle.

Kevin: Yeah. It was really hard.

Tom: We had to… It was a tiny island that has been overgrown, and now nature runs it. And so, we have to go there… Once more. Nature reclaimed it. No, nature didn’t start it. It was unofficial in the first place. And we had to bring power to the whole thing. So, we had to power the island.

What I noticed in the video, there’s just one small boat. You brought all of that with that small boat?

Oh, so what we did was we got up at dawn when the sun rose. We actually had two boats. There was one boat for the gear, and one boat to transport us, because a bit of the idea in the early stages came about because, like, we go to this island, such and such knows a friend who’s got a boat to get us there. And that was all cool. But this was a very fancy boat and couldn’t get close enough to the island without scratching the boat. Otherwise, the boat would get damaged, so we had to get a fisherman, and we… You know, the producers were like, oh, hey, can we borrow your fishing boat… What are you up to today? Have you got any free time to, like, take a bunch of music gear to go to this island? And he could get his fishing boat, which was a bit more sort of, you know… Rough around the edges.

Shallow waters, basically?

Tom: Yeah. And it could go right up to the dock, and we’d load it off there. So, I think, yeah, there is a shot of one boat, and that’s the fancy boat. That’s not the boat that we used to get all the gear.

So, the fancy boat was there for… 

Tom: Fancy was there for props, you know.

Oh, okay.

Tom: Yeah. But it also took us there. All the stuff. Like, everyone…

Kevin: Except Benny. He was in the fishing boat. 

Tom: Yeah. But everyone else, even, like, camera crew and everything was on that boat. Not a fancy boat. So, it was a nightmare. One of our managers vomited from stress.

Oh, my God.

Tom: Yeah. So, we’re all setting up, and we basically got to the point where we couldn’t… There was some sort of technical problem.

Adam: We couldn’t get our in-ear monitors to work.

Tom: So… And we’re losing light. We’re losing light every second. So, it got to the point where they’re saying, okay, you’ve got one shot. And this costs a lot of money to get a lot of people onto this island. You can imagine. Drones, film crew, everything. You’ve got one shot. You know, not very much time to record something. And our managers are saying, you know, oh, maybe we’ll just do one song. Whoa. Like, we’ve come all this way to do one song. We’ve just got to do it. We’ll hit it now and do the whole thing. So, what you saw was us just… Doing it. We only had one… 

Jim: Getting very sunburnt. 

Tom: Getting very sunburnt. And pretty much having one shot at the whole thing. And meanwhile, our manager’s vomiting into the sea because he’s very stressed. It might have been the sandwiches that he made himself. 

Jim: No, they were good sandwiches. 

Kevin: Chicken Waldorf. 

Adam: Chicken Waldorf. Right. Yeah. 

Tom: But it was worth it. Anyway, it was very stressful. It was… difficult. And we were just on that boat on the way back, just feeling so good that we got it. And we were very happy with our take.

I think that’s all the time that we got. 

Tom: Great.

Jim: Right. We’ll get back to you about the non-musical jam.