MELBOURNE’S lockdowns may have put an end to live shows but did not necessarily cancel creativity.
The three-member emo rock band Medicated Love, marooned at their respective homes, managed a self-phone-filmed video (“stage” clothing ranges from dressing gowns to flannelette and Hawaiian shirts).
But as soon as the chance arose, they regrouped in the studio to record Sit With Your Feelings, an EP released late March.
“Banana bread? Zoom beers? Writing a debut EP? The lockdowns forced our creative juices to flow,” guitarist and singer Riki Platt said.
“The COVID-19 lockdowns seem like a distant memory, as do the daily routines most of us casually adopted: Wake up. Eat. Nudge the computer mouse so that you appear online to your work colleagues. Eat. Netflix. Wine. Sleep. Repeat.”
Sitting on the share house couch, guitar in lap and phone ready to record new voice memos, Platt says he “chipped away at new guitar riffs, humming melodies and scribbling rough lyrics”.
“The downfall of past relationships, the shining potential of new relationships, the uncertainty of the future, as well as the appreciation of what we have, were all inspiration for the four new tracks.
“Fast forward a year or so and we were in the hazy period of ‘woah, our numbers are higher than I am right now, looks we may be in lockdown again this weekend’, glued to press conferences like it was the first moon landing.”
The EP was recorded at the Press Club with producer Greg Rietwyk in between lockdowns.
The first single Small Talk was released in October 2021, along with a DIY video clip filmed by band members Platt, Matthew Goldman (bass) and Daniel McGorum (drums) gaffer taping their phones to walls and hitting record.
Despite the song’s negative themes of a failing relationship, Platt says it was added to many Spotify playlists “and heard around the world”.
This was followed two months later by the moody, melancholic Staring Into The Bliss.
Freed from lockdown, Medicated Love was this time able to get a professional video filmed and edited by Michael Bird.
“The pandemic was so hard on everyone, especially the music industry,” Platt says.
“For those lucky enough to still have employment and income coming in, it was really easy to slip into a lazy and unmotivated state of living.
“I knew I would have made myself feel bad for not achieving anything, so I forced myself to write. If we didn’t go into lockdown, who knows, maybe we wouldn’t have an EP to show for it now.”
Sit With Your Feelings is on all streaming services.
Instagram: instagram.com/medicated_love Facebook: facebook.com/medicatedlove
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 19 April 2022
