Chords for Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano in Australia: Interview (Part One)

[Ab] Hey, I'm Yukimi from Little Dragon and you're watching the AU Review.
_ _ _ _ _ Welcome and welcome back to Australia.
Thank you.
We're just saying you're fresh off the plane from playing Summer Sonic in Japan over the weekend.
How was Summer Sonic for the band?
It was really good.
I mean, we haven't been to Japan for years.
So yeah, it's a special place for us, especially for me because I have family there too.
So no, it was really good.
It was hot.
It was good.
[N] Not quite the same as you've encountered in Sydney today with our winter wet.
But then again, it's probably a [Db] little nicer than the winter cold of Sweden.
Yeah, [Ab] I was going to say, hey, we're Swedish.
We can endure a lot.
This is a balmy summer afternoon, isn't it?
Ish, yeah.
It could be actually.
Yeah.
Well, it's [E] good to have you back.
It has been a few years between drinks, but it's been a few years between [N] albums as well.
Obviously, the cycle of the last album took quite a while.
And then at what point did you start working on the next record?
[Ab] What's the timeline, I guess, over the last couple of years for that?
_ Well, I mean, after we released Ritual Union, I think we toured for about a year and a half.
And then we were off for about a year.
So I guess, yeah, I mean, [Gm] _ three years, two years, [Ab] three years.
So somewhere [Db] in that cycle. [D] Somewhere, yeah.
Everything is a blur, but yeah.
That's right.
That's right.
Well, we've been enjoying it throughout the year.
And the music video has been great, too.
I want to start with that.
And it's sort of been [E] two parts of what I'm guessing is going to be a trilogy of music videos.
The last one ended on a cliffhanger as well.
No, but it's actually two parts.
It's only just the two parts.
But it's good.
Maybe we should do a third part now that you mentioned [G] it.
We'll never find out what happens.
[Ab] Exactly.
To the imagination.
Tell me a little bit about how that sort of grander project came about than [D] a normal one-off
music video, breaking it up into the [G] two parts.
Yeah, well, I mean, we [Bm] contacted Nabil, who we really admire.
He's a really great director.
And yeah, he's done so many amazing music videos.
And I think in the past we've been super involved in the kind of videos.
But this time we sort of decided to give him some free hands to kind of interpret.
And he kind of came back with this whole story [Bb] zombie [E] _ theme, which was kind of like for at
first we were like, hmm, I don't know.
But then we were like, well, you know, let's give it a try and end up being really cool.
So it's kind of like his interpretation, which was cool because he's very imaginative and awesome.
By the end it's almost a rock zombie opera.
[Ab] It's great.
Exactly, yeah.
Well, I don't imagine we'll be seeing any zombie moves on stage tonight, but you never know.
Zombie moves as in dance moves? Yeah.
I mean, you never know.
_ Yeah, maybe.
We'll see.
We'll see.
Well, we're looking forward to the show tonight.
And I guess you're a little bit into a couple of months in now to the tour.
And how have the new songs been received live?
[G] I think it's been really good.
I mean, I played a lot of festivals this summer and it's kind of like one of those [E] moments
where you get to play for a bigger crowd and you don't know who's [G] there to see what.
And some of them may have heard of you.
Some of them may see you for the first [E] time.
But surprisingly, there are a lot of people who kind of were into songs and new songs.
[Ab] And yeah, it was really cool to see actually people singing along to Clap Clap.
Yeah, it was good.
Well, you've got a lot to choose from now, four albums in.
When you release your first album, it's a little easier to make the set list every night.
Now, I imagine you've got to kind of go through it every night and go,
Oh, we haven't played here in a few years.
What do we want to deliver?
Yeah, I think it kind of refines [G] itself.
Like through the shows, you kind of start somewhere and then you go,
Oh, that last part could be better.
And you change it.
And then you sort of find a set [Ab] list that you get a little precious with.
And then you need to sort of get rid of it so you can start fresh.
So yeah, we kind of go through phases.
[N] Having seen you several times over the years,
for me it seems like the sort of earlier songs have really developed and changed in the live environment.
I mean, have you noticed that as well?
Obviously, it's more gradual for you than it is for someone who sees you every few years.
Yeah, I mean, I don't [Ab] like kind of after we released the records,
I don't think any of us really listened to the music
because you listen so much when you're making it and when you're mixing it or whatever.
You're not one of those [Dbm] bands that sits in the car listening [Abm] to your own music on the way to a gig.
[Eb] I wonder if there are those bands.
There are.
You'd be surprised.
[Ab] Yeah, no, we're definitely not one of those bands.
But yeah, so it's kind of like when we do hear our music,
it's, you know, [G] you happen to hear it in a cafe or whatever.
You're like, [D] Oh shit, [G] I haven't heard that song in ages.
Or you start out being like, Oh, I recognize this.
[Ab] What is this song?
And they're like, Oh, it's us.
But yeah, I don't know.
So usually when you have those moments, we kind of like.
[G] _ _
Yeah, we kind of sort of remember how it actually sounded on the [E] recording.
And I think, yeah, they just kind of evolve live and become something else.
_ _ _ [N] _