Solar-Systems are electronic duo Laura and Oli; Laura is singer / lyric provider whilst Oli (previously of Dreamtrak) provided the production. Here’s what happened when I caught up with them for a brief chat:
How would you describe Solar-Systems?
Oli: I like melody and making people dance, but beyond that musically it’s just a soup made out of everything we’ve ever listened to.
Laura: Lyrically, it is a output for all the weird books and websites I read which warn of the end times and abduction.
When did you decide to start Solar-System?
Laura: We decided to start Solar Systems after Oli did an amazing remix of my other band and I thought ‘I wish this is what my band actually sounded like’.
Where do you write your songs?
Oli: I have a small studio space with all my gear in, so we do most of it there – but some of it over email too. The studio is in a basement and you can’t see the outside really. I think I’d rather it was on a beach or something. One day.
Laura: When writing the lyrics I tend to print off a tonne of weird stuff from the internet on my inkjet printer then piece together phrases whilst travelling on an overground train. If you see a girl reading a smudged wikipedia print out about the Annunaki on the East London Line then that’s probably me.
I’ve noticed some lovely artwork on your Facebook page. Who is responsible for it and what’s its significance?
Oli: I type made up phrases like Psychedelic Brain Injury , Apocalyptic Visions Of Yesteryear and combinations of anything a bit cosmic into Google Image search and to see what it throws up.
You’ve done lots of remixes, which was your favourite to work on?
Oli: There’s actually only one ‘official’ Solar Systems remix, which is of Swim Deep’s “King City”. That was really fun to make, I put a big tolling bell sound in it. There’s a couple more mixes in the pipeline. But as Dreamtrak I’ve done quite a few. My favourite is probably the one for Beat Connection. I like the idea of reinterpreting the song rather than chopping it about and making something totally arbitrary. So if the song is really good to start with then you’re almost there.
What bands are you listening to at the moment? Any recommendations?
Oli: I only listen to Abba, Scooter and The History of the House Sound of Chicago, just those on a loop. A lot of the time I’m in the studio and I can’t listen to anything there – apart from the song I’m working on, over and over, for days on end.
What are your plans for the upcoming months?
Oli: “Throw Your Hands Up” is coming out on an amazing Dutch label, Non. I’ve been following their output for a few years now, so I was really excited they got in touch. We’ve got a bunch of new songs, it took us ages to make them, so maybe an EP? And then maybe we’ll write some more after that. And maybe some live shows but we only want to play live in Ibiza and it has to be outdoors and at sunset.
Here’s a mixtape that they’ve done for us:
Words: Katie Wilkinson
