Aluka… To Plait Or To Weave

By Ash London on April 17, 2013 in Arts

When I first heard about the all singing, all female group Aluka, it was in the context of their new LP, which was recorded in 12 different remote locations throughout Australia. I guess when you don’t have 29 instruments and a full band to coordinate, you can choose to record in a World War II bunker, or a swimming pool, which is exactly what these three girls from Melbourne went and did. They hit Sydney this month to launch the album, ‘Space’, in what promises to be an impressive show. I threw them a few quick questions in anticipation of their arrival …

The name ‘Aluka’ came from… The joining of two unrelated words, Larku and Appaloosa. We needed a name quick smart so we had an ‘anything goes’ brainstorming session in which nothing was really going at all! But necessity drove us to start jumbling letters together. Only later did we discover that Aluka is a Zulu word meaning “to plait or weave” – pretty damned perfect little coincidence if you ask me!

Our LP ‘Space’ is best described as… A sonic journey where we carefully mask the fact that we can’t play any instruments by singing all at once! We recorded each song on the album in an unconventional space carefully chosen to suit the character of that particular song. It saw us taking day trips to World War II bunkers, tram depots and farmyards, to name just a few locations.

We decided to sing together when… We needed an excuse to be spending as much time together as we wanted to. We are one of those lame bands who just adore each other.

We like to think that our music is…. Not what you were expecting to hear.

Growing up, we listened to… The Beatles, Ella Fitzgerald, Disney tunes, Michael Jackson and Paul Simon. We were about 10 or 11 when the Spice Girls were huge so I think that was on repeat in all our houses. In high school I (Annabelle) only listened to Led Zeppelin for about two years straight. I felt everything else had no emotion – so dramatic!

There was this one time when we were starting out that…. We had a dream gig at the Northcote Social Club. It was our first gig ever. Little did we know that in the audience was Marty Brown (Clare Bowditch’s manager) and Myles Mumford (producer). By the following week we were gearing up to record our first EP with Myles whilst fitting in rehearsals with Clare Bowditch as her backup singers! Pretty sweet deal for a bunch of 18 year olds!

If we could have written any song, it would be… ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ – The Beatles. Happiness in a song. Perfection!

If we were going to collaborate with Justin Bieber… Something must have gone very wrong at some point.

Boybands are… Funny. In a weird way. I think it’s the crotch grabbing and matching clothes. Matching clothes are always a tad weird. Once we all wore white t-shirts and jeans to a gig by accident. We felt very self-conscious.

Our dream gig… Would be headlining the Palais Theatre in Melbourne or playing the big room at the Opera House. We’ve played in the smaller cabaret room and it was pretty special.

We never want to get to the point where… We’re collaborating with Justin Bieber and grabbing our crotches in matching outfits.

We’ll know we’ve really made it when… Ten year-old girls around the globe are forming mini Aluka groups in primary school, doing dance routines and deciding which Aluka lady they will be that day.

You can catch launch of Aluka’s album ‘Space’ at Camelot Lounge on April 11. All the info you need is at facebook.com/alukamusic.