In this interview spotlight, we chat with Luke Jon Shearer about influences, the latest project, challenges and more.
Full Q&A along with links and streams below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I am from a city in Australia named Newcastle. It is an ocean side city with a population of around 600,00 I think.
As for what type of music I create it is a hard question for me to answer because I get asked it a lot and to be honest I think I am creating something completely different to what else is out there. The most important thing to my music is that it is honest and real.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?
I grew up surrounded by music, There seemed to always be music playing around our house when I was a child and I just gravitated towards it. From as early as 6 years old I can remember having a special connection with music.
How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?
My main goal with my Luke Jon Shearer stuff is to never release to albums that sound the same. I never want to stand still artistically, I always want to try and evolve musically. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to denegrate bands who release album after album of the same sounding music, Not at all, And in fact some of my favorite artists follow that proven path of what has worked for them previously but for me personally I want to change and grow with the music as my life changes and grows through the years.
Do you face challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? How has technology helped you (assuming it helps)?
I think nowadays there are actually less challenges as an Indie artist in the digital age and I think that is fantastic. We no longer have to rely on major labels who want to dictate what we release and how we do it to get our music out there.
Where can we connect with you online and discover more music?
I have a brand new website being constructed as we speak and will be live soon and that will be the best place to find out about all of my musical releases but I also have Youtube, Facebook and Soundcloud pages in which you can hear what I am up to.
Anything else before we sign off?
Aside from my recently released Godspeed album, I will be releasing an album of covers on December 18 which I am extremely excited about. I am putting my own spin on song’s that inspired me growing up and it has been a lot of fun putting this album together.
This December I am also releasing an album of Ambient/Minimal music under the name of Army Of Sleep also, Which is a style of music that I love greatly.
