Willaris. K is an Australian producer who straddles electronica & melodic tech sounds. He is often compared to huge names of the most experimental dance music spectrum, such as Jon Hopkins, Brian Eno or Four Tet. Originally, Jack was an electrical instrument technician working across rural power plants in Australia. He spent a lot of time alone in the field, recording the sounds he heard, turning them into ambient tracks and pursuing music from there. Last April 3, he released his first EP on Astralwerks. It is the LUSTRE EP, a 6-track journey in which ambient music achieves more power than ever in his works. Crucial festivals like Lollapalooza already showed interest in his music. We get to know in-depth this uprising talent, who transitioned from being a rural electrician to become a global musician.
Today we are introducing Jack McAllister aka Willaris. K to our readers. What can you explain to us about them both?
I think they’re slowly becoming one. Willaris. K for a long time has been the more introverted side of myself, which I’m personally not really like in social situations. But now I find more power in Willaris. K being Jack McAllister. Willaris. K is the outlet for how I feel personally. The music is an accurate reflection of me.
You come from Australia. What’s going on in the island’s underground scene?
To be honest, I rarely go out now. I used to a lot which is where this all started for me, but now I’m studio-bound unless I’m playing shows.
Willaris. K’s music is…
Dark, bright, happy, sad.
You’re often compared to giants like Four Tet, Jon Hopkins and even Brian Eno. That’s a good feeling, pressure, responsibility…?
It’s not something I ever think about and, in my opinion, I’ve got a long way to go. But it is inspiring and pretty wild to me that people make that comparison. I don’t feel pressure from it though, more just tells me I’m on the right track.
Genre-wise, your music navigates between electronica, melodic tech and ambient. When, where and how did your interest for these styles appear?
I listen to a lot of different music, and I have always done so. I just experiment with ideas and then the direction kind of presents itself. I don’t think too deeply about what a track is going to be before initial creation. A lot of it really is just messing around with noises and sounds, then eventually something will click. I think it all started when I was listening to Seekae a lot in high school. Then it was Immunity by Jon Hopkins (specifically “Abandon Window”) that really sent me down this path. I love the idea of something feeling so intense with very few elements.
You had a slot at Lollapalooza, you got the support from RÜFÜS DU SOL… As an artist, what would you say are your biggest achievements so far?
It’s hard for me to go past my own sold-out headline shows in Australia. They were special.
You signed with Astralwerks last year. This must be also one of the biggest successes…
Yes, it definitely was.
It is on this label where you’ve been releasing some singles in the lead-up to your recently released LUSTRE EP. What about this 6-track project?
LUSTRE is brighter than my previous work. It sits closer to the ambient world than it does to the club world. It captures the freedom and euphoria that comes with making music every day and playing shows, while also capturing the hardships and change experienced over the last couple of years.
We got special attention for “Cobaki Sky”. It is the third of the six tracks and probably the most dance-oriented one. Was this the original approach?
This actually started while George was about to start mixing my track “Natural Selection”. We were playing around with the lead in it, pitched it down and looped it which became that syncopated thing you hear straight away. I then took the drums from another idea I’d made not long before that. Then I decided: what if I take the drums out and release this version as a prequel and release the full version on LUSTRE? Here we are.
What can we expect from Willaris. K after this release? How does 2020 look like despite the global crisis?
After this release, I’ll be preparing the release of my next Full Noise EP, which comes out on the 29 of May. Other than that, just making new things until we can go outside again.
(Cover Image: © Drew Escriva)