Barry O’Sullivan talks to one of Australia’s most respected creative musicians, the prolific drummer/ composer/producer Laurence Pike. Along with his solo releases for the UK’s Leaf Label, Pike is a member of Warp Records alumni PVT, electronic jazz trio Triosk, the UK’s Szun Waves, and the legendary US/ Australian avant-punk group LIARS.
Laurence’s work explores the language of improvisation within disciplines, emphasising presence and experience through real-time composition, drawing on a musical value system developed over two decades. He has also produced and performed two acclaimed duo albums with legendary jazz pianist Mike Nock, as well as working with artists as diverse as Bill Callahan, Daniel Johns (Silverchair), and in the regular groups Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders and Sarah Blasko.
When did jazz music first enter your life and who were the musicians that influenced and inspired you?
I have always been a voracious listener to a broad range of music, ever since I was a kid. I started playing the drums at age ten. When I went to high school, I found myself accelerated to the senior big band and suddenly had to contend with this new musical concept of swing music. In particular, I remember the band played arrangements of Stompin’ at the Savoy and Lil’ Darlin which as a twelve-year-old, I found entrancing. I was lucky to have an older next-door neighbour, Sam Lipman, studying jazz saxophone and guitar. Sam was probably my first musical mentor, and I would credit him with introducing me to jazz. When I was thirteen, he gave me a cassette with the album Kind of Blue on the A-side and 58 Miles on the B-side, which for me completely changed everything musically. From that moment, I became obsessed with the music of Miles Davis who remains a great touchstone in music for me. Through Miles’ music, one can connect the dots to many of the jazz musicians who have had a huge influence on me e.g. John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Jack De Johnette, Keith Jarrett etc.
When did you decide on a musical career and where did you study?
By the time I was fifteen or sixteen, I had decided that music was what I wanted to do with my life. I completed two years of my Bachelor of Music in Jazz at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, but being so young I just wanted to be out of school and deferred my studies. Once I was out in the world performing, though, I didn’t think about returning and never did. I got a job at a record store instead when I was nineteen, and probably learned as much if not more about music and people in those two years of retail than I did at the Con. As a listener, I would still consider myself a perpetual student. You perform in a wide variety of genres of music.
Can you name some of them and describe how each experience differs for you?
I’m at a point where I try not to compartmentalise the music that I make so much. I used to do this when I was younger to manage all my interests and feel I was giving them my best attention. But as I’ve got older, I realise that things like genre don’t mean that much. Certainly, this is a broader reflection of the times as well. I think of it more like musical tributaries leading into the same river, out to the same ocean. Largely my music these days deals with the language of improvisation, and how to interpret each scenario drawing on the values and sounds I’ve absorbed as a listener.
What are your current musical projects and how have they evolved and progressed?
For the last few years, I’ve been busy documenting a body of solo music, which I started pursuing to consolidate the essence of what I wanted to hear on the instrument, and how I could feel musically at home in the world. It’s process-based music that blurs the lines between improvisation and composition, and it also incorporates my interest in using electronics and the studio as a tool to bring unexpected dimensions to acoustic improvisation. It started as a performance experiment and has since developed throughout four studio albums to incorporate a chamber choir on my latest release, The Undreamt-of Centre. More recently I’ve been performing very regularly with the quartet called BELIEVE, exploring free group improvisation.
What are your other interests outside of the music world?
I like collecting ECM albums, running, Japanese food, cats, Star Trek, and watching tennis. But to be honest, I do very little of these compared to the amount of time I spend listening to music.
YouTube link to The Undreamt-of Centre trailer: https://youtu.be/j
Listen to more of Barry O’Sullivan’s interviews at noon each Friday on 2MBS radio or streaming or on demand at 2mbsfinemusicsydney.com; or via the 2MBS app.