Interview with Lachy Doley

Lachy Doley's a recording, touring Blues artist specialising in Vintage Keyboard sounds like the Hammond organ, Piano and Clavinet. Some people know him as a world renowned Hammond organ player and other people as the guy who plays that keyboard which sounds like a guitar. He's lucky enough to tour around the world playing original music … well until march of this year 😔

When he was a kid, his mum’s boyfriend was blues guitar player that loved to smoke pot and play the blues. Therefore he grew up listening to all these incredible blues artists like Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and I started trying to mimic them on the home piano. From there he became a huge fan of the blues, rock 'n' roll, soul and funk which continues to inspire him today.
He looks forward to touring again and recording as much as he can but hopefully on a bigger scale. Hopefully getting in front of more people and their ears.

Tell us about your latest release, what's it about?

In 2012, I bought an incredible rare Clavinet keyboard. One of only around 20 that have been modified with a special Whammy Bar system to stretch all the strings inside. The way I play this keyboard can be very reminiscent of a Blues guitar player. So ever since that day, people have been wanting me to cover 'Voodoo Child'; 8 years later I finally have (listen to it here).

How did you record it?

We tracked it live at a small studio called Oceanic studios in Brookvale, Nsw, Australia and I overdubbed my vocals at my own studio space. We’re an extremely jammy and live band, so it’s important to get that same energy when we record thus playing live in the studio is a must.

How did you distribute it?

The single at the moment is a purely digital release through TuneCore. But it will be part of a greater Retrospective release of mine celebrating my 10 years, 7 albums a DVD and more as an artist under my own name. The release will be on Vinyl and CD.

How did you promote it?

The heart of my promotion always comes from video. I’ve used many clips, short and long, with various footage. Each video appeals to different people and collectively reaches a lot of people, all linking my Songwhip landing page. From there people can choose their preferred music streaming or purchase platform.

The music industry is in a state of flux right now, where do you see it heading?

I think live music will never quite recover to where it was and maybe musicians and creatives won’t be seeking that out as an option as much either. This makes me feel very sad and I hope I’m wrong. But of course the world is always changing and I love seeing innovation and am excited by the world wide reach artists can have utilising live streams, supporter groups, streaming and print on demand merchandise. Oh! and online collaborations too.

What's the most important thing missing from Songwhip?

Nothing I think. It’s a perfect simple tool which creates a beautiful looking landing page to direct your fans exactly where they want to go to consume your music.

Which artist do you look up to the most and why?

I’ve worked with so many great artists and look up to and am inspired by many of them. It’s always the artists that have a great talent, a humble personality and a hard work ethic: Powderfinger, Billy Thorpe, Jimmy Barnes, The Teskey Brothers.

What artist tools/services (Songwhip aside 😉) can't you live without?

Honestly it’s the social networks, they are the back bone of my career and my engagement with my fans. Second to that would be my ConvertKit email provider.  A new platform I’m finding interesting is WARM which helps me track my radio play around the world.

What is your advice to other indie artists to help fund their work?

Spend equal amounts of time on creating music and equal amounts of time growing your audience with whatever tools and strategies you find work. Each is just as important as the other. Never neglect either of them .

Anything else you'd like to plug?

Long live the Hammond organ, Love live the Clavinet and long live LIVE MUSIC!