Hailing from Hobart, Hannah Lesser and Julius Dowson are Alta. A couple that, together, have mixed blues, Madlib-inspired samples and smooth vocals to take over bars and beats across Melbourne. Their live show is something else: flickering each other sly smiles as they play, Julius loops lush beats around Hannah’s spine-tingling lyrics and offer listeners a glimpse into their shared world of down-tempo trip-hop. With their debut EP Stay Awhile dropping November 1st and a mainland tour later this year, the couple have given us a palm-full of tracks that have inspired their own sound.
Hannah:
Buddy Guy – First Time I Met The Blues
“This is by far the most influential song that has entered my life. I first heard this song when I was about 10 years old at 2am one morning when I couldn’t sleep. My dad was watching this old film on Chicago Blues and I remember the feeling was actually like a shock through my body, my ears were pinned to the speakers. I went back to bed and spent the whole next day (and next 12 years) listening to hardcore Blues music.”
Erykah Badu – On and On
“Ohhh this woman could do no wrong! Erykah Badu is a huge influence of mine. This song was one of first songs that really got me into her music and made me want to explore and experiment singing with beats. I love everything about her, her phrasing, lyrics, dress, combination of hip-hop and jazz is just so individual and all moulds together forming this blissful music that I could just listen to on repeat…”
Julius:
Madvillain – Curls
“Had to put some Madvillain in this list because I get to mention both Madlib and DOOM! Both have been a big influence on the music I listen to and they are who I tried to emulate when I first started making beats.”
Dam Mantle – Rebong
“A young guy who’s constantly evolving and genre hopping – still in the process of finding his sound. This tune is harp sample madness but his more recent releases have been footwork which is a genre I’m really into at the moment.”
Hannah and Julius:
Tricky – Hell Is Round The Corner
“A trip-hop classic. Sounds tacky but we met up in Europe and were lying on a ‘beach’ in Marseille, Julius put this tune on and we both decided then and there that we needed to make tunes together. The first week we were both back in Australia we started working on the song, Bees.”
Image Courtesy An Architect Photographed My Undies