Who said you can’t both have kids and live out your dream of being a successful musician at the same time? It sure wasn’t Emily Lubitz from Tinpan Orange. The lead singer of the band has not let having two kids stop her from pursuing her passion. With their fifth studio album, ‘Love Is a Dog’, fresh out of the studio she is living proof that you can have the best of both worlds as long as you’re dedicated.
Soon embarking on their upcoming national tour, Tinpan Orange will be hitting Melbourne and Geelong as well as nine other destinations before they head over to Europe to support Cat Empire for a month in October. They will be back on Australian turf just in time for the summer festival bonanza.
“Being back is hectic. It’s fun, it’s great. But it’s crazy,” she tells me over the phone in her calm and serene voice.
“But we’ve been kind of looking forward to it – we just wanted to get it out. We don’t want to sit with it any more, we’re sick of it,” she says laughing. “No, we’re not sick of it, but we want to bring it to people.”
With 2/3 of the band devoted parents, the new album has taken them more than a year to record. “We were determined to not let having kids stop us from doing what we love. And it was hard work at times – to find the time and energy, but we did it, with a lot of love for the project.”
And the love is definitely showing throughout the romantic and melancholic album. With everything from their characteristic indiefolk tunes, to slower, sadder, almost a bit dark tracks – which noticeably is a big part of the dynamic trio’s music – they really capture a sound that sticks with you.
“We tend to have a bit of a love affair with sadness, and ‘Love Is a Dog’ kind of embodies that. The melancholy is very clear,” Emily says.
With more than 10 active years in the business, the band decided to spice up this album by recording it live to capture their music in a more raw and honest way. According to Emily, only a few of the songs are overdubbed.
“We do what we do, we have never really reinvented ourselves in any dramatic way. Our songs have always been emotionally honest. We don’t want to be a new thing every time we record an album – the music is close to our hearts and we create it as honestly as we can.”
While talking to her she tells me she has been busy hanging with her kids and preparing for a friend’s wedding for the next day. As a fulltime mum and with a new album just out, this fiery-headed musician definitely has her hands full.
However, she only believes it has made her more effective, enabling her to do things in 20 minutes she previously couldn’t even do in one whole day – like writing songs at the kitchen table after putting her kids to sleep. As she said herself, there is definitely merit to that.
Superhuman Emily Lubitz, and her band will be touring from midApril, coming to Melbourne May 7 and Geelong May 27, so make sure you don’t miss out on it and get your tickets from their website or from Ticketmaster.
Written by Nilo Danai
When & Where: Toff in Town, Melbourne – May 7 & May 8 & The Workers Club, Geelong – May 27