Australian singer-songwriter Diesel (Mark Lizotte) takes us back to hot summer days riding bikes around the cul-de-sac on his new 'Sunset Suburbia' project.
Comprised of three EPs culminating in an album early next year, 'Sunset Suburbia' is Mark's reflection on his early days growing up in neighbourhoods as disparate as the city of Chandler outside Phoenix, to the back blocks of Perth. “It's going to be interesting because each one is quite different to the next one,” Mark says.
“They'll all sound like miniature albums that go off on a little bit of a tangent, then when I put them together, hopefully – I say hopefully because it's always an experiment until you hear them all next to each other – it will be cohesive and it will make for quite a well-rounded collection of songs at the end of it.”
Mark has already released volume one, with volume two due later this year and the final instalment still in development. By working in condensed bursts of storytelling rather than trying to create an full album, Mark says each EP is one piece of a much larger picture set to be completed when the album is released next year.
“It's inevitable that when you resign to just doing four tracks in a week instead of a whole album, it kind of happens that those four tracks take a shape of their own and want to be their own personality because they've become quite friendly with each other and cohesive; lyrically and musically, they start sharing some traits.”
The 'Sunset Suburbia' trilogy follows the release of last year's greatest hits retrospective album 'Diesel 30', and is also the first time Mark has delved into the early years of his life in search of songwriting material.
“There's definitely a lot of themes about pretty much the human condition as always with me – I don't write about much else – but it's different stages of my life now and in the past,” he explains.
“I haven't attempted to write so much about early development stages of my life until now, and as my kids are getting older the stuff starts coming to the surface; you get to look back a bit when you get to my age. You're imagining and simulating to a point, but there's certain things you can't substitute for; you have to live those years I'm afraid.”
This October to November, Mark will be on the road touring for 'Sunset Suburbia'. With two EPs and an album still to come, the final picture Mark is trying to construct with 'Sunset Suburbia' is yet to be revealed. “It's hard to say,” he says when asked what that final picture might look like.
“The title track is coming; that kind of gives some kind of clue as to what the whole project is about. It's an observation and a celebration of my life, which has been a lot of living in the 'burbs. So it's a collection of songs about how we live, that's what it is.”
'Sunset Suburbia Vol. 1' is out now.
Diesel Australia Tour 2019
Thu 10 Oct - Brass Monkey (Sydney)Fri 11 Oct - Central Hotel (Shellharbour)
Sat 12 Oct - Manly Leagues Club (Sydney)
Fri 18 Oct - Entrance Leagues (Bateau Bay)
Sat 19 Oct - Wingham Akoostic Festival (Wingham Showground)
Fri 25 Oct - Gateway Hotel (Geelong)
Sat 26 Oct - York On Lilydale (Melbourne)
Fri 1 Nov - The Juniors (Sydney)
Sat 2 Nov - Hornsby RSL
Sat 9 Nov - Bridgetown Blues Festival
Sun 10 Nov - 96FM Kickstart Summer Concert (Perth)
Fri 15 Nov - The Triffid (Brisbane)
Sat 16 Nov - Southport RSL (Gold Coast)
Fri 22 Nov - The Gov (Adelaide)
Sat 23 Nov - Get Your Blues On (Renmark Riverfront, SA)
29-30 Nov - Lizotte's (Newcastle)
Fri 6 Dec - The Basement (Canberra)
Sat 7 Dec - Paddington RSL (Sydney)
13-14 Dec - Lizotte's (Newcastle)
