Melbourne multi-instrumentalist Fractures aka Mark Zito is fresh on the scene. But his brand of electronic indie pop pushes a sound fans of Radiohead, SBTRKT, Bon Iver, Gotye, The National and Sigur Ros would enjoy.
Before he heads overseas for a couple of festival gigs in LA and London, Fractures will first showcase at Bigsound.
How was your recent Splendour In The Grass show?
Pretttttty good. Great even. Lucky enough to play to a more than decently sized crowd — much bigger than I'd anticipated. And it didn't feel like they'd shown up to the wrong stage. They made me feel good and I did my best to do the same and I feel like it worked out that way.
You weren’t always a singer, right? Why the move to the microphone?
It was somewhat forced upon me. I used to play bass guitar with a singer/ songwriter, John Flanagan, and I was in the beautiful situation of being in the group with three top-notch singers, so my voice wasn't needed. Then one day it was. Once I got through it, got over the nerves my curiosity was piqued, so I started recording my own stuff, and ultimately it meant I could present a song exactly as I wanted in every aspect. So that's why.
Your sound has a lot of experimentation; is there a particular method you like to employ when creating new music?
There is zero method currently. I sit in my little studio/ room with my keyboard, computer, guitars, etc., and just mash until something decent comes out. The keyboard is usually the culprit as far as a catalyst is concerned. But yeah, there's no romance to it, just me hitting buttons.
You’ll be showcasing at Bigsound next month; do you have anything special planned?
Not yet — some home-made pyrotechnics perhaps. Sparklers in a glass bottle. Who knows. I'll have to grab everyone's attention somehow, but I'll probably focus more on the gig side of things. Hopefully I can squeeze one of my new tunes in there, but unfortunately a half hour is only 30 minutes I've been told. Can be hard to get your point across, but I'll do my best
Did you have a firm goal when you first started? And have you achieved it?
I had zero goals. I'm not sure I even do now. If I can live off this eventually, comfortably or otherwise, then I'll be content. It's very much a case of me not having a back-up plan, so I suppose the goal might have been to find a career in music in some form. So to that end, I've achieved it. Kind of.
Your self-titled EP? How does it introduce the Fractures sound?
Basically, it touches on some of the different styles I enjoy. It'll be a constant with whatever else I put out that the songs jump around stylistically. I try not to do the same thing twice, that'll get harder as long as I keep pumping out tunes, but to this point I make an effort to make them separate and hopefully the EP displays that to some degree.
If you weren’t in the music industry, what would you be doing?
Designing hats.
The next 12 months for Fractures... do you have a concrete plan in place?
Heading overseas to tour and spread the gospel of Fractures! After Bigsound we play Culture Collide Festival in Los Angeles in October as well as some gigs in London and Europe. Then returning to Australia to see in 2015 by playing at Beyond The Valley. Hopefully get some collaborations going, a remix or two here and there, centrefold spread. Wherever the wind takes me.
Fractures plays Bigsound at The Brightside on Thursday 11th September and the Beyond The Valley Festival in Victoria on 30th December.
