Church on a Sunday morning can be rough if you’ve just kissed the sunrise at the conclusion of a warehouse party. For Australian producer Willaris. K, he’s bringing the gospel of electronic music to the masses in his latest single, “Chapel.” It’s a frenetic techno rap-rave anthem that was conceived inside the actual oceanfront chapel at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La studio in Malibu.
Willaris. K, better known as Jack McAllister, has mastered the art of sonic shape-shifting—from his ambient Brian Eno-esque records to his introspective vocal-driven ballad with singer-songwriter Gordi, McAllister dabbles in a bit of everything. This time, he’s joined forces with rapper and sound designer WaveIQ, who boasts work with Lil Yachty, Jaden Smith and Goldlink, along with Passion Pit’s Nate Donmoyer and Halsey producer Tim Anderson to serve up a single that speaks to his underground sensibilities.
From electrician to electronic artist, McAllister has come a long way from his field recording days. His latest EP, LUSTRE, is a testament to his intricate technical capabilities and we expect his next club-oriented EP, Full Noise, to impress us just the same.
McAllister lets us in on the formula to his irreplicable sound.
The making of "Chapel" sounds like a scene out of a movie - can you talk about how you all came together and what drew you to the chapel?
Yeah it was wild. I was invited to Shangri-La by my label [Astralwerks] to do a week of sessions with different writers, producers, singers, etc. The first night was with WaveIQ and Tim Anderson in the chapel. I walk in and see WaveIQ headbanging away in his headphones, he plugged into the main system and the first thing I hear is that crazy drum beat throughout the song. Immediately I opened my laptop and pulled up this bassline I'd written a week or so before, I sampled it then started playing that bassline with my laptop keyboard - this was only 10 minutes into the session, everyone was up ‘n about, energy was high. WaveIQ ran into the booth and went in on a 6 minute freestyle. I cut that down to my favourite bits and most of the song was there. To be honest, originally I didn’t think it fit as a WIillaris. K song but that night I was up till 5am with it on repeat which is the best way of knowing if it's good or not.
Now that you've produced a techno track in a church, where's your next unique location?
I love rural Australia and I'm planning on doing a bunch of writing trips this year, somewhere remote where I can blast it on loop.
Full Noise is a complete 180 from LUSTRE - which do you like performing more and why?
Well, Full Noise was born from tracks I'd made for the live show so I'm gonna go with that, but I do love a curve ball ambient moment in the midst of a banging set.
What’s the process like when you're collaborating with other artists? Do you go back and forth or do you tackle your part and they do theirs separately?
A lot of the collaborations I've done start in person then usually I'll go away after the session and tweak until they're done. It depends on who I'm working with and what their strengths are though, some are one-off sessions but there's a few people who I work with semi-regularly like Tom Snowdon and George Nicholas. We'll just gradually work on things we've got on the go when we have a session and if we're not feeling it, we'll just make something new. Keeps it fresh.
How has being an electrical instrument technician enlightened your music?
I think just having the ability to listen to so much music in that time when I was working was the biggest take away. I feel like they're opposite sides of the brain, being an electrical and instrument technician is very logical and technical whereas making music is creative and feeling-based. It definitely helps with the more technical side of producing/setting up gear/fault finding etc.
What was a big milestone for you a couple years ago vs. a big milestone you’ve hit recently?
Quitting my job to make music full time was huge for me back in 2017. More recently I'd say signing an international deal with Astralwerks.
You have such a unique and personal sound to your music. How do you stand out and stay true to your sound?
I just make whatever comes out, experiment, don't think about what I want the music to sound like, just do it then it makes sense of itself later. If you're creating based on instinct and feeling, it's always going to end up sounding like you.
Everyone has different ways of finding new sonic elements, distortion, etc. How do you explore?
Yeah distortion is key. I think resampling is a big one, not settling for the initial sound, giving it a bit of a push with fx to take it into a new zone.
Every album and piece of music you’ve released has been an evolution of yourself, how would you describe this next phase with LUSTRE?
I would describe this as the reflection of the past two years, good and bad. To be honest I'm in a completely new headspace now, it's good to get LUSTRE out because to me it feels like the past.
What is your favorite part of the EP?
Hard to pick but "Detach" is up there for me. I can't wait to bang that out live again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7MVCWd_YsE
Church on a Sunday morning can be rough if you’ve just kissed the sunrise at the conclusion of a warehouse party. For Australian producer Willaris. K, he’s bringing the gospel of electronic music to the masses in his latest single, “Chapel.” It’s a frenetic techno rap-rave anthem that was conceived inside the actual oceanfront chapel at Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La studio in Malibu.
Willaris. K, better known as Jack McAllister, has mastered the art of sonic shape-shifting—from his ambient Brian Eno-esque records to his introspective vocal-driven ballad with singer-songwriter Gordi, McAllister dabbles in a bit of everything. This time, he’s joined forces with rapper and sound designer WaveIQ, who boasts work with Lil Yachty, Jaden Smith and Goldlink, along with Passion Pit’s Nate Donmoyer and Halsey producer Tim Anderson to serve up a single that speaks to his underground sensibilities.
From electrician to electronic artist, McAllister has come a long way from his field recording days. His latest EP, LUSTRE, is a testament to his intricate technical capabilities and we expect his next club-oriented EP, Full Noise, to impress us just the same.
McAllister lets us in on the formula to his irreplicable sound.
The making of "Chapel" sounds like a scene out of a movie - can you talk about how you all came together and what drew you to the chapel?
Yeah it was wild. I was invited to Shangri-La by my label [Astralwerks] to do a week of sessions with different writers, producers, singers, etc. The first night was with WaveIQ and Tim Anderson in the chapel. I walk in and see WaveIQ headbanging away in his headphones, he plugged into the main system and the first thing I hear is that crazy drum beat throughout the song. Immediately I opened my laptop and pulled up this bassline I'd written a week or so before, I sampled it then started playing that bassline with my laptop keyboard - this was only 10 minutes into the session, everyone was up ‘n about, energy was high. WaveIQ ran into the booth and went in on a 6 minute freestyle. I cut that down to my favourite bits and most of the song was there. To be honest, originally I didn’t think it fit as a WIillaris. K song but that night I was up till 5am with it on repeat which is the best way of knowing if it's good or not.
Now that you've produced a techno track in a church, where's your next unique location?
I love rural Australia and I'm planning on doing a bunch of writing trips this year, somewhere remote where I can blast it on loop.
Full Noise is a complete 180 from LUSTRE - which do you like performing more and why?
Well, Full Noise was born from tracks I'd made for the live show so I'm gonna go with that, but I do love a curve ball ambient moment in the midst of a banging set.
What’s the process like when you're collaborating with other artists? Do you go back and forth or do you tackle your part and they do theirs separately?
A lot of the collaborations I've done start in person then usually I'll go away after the session and tweak until they're done. It depends on who I'm working with and what their strengths are though, some are one-off sessions but there's a few people who I work with semi-regularly like Tom Snowdon and George Nicholas. We'll just gradually work on things we've got on the go when we have a session and if we're not feeling it, we'll just make something new. Keeps it fresh.
How has being an electrical instrument technician enlightened your music?
I think just having the ability to listen to so much music in that time when I was working was the biggest take away. I feel like they're opposite sides of the brain, being an electrical and instrument technician is very logical and technical whereas making music is creative and feeling-based. It definitely helps with the more technical side of producing/setting up gear/fault finding etc.
What was a big milestone for you a couple years ago vs. a big milestone you’ve hit recently?
Quitting my job to make music full time was huge for me back in 2017. More recently I'd say signing an international deal with Astralwerks.
You have such a unique and personal sound to your music. How do you stand out and stay true to your sound?
I just make whatever comes out, experiment, don't think about what I want the music to sound like, just do it then it makes sense of itself later. If you're creating based on instinct and feeling, it's always going to end up sounding like you.
Everyone has different ways of finding new sonic elements, distortion, etc. How do you explore?
Yeah distortion is key. I think resampling is a big one, not settling for the initial sound, giving it a bit of a push with fx to take it into a new zone.
Every album and piece of music you’ve released has been an evolution of yourself, how would you describe this next phase with LUSTRE?
I would describe this as the reflection of the past two years, good and bad. To be honest I'm in a completely new headspace now, it's good to get LUSTRE out because to me it feels like the past.
What is your favorite part of the EP?
Hard to pick but "Detach" is up there for me. I can't wait to bang that out live again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7MVCWd_YsE
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