Tell us, how did you go from being Karl Smith to The Lyrical?
I was Karl Smith first, but, then I started dabbling in bits and pieces of writing hip-hop. I was in group called The Dreds Crew with two of my best friends from The Solomon Islands … even though none of us actually had dreads. We all had different names – my hip-hop name back then was ’02’. Then, I slowly started going more toward the acoustic guitar and writing roots music, and a bit more melodic stuff. One of the guys used to playfully call me the ‘lyrical shaman’, because I was going a bit back in time to more traditional music and away from hip-hop. Then we kind of just ran with that, but when I started taking it a bit more seriously, as in it started becoming a life and my business, I shortened the name to The Lyrical. This has been my job for the last seven years – which is quite rare. I’m pretty lucky.
You were born in Vanuatu, and grew up in The Solomon Islands before moving here to Australia. How has your background developed your music?
It was extremely colourful. I grew up surrounded by reggae music and traditional island music. A lot of the cars and buses we would ride in was often where I would hear most of the music – outside of Mum and Dad’s own collection at home, which was a lot of Michael Jackson and Bon Jovi. It was funny with pop music in The Solomon Islands back then, because we were almost a decade backwards, so we were listening to pop music way later than the rest of the world. It’s a bit better now with the rise of faster internet! A lot of my own writing and the covers I choose to do at my live shows represent that time a bit as well.
Who or what is your biggest influence?
Well, apart from my background, a huge part was actually Disney movies – like, watching The Lion King was one of the first things that made me want to sing. We still do like three Lion King songs in most of our sets. I just loved that playful, and traditional but pop-ish sound. It was a huge influence. The way the songs are structured is simple and clear, but also pleasant and melodic. I’ve always loved it. Ben Harper was a huge influence musically, but more in the poetic rootsy stuff.
You spent many years of your career busking on the streets. How did that shape the musician you are today?
Busking was such a wonderful education of real music and audiences and testing your craft. It was so powerful, but some of it hurts. It’s like a mini version of the real-world industry. It was all worth it. It really taught me that you have to love this to be able to do it.
People might be surprised given your talent and musical prowess – but you can’t actually read a note of music. How has this influenced your style?
Yep, it’s true, I can’t. Different bands and different musicians showcase a part of their act, and for me, what I like to showcase is the lyrics … hence The Lyrical. I’m not a brilliant guitarist, but for me, I get my stories and messages through and reach people in a more simple way. Hip-hop and rap just fits so many more words within a three-and-a-half-minute song than a normal song can. Like, I used to write one or two verses and be like, well I couldn’t get my point across. So, with hip-hop I can tell real stories and write real poetry and get the message across.
What words of wisdom do you live by?
Happiness is knowing and seeing and accepting the happiness that you have at your fingertips right now, instead of hunting for it.
The Lyrical will be playing at SWELL Sounds on Saturday September 9, as part of the SWELL Sculpture Festival 2017. Head over here for more info.
