Career Girls is the electronic alias of prolific Auckland based musician Lawrence Goodwin. Also known for his work with bands Tied on Teeth, Caroles and other solo project Cheats, he is part of an emerging generation of young, internet savvy bedroom producers whose school years happened to coincide with a resurgence in electronic music. We caught up with Goodwin over email to find out more about the project and his recently released album Daz Yarn Combo...
You first made a name for yourself as the bass player for Tied on Teeth. How long have you been making electronic music and what drew you to it in the first place?
I started making electronic stuff at the start of 2011 but I was heading more in a downbeat/chillwave direction. Half way through last year I decided that I should stop having a cry and make some bangerz.
With electronic music I like the fact that you can start to create something straight away and there are no boundaries (fat wubz and breakbeats; 2 fast 2 furious for real life). Also I only need to bring my laptop and MPD32 when I play shows, which totally rules.
How do you think Career Girls has evolved since its inception?
I think of it as a completely different project now. Back when I started Career Girls it was all based on a drum machine, keyboard, and singing with a lot of reverb. Now it's all made in Ableton and it's scarce that you hear my 'real' voice. The old Career Girls morphed into CHEATS and Career Girls became the name which I release my beats under.
What does the title, 'Daz Yarn Combo' mean?!
If you're dazzing on a cigarette and spinning yourself a few yarns, you've got yourself a Daz Yarn Combo m8!
What was the inspiration behind 'Daz Yarn Combo'? Take us through the writing and recording process.
When I started making this tape I had already figured out the vibes I was going for with Career Girls so my inspiration was already there. Basically I start by making a drum beat and then I create a sequence over the top which is usually a sample based chord progression. I like to mess with sounds a lot so that the samples become different sounds post processing them and then put them into a sampler so that I can play them on a keyboard. Lately I have been trying use less plugins and more stuff ripped off vinyl and outboard synths like my EA-1.
What are some of your influences (musical or otherwise) for Career Girls?
THE INTERNET, SPACE, PIZZA, BABES, PARTYZ, BACK TO THE FUTURE 2. Musically, I am pretty darn inspired by 'Skwee', that and a mixture of Breakbeat, Funk and House music.
At the moment I am really into Foxdye, stuff from Sabacan Records, Fela Kuti and Alex Tune.
So far all your releases have been either free or "name your price". Why do you put your music out for free? How important is getting your music out there to you?
So my friends can download it. Very important! I'm just not very good at it. I did find Daz Yarn Combo on a Japanese music blog the other day which was freaking awesome.
Are there any plans for a physical release of Daz Yarn Combo?
No plans for it. Maybe for my next release though?
How did the video come about?
My old flat mate Oliver Latimer was sending me some cool computer games he had been making and I asked if we could collaborate immediately, and here we are. I would really like to someday make a Career Girls video game.
