Lily Unsub has spent six years creating music under a number of different aliases across a range of genres.
But major surgery last year almost left the New Zealand dubstep producer deaf permanently. Now known as Unsub, Lily will be in Brisbane this weekend to support UK dubstep artist Crissy Criss.
How did you decide on Unsub and are you sticking to this, or can we expect to see you under a different aliases in the future?
Different aliases have represented different parts of who I am and different times in my life. Unsub came about as a result of experiences I had where I needed to be unsubmissive and also have a level of anonymity with what I was doing. It’s possible I'll do more work under other aliases in future, but probably not openly like I have been with Alexis K and (now) Unsub.
After the surgery that left you deaf for three months, how did it feel to not be able to listen to music for that period of time?
It was uniquely horrible. I had defined myself solely on the music I made so not knowing if I was going to ever have hearing again meant I had to redefine who I was outside of it. I did make half a track while I was deaf which is on my Soundcloud, but I probably won’t finish it.
You have said that music saved your life, how so?
It gave me a connection that I couldn't find with the people around me at the time. It gave me a reason to keep going through the tough shit.
The short film you did sound and music for, ‘Blindside’, was selected for the Cannes Film Festival... you have to be excited with that?
That was actually a pretty big surprise as it was the first short film I've done all the sound and music for. Mostly it’s a lot of Unsub tracks.
You’ve also written three of your own short films; what attracts you to film?
Besides making the music and being part of shaping the feel of it, I actually really love being on shoots and the collaborative process behind getting a shot to work. I've always loved filmmaking and will probably get more into film again next year once the album’s out.
Unsub supports Crissy Criss at the Arena Friday May 25.
