Image of NATLAK performing at Palomino during 2025 Sled Island.
NATLAK performed during Sled Island on Friday, 11am at CJSW & 5:50pm at Palomino (Downstairs).
TRANSCRIPT:
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Okay, we are here with NATLAK. This includes:
Liam
Liam. I drum.
Sterling
Sterling, I play guitar and sing.
Zach
Zach, bass guitar and singing sometimes
Brendan
Brendan, guitar only right now.
Matt
And I’m Matt, I play the synth.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Fantastic. Thank you guys so much for making the time for us. I appreciate you all. So I noticed as I was doing some research on you guys that you recently changed your name from Nature Lake to NATLAK. Could you explain why?
Liam
Yeah, I mean, it’s not like, you know, I guess it’s moreso I think, Nature Lake is a band name with something that was like, we’re kind of just like scrambling, throwing words together in the early days of like the thing, and then I think it’s just too like a pretty, like a meaningless combination of words that kind of, I think at the time, there was a lot more kind of, like the tail end of the kind of Mac DeMarco slacker rock stuff going on in Vancouver, and I thought we just thought it’d be a funny bit if we did like an we kind of tricked people in the early days of us being a band, into thinking we were like a, you know, Mac DeMarco ish band. Then we do, like a noise punk thing and scare people, but the bit never landed, and we’re just the weird people on punk bills and stuff. So we not like, you know, it’s, it’s not too crazy of a departure from that name, yeah, but it like it sounds. I prefer to have a word that means nothing than two words that actually means something that I don’t know. It feels better.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, I like the name NATLAK. It’s a good, like, very, very, yeah.
Liam
Sounds sharp, yes, look sharp on paper too.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
You guys look sharp right now. This is audio only, they look great.
Matt
A lot of us are blushing right now.
Zach
We’re all in tuxedos.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
The Penguins of Madagascar in here. So your songs are very atmospheric, like I describe them in my notes as, like, vibe heavy. And hey, I ain’t no musician. Maybe I’m calling it the wrong thing, but that’s what I thought it was. And I was wondering, like, it feels like, you know, like you’re creating a bit of like a soundscape, for lack of a better term. So are there like environments that you like to put yourself in that maybe help you create like that NATLAK atmosphere?
Sterling
I think the best way to answer, I think, would be that not like, kind of the mission objective of the project, or at least what on and off, I think for the most part, we’re exploring, or I’ve been trying to, kind of explore with a lot of the compositional side of it is kind of like overwhelm, like over stimulation, and there is, like, yeah, I don’t know, I love, like, noise, soundscape stuff, But bringing that into a band context can be, we want to try to like, yeah, I don’t know, some mix of a lot of what I really love. But also trying to explore like maximalism and making everything as like, extreme as it can be, or like maybe more extreme that has the right to be like, but not just like noise for the sake of noise, but trying to make noise stuff kind of more like, I don’t know, tasteful, not to say that, yeah, you know what I mean.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
I know what you mean. Yeah, and how do you find you tow the line between the tasteful aspect, like you said, and just, you know, noise, for the sake of it?
Sterling
I think I, for the most, I’ve been really fascinated for the past handful of years with like, I’m sure there’s some better term for it, but I like to think of like, kind of melodic dissonance, like trying to make dissonance catchy. Or I think of bands like Gilla Band, or, you know, I might be, I’m terrible at listening off bands, but like, White Sounds. White Sounds like, yeah, like, or like, you know, ShootingPinks, like they’re like, oh, you know, all these different like bands that there’s something that is weirdly accessible, but it shouldn’t be. And like it there’s, there’s something about it that almost feels like it has that ear candy pop appeal. But when you really look at what’s going on, it’s complete dissonance.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
I totally feel that way about Gilla Band.
Liam
Yeah, the prime example of that, like, they’re either almost like a noise pop band, yeah, right. There’s something so, like, fun and playful, but it’s, like, terrifying, yeah? So I think, I think that’s kind of a lot of it is, like, we’re toeing the line between, like, how do you make dissonance catchy? How do you, how do you make some, like, something that inherently, it’s kind of an oxymoron.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
But how do you scare the hoes and then make them dance? Yeah, I totally know what you mean. And I think that’s like a very unique, like, niche that, like NATLAK has fallen into, which makes you a pretty special band in in my eyes, and you’re also like genre bending and hard to pin down. So how did you all like land on the identity of NATLAK? Are you still changing that identity? Is it like a group decision? Like, tell me more about your little stake in the Vancouver scene.
Sterling
That’s okay. Like, sorry. I think it’s kind of ever changing, like we haven’t ever been we don’t have too many songs that sound like the next, but I think we’re starting to find something that sounds inherently like NATLAK. But we have a lot of ideas for the future of the band and kind of directions to head in and getting more conceptual or yeah, but I’ve been knocking the mic. Does anyone else have a something I’d say about that?
Brendan
I was just gonna say, we have a lot of, I think we all kind of come from different music experiences, and we all play in a lot of bands. And so I think, you know, whether it’s consciously or not, we’re always picking little things from one music group or another, and they always kind of find their way in. Like, you know, yeah.
Sterling
Yeah. I think it’s fun to like, I don’t think that’s the era we’re in right like, I don’t right now there’s a lot of like people, in all respects, not like, that sound like us or anything, but there’s a lot of people that are kind of composing and picking and choosing little aspects of things from the past. Like, it’s been a while since there’s been something that feels inherent, like completely never done before. Where, I think right now, every artists are kind of in a desperate search to find that, and it’ll happen is someday. But I think right now, the kind of the nostalgia age of like, you know the shoegaze thing that’s happening with, like, dog gaze, what I’ve been calling it, right? With, like, really, like all of these things, like looking at current technology and readdressing, you know, we’re trying to find refreshing ways to to, yeah. Like, I think, yeah. We’re picking from all the little things that we like and throwing them in blenders and seeing what works. And sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t, but it always changes, and it always will. It should. I don’t ever want this band to stay the same for long.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
For sure. What do you do when it doesn’t work out?
Sterling
The next thing I think, like this project is special to all of us, and we want to it’s like a, you know? It’s like a TV show that goes on for too many seasons, right? Like, if there’s ever just like, yeah, if there’s a point, there’s a there’s a point when we actually have to, like, look at ourselves and go, like, oh, there’s nothing coming. And like, we should all be working on different things. But right now, we’re working on cool shit. And it’s, it’s working really well, and it’s, I think it’s like, you know, everything comes to an end. We’re not, we’re probably not going to be doing this band when we’re in our 80s, but it’s right now a really, really fun place for exploration and fun, and we’re doing as much with it as we can, until it until the towel has been fully ringed out, so to speak. Yeah, maybe, maybe it gets wet again. I don’t know.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Well, I see that with like, kind of like you’re talking about, like, the creative towel, like being ringed out your album cover. Like, I’ve never seen an album cover that looks like that. Your Instagram posts, I don’t know another band that has a visual presence like that. Like, what informs that? Are you guys just playing around on your iMac or?
Sterling
Honestly, it’s just all my cell phone. Oh, sweet. Yeah, I It’s, I do all the visuals for the band.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
That’s awesome.
Sterling
And, yeah, I don’t know I like, I probably shouldn’t give away what apps we’ve made. We’ve made this mistake before, and it ended up in the wrong hands. Like, profoundly, like, it was, like, something that we like, had to like, we’re like, whoa. It. Like, the chain of events that happened was, we can’t get into it. We can’t get into it, but—
Brendan
But it was, like, a hard political.
Matt
Just, like, yeah, oh my god. Completely did not want to associate.
Sterling
Yes, it was found out, or, like, used it techniques that weird, yeah, oh my god. Should we say no? We shouldn’t say no, but, but yeah, I don’t know. Yeah, I don’t know. I think, I think the visual your loss, are you off record? I’m sorry, but yeah, no, I think, I think it’s kind of just trying to find what the visual equivalent of, yeah, what the band like, the maximalism thing and the over, overstimulating thing. A lot of just like stacking a lot of it’s just like taking live performance, like photography that we have from different people, and like making maximalist collages out of it, or just trying to take, like, tiny elements of little things and throw as much of it into his space as possible and as most tasteful, which is what the music is.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
So, yeah, yeah. And it’s cool to see that done with something as simple as a phone. Yeah, I don’t really know. Coolest stuff just comes out of, like, yeah, playing around on your iPhone.
Sterling
I definitely, well, I don’t know. I got a computer a couple years ago for the first time in my like, adult life. So everything, like, I don’t know. I have a solo album that’s just, like, on I made on, like, mobile phone Garage Band. Like, I love restrictions, yeah, I think making the most, making something that’s really extreme with a very, very minimal setup is a is really fun.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Rewarding too. Yeah, totally. I pulled that out of just a phone.
Sterling
And, like, breaking it right? Like, the misuse of technology is something that’s really fascinating to me.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
I see that a lot the DIY scene, I think is the like, blatant misuse of like, this is not what this is intended for, but I’m gonna make something even better out of it. Yeah, we kind of talked about, like, Gilla Band and stuff, but are there any artists that influence or inspire your sound? But moreover, has that list changed as you’ve made more music, collaborated together, done your separate bands, come back together? What does that list look like?
Sterling
Do we just go down the line?
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Sure do it.
Liam
I’ve been thinking about the Boredoms a lot lately, yeah, yeah, a lot of that, especially, like thinking of drums. That’s the one on my dome right now. That’s what I got.
Sterling
I think I can kind of speak for the whole band. I say, like Animal Collective has an influence to some extent, and it doesn’t really show in our music, but they’re the way they approach experimentalism and like that? Yeah, it’s just like they’re deeply inspiring people the way they are kind of this ever changing group. I mean, I kind of fell off like after, like Centipede Hurts, like 2011 but those first, like, 10 albums, every one of them, I’ve been my favorite album of all time at some point, similarly, similar. I think the strokes is kind of a funny one, that we actually all really love the strokes, but then, like, now it’s like, I don’t know there’s like, currently white sums I mentioned before, that’s that been, has blown my mind. Really been, like, redefining composition for me in some ways. Yahweh Nail Gun has been huge on my radar for the past like, year and a half. Their new album is, like, phenomenal, very creative band, I don’t know, you know, Sonic Youth, the no wave kind of like that facet of like, no wave, and I think that influences a lot. I don’t know if like that much punk really does as much as it comes out in the music. A lot of it is comes from easier places and works its way into heavier music.
Zach
For the first EP, I was really into, like, digital hardcore, yeah, okay, choppy, kind of disgusting, digital distortion sound. Was really into, like, Atari, Teenage Riot, yeah, Cater and stuff. So I feel like that had a big influence on, like, at least the mix portion of the EP. I’m like, dub, you know, that’s been my life recently. Scientist, King Tubby. King Tubby.
Brendan
Shout Out. Shout out. The tub dog, yeah, the tubster.
Zach
Yeah, when it comes to, like, the bass guitar, seeing Gilli Band live was a huge inspiration, just the way he approached playing this car was very unconventional. So a lot of little, you know, tools and little things to play along with the bass model actress. You all—
Brooklyn (CJSW)
I was literally gonna mention that you, like, have a model actress song on one of your Instagram posts.
Liam
That oh my god, ring road, oh my god—
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Diva is my favorite song. But I was like, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we have that in common.’
Brendan
Yeah, yeah. I saw them recently too, and that was, like another, like, singular band live with their bass guitar was very, yeah, very inspiring, yeah, just a cool new way to approach guitar. And then, yeah, just, like, a lot of the names, a lot of the bands that Sterling named to Sonic Youth and whatnot.
Matt
Yeah, I’m gonna be honest, I’ve never listened to Gilli Band. So really, for me, yeah, I don’t know for me, I guess in terms of, since I listened to some, like, early synth punk kind of stuff, The Screamers, yeah, I guess just like, personal influence. I’m influenced a lot by, like, the kind of, like 2010s era of the Vancouver music scene, bands like Mutators, Twin Crystals, Channels, 3X4 yeah. Like, a lot of, like the weird that era of, like, no wave bands. So good. Huge influence. New Sensei. I really like the way that they, like focus on melody, but like, still have it sound like kind of like intimidating or something.
Liam
Yeah, dope. Oh, to be around in the emergency room era.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Thank you so much for sharing all those I’m sorry to put you on the spot. I know that when you’re asked who your favorite band. Is you’re like, I’ve never listened to music in my life, so I appreciate, I appreciate that list. My next question is about the DIY for DULF compilation that you guys were a part of. And for anybody listening who doesn’t know who that is, it’s a compilation album composed of Vancouver artists for the cause of raising money for saving the lives of drug users in the Vancouver community. Why was that something you guys wanted to be a part of?
Sterling
I think safe supply is like, in Vancouver, in the Downtown Eastside, it’s a really I guess, unique kind of situation, and it’s happening everywhere right now. This, like this the opioid crisis as the unit used to be just like little pockets. It’s really spread. Like it’s, you can’t really say that it’s specific to, like, Downtown Eastside, or anything like that anymore. And I think, like, yeah, it’s a tricky thing. Like, DULF is the closest to like, proper. DULF is kind of, yeah, the closest thing to something that seemed like morally good and and safe and allowing people who use drugs, which is like we all do in some ways, regardless of what, you know, what do, you would call it on, like, a level or a scale of weight or something. It’s like, I don’t know, having empathy and compassion for everyone around us is like, you know, kind of the mission objective of just keeping people being able to keep their dignity. And I think the city of Vancouver is trying to make a message out of out of DULF. They’re trying to, kind of prove, or, I don’t know, they’re trying to, they’re trying to snuff something out that.
Matt
I would say there’s a little bit of cowardice. Yeah, absolutely, I guess, yeah. I think people that use drugs don’t deserve to die like that. It’s insane that they’re persecuting someone that did something to save lives that was, like, demonstrably working.
Sterling
Yeah, and it’s worked. You know what? I mean, like, like, like this, not there’s, they’re not pulling from nothing, like there’s, is it Finland? Or where was there is? I remember Eris talking about, like, different, different places, like, where. And I remember reading something at some point, like, some parts, some parts of it, like places where they trials run, like, things like, like, kind of the same form, like, for like, DULF doesn’t run off of from nothing formula, like, it’s there’s like, they’re not just people wanting to, like, sell drugs to people. They’re like, very smart human beings who give a shit about human lives, yeah, of course. And the fact that they’re being prosecuted for that is, is foul. And so we’d be, I was what. We were all broke musicians, but the least we could do is try to put out contribute to a tape that could raise some money. And if anyone does have any money to spare, there’s a lot of court fee stuff that is on right now donated to go some dollars. It’s insane. But if they, but if they could do it they will be able to change legislation and in ways that will continue to save lives. So it’s, yeah if anyone’s able to throw any, any kind of money that way, please do it. Please do it.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
That’s beautiful. Did that project come about from just a bunch of bands getting together and saying, ‘Hey, like, we need to support DULF.’
Sterling
Hundred per cent yeah. And Eris you know, has been in the scene forever, and there’s like a staple in the in the punk scene in Vancouver. And so, you know, like the music scene is deeply connected to the DULF as well, and a lot of stuff, and so, yeah, I mean, we all, I think, in the in the scene, owe something to arisen within, like, the quality of the scene that we have totally a part of that.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, it’s great to see you guys all rally around a cause like that. I didn’t know anything about it until I was researching you guys, and it’s very, I don’t want to say bold, but like, I guess bold or fearless to like, come together to say, like, hey, we care about this. Yeah, and like, we’re not gonna be quiet about caring about it.
Sterling
Isn’t it wild that it’s bold though?
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yes, that’s what I mean.
Sterling
Isn’t that incredible because it shouldn’t be bold to say that like, ‘hey, people are dying. Let’s give them a hand up’ yeah, yeah, yeah. So can grab you guys. Should pat yourselves on the back. There’s something beautiful that you did. Now, we talked a little bit about the importance of like, community and DIY. Could you maybe explain, like, what does it mean to be Vancouver DIY? What does that scene mean to you? Would you even describe yourselves as that to an extent, I think we would. Yeah, I think, who I have some thoughts on this one. Like, definitely, let you guys take it. Take some real quick. Like, I guess, like, I think the DIY I’ve lived in a handful of different, like, like, and oh, and Toronto, and different, like, kind of areas around there. And I spent time in Montreal andVancouver is seen like as small as it is, it’s it’s because of the cost of living there and the price and the fact that the city is constantly trying to destroy the arts. In some ways, price wise, the scene is always in this state of death and rebirth, and that creates some incredibly passionate DIY people, because if they stopped, it would go away, and that it’s something that I really didn’t have many plans when I first arrived in Vancouver, staying around for very long, but I’ve been here for urban there for the past three years, and it’s one of the most inspiring scenes I’ve ever been a part of because, it’s this constant uphill fight, and it’s been going on for decades, and it’s I mean, honestly, it’s just getting worse, as far as, like, the amount of difficulties in the way, yeah, but the quality of the art keeps getting better and better the scene right now. The quality of the DIY scene in Vancouver is phenomenal. Like, there’s some incredible bands right now, but it people are on it because, yeah, because they need to be, or it dies immediately.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, you got to fan the flames, otherwise, just go out.
Sterling
Yeah, there’s no room for apathy in Vancouver’s DIY scene. I think.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Good to know. Yeah, good to know.
Sterling
But yeah, and anyone else have any any thoughts on that?
Zach
Yeah? Yeah. I mean moving to Vancouver in 2017 yeah, I’ve always appreciated Vancouver’s pay what you can model for a lot of the venues. They have, the smaller venues. And I think it’s because, yeah, like Sterling mentioned, the cost of living is so high. And I think the people will always want to, like, come see music is just whether or not, you know, they can afford to has always been a barrier. But the fact that they kept that on for so long and it still is a thing is, yeah, very much why the DIY scene is still going.
Liam
Yeah, the awareness that, like we’re all in this place that is outrageously expensive and like, we’re all in the same boat. None of us are, like, there’s no like, rich people in the DIY scene really well. I mean, you know, there’s some, yeah, there’s poverty cosplay, but there’s poverty cosplay in every you know, it’s a whole thing.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Yeah, my brother lives in Germany, and whenever he goes to Berlin cosplay, we can talk about that. I know what you mean brother. My brother is a big part of like, you know, like DIY when he lived in Calgary. So then he, like, tried to find that in Germany as well. It’s interesting, yeah, to see how people interpret that term.
Sterling
Berlin seems cool, though.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
It really is. The main train station there is, like, a work of art in and of itself. It’s like four floors of trains. Sorry, not to nerd out about trains, but it’s gorgeous. It’s really cool.
Sterling
Trains are cool. I get it. I haven’t taken the dive, but I could see I can absolutely you didn’t know. No, once I get off of ants or like crows and different like animals, trains are coming for me.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Do you know what Shiv and The Carvers told me. They were like, ‘You guys have magpies here. We don’t have magpies out East.’ And I was like, what these are my little sky rats.
Sterling
Do you have magpie friends? Have you ever befriended?
Brooklyn (CJSW)
No, but my brother used to work at a gas station, and a magpie would walk with him to work every day, yes, and he would feed it, and it would remember him, and walk with him to work everyday.
Sterling
Not a magpie, but a crow. I’m trying, always trying, to befriend crows. And there’s a crow on my walk from like, to the sky train station that was like, swooping and cawing at me, and I was devastated. I was like, I promise I’m not the person you think I am. Like, I would never just cawing at me, like I’m a friend, like I’m so afraid.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Like, please, please. I’m an ally to the crow community.
Sterling
I’m never gonna wear that shirt on that walk again. It was the shirt as a striped shirt.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
And the crow just did not care for it.
Sterling
Thought I was someone I wasn’t for sure. Thought I was a meanie.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Okay, so my last question is, after Sled Island, what do you guys see in the future for NATLAK?
Sterling
We’re getting our album together, our debut, yeah, yeah, which is also, I mean, it’s worth mentioning. You kind of like referenced working on that, Brendan working on the EP. Brendan’s like, not typically playing in the band anymore. Used to play guitar in the band, but he’s producing the album with us. So it’s kind of like a cool thing where, yeah, this guy’s a very talented producer. I guess, like, playing this handful of shows is really fun because you get to play with Brendan, and he knows the song says he’s recording. Yeah, it makes sense. Our secret fifth member in a way. We’re chipping away at that. We’re trying to, like, you know, the typical things, right? Like just playing shows and doing what we can to raise funds and selling merch to finish off and give it a price. Proper release, and do what we can to make sure it gets in front of as many people as we can. But we don’t have any dates, but at the earliest, we’re hoping fall at the very latest, before the end of the year, like before, before New Year’s for sure.
Brooklyn (CJSW)
Love it. Yeah. Okay, that’s all I have for you guys. Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down and talk with me about all things NATLAK.