After years of playing to someone else’s tune, rising rock prodigy Isac Cole is now doing it by his own rules, writes Reg Domingo. 

As one road ends, another begins. And so it was for up-and-coming singer, songwriter and multi-talented instrumentalist, Isac Cole.

For three years, Cole played lead guitar with alternative rock band, The Follow. The group achieved moderate success thanks in part to the 2006 single ‘Smashed Heart’ and a string of national support gigs for acts such as Sonic Youth and Nine Inch Nails. But in 2007, after playing a series of solo acoustic shows, Cole took the leap and decided to branch out on his own.

“I was repressing my ideas and growth to fulfil some else’s agenda,” Cole tells AXN. “If you’re not fulfilling your needs as an artist, your creativity becomes your enemy.

“It was an exciting time in my life but I knew I had to focus on my own music if I ever wanted to be truly happy.”

Making such decisions is never easy and the Sydney-based artist admits having pangs of fear about his career and music.

 “Initially, I was afraid that I would be a failure on my own,” he says. “But I realised I’d been putting obstacles in my own way and hiding behind the band and a lifetime of self-doubt. I finally became comfortable in my own skin. I knew, deep down, I’d be happier playing my own material to a room of five people, than someone else’s in a stadium.” 

That material can now be heard on his debut solo EP, Love or Nothing: Volume 1, a collection of rock-hued and indie-inspired tracks that explore that four-letter-word. 

“[It’s about] the experience of falling in love,” he says. “Its extreme highs and terrible lows. Fundamentally, I wanted to reflect on the beginning, the middle and, potentially, coming to terms with the end of a relationship.”

Cole, who also plays bass and drums and is a keen visual artist, says creating the EP gave him a new sense of artistic freedom. He produced it entirely by himself and played every instrument.
“My concept behind this EP was revisiting sounds I grew up with,” he says. “In particular, Fuzz-effected guitars and the Linn drum machine. I love experimenting with effects.”

And when time came to record, it was just like the old days. “I became my teenage self again, alone in my bedroom with a four-track recorder, experimenting with sound and knowing that as long as I can create art, everything is going to be alright.”

“It was really important to me to create both the artwork and music for the EP.  I feel it’s a complete reflection of who I am artistically.”

Love or Nothing is a two-part project with Volume 2 set for release later this year along with a series of shows. But for now, Cole is happy right where he is.

“It’s like I’ve reconnected with my long-lost best friend.  I feel completely myself again.”

For more information on Isac Cole, visit: myspace.com/isaccole