Purveyors of: midsummer nights and three-part heartbreaks.

Nathan Lawr and his Minotaurs will take you from the city to the country and back again, with their mixture of foot stomping stories and adventures in song. From drummer to front man, Lawr's done it all. Nathan took some time to explain his recent projects with Kat Burns, over the e-mail.

Your musical endeavors have come a long way in the last little while. From drummer to multi instrumentalist songwriter, the direction has changed in such a nice way. What has been your favourite experience during this transition?

As a drummer I could just show up to a show, play and then be gone without having spoken with anyone.  It was a result of my shyness and insecurities.  But now, I have to talk to people and meet people and it isn't nearly as scary as I had made it out to be.

With your first solo record, you played all the instruments, whereas on your second you had friends come by and play with you to achieve a more live sound. Now, with The Minotaurs’ newest record, "A Sea of Tiny Lights", the band feels full, big and live. What do you hope to achieve with the addition of new minds and collaborations in your songs?

I think of my mind like an antique shop filled with a bunch of cool junk, the value of which is unknown to me.  The band is like a junk collector, sifting through the piles and zeroing in on the best and most appropriate of the treasures.  I have always wanted to rock. It's hard to rock as a "sensitivesingersongwriter."  I just got sick of that whole approach.  Playing with other people there are always surprises: good ones which please you and bad ones you have to accept.

Are you still the principal songwriter with the Minotaurs or has it become more collaborative as of late?

I am still the boss, but not necessarily because I want to be.

Will you be continuing with a mid-autumn's night dream this year?

The mid-winter and autumn thing might morph into a real band. Ruth, Ryan, Dale and Kate all have their own things; it is hard to converge as one.  I hope to pioneer remote band practices and performances all done through the internet.  Band fights would be a lot less awkward, or maybe more.

If you could be any animal...what would you be and why?

If I were animal I would be coral.  Dispersing my eggs in an enormous cloud, spreading across the ocean floor slowly through millennia

By Kat Burns