Liminal grows a surreal soundscape in Lismore’s independent music scene

LISMORE’S avant-garde psychedelic rock outfit Liminal is inviting audiences into a world of strange, in-between spaces with its latest single and music video The Crop, ahead of a performance at Blah Bar later this month.

The band’s drummer, lead vocalist and producer Alako Myles said the name Liminal reflects the ideas that shape both its music and visuals.

“Liminal just means a transitional state, like between two different states,” he said.

“So, everything that we make music about is like these sort of weird-looking spaces and things.”

 

The music video for The Crop, which was released on 15 May, features a surreal digital crop plantation, with Myles’s face painted green to portray a weed.

The video is accompanied by satirical lyrics sung from the perspective of a weed longing to be sprayed with Roundup.

Rather than explaining exactly what The Crop means, Myles said he enjoys seeing the different interpretations viewers bring to the video.

“It’s funny because so many people have weird interpretations of it,” he said.

“That’s what makes it kind of interesting I guess, is that it’s so weird that everyone has their own personalised take on it, which is kind of funny.”

The music video embraces a DIY psychedelic VHS aesthetic, created using analogue equipment.

Myles said the analogue processing offers qualities that digital cameras struggle to recreate.

“I think it has more of a feel to it than trying to shoot stuff on mid-tier digital,” he said.

“It has a character innately, just shooting on that older stuff, that is appealing.

“I think it’s texturally more complex.”

Myles said the vintage look gives the video an immediate sense of nostalgia despite being made in 2026.

“It would just be a sh*t video if it was digital,” he said.

“But because it has that whole look to it, everyone’s got this nostalgia for it all of a sudden, even though it’s recent.”

Liminal will bring that analogue production philosophy to the stage when it performs a double set at Blah Bar on 31 July.

Myles said the venue has become a vital hub for Lismore’s independent music scene.

“I’d say the main thing going for Lismore with the music scene at the moment is the Blah Blar,” he said.

“It’s pretty rare even in a city to have such a constant revolving lineup of bands that are touring.”

“We’ve never had that so regularly in the town.

 

“I know of bands, of like younger people who’ve gone and seen gigs at the Blah Blar and then started their own projects and then gone to play a gig there.”

He said the venue’s willingness to embrace unconventional projects had helped foster creativity.

“They’re just so open to everything,” he said.

“Like anything you want to put on, they’ll chat to you about and they’re really just down to support whatever, which is cool.”

For niche bands, Myles believes that kind of community support is essential.

“Anything that has been a successful project that is also pretty niche, that has done well, like any of my inspirations – they’ve had a hub, like a community that they’ve built around their projects,” he said.

“Because that’s where you get your first support and if you don’t have that, your stuff doesn’t really last.”

Liminal will perform at Blah Bar on 31 July from 7pm–11pm with tickets available at Humanitix.