It was around this time that Albrecht and La'Brooy forged a relationship with Corey Kikos and Maryos Syawish, otherwise known as Sleep D. La'Brooy was working in the same building as Kikos and Syawish's studio. The pair had already released some records on their Butter Sessions label, and they shared their knowledge and contacts, as well as sending Albrecht La'Brooy's music out to some key artists. "They were instrumental in the beginnings of the label and its development," says Albrecht. It's emblematic of Melbourne's tight-knit electronic community, a scene rich with crossovers between different artists and crews, with much of the city's underground operating as a large extended family. Collaboration is common, and the relationship between Analogue Attic and Butter Sessions became a fruitful one.Albrecht La'Brooy's first release,, served as a blueprint for what was to come. The record documents a journey on the Belgrave railway line, from Richmond in central Melbourne through the affluent suburb of Canterbury and Chinese enclave Box Hill, eventually ending at the foot of the Dandenong Ranges, an area with thick rainforest. Each of its four tracks represents a stop along the way, moving seamlessly between immersive ambient and lush deep house. "Platform 9" captures the mechanical hum, bleep and buzz of the city. "Mailing Road" sees an alfresco cafe conversation underpinned by floating jazz keys and double bass. "Louis'" is an irresistible house groove led by alternately bold and delicate piano, tight percussion and rich bass, while closing track "The Sherbrooke" introduces the trickling sounds of the forest, sampling the distinctive Eastern Whipbird that would be familiar to anyone who's hiked through the dense greenery scattered along Australia's east coast. The result is a seamless and uniquely Melbourne trip.A defining moment for the label came in the summer of 2015-16 with Sleep D's. The old brick amphitheatre on the bank of the Yarra was the stage for the Butter Sessions duo's first public foray into lighter, loftier and more beatless music and resulted in a 40-minute album of live performance that remains a favourite for many Analogue Attic fans. "Something that's important in music is great performances, things that haven't been tampered with that were moments in time, that existed for an audience and were raw," La'Brooy says. "The other thing that doesn't happen much is events like that, for sitting down and listening. Electronic music stems from parties, it's tribal, that percussive meditation. We love the idea of making electronic more like a listening experience. It was also a beginning of putting on events in interesting locations, getting out of clubs, wanting to own different spaces. So that was a really significant time for us."A broader influence on the pair has always been the album format. "Sean and I have always agreed that albums are the most important thing for us, in terms of music, and it's the thing that we always aspire to," Albrecht explains. "Right from the first release. It was only four tracks, but we still thought of it in exactly the same way you'd think of an album. I see them all as albums." This deep appreciation for the LP stems from a lifelong love of the format, particularly those extra special records that only get better with age. "Probably the biggest for me," La'Brooy continues, "and it's kind of a cliché—but Miles Davis's. I remember when I was probably ten years old and that was played regularly in my house. From that age right through to now that hasn't lost any relevance at all, it still sounds so incredible. You listen to all the other music that Miles has put out, or that any of those individual artists playing on that album have put out, and none of it sounds like that album or that point in time. All of those tracks sound like they belong to. What they played was a cohesive body of work, and that's what we're constantly thinking about. ""Another clichéd album I was listening to again recently is Burial's," adds Albrecht. "That was a real turning point for me when I heard that. I listened to it from start to finish and thought, 'This sounds just like London in the winter in the '90s.' He was able to encapsulate those sounds and feelings and moods." That sense of tracks belonging to a greater whole is at the core of the Analogue Attic ethos and drives the pair to create their own audio experiences that transport the listener to a particular place or situation."Using field recordings was a way to communicate Melbourne and Australia," Albrecht says. "We feel that some of the biggest and most influential producers and records from around the world have always been tied to a place, whether it's the house or techno musicians from Detroit, or the scene in Berlin, or UK garage in London. We asked ourselves, 'How do we fit into that and what does it take to bring a voice to the sound of Melbourne, or the sounds of these places we're visiting?' We didn't want to sound like a place that we weren't from, despite all of our influences probably being from other places around the world.""When it comes to music there's this big focus on what happens everywhere else around the world," La'Brooy says. "Being so isolated, I think Australians really over-idolise things that come from New York, Berlin, London. Going to record stores in Melbourne and seeing sections like 'Chicago house,' 'Berlin techno,' and before you listen to any of those records you know what you're going to get because those places have managed to create a sound that is specific to them."Analogue Attic seeks out an Australian sound and identity, and it's something that its founders are passionate about. "That constant curiosity with whatever happens so far away from us, in a way it drags us down a little bit because it stops us from trying to just be ourselves," says La'Brooy. "There was almost a frustration in us to really find that Australian sound and push it. After I travel, when I come home the first things I think of are the scientifically bluer skies and gum trees and red cliff faces and the harsh limestone cliffs, the beautiful beaches and intense sunshine and rainforest and ferns and all the stuff that makes Australia what it is. Australia is the most beautiful country. That's what I love the most—the landscape."That natural beauty is also captured in the label's distinctive cover art, which plays a strong supporting role in the sense of place conveyed by each record. Grainy film photography adorns the front of each sleeve, almost all of it snapped by Albrecht and La'Brooy. It draws a strong link to the musical content, and in the case of Albrecht La'Brooy releases it's generally taken at the time of recording in an effort to capture a moment. For other artists it requires lengthy conversations, ensuring the imagery is true to the music. "The best way to tie something to a place is through actual imagery of that place," says Albrecht. "When you're listening to the music and you have this image of the record in mind, I think it totally changes the listening experience, and we're very conscious of that.""It's also really important to have a good-looking record that people will pick up in record stores and put into the listening booth," says La'Brooy.