Why did you want to get into the music industry?
I’ve always been obsessed with music, I started dancing and singing at a young age. As I got older I saw a gap, something was missing. I didn’t have someone to look up to and that empowered me to become that someone. There are so many stories that have been told over and over, and the only way to hear new stories is by platforming new voices. I love to represent my community nearly as much as I love making music.
“I didn’t have someone to look up to and that empowered me to become that someone.”
Do you feel that higher education is a necessary step to enter the music industry?
It can be good for meeting people, or if you want to learn classical standards or something. But no, not at all. I heard a photographer say 20 photographers went into this course all being different and came out being more similar to each other. Sometimes being graded is about conforming, and I’m not about that at all.
Have you had to overcome any challenges or adversity in your career, and if so, how did you approach them?
I had the worst sound at this one gig, my vocal lagged behind the track a lot, I was so out of time, and there were lots of industry people there that I wanted to impress. Afterwards I was having a lot of things mansplained to me about why it messed up, but in the end it was him who didn’t do his job properly. I didn’t want to express any anger so I just said “thank you for trying”. It was maybe the worst gig of my life. I wanted to crawl in a ball and give up. I pushed through the next shows, I showed up even earlier, I workshopped and made my set up simpler so I could set it up myself, sometimes I squat on the side of the festival stage setting up my equipment while the act before me is on. Sometimes people working on these shows are the best ever, but I made a commitment to myself that I’d be able to deliver even if they weren’t. It’s not the glamorous life but it’s real.
“I made a commitment to myself that I’d be able to deliver even if they weren’t.”
What would you tell your younger self if you could tell them anything?
“It sucks how hard you are on yourself, but I can’t tell you to change anything because you end up where you want to be. You’re perfect, keep it moving.”
What is your big picture career goal?
World domination.
“It sucks how hard you are on yourself, but I can’t tell you to change anything because you end up where you want to be.”
If you could work with any Australian artist that you have yet to work with, which artist would that be?
I think the world is going to shake when me and Miss Kaninna hop on a track.
How do you unwind when you’re stressed?
I love to watch films. Especially films that make me cry, I really release the stress that way.
How do you manage work/life balance?
Something I’ve been doing recently is I try to allocate each day for different things, eg. mondays are for admin and getting shit done, wednesdays are for creating, thursdays are for training my skills. But life is crazy and trying to have a work life balance when your work is all consuming and doesn’t pay you too much is close to impossible??? If anyone has found the secret let me know.
Any tips for a quick ‘pick me up’ if you’re having a bad day?
Journal!!!! Write everything down. Your brain can’t do long division without a pen and paper, how do you expect it to solve serious life shit without writing it down? Or go for a run. Or eat a sweet treat, whatever you need.
“Your brain can’t do long division without a pen and paper, how do you expect it to solve serious life shit without writing it down?”
What is your go-to Karaoke song?
Fergalicious by Fergie