Where are you currently based?
I live in Meanjin (Bris), on Turrbal country.
How did you first start playing music?
My interest in music and singing started in primary school with performing in choirs and drama and forming little singing groups to perform in front of the school. Singing and music have always felt natural to me.
What’s been happening recently?
Well, we’ve had an insane amount of rain over the weekend, the most rain in Brisbane’s recorded history. My husband and I had to work to defend our house from flooding because of the torrent of runoff coming from other houses around us, and also the creek below our house turned into a big brown sea that engulfed roads, bridges, community gardens and dog parks. Yeah, it was like nothing I’ve ever experienced before and I lost my last house in the 2011 floods.
Your latest single ‘Change’ will be out on March 4, 2022, what influenced the sound and songwriting?
Oof. This is such a big emotional song for me, it still gives me the feels. I wrote the lyrics and melody about the breakdown of a relationship. It’s about realising you need to let go of it, even though it’s so heavy and hard to do because you so desperately want it to work out. The sound reflects all of those emotions, it’s heavy, but also cinematic and floaty. I love paradox as I feel it reflects the human condition. Arrowbird co-wrote this with me, she composed the music, did backing vocals and produced the sound, I have a huge amount of respect for her as an artist and producer, we totally vibe on each other’s penchant for melancholic beats.
How did Change come about?
I wrote the demo for a task in I Heart Songwriting Club, then I shared it with Arrowbird via Instagram and asked her if she would be keen to collab with me on it, and she said yes, the rest is history.
Where and when did you record/produce/master and who with?
I recorded my lead and backing vocals in studio with Daniel Newstead then sent them to Arrowbird who then composed and produced the music and added more backing vocals. Daniel Newstead then mastered for us.
Please tell us about your collaboration with Arrowbird:
We like to say that our music was like magnets that drew us together, she hit me up after hearing my debut single Abyss on Triple J Unearthed, and then I heard her music and I was like WOW. She makes incredible cinematic electronic music that’s totally my vibe, from that point on we started exchanging songs and sounds and artists we loved. We have actually never met in person, but we face chat all the time and have become close and formed a little network! She created a remix of my last single Legacy which I LOVED and we created this track together. I actually cannot wait to catch up in real life, COVID has been a barrier to that as she is based in Gadigal country (Syd).
Please tell us about your overall influences and connection to your heritage:
My music is very much influenced by my dysfunctional upbringing and the stories that created that environment. I’m a Kaurareg, Fijian, Tongan and Samoan woman through my mother’s side, my father’s family is caucasian with English/Irish heritage, Tasmanian convicts. I was born on Lutruwita (Tas) and grew up in Kaurna country (Adl). I’ve always felt like a bit of a misfit because I also grew up in a doomsday religious cult until 13, not surrounded by any extended family or close to my biological parents. I felt like I lived and explored many worlds, but belonged to none. When you are mixed race, and from mixed places, your identity and where you fit is one of your biggest question marks, I use my music to explore all of this.
Your single is set for release days before IWD. What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
It means a lot to me. Inclusivity and equality are my core values, I believe in the equal value in every human body, we all have the ability to lead, and have treasures and insights to offer. Being a child who was raised in a strict religious patriarchal system, I completely reject any notion that just because you were born with certain body parts or skin colour, you should be valued less, unable to lead, or should be forced to perform certain roles. I feel like there aren’t enough diverse female voices out there musically, when we have more voices and perspectives, we have more understanding for each other. This is why I’m so proud to work on this track with a female producer, Arrowbird. When I’m not making music, I work for Women’s Legal Service Queensland, an organisation that provides legal advice to women impacted by domestic violence.
What do you like to do away from music?
I hang out with my family and we go camping in our campervan and go to music festivals.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
AURORA, Stephan Moccio, ASHWARYA, Grimes, Four Tet, Charlie Cunningham.
What’s planned for 2022?
Releasing another single and music video, and I’m performing at Earth Frequency in May and then planning more of my own shows.
Favourite food and place to hangout?
Vietnamese all the way. My fave place to hang out is Minjerribah (Stradbroke Island).