Hiya A_SHES thanks for joining us in the virtual RGM lounge today, grab a brew and take a seat.
What made you decide that music is a thing for you?
Graduating into a pandemic and realising ‘shit, I gave up on all my creative pipe dreams to chase a more practical career and now the world is ending so it doesn’t even matter’. Also the fact that I loved singing and poetry and never though to combine the two things until now
Introduce us to you and your musical history.
Oh well, let’s see, I grew up in Malaysian Borneo, went to high school in Australia, moved to London for uni, and am now a grad student at Cambridge doing music on the side so that I don’t lose my mind at grad school haha. I was primarily a musical theatre kid growing up, which if you meet me irl you can tell almost immediately, and that pretty much shaped the way I approached my songwriting. However, I’ve recently started identifying more with pop girlies than I do theatre folk haha. The first pop record I was exposed to was ABBA Gold and the most influential pop artist for me was Lorde – she basically got me into the alt/indie pop genre.
What was life like for you before music?
Not too different than now, just that this time I have bragging rights from being a spotify verified artist and am slightly more annoying because of that. Other than that, the bank account hasn’t seen much of a change haha
What was the first song you heard that steered you into a music path?
Royals by Lorde. Before I heard it I thought pop had to sound a certain way and be about certain things – but when this came on the radio for the first time I was like ‘Oh? Pop can be anything and everything, hey’. And I feel like it opened the floodgates for what pop would look like in the early 2010s, and it was that era of music that shaped my music taste. I have Ella to thank for that
Where do you feel you currently sit within the music industry?
I don’t think I have a seat just yet haha
What’s the biggest thing you have learned from someone else in the industry?
That it’s spenny – especially if you want to sound good and get the right connections
Tell us Two truths and a lie about you.
I have public beef with the 1975, Taylor swift once owed me like $1, and Lana del Rey served me at Waffle House once
If you could wish for one thing to aid your career what would it be?
Capital.. and nepotism
Do you ever worry about people taking things the wrong way or cancel culture? Discuss….
Oh, I’m always worried about people misunderstanding me, it’s one of my biggest fears. The idea of being perceived almost stopped me from releasing music. But I do think cancel culture can be a force for good when wielded correctly against the right people.
Do you sign up to any conspiracy theories? If not why not?
Umm no because a lot of them are weirdly anti-Semitic and I don’t wanna mess around with that shit
What was the worst experience on stage?
Not being able to hear myself. It happens more often than you think.
Tell us something about you that you think people would be surprised about.
I don’t consistently speak with one accent – it’s very Gillian Anderson up in here. It’s what happens when you move around to the most random places in a short amount of time I guess
What makes you stand out as an artist?
My consistent ability to flop
I hear you have a record coming up, what can you tell us about it?
That it was very expensive to make and I hope you all stream. But in all seriousness though it’s a love letter to my younger self so if you’re a Zillenial former indie Tumblr kid I think you’ll like it
What was the recording process like?
I was trying my best to cut costs with this project so I only ever went into the studio when I know for a fact it was ready to be recorded. I couldn’t really afford to spend hours screwing around to make something – I had to finish as much as I could at home and then kill multiple birds with one stone haha. Fingers crossed I can afford more studio time for my next record… if I can afford to make one that is
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tunes?
Probably trying to figure out ‘original’ melodies. Oftentimes I’ll come up with a melody, record and then realise where I got it from, and by that time it’s too late to do anything and hope nobody sues haha. Luckily I didn’t ‘plagiarise’ anything from Radiohead (oop!)
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
How I recorded the vocals for sure – my sound engineer did the best he could but unfortunately, the circumstances were not ideal for the takes we eventually got haha. But it is what it is
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
Socialism, and these sweet tunes
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