1. Growing Up
My parents let us to pursue whatever we were into, so naturally we did what was fun for us, i.e. acting, singing, playing piano and making up stories. My sister is now an actress on Netflix’s hit TV show Orange Is The New Black and my brother is a writer, journalist, singer (in the Australian band Bluejuice), comedian and all-round awesome entertainer, so I guess it paid off! To be honest, I’m not sure my parents would have encouraged me so much if they knew what a financial and emotional struggle it would turn out to be, but ultimately I’m glad they did.
2. Inspirations
The ones who have changed me at a core level and actually affected my music have been Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, Rufus Wainwright, Sarah Vaughan and Dirty Projectors (to mention a few) and then also my peers such as Brian Campeau, Ngaiire and Ainslie Wills, and, of course, the other ladies in All Our Exes Live in Texas. I am inspired by people who are consistent with their art and who overcome adversity and personal struggle. I am inspired by originality and energy and love in all its forms.
3. Your Band
A friend of ours suggested we form a band and offered us our first gig before we even had a band name or indeed any plans about what we would do. There was a rise of bluegrass and country music happening in Sydney at that time and we were part of it. Being four singer/piano players who studied jazz, we needed to rejig things majorly, so we picked up new instruments (mandolin, accordion, guitar and ukulele) and started jamming. We had a month to get our shit together. We had a great time and the audience did too so we decided to do it again, and again, and the rest is history. Three and a half years later, we have a manager, booking agent and record label and we are putting out our first full length record with the incredible Wayne Connolly in the producer’s chair.
4. The Music You Make
The music we make is essentially indie folk. The McGarrigle sisters and the Wainwrights are hugely present in our sound. Ultimately each of us have our own influences but if you were to hear our music without the knowledge of that, your mind would jump to bands like The Staves, First Aid Kit and Haim. We love those bands too.
5. Music, Right Here, Right Now
The music scene in Sydney is full of incredible bands such as Buoy, Phantastic Ferniture, Wallace, The Green Mohair Suits, The New Venusians and so many more. As always, the major obstacle for Sydney musicians is how to make art and also pay the rent, especially with lockout laws squeezing the culture and nightlife out of Kings Cross and the CBD. People like Mike Baird need to remember that art and culture is valuable. If we lose all our artists we create a very boring city indeed.
All Our Exes Live In Texas play Oxford Art Factory on Thursday October 13.
