Music News

Where are you currently based?

I am currently based out in Boronia in VIC. I’m sure you haven’t heard of it, for some reason no one knows where it is, haha. For a little context, I’m near Mount Dandenong and I am lucky enough to live with my Mama.

How did you first start playing music?

Honestly for as long as I can remember I’ve been singing, even as a child I would sing all the time. I guess I really started learning music properly when I started high school – I had singing lessons and trumpet lessons, I was that kid that was in alllll the school bands (so lame I know). But it really gave me so much confidence, I was that scared shy little kid when I started, but by the end of high school I was the crazy confident one.

Your new single ‘Do You Wanna’ is out now, what influenced the sound and songwriting?

Ok, I love how this song came about, do I have a story for you. I started writing ‘Do You Wanna’ when I was taking a shower. I was listening to Jill Scott, when this melody just came into my head. I ran out to my piano butt naked for all the world to see, still dripping with water and wrote the song there and then. The song is about asking for consent from your partner, in the sexiest way you can. It’s like a whisper in your ear that worms it’s way into your head and stays there until you only have question left to answer, ‘Do You Wanna’? I have to say that at the time it was Jill Scott, D’Angelo and Erykah Badu that influenced this whole track for sure. At the time I was completely obssed with their first albums, lets be honest I still am. So I wanted to create something that gave me that 90’s neo-soul vibe.

Where and when did you record, and who with? How did you approach the recording/production and who did you work with?

Oh man I have recorded this song in 3 separate places and over the last 2 years, because life haha. I started off with Julian Steel, who laid down the groove and most of the rhythm section as his home studio, then I went to Michael Cooper and we refined the track and added a lot of the extra sounds and synth deliciousness in the background, and finally I recorded all the vocals with my first producer Rino in his bedroom. Shout out to Bailey Judd for the second guitar part and Jordan Pereira for drums! Julian, Michael and Rino are some of Melbourne’s best young soul producers. When I was approaching this track I took inspiration from ‘cruisin’, the D’Angelo version that is, as well as a bit of Prince’s ‘Kiss’.

Who are you listening to at the moment?

I am fully obsessed with India.Arie, Pj Morton, Jamiroquai and Billie Eilish right now. I love old an school groove, soul, R&B and disco/funk music and its most of what I listen to during the day! There’s just so much life to it, and then there’s Billie haha, she’s there when I am feeling down which I can say is happening a lot these days with Isolation in play.

Which artists influences your music?

That’s a big question, isn’t it. I think if I had to say one person, it would be Stevie Wonder. I truly think what he creates with is music is next level. He’s so smart in his song writing, and then the control of his voice is just next level you know. Outside of that I think as well, D’Angelo, Jill Scott, Jamiroquai and Motown as a genre as well. There was a time when all I would listen to was Motown artists.

What do you like to do away from music?

I love to exercise; yoga, gym, walking and hiking. Moving my body just makes me feel so energised and connected. I also love food (cooking and eating), I mean who doesn’t love eating! But I will go to some very expensive restaurants with my mother just to try the food because I’ve heard it’s good. I go with my mum because none of my friends can afford it, and if I’m honest, neither can I haha, thanks mum.

I was fully inspired by George Costanza from the episode ‘The Package’. I took full inspiration and artistic direction from the ‘Timeless Art of Seduction’ section of the episode, and I think it just gives the song so much context. I’m not trying to take myself to seriously, I just want to be a bit tongue-and-cheek you know. Without a doubt, it was definitely the most fun I have had on a photoshoot.

You were raised in Guyana and are now Melbourne based, please tell us about cultural differences:

I mean that’s a hard one, I left when I was a kid so I have this mix of Aussie and Guyanese things in my life. It was such a different life there though, everything is so much more relaxed. We had a cleaner, Nanny and cook, we used to go out into the jungle on a regular basis which as a child I’m sure you can imagine is so cool. We lived right near the botanical gardens and there were manatees living in the water, I kid you not! We used to feed them grass by the side of the water, its one of my most cherished memories of back home. Guyana is a really poor country, a developing nation, so we didn’t have a lot of stuff – like on TV at the end of the day they used to broadcast about the deaths, births and marriages for that day, which is wild to me to think about now. At Christmas we always have pepper pot, which is this black stew that you cook for two weeks to mak,e and Garlic pork which you pickle in a mix of brine, vinegar, thyme, rosemary, chilli and garlic and then shallow fry in oil. It’s delicious and also takes about a month to make. I’ve lost my Caribbean accent which is really sad (mum still has hers and my friends love it), but I have a weird Aussie/American accent now that people seem to really like. I don’t know if I really answered your question, but I could go on for hours about home so I might just leave it there haha.

Please describe your experience as a queer artist in Melbourne, Australia:

I feel very isolated with that right now, I haven’t found my people yet. I know some queer artists but I have yet to really find where I belong in that space. I think it’s because I am generally not a big partier, I like to be in bed by 10 most nights, so getting out to a club on a Saturday night is a struggle for me, which my friends can attest to. There’s also very few of us I feel, even though I know some of us, we’re such a minority that I feel lost somedays. That sounds so sad, it’s not actually that bad.

What’s planned for 2020?

I did have a plan to do a tour at the end of the year, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen now. But I am planning on releasing my second EP and some singles later in the year especially with all the time we have now. So get ready for some new music!

Favourite food and place to hangout?

Thai food and chocolate, I could eat them allllllll day. My fav place to hang out is at one of my friends homes for sure, doesn’t matter who, just good company and food of course!

Where are you currently based?

I’m currently living in an attic in Redfern, Sydney. I’m originally from Bundaberg QLD, then I lived in Ireland for a few years, returned to Australia and moved to Sydney.

Alley, the original RACKETT bass player and BFF influenced the narrative and the sound was influenced by Gold Frapp. My friend and producer Dave Hammer has worked with RACKETT from the start of this journey, producing my first single BATS in 2017. Dave came to me with an idea for a song that’s meaning was a double entendre, one being a street alley, a metaphor for choosing the path of love and the other one being about my friendship with Alley and everything we’ve been through as friends and band wives. The piano, melody and lyrics were the foundation for the song, then Dave worked his magic touch on production.

Dave started with the chorus ‘mumma to a bubba, bubba to the universe, go wonder madly’, from there, he created the piano part and we workshopped the verses. It was an emotional process, each time Dave would add something to it and I’d hear it, I would cry. The production on the track is so beautiful.

We recorded the song as part of an eight-track collection on RKT2.0 music, recorded and produced in Sydney across several studios. I’ve shared Machinations, Oxytoxic and now ILY Alley from that collection and have more to share over the coming months.

The video is a visual representation of what I see in my head when I listen to ILY Alley. All those memories come flooding back and I wanted to see if I could find physical copies of these moments. I searched everywhere, on broken hard drives, camcorder cards, Instagram, Youtube, to collect all these memories captured by me, friends and fans at shows. Once I had collected all the footage, I cut it together to reflect the way I experience it, chronologically, from when we lived together in a decrepit mansion as a band, through to the moment in the studio we found out Alley was pregnant and the arrival of baby Billy.

The most challenging part was feeling regret. That’s hard to admit because I love my new music so much and it’s not a reflection of regretting where I am now, but more regret for the friendships I’ve lost along the way. The most rewarding part is looking at all the insane creative concepts we brought to life from dressing up in space suits to shaving my head live on stage and all the hard work that went into constantly touring and releasing music.

Right now I’m listening to A$AP Rocky, 070 Shake, Charli XCX and Tina Turner. I like to listen to 80s ballads just to see if I can sing along and hit those high notes like Whitney Houston. At night when the city is empty, I like to climb this hill in a park near my house that overloads a driving range and the whole city and blast A$AP rocky.

To be honest there isn’t much of my life that doesn’t revolve around music, aside from sleeping and even then most of my dreams are of me talking to Miley Cyrus about music. If I’m not writing or performing myself, I’m working on a new TV show that’s about music.

Loud N Queer TV is aired every Friday night at 8PM on Heaps Gay Facebook. It’s a digital replica of my favourite night out; live music and drag queens, with performances by artists from all around the world and guest appearances in the studio. The show is an opportunity for local Sydney artists to be captured beautifully on film by the DPLR team from Create or Die Studios and gives audiences a high-quality experience and opportunity to discover and connect with new artists. My main role in the show is producing. We’ve had artists like Jess B (NZ), Jackie Mendoza (USA), Lupa J (AUS), Theia (NZ) and many more on the show. Karaoke, DJ sets by Charlie Villas, Dance-offs, drag queens, skits, interviews and news by Ruby Miles. It’s so much fun. You can watch all four episodes here > https://www.facebook.com/watch/heapsgayparties/1663413657143541/

For the immediate future, I’ll be continuing to produce Loud n Queer TV and making all my friends and family listen to ILY Alley. Throughout the year I’ll be releasing more music I made with Dave Hammer and hopefully be back on stage before Christmas.

My favourite place to hang out is at Create or Die Studios on set filming Loud n Queer TV and my favourite food is champagne (can I say that?)