Home or away?I would definitely rather stay home – that’s where
everything happens for me. I hardly ever go out, really. I love playing
shows and performing, but when you go on tour there’s a lot of
travel, waiting around and general unrest. It’s pretty exhausting.
I usually go to bed at like 8.30pm!
Childhood or adulthood?I would say adulthood. There was a bit
of a rough patch going from childhood to adulthood – some
growing pains. It’s weird, I don’t think I’ll ever feel like a full-blown
adult – I don’t think I really want to – but learning things on my
own is exciting, and knowing I can grow into the person I want to
be, if I choose.
Music – job or way of life?Way of life, definitely. When you’re writing
and making music for the right reasons, everything kind of revolves
around it. You pick things up that happen in your daily life and turn
everything into music.Painting or pottery? At the moment, pottery. I bought a pottery
studio when I was in LA last year. I moved there after I’d finished
writing my new album Lilac Everything, and wanted to take a break.
I found this whole pottery studio on sale for super cheap. I love it
so much – it’s taught me that technique and patience are really
important. With a lot of art, I feel my way around it, but with pottery
it’s different, because in order to express yourself you have to learn
the technique really well, then the creative part comes later.
Bottling things up or cracking the shits? Literally, as soon as I feel
something, I have to let it out. And if there’s no one around to let
it out to, then I write or make something with those feelings. I’m
definitely an expressive person; I pretty much can’t keep anything in.
Beer or wine? Wine, all the way and back! I love it – it’s one of my
favourite things about life. I wouldn’t say I know anything about wine,
but when I find a really nice one I stick to it for a while. Right now, I’m
loving one called Bonics – it’s made by a scientist in Melbourne, and
it’s the best I’ve ever had. It’s organic, and you don’t get a hangover.
Mexico or Seattle? I enjoyed recording Lilac Everything in Seattle, but
I have a pretty special relationship with Mexico. This one night, I was
pretty sad in Melbourne and decided to fly to Mexico; then, two days
later, I was there and wrote the album. I’ve been back maybe seven
times in a year or so. I think it’ll be a place I’ll just keep going back to.
Your old stuff or your new stuff? I think I’ll always like my new
stuff better, because I’m growing as a songwriter, and I relate to
it more when it’s fresher. I try not to be critical of my old music,
though – I’m grateful that I can even make music at all. I think it’s
beautiful that any artist can look back and listen to what they were
experiencing at a certain point in time.
Indoors or outdoors? I just got a farm outside Byron Bay, and I love
being outside, gardening and maintaining a bigger property. But
right now it’s pretty cold, and I love getting cosy, as well. The space
inside my home is very special, because that’s where I do most of
my writing and making and things. So, I’m going to say indoors,
because I’m a Cancerian, and getting cosy is the best!this or that...
WITH SINGER-SONGWRITER
EMMA LOUISE.
Interview Sophie Kalagas
music talks