slowly built up over the year. I did so much touring that I wouldn’t change a thing because all that touring helped word of mouth get around, and got people hearing the record. I just loved it because I felt that from the minute I got here, people wanted to help me; there was a lot of love and support.
I can’t imagine 2008 now without the Ladyhawke debut and also the Walking on a Dream album, which is strange, so I wondered what you think the musical tapestry would have been like for you had you not gone
your separate ways? Oh wow, me and Nick, erm I don’t know; I think we were always destined to go our separate ways, you know? He’s a man with many fingers in many pies, he’s a producer – like that’s his main thing, he’s just a really creative guy. He’s the one that heard me quietly singing and playing guitar; I was at his house and we recorded the sides for this song I’d written at home and he kept saying, ‘Man, you’re a star darling, you’re a star’ – you’ll know what I mean if you ever meet him! He has this like half-British accent from spending so much time here and being Australian. I had no confidence, like, I was just used to being the guitarist off to side and I was quite happy there, but he kept telling me I could do it. Luckily it worked out and I’d love to do more stuff with him one day.
Tis new album is allowing me to enjoy memories of early 90s bands and the time when I started
to develop my individual music taste – British bands like Elastica and Garbage. I wondered if you had that time in your childhood where you started to stamp out your own tastes? Yeah, yeah, that was the same sort of era for me, like 90s and I remember I always liked a whole variety of music anyway, I didn’t
stick to one thing, but when I became a teenager, because I was a drummer as well, I started getting in to much heavier guitar music. I really loved Garbage; I bought a ticket when they came to New Zealand and I lived in a really small town. I bought the ticket to see them in Wellington and my mum wouldn’t let me go! I was into Nirvana as well, like the heavier the better but I loved a good hook as well – that’s always what reeled me in.
You went home for a while, I read, but you ended up writing most of it with your producer in France – is the studio very conducive place to writing for you, or is there a perfect place you like to be in? Well I like homely environments and I never work in a big,
fancy studio at all – I just like being in somebody’s home, you know. Pascal, that’s the only way he works; he likes his home comforts and his studio is just like a little room and he’s got like cool lamps and cool posters and pictures and gadgets and toys and instruments, like a really cosy room with a couch and his cat comes in and curls next to me. It’s just really cool and that’s the way I prefer to work. It just feels more relaxed and I can be creative that way.
I was listening to ‘Cellophane’ off the new album and it’s the slowest track you’ve made; that kind of expansion often demands bravery, I think, to slow something down. Do you think you’re at the bravest, musically, that you have been? Yeah, I definitely feel like I’ve become more confident in my own songwriting, like I feel more self-assured and I used t feel a bit more guarded, like ‘if I sing about things that are a bit too dark, it’s opening myself up too much’, you know. I just played ‘Cellophane’ for the first time live actually the other day, just to see how it would go and it sounded so good – it really changes the pace of the set though; it goes from being really upbeat to ‘Cellophane’ – BAM!
You’re coming to Norwich next month and we know you’re gonna bring us an awesome show to us, we’re so excited about it, but what, as an audience can we bring for you? Ooh, I guess just not too cynical! I hate cynicism, like when people are really cynical you get people who come not to enjoy it, but almost to see if I’ll slip up and I really don’t want them to do that!
I don’t think people have enough money for cynicism any more – they have to genuinely love something to buy a ticket, which is cool… Tat’s a good point! I don’t know – just come with an open mind I guess and try and pretend that you’re singing along just to make me feel better, even if you don’t know the words!
Emma Garwood
Ladyhawke brings her headline show to Te Waterfront on May 8th. For tickets, go to
www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk. Read the uncut version of this interview at
Outlineonline.co.uk
outlineonline.co.uk / May 2012 / 13
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