Hi! You recently released ‘Gunslinger Love’ and it’s brilliant. For anyone who’s yet to hear it, how would you describe the track?
This is a riff-laden, blues-rock epic that fires out of the blocks with all guns blazing and never lifts its foot off the gas pedal! It thunders towards a battle-of-the-sexes showdown between two gunslingers who resist their attraction every step of the way. Feisty, empowered women feature regularly in my songwriting and Gunslinger Love is no exception! Who will rise – and who will fall?
Where did you record it?
The recording was captured by Dave Beacon at High Lion Studio in Queensland, Australia before I moved to the UK in 2020, so it has taken a bit of time to bring this song to full banger fruition and share it with the world. My very talented friend Laurie Rayment co-arranged the track with me, bringing his powerful blues-rock style to the signature guitar riffs. I asked him to just be himself and go for it and the results speak volumes! Along with his guitars and my vocals, we also captured the drum grooves of Louis Parish, my husband Ken Chynoweth-Tidy’s bass line and Hammond B3 keys from Win Liv Shak. The icing on our tasty blues-rock cake was the final mastering by Grammy-award nominated Ben Findlay, who is based in the UK, so it really did evolve into an international project with a big, big sound in the end.
Are you planning to make it part of a larger release, such as an EP or album?
This is the third single from my sophomore project ‘Standing On The Fringe of Rooms’ which is due for release later this year. It follows on from two previous singles that I’ve already released from it ‘100 Or Less’ and ‘Dune Girl’ so make sure you check out the back-catalogue!
I’m very interested in how you started your adventure with music, and did you know from the beginning that this is what you wanted to do?
Making music is pure joy and I’m compelled to immerse myself in it, each and every day. I’ve always loved singing but only taught myself to play guitar and perform in public in the past decade or so. As part of that journey, I’ve realized that this is who I was really meant to be and owning that has helped me grow so much as an artist. It’s such a special thing to see your initial ideas build and build into full power to connect with an audience. Writing and recording really is a kind of alchemy, creating and bringing something new, unique and previously intangible into the world.
I’ve also been very lucky in being able to work with some truly amazing people, forming genuine, creative relationships that have evolved into ongoing collaborations and some long-lasting friendships! I originally started off in cover bands where I gained a lot of valuable performance experience on the vocal mic and later on taught myself to play guitar and started focusing on writing and performing my own songs. I’ve always loved to sing but learning an instrument really helped me take giant steps in realizing a long-held dream of making music.
Your music interweaves so many different styles and sounds. If you could collaborate with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?
I would love to collaborate with Kate Bush, Chrissie Hynde, the Wilson sisters from Heart, Pat Benatar – all total queens and huge inspirations to me! They paved the way for so many of us who followed them, to jump up on that stage and totally own who we are and what we do.
What’s been your favourite musical experience to date?
What we get to do is so special and I always give it my all at each and every gig I perform. Still one of my favourite experiences to date was getting to perform on stage not once, but twice with the national tour of an iconic Australian live music and trivia TV show called RockWiz, in 2010 and 2017. The 2010 experience actually kick-started my thirst for performing professionally as I got to sing with their very experienced, talented house band the RocKwiz orkestra and also share a stage with some of my favourite artists such as Tex Perkins, Vika Bull and Steve Kilbey (The Church).
Where are you based? Can you tell us how the music scene there has inspired your sound at all?
I’m Australian-born but moved to the UK in 2020 to explore wider opportunities for my music and also spend some time with family over here (my husband is a Londoner). We’re now living in South-West Scotland, my father’s birth country. He emigrated to Australia in 1951 and never returned, so it’s very surreal to now be living in Scotland myself! The music scene in a new country has allowed me to play at many new venues and Festivals as well as network with other talented musicians. The Celtic culture has crept into my writing a little more too since I’ve been here. I’ve been experimenting with singing around drone notes, writing some folkier numbers like ‘Red Meg’ and including Gaelic in some of my new creations. The Scottish landscape have certainly inspired many new songs written here and I’m now also recording a third album with a new studio in Scotland which will showcase some of those. The Celtic culture has always been a big part of who I am, stemming from my Dad’s heritage. One of my tracks ‘Fare Thee Well Lament’ from my 2019 debut EP was actually nominated for Australian Celtic Song of the Year in 2020, before I’d even moved to Scotland.
If you could perform at any venue in the world, where would it be and why?
I think I would just explode if I was every offered the chance to perform on any of the stages at Glastonbury! A gig at Red Rocks in Colorado would also be mind-blowing. I have an online friend who lives in Colorado and Red Rocks is her local venue, where she has seen some amazing artists perform. It’s such an iconic, atmospheric outdoor venue in a natural setting. It would be so incredible to play there and meet my friend in person one day!
And what was the first album you remember owning?
I picked up the ‘Xanadu’ soundtrack with Olivia Newton-John/ELO on it as well as ‘Get The Knack’ by The Knack at the same time one Christmas. Two albums that could not have been more different in style! I think I’ve always had eclectic tastes and that’s now reflected in my own multi- genre songwriting.
Finally, have you got anything to share regarding upcoming gigs, and what have you got planned for the rest of 2023?
We’ve still got a stack of 2023 dates left to gig here in Scotland which we’re looking forward to rocking out. We’ll also keep working on finalizing the next album release before the end of the year. My husband Ken and I will then be jetting off to Aus for a couple of months at the beginning of 2024 to reunite with our Australian band members and our first tour there in 4 years! We’ve already been confirmed for main stage at Agnes Blues Roots & Rock Festival in Queensland in February, alongside legendary female artists Vika & Linda. We’re super excited and can’t wait to rock out ‘Gunslinger Love’ on Aussie soil for the first time since its release. We’re putting all of the Aussie dates together behind the scenes right now, so stay tuned for the full schedule announcement later this year!
