The Eye: What will you be bringing to future gigs? Is performing live something that can vary in result for you whether it be a collaboration or going solo? Sarah: I have two modes of performing live, and I really enjoy both. My solo set is the usual for supports. It gets down to just you and the connection to the people in front of you and the songs closer to how they were written. You can’t drop the ball even slightly. I love this oneman-band type set up I’m doing at the moment, figuring out how to give the same identity and grandiose feeling of the songs just by myself and without running stacks of track. I limit myself to having beats coming off a machine (often my phone at the moment) and then play a couple of keyboards, one for bass and some vocal texture stuff with a looper. The other mode is with my ridiculous band whom I love so very much. Evan Mannell on drums, Neal Sutherland on bass and Matt Keegan on synthesised sax. Richie is there too, providing sonic landscapes from the desk, and the music always goes to the place I imagine it with these guys. The songs come to full fruition too as we made this album together, it was very much a ‘played’ group album in its skeleton. I hope to get out doing more and more band shows soon. The Eye: Would you agree that there’s a considerable force of solo female songwriters present in the Australian music industry? Sarah: Oh yes totally and there always is and has been a plethora of wonderful ladies making great music.
It’s not like we need an extra pat on the back for being a woman and doing it, you just want to talk about how great the music is and the skills of the excellent people you get to make it with and not anyone’s gender. I just hope it becomes that we start to refer to people as being incredible musicians making great work and that ‘FEMALE’ followed by whatever gets dropped as a genre too. It’s not a genre, have you noticed how it gets used like that? Often accidentally I think too. But so incredibly exciting to have these conversations and see how those labels are there and so many of us wanting that to all be dissolved. I also think ‘Adult Contemporary’ should be dropped as a genre too. It’s ageist and limiting, especially all the artists that get bundled in there making all kinds of wild and wonderful music. The Eye: Agreed! What stage are you at with your new album? What can audiences anticipate from it? Sarah: It’s finished, and I really can’t wait to share it which will be before the end of the year. I feel like we have created our little sonic world with it. I’m proud of the emotional presentation of its ideas and the production and my band Evan, Matt and Neal have played a huge role in getting these songs all uncovered. I guess you can expect to hear something you haven’t really heard before but at the same time might remind you of things you have. I hope that it communicates and provides some comfort to people. I have learnt to be brave in making it so I hope that comes across to help others find some bravery to do what they want to do too.
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