INTERVIEW: Athena Joy releases her first new music in two years 'Just Like You': "It’s taken some time but I’m slowly stepping back into my old skin"
Queensland’s indie-pop singer songwriter Athena Joy (real name Hannah Luke) started making music in 2016 and made waves in 2018 with the release of her debut EP Blue which received acclaim from critics across the country and saw her nominated for a Queensland Music Awards. Saying she needed time to sort out her life, she took a from music and today returns with her first new music in two years with the single ‘Just Like You’. A smooth, soulful pop track with a melancholic tinge powered by Athena’s emotive, warm vocals, the lyrics journey through broken self-doubt to empowerment - “you’re never going to break me.” “I was feeling really sorry for myself in a kind of bitter ironic way - like of course this would happen to me it's just like you, but instead of continuing to feel like the victim I wanted to feel like I could also be the strength that brought me out of this situation,” she says,
We recently chatted to Athena to find out more about the creation of the song, her time away from music and what is coming up for her in 2020.
Hi Athena! Thanks for chatting to us. First up, how is everything in the world of Athena Joy?
Thanks for having questions! Honestly a little chaotic at the moment ha ha but working on it. Underneath it all is excitement I promise.
Congratulations on the new single ‘Just Like You’ it is brilliant! Can you tell us a little about the inspiration behind this track?
Thank you so much! I kind of wrote the song to really get a lot of things off my chest. I’d felt beaten down a fair bit by life at the time, it was kind of one thing after another. The chorus in particular was kind of my way of making a little sarcastic anthem out of it. I wanted it to feel like though “yep, it’s just like me to end up in this position, but it’s just like me to get me out of it too.”
I was feeling very vulnerable at the time and I wanted to make a track that felt like the opposite to that feeling and like no matter what I could get through it.
This is your first release since 2018, how does it feel to be back?!
It feels good. Feels kinda weird that it’s been so long, but it feels good. My life had some sorting out to do and it’s taken some time but I think I’m slowly stepping back into my old skin.
The lyrics to the song are quite raw and emotional, is it ever difficult to put all of your inner thoughts, emotions and low moments out into the world for complete strangers to hear?
Honestly I find it so much harder to have actual conversations about my inner thoughts and emotions, even with people I know sometimes. I find with music it’s just easier to be authentic because usually it’s something written in the privacy of your room, no one else's thoughts or opinions getting through. I don’t release every song I write so there is a little bit of a filtering process sometimes between what the world gets to hear and what I write. Truthfully though, I feel like sometimes those more raw songs are the ones that relate to other people the most so I try to remember that whenever I feel a little overwhelmed by it all.
Is this single the first in more new music to come this year?
Definitely! I’ve recorded an EP with this song on it, so there’s that as well as a couple of collabs we’ve been working on. I also have another EP of songs written it’s just a matter of when we record it, so we’ll see. Release dates aren’t official yet on anything but there is music recorded and finished so I hope I get to release some more stuff really soon!
You have been releasing music for around two years now, how did you first get started in music?
Sounds cheesy but I’ve honestly been doing music my whole life. I remember when I was like seven or eight years old my best friend and I would write songs and show them to each other. I started performing and seriously getting into singing after a school talent quest and even more so after I started performing my own songs. It wasn’t until I went to uni that I understood how to be a musician though - honestly I didn’t even know how to google ‘how to upload songs’ let alone get my own gigs at the time!
What other singers have inspired your creative journey, both before you starting recording and today?
Taylor Swift is kind of the reason I became a songwriter. Although I’d been writing songs before finding her music, the way she wrote about her life is something I just became absolutely addicted to. I love the idea that you can take your experiences and memories good or bad and turn them into something beautiful for anyone to enjoy.
Freddie Mercury, P!nk and Lady Gaga’s theatrical stage presence have influenced me a lot as an artist as well, also the brooding nature to Lorde and some of Halsey’s work.
I also love a lot of other indie artists I have a kind of wide music taste generally depending on my mood but I like to think I’m a combination of all the artists I love with my own spin and own energy.
Do you have a favourite part of the whole creative process – writing, recording, performing?
I honestly do love them all - writing is probably the most therapeutic and performing is probably the most fun, especially with a good crowd.
I do find recording is probably the most satisfying though. There’s something really special about taking something you wrote in your own head and creating it in a way for other people to hear. It can be kind of magical.
The last couple of years has produced a debate on gender equality in the entertainment industry in the wake of #metoo. What are your thoughts on sexism and how women are perceived in the music industry?
I think it’s definitely changing which is a good thing, but I think there is still a really long way to go still unfortunately. It’s not always blatantly obvious which is the hard thing, a lot of it is just so ingrained in our culture that some people can’t even recognise it. From the questions people are asked in interviews or the way their art or even personal lives are reported in some media it’s often very different for men and women.
I try to focus on the positive though and the positive conversations that are taking place at the moment. I had a conversation with a friend’s band member about this a few weeks ago actually. He had read somewhere that female musicians often prefer to buy instruments and gear online to avoid going to music stores as they felt they were often treated differently by male staff members. It came up because he, from a very genuine place, asked what I thought about that and if I had ever experienced that. I generally agreed with them I’ve had my own experiences and depends on the situation where I would buy from, I honestly thought it was great that it started a genuine, non-judgemental, human to human conversation. I think that’s more of what I want to see. People asking and people listening… I’m sure a lot of our world’s issues could probably be solved by that really.
What else is on the cards for Athena Joy in 2020?
I’m in the process of getting a band together to work out our live sound as I’m hoping to maybe do a little tour or some shows or something with the release of this EP. Other than that just more writing and recording. 2019 was kind of a rough one, I really just want to spend 2020 being kinder to myself and spending time with the people and things I love.
‘Just Like You’ is out now. You can download on iTunes or stream on Spotify and Apple Music.
To keep up with all things Athena Joy, you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
