INTERVIEW: Austen on her glorious second EP 'Small': "I wanted it to be really free and explore a lot of different vibes within just four songs."
Image: Katy Roubin
Singer, songwriter and producer Austen last week released her second EP Small. The four tracks are a glorious mix of house, electronica and 1980s infused synth, creating fuzzy, nostalgic throwback feels while still sounding completely of the moment.
Featuring previous singles, the otherworldly, trance-y ‘The Fire’ and the 1960s inflected ‘North South East West’, the EP features two new tracks, the shimmering electronic ‘The Lake’ and the sublime, soaring 1980s inspired ‘How To Be Alone’ which was born out of the enforced solidarity of lockdown.
Austen first released music in 2016, with 2019 single ‘Holding On’ attracting over 4 million combined streams on Spotify. Her debut EP Passenger Seat followed later the same year, and her incredible stage presence has seen her tour with artists such as Aurora and The Kite String Tangle.
Austen is an artist of remarkable talent and Small is an assured, confident release which sees her creating some of the best music of her career. Emotive, connective and soul ensnaring, Small is an end of year highlight and we recently caught up with Austen to find out more.
Hey Austen! So great to talk to you today. How is everything in your world right now?
Everything is okay, pretty good! My world is sunny today and feels like it's becoming a bigger world since transitioning back into normal life these past couple of weeks.
Your second EP Small is out now, congratulations it is an incredible collection of music! What were your intentions, or inspirations, when pulling together the EP?
Thank you so much! My intention was to make a short and sweet body of work that encapsulates who I’ve been, what I’ve been going through, listening to, thinking etc for this recent little section of my life. I also wanted it to be really free and explore a lot of different vibes within just four songs. I think for me, each song is quite distinct, and each distinct feeling represents like a three month period in my life really strongly before it moves onto the next phase.
Can you talk me through a little of the creative process of making the EP?
I’ve kind of cherry picked this bunch of songs out of the last couple of years. All of the songs were written during writing trips to Melbourne, when I still lived in Brisbane. I then made the move down to Melbourne just in time to experience the world's longest lockdown, so I’ve incidentally gone and made a new EP since then. Finishing the production and mixing of the Small tracks off via the internet was kind of like peak irony - the same people I used to fly down to work with now lived a few blocks from me but I wasn’t allowed to get into a room with them. But, working on these tracks in particular made me so nostalgic for a time when we could experience creative things like that in a room together. Even more so in a club or a venue all together.
There are echoes of the 1980s in a couple of the tracks, in particular the killer ‘How To Be Alone’. Was this a conscious decision, and if so what is it about pop from the 1980s that you love?
Each of the tracks definitely all have a different sense of nostalgia to them. ‘In The Lake’ was inspired by 60’s psychedelia; for ‘The Fire’ it was very much the early 2000’s peak era of indie electro. And ‘How To Be Alone’ lent itself to an epic, 80’s synth-pop, driving down the night highway in a romantic sci-fi kind of feeling. For me it usually ends up being that the song tells you where it wants to go, rather than me making a conscious decision.
Over the past few years, EPs have become one of the most popular ‘formats’ artists release their music in, particular for independent artists. What are the attractions, or benefits, for an EP as opposed to a full length album?
We’d probably all love to release a full-length album, but in the age of streaming that’s too much content all at once. We've all been destroyed by 60-second TikToks (me included). I only have a few absolute favourite albums that I listen to from start to finish, and they’re usually the older ones that I listen to over and over again. An album is such a commitment to put your heart and soul into, so you want to feel like people care about it enough before you dive into that. It's like the connection with a listener is a relationship, and everyone is a commitment-phobe these days. For me though, I like the idea of releasing little time capsules to bunch together a certain group of songs and tie up that phase of my life in a neat little bow. Maybe it's a way of processing things, since actual life is never that neat in reality.
If we take it back to the beginning, what role did music play in your life when you were growing up?
My parents were both great musicians, and I was heavily into music (classical violin) when I was a really young kid. Since then it's kind of been a running theme in what I love, but the genre preference has fluctuated a lot.
How did your career in music start? Was it something you just knew you would always do, or did it come about more randomly?
I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I’ve tried so, so many jobs both before and while doing music. I started just putting some of my first songs on the internet myself and realised I really like doing this enough to want to spend most of my time on making music.
The visual companions to your music are always so beautifully made. With everything that you do - writing, recording, making music videos, performing live - is there one that is your favourite?
The next one! Ha ha - it’s always the newest thing, or whatever I’m freshly working on at that moment. When we were filming for ‘How To Be Alone’, I was really infatuated with that song because the visuals gave it a new meaning and life. And now it's In ‘The Lake’, because that song is like the understated baby of the EP. It hasn’t had “the single treatment”, because it's the weirdest song on the EP, which is also why it's my favourite. It’s got a bit of a chaotic, frantic energy to it, which I guess is fitting considering my answer to this question?! This is the first in an EP trilogy, so I’m really looking forward to the next one now.
The music industry has long been a difficult space for women to exist in, partly because it has been run for so long by older, white, straight men. What are your thoughts on gender equality and sexism in the music industry?
I think it's a hot topic, which it definitely should be. I’ve had some horrendously sexist experiences within the industry, and outside it too. Music and entertainment in particular seems to be a cesspool for people with egos who try to assert that over others and become abusive in the process.
The more I see it in action, the more I am happy sitting in my bedroom making beats, keeping my circle small and doing my own thing. The world is a difficult space for women to exist in in general, if we’re being honest.
What's cool though is that 4 out of 5 people on my little team are the most amazing women. This EP is out on Tank Top Records, an independent artist-run label by my friend Nyxen, which releases bangers by local female producers. My PR agent Amanda is a gun. Kat (Rose Pure) and Katy Roubin did the photos and videos. Tina Cornac edited one of the music videos which I shot myself. Kat custom designed my jacket. I sort of feel like the only way I can answer a question about sexism is to shout out the great women I see killing it in the industry everyday, and try not to make it about the ‘older, straight white men’.
What’s up next for Austen?
Today I’m writing ‘hot girl music’ with my friend Lauren. I don’t think we really know what that’s going to manifest as yet, but Nelly Furtado is a reference so I feel like it will be fun. I’ll probably be having a celebratory drink tonight, then on to planning some Small remixes.
I’m also playing a DJ set in Melbourne next month, which is a charity event by my friend Darcy’s clothing label ‘Hairy’. And the proceeds from Hairyfest all go to Black Rainbow. So if you’re in Melbourne in December, and you’re reading this, you should definitely come for a boogie to end this insane year. (Tickets here.)
Small is out now via Tank Top Records. You can buy and stream here.
To keep up with all things Austen you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
