5 Ways Romanie Finds Creative Inspiration In Her Daily Life

As the countdown begins to the eagerly awaited debut album ‘Are We There Yet,’ set to grace our ears this October, Melbourne’s very own singer-songwriter, Romanie, gifts us a fresh single, ‘Cannot Have It All.’ This track serves as a soulful testament to finding solace in the ever-present ambiguity that life often unfolds before us.

To celebrate the release, Romanie shares with us 5 ways she finds creative inspiration in her daily life.

My friend called me a social butterfly the other day and I can’t find a counterargument to it so I’m going to start the conversation with this new nickname. I can’t remember the last day when I spent a night in, doing absolutely nothing. My mindset has always been that I want to be out and about, always chasing new connections and being a vessel for creativity that will at some point run through me. My future, burnt out self is probably rolling her eyes at me, but for now I can whole-heartedly say that I thrive and recharge during nights spent with friends at gigs, a dinner party, having deep and meaningful conversations in the smokers area with people I met 3 minutes ago. I think my main thing with finding creativity is to try and stay present, to take note of my surroundings – you never know when you accidentally eavesdrop on someone’s first date on the tram and a word the new lovers said might spark your next favourite song.

That’s not to say I’m not struggling with writer’s block from time to time. But I do feel very lucky to be able to draw lots of inspiration of things that genuinely bring me joy and creativity in my daily life.

School of Song

One of the main creative sparks over the last few years, and I am incredibly grateful for founders Steven and Blue for their generosity and community spirit, is School of Song. It’s an online LA-based songwriting workshop, always facilitated by different songwriters where you write about a song a week. Having the accountability and awareness that other songwriters are all collectively writing about the same prompt makes me incredibly happy and challenged at the same time. A lot of songs on my album have started through a School of Song homework prompt and they’re still some of the best songs I have written to this date. I have also met some of my best friends through these workshops so I’m completely and fully a superfan of the school.

Connecting with nature/the world around me

Each time when I feel down or uninspired, nature has always fully used its powers and gotten me back to my senses. I regularly go surfing with a group of friends and we’re always leaving the coast feeling very full and inspired (and full of vanilla slices and fish and chips). As much as I’m obsessed with people and how our brains and society work together, I can equally be drawn to and inspired by nature.

Live fast, live funny

When I think about my life over the past few years, it sometimes feels comically like I live in a sitcom. We often refer to ourselves in our friendship group as ‘Friends’, just one funny (and sometimes not so funny) thing happening after the other. From absolute chaos to wrong perceptions and diagnoses, to finding a funny donation at my op shop job and crazy dating stories from my friends – there’s always something to talk (and write) about. Songwriting is probably my main coping mechanism and the way I process things so luckily there’s plenty happening in my life and surroundings that I can draw from. As long as we can laugh about it.

Gigs Gigs Gigs Gigs Gigs Gigs Gigs

Have I mentioned that I love being out and about? My favourite evening is spent discovering music at a gig, or watching my friends play music. It’s super inspiring to live in a music community where everyone is so incredibly talented and I genuinely love all of my friends’ music. Probably one of my favourite weekends of the year is Meredith Music Festival where I leave with heaps of songwriting inspiration (and a severe lack of sleep) by just looking around and seeing the craziest things happen. I’m still working on writing a song about the man who gave everyone reverse mohawks. Co-writing requests are open.

Bookworm

When I find myself in that rare time of silence (probably on a plane or just before I go to bed), I’m often found reading a book. I love reading and can feel so touched by someone’s stories. Lately I’ve been really into music biographies to have a little break from the usual tragic fiction that tears my soul apart (which I love). Book recommendations can obviously be sent my way too.

Romanie’s latest single, Cannot Have It All is available now, with the full album, Are We There Yet is available late October.