Interview: Emma Louise
Cairns Electro-pop songstress Emma Louise has blown away audiences with her emotive yet delicate vocals since she broke into the music scene in 2011. Although she was inspired by artists such as Missy Higgins and Sarah Blasko, her music itself can draw similarities with the likes of London Grammar, Owl Eyes, and Banoffee with its lofty vocal chords and thoughtful synthesisers driven by pulsing beats. We had a chat with Emma Louise about the creative process behind her sophomore album ‘Supercry’.
Your new album ‘Supercry’ features Underflow, Talk Baby Talk, and Shut The Door, which I’m in love with! What’s different about this album from your debut album ‘Vs Head Vs Heart’?
Sonically, I think ‘Vs Head Vs Heart’ was more intricate, with lots of layers, a lot more delicate. Whereas this one I think it’s a lot more solid with its elements. I was lot more confident with it and the environment in which I made it allowed me to express myself more absolutely and more bravely.
[After the release of her debut album VS Heart VS Heart life events had caused her self-confidence to take a hit. A major part of her creative transformation was taking a break from music following this]
Was there anything in particular that influenced your image of how the album would end up?
Not as a whole, I just wrote the songs as I was experiencing and learning things in different relationships.
So it just evolved organically?
Yes! It definitely captured where I was at that time.
You’ve painted cover art yourself and designed costumes for your music videos. Do you think it’s important for artists to get involved beyond the song writing process?
Yeah, I think so! I mean it’s a further extension on what you’re trying to put out there, and it’s a really good outlet as well. I think emotionally it feels good to just do stuff for the music that isn’t just the music.
[Emma Louise has designed a lot of her own outfits for performances. If you’re catching her at Splendour In The Grass you might be treated to something she is currently working on]
You’re obviously a very artistic person, was there some point where you had to choose music over painting or did you start them at different points in your life?
I first started painting when I needed that break from music. Its still the case when I’m not writing, I’ll start painting and you know I try to take it all pretty lightly. That’s the danger in anything creative – if you take it too seriously it ends up being terrible for your emotions. I’m painting this self portrait at the moment and I keep f*cking up her face (laughs). Its kind of annoying me! I recently painted my friend in a bathtub…
I’m picturing you painting someone sitting in a bathtub for six hours!
(Laughs) It was from a photo. I don’t think it’s like the olden days anymore!
You mentioned in the past that you would love to write pop songs for artists, what would that entail?
I think one day I would love to give it a really good crack you know. If I’m going go into writing pop songs and delving into it fully I don’t think I should be going my stuff at the same time. I’d really love to take it all away one day and just write. I love pop I think there’s just something very naughty about it (laughs).
The album is called ‘Supercry’ so I have to ask you, is there anything you’ve ‘supercried’ about before in the past?
I think I’ve ‘supercried’ a lot. I mean ‘Supercry’ the album title, I wanted it to be sad and happy you know. You can ‘supercry’ cause you’ve f*cked up and you’re sad or you’ve ‘supercried’ because you’re celebrating something. I’ve cried my eyes out too many times to mention. I love crying, I wish I cried more! (laughs)
You worked on the new album in a small medieval village in France with a castle, tell us about that experience!
It was just so beautiful, surreal. It was a castle in the south of France so you would walk out of the studio and you’d be on this tower looking out over all these vineyards. It was just this tiny little village for two months and it was just weird coming back to reality. I learnt a little bit of French not too much. I wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation, I wish I could speak French…
[‘Supercry’ saw Emma Louise team up with Belgian producer Pascal Gabriel (Ladyhawke) to record together in a medieval village called Provence in the south of France]
You’ve toured with a bunch of great artists, do you have any funny stories that you can share?
There’s definitely a few. On the Sam Smith tour we got really quite…inebriated on this boat on the harbour in Sydney. They were having all these free drinks and I was so drunk, and when I’m drunk I’ve got this thing…well a few things (laughs)! I ask people to hold me, like I’m a baby. I don’t know how it gets to this stage but it does!
I also make speeches, it’s another thing that I do. I locked all of these people in this room underneath this boat and I made this speech and I cannot remember it. I locked all these people from Mushroom [Records] in there including Michael Gudinski! And I’m pretty sure that’s why they signed me (laughs)!
We’ll be seeing you at Splendour, so are there any artists that you’re particularly excited for?
Matt Corby is playing? Yeah, I’d really like to see him, he’s an amazing artist!
After Splendour in the Grass Emma Louise will be embarking on a massive headline tour kicking off in October. Check out the video clip for Underflow from ‘Supercry’ and have a look at the tour dates below!
Emma Louise ‘Supercry’ Album Tour
FRI 22 JUL
Splendour in the Grass, Byron Bay
FRI 7 OCT
The Workers Club, Geelong
SAT 8 OCT
Corner Hotel, Melbourne
THU 13 OCT
Street Theatre, Canberra
FRI 14 OCT
Uni Bar, Woolloongong
SAT 15 OCT
Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle
THU 20 OCT:
Miami Marketta, Gold Coast
FRI 21 OCT
Sol Bar, Maroochydore
SAT 22 OCT
The Triffid, Brisbane
THU 27 OCT
Adelaide Uni, Adelaide
FRI 28 OCT
Fly By Night, Fremantle
SAT 29 OCT
Capitol, Perth
SUN 30 OCT
Prince Of Wales, Bunbury
FRI 4 NOV
Metro Theatre, Sydney
Get Tickets HERE
