“Here I Am, Who’s With Me?!”: An Interview with Wallis Bird

With two Meteor Music Awards to her name and a musical diversity not frequently seen in music these days, Irish singer-songwriter Wallis Bird has earned herself a slew of fans from all over the world. On a break from recording her new album, she is set to return to Australia in November to take part in Mullum Music Festival and host a handful of intimate gigs around the country.

In this interview, we discussed what fans can expect from her upcoming tour, the inspiration behind her current work in progress and some of the biggest misconceptions behind making a career out of music.

 

 

 

 You’re touring Australia again later this year, only a year after your very first visit. What are you most looking forward to when you tour in November?

Being back amongst Australia again. The people, the air, the starry sky, the food, the music scene, the op-shops, the bars… not to mention the heavenly landscape and the nature. It’s a wonderland for me.

I was blown away by so much of your country. And then the gigs were unreal, extremely loud and receptive, warm, people dived right in and went along, the reception blew me away, so I need me some more of those good vibes!

For those who haven’t seen you perform before, what can they expect?

I aim for a powerhouse of a gig that feels much bigger than just a voice and an acoustic guitar. It’s melodic heavy, percussion heavy. I’m not afraid to make mistakes or a bad joke and overall, I try to make it an experience that leaves you feeling positive or at least gets you listening.

You’re also performing at Mullum Music Festival. How will that set compare to your solo headline shows?

I only know to expect a seriously good festival (that’s been the main review I’ve gotten!) so I’ll just go in there with a blank canvas and do my thing, see what works. It’ll probably jump “straight in there” at Mullum, as festival sets are usually shorter so you jump right in a go “Right, here I am, who’s with me?!”.

I read that when you worked on your last album Home, you performed a 12-hr concert as a way to unblock the creative process. How does performing live allow you to see the bigger picture when you get stuck during the album-making process?

Well, a free concert literally opens the doors to any kind of atmosphere so I thrive off that.
At the end of the 12 hour concert I felt completely emptied and refreshed and inspired. We were about 14 wild people on the stage by the end.  The walls were sweating!

I got a lot of new ideas and a new lust for life from the experience, which was what I wanted. To put myself under pressure to perform at a high level of intent constantly for free 12 hours is humbling and makes you work fuckin’ hard. I want people to want to play, get involved and think “I can do that” inspires me straight away even just to think about it.

(psst, but I secretly might just have a date set for an Australian 13-hour concert … I’m just saying.)

 Is there a specific place you’re looking forward to visiting on this tour?
I loved Bellingen area. I have some very special memories from there.

Will you have much downtime while you’re here?

There’s always time to make more memories!

What do you want people to get out of seeing you perform live?
I want people to come away feeling better.

Will you be performing songs from what you’re working on now, or will it mainly be those from your back catalogue?
Yeah, I have a few songs on the boil so I’ll be trying them out. Make a tit of myself [laughs].

 What do you enjoy most about touring?
Making new friends, the blank canvas of a new town, performing to suit the vibe of the people is brilliant because it’s different in EVERY town. Travelling and seeing new lands for the first time or with a nostalgic eye makes life worth living.

Generally speaking, do you prefer festival settings or more intimate venues, such as those on this Australian tour?
I can never choose because they’re both lovely. After a tour of being indoors in venues, it’s always good to play in the great wide open, but only to play at festivals, you can miss some of the detail or sometimes some tenderness, so they’re the thankful[ly] Ying & Yang of playing live.

Who are your idols, both personally and professionally?
My parents had seven kids while running a bar and are very open-minded people who love life so I see them as some kind of superior team!

I loved Tina Turner’s passion for performance and longevity, Simon and Garfunkel’s harmony and chord freedom, and Ani DiFranco’s social power and conscience [and] my manager’s unfailing belief in myself and their co-workers and artists and projects and ethics.
I love people who don’t care to be cool, I love children for their honesty and pure heart, and I love animals because they are free from the bullshit of the world.

Amanda Palmer is a big fan of yours, and she joined you on the last couple of shows you had in Australia last year. Can you tell me a bit about that?
She’s a very generous person with her time, and we just hit it off. We played a bunch of gigs together at Woodford festival and further in Melbourne and had the laughs and had deep chats, and just dived into some kind of nowness. She’s such an unforgettable performer and her presence also in person is so special. You’ll never meet anyone like Amanda Palmer.

How and when were you inspired to make music your career path?
On a very nostalgic and practical level I remember my Mam putting three coins in my hand to give to a musician on the street. I was a toddler leaning up to hold her hand, I took that moment with me.

She said, “Someone who plays music will never go hungry or alone.” (she still says it today). I saw how happy it made my Mam, so I’d say it started there. I remember really wanting to do what that guy was doing and my Mam’s advice has always keep me driving.

 What’s the inspiration behind your current work in progress?
Simplicity. Holding a word, making it a good word. Chopping my chords down to two strings, rhythm from my body, so far everything feels very like algae … it’s moving and changing.

Right now I’m just thinking about something called daily deities. Like welcoming Mother Mother into the house to stay over, cooking her eggs in the morning… It’s literally just a fleeting thought, or I’m also going to write a story about watching the life steps of a baby and how much influence they have and soak from you.

 

It’s daunting, but it makes for a nice visual, something I don’t usually toy with, usually my lyrics are fairly about love or are simply open, so I’m looking at storytelling now… so let’s see where it goes from here.

Aside from performing live, what techniques do you use to break through a creative block?
Playing live [laughs] Well, right now I just need to lose my shyness, that very beginning, so I’ve stopped drinking and I stretch and am doing crosswords to massage my vocabulary.

 

I love babysitting; it’s so simple and pure, just hanging out with my favourite little bud clears the soul. I’m contacting family a lot lately which is also great fodder for stories, they’re a hilarious bunch of heads!

 

Practically, I write and write and write when I feel blocked. I do whatever the fuck just to keep my creativity up. I write really shit songs JUST to keep the chain oiled. I also have the most wonderful life-learning conversations with my beloved partner, Tracey. She has a poetic look on life and can say so much, in a subtle way, so that’s given me endless metaphors.

 Does pressure to live up to previous success weigh on you when working on a new release?
Not in a bad way, but nowadays I only want to make something better and new to me, that I’m basically not embarrassed to play it for my friends or family, that’s my big pressure.

Honestly. As I’m writing this, A band friend of mine are staying overnight with us, and they also just signed to our management team, and we were talking about how their focus is always on the art – make the art you want. The support from our team is unreal, and we know it’s as rare, so we feel very happy and encouraged and safe. It makes you want to do your best.

What usually informs your song writing?
Positivity by also understanding the unknowing. Flowing with the tide, grooving and vibing, being thankful. Love, family, life, rhythm, harmony.

What’s the epitome of success for you?
To be this happy.
If you could collaborate with anyone in the industry (living or dead), who would it be and why?
I wanna be in Elvis’s band. Tambourine! Also, Let England Shake by PJ Harvey. What a fucking album, I would have loved to be in that room! Also Anaïs Mitchell – a poetic prodigal for our times.
What are some of the highlights of your career thus far?
Looking back at this year and feeling fulfilled.

What advice would you give to aspiring musicians?
Do it now. Start a band. Play something, do something! Take care that you lean right into yourself and keep your feet on the ground- sometimes longer than you’d like.

Surround yourself with people who will take care of you, and you take care of them too. Be open with each other, question the gut feeling, and also go with your gut feeling. Think long-term. Be yourself. Enjoy what you do, cos you might be doing it forever – seriously though – the big thing would be to BE YOURSELF. We need your story.

What’s the biggest misconception surrounding making a career out of music?
I don’t even know man, I’ve heard some crazy stories. I think a sad misconception in the pop world is that a real unique individual artist with ‘something to say’ is too heavy and makes people want to turn off the radio, therefore non-sellable.

I think the mainstream is actually vying for realness and is getting more abstract, actually. There’s hit songs out there that are more based on sounds rather than song, there’s no tradition writing style in them.  I think that’s a kick back from years of hearing empty lyrics about vanity, sex, violence, and money being the route to everything.

It’s changing, I give it three years before there’s a big new wave of social consciousness driving in the pop mainstream music psyche. The folk world … and hip-hop are where the answers are.

What music are you listening to at the moment?
I’ve just spent the evening listening to Perfume Genius, Bon Iver, Landlady, Ani Difranco’s new record, Fiona Apple back catalogue, pick of the week and now it’s piano and synth chill out playlist. It was a big day for music for me today as I just got Spotify.

 

I’d been putting it off until now as I felt somehow I was shitting on my doorstep, royalties wise.  Stop me if I’m wrong here but if 20% of the people in any land got a $10 Spotify account, it would equal the same amount of incomings [sic] as the best years in music purchasing.

Back in the 80’s say, music buyers would get maybe 10 albums a year, that would be about $120 a year. Same as a year’s digital subscription. Seemingly an average of 5% of any European land uses a digital music platform, so physically, it’s building its worth back from the grave! The more music the better!

 

WALLIS BIRD AUSTRALIAN TOUR
Thursday 9 November – Wauchope Arts, Wauchope w/ Vena Klymo
Friday 10 November – Bellingen Brewery, Bellingen w/ Tessa Devine
Saturday 11 November – Pelican Playhouse Theatre, Grafton w/ Tessa Devine
Sunday 12 November – The Lennox Sessions, Lennox Heads
Thursday 16 – Sunday 19 November – Mullum Music Festival, Mullumbimby
Tuesday 21 November – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane w/ Aine Tyrrell
Wednesday 22 November – Baroque Room, Katoomba w/ Aine Tyrrell
Thursday 23 November – Leadbelly, Sydney w/ Aine Tyrrell
Friday 24 November – Leadbelly, Sydney w/ Tullara
Saturday 25 November – Mountain Mumma, Sheffield
Sunday 26 November – Mechanics’ Institute Hall, Scottsdale
Tuesday 28 November Founders Room, Hobart w/ Claire Anne Taylor
Thursday 30 November – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne w/ Tullara
Friday 1 December – Martians Cafe, Deans Marsh w/ Rosie Burgess
Saturday 2 December – Old Castlemaine Gaol, Castlemaine w/ Rosie Burgess

For full details on the upcoming tour or to buy tickets, visit Oztix.

 

[Photos (c) Jens Oellermann. Provided by Little Giant Agency.]