What's your favorite thing about pop music?

That there are no rules.

You self-produced your record. What led to that and what were your takeaways/what did you learn over the process of making the album?

I had worked with producers on my previous (self-released) 2007 & 2012 albums. They were both very different and had their own unique approach that would colour their work. I was still unaware of who I might be musically speaking, so I think it helped to work with producers who had clear sonic visions and have carved their identity through distinct production styles. Self-producing really began as I started to curate the sounds in my life more actively, through collecting records and starting to DJ a bit more seriously. I formed a clearer vision for what I wanted to sound like, and I didn't necessarily want to collaborate on that, I wanted to see it through myself. In 2014 I self-produced two EPs for Japanese labels (Body Reset and Female Basic), they were more electronic with a gentle-house feel. I think if you have a vision and ideas, it's best to creatively direct the project yourself. If you're lacking a clear direction and need another force, collaboration on production can be key. One take-away would be that, as your taste develops you'll generally pull from more specific references – but it's important to continue to create blindly without any idea of what the thing mind end up being. It's good to mix up your process occasionally, to allow yourself to evolve.

What's it like to be a musician in Melbourne? How would you describe the scene?

It's become my musical home-base since I moved down from Sydney in 2011. I'm grateful to be part of such a supportive, hard-working and inspiring community. It is vibrant, diverse and over-saturated with artists. Lots of talent but make sure to dig deep to uncover the real legends outside the scene.

Being based in Australia, do you feel there's any isolation/remove from the global music scene? What do you see as the pros and cons?

Yes, I think sometimes people are too hard on each-other, it can be really competitive because we have a much smaller audience base to pull from but there are so many up and coming artists, there's a bit of 'tall poppy syndrome' over here. A pro is that people are forced to work really hard and really commit to their artistry. Tours are shorter because there are less cities, unless you have music that works in the regional market. Local 'success' can require the need for national airplay on the more mainstream radio channels, which can lack diversity. You have to be crafty with your funding, we do have some helpful arts organisations that fund artists marketing themselves overseas but often people rely on personal investment or if they are lucky, publishing. Sometimes a bit of luck can go a long way, but usually there's a team of people working behind in the background to commercial success. This is what is required to export yourself overseas, since we're so far from the other markets, it's very expensive to put yourself out there on the global scene.

What would you most like listeners to take away from your music/art?

I hope they feel some sense of camaraderie. "I get it, I'm with you on that weird tip." 
Think deep but have fun. I'm serious about my work but I don't take myself too seriously.

What's next?

Working on my next album. Creating, Linda. Taking Linda to Paris.

For more profiles on up-and-coming artists, visit our Artist of the Day page.