Your debut EP, 'Dear Lilith,' is set to release on August 22nd. Can you share the inspiration behind the title and what listeners can expect from this EP?

‘Dear Lilith’ is a love letter to my inner child. Lilith is my full name and I wanted to create a piece of work that if I received as a young child or teen, I would have felt seen, supported and understood. 

The focus track, 'Whiskey Or Love (Rose-Coloured Glasses),' What is the story behind this song and how does it fit into the overall theme of the EP? 

‘Whiskey Or Love (Rose-Coloured Glasses)’ is the end track to ‘Dear Lilith’ and gives a hint into what was going on in my head when I was newly single and dating. I’ve always been someone who had many long-term relationships. I even had a 2-year relationship from Year 7 to Year 9. 

During Covid, I went through a breakup of a 3-year relationship and let me tell you, ‘casual’ dating after having several committed relationships feels very strange. I was going through the process of mental illness diagnoses, being in and out of lockdowns (thank you Melbourne!) and adjusting to living out of home. This track is ultimately about how I struggled to identify whether the attraction I was feeling towards these people I was dating, was real or whether I was lonely, bored, sad, or looking for any sign of ‘green flags’ that this person was into me even when they weren’t interested in more than a one-time thing. 

You tackle sensitive topics such as sexuality, identity, mental health, and disability in your music. How do you approach writing about these subjects, and why is it important for you to address them through your art? 

When I write my songs, I often find writing on my own lived experience easier to me than if I were to create a narrative or tell someone else's story. I find that, for the best work to come out, it has to always be honest, truthful and authentically me. It also provokes my most emotional side vocally and lyrically. I take pride in the advocacy I do in this space. There are so many people in the world going through these issues and there are such loud voices and crowds of people telling us we’re not valid or that we’re ‘wrong’ for being queer or invalidating our disability or mental health issues, so I will always try my absolute best to use whatever platform I have to share the love, stories and experiences of people impacted by things I’ve been impacted by. 

Your musical style draws inspiration from artists like WILLOW, Kate Nash, Lily Allen, and Ruby Fields. How have these influences shaped your sound and approach to music? 

A lot of my tongue-in-cheek songwriting inspiration comes from Lily Allen and Kate Nash. ‘Foundations’ by Kate Nash and anything off of Lily Allen’s ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’ album are huge inspirations to my songwriting. I’ve always wanted to share stereotypically sad or taboo stories with a bit of sass and cheekiness which these two artists do perfectly whilst also not backing down when the world tells us to quieten down or that we’re too much. Over the last few years, I’ve loved watching WILLOW’s creativity spread in different genres and it helped me feel confident in the fact that yeah, some of my tracks sound VERY different, but that’s okay! I also find her lyricism particularly in ‘curious/furious’ so abstract, wonderful and thought-provoking which is something I hope to do. Ruby Fields is an Aussie legend. In school, I was always trained to sing in the American accent in every singing class or performance I did and because of this, I developed some weird kind of shame around the Australian singing accent. I remember first hearing ‘Dinosaurs’ and falling in love with how Ruby’s Aussie twang showed the true emotion of the song and I’ve tried my best to use my true twang since! 

You've had the opportunity to open for The Rubens and play at SummerWave Festival. How have these experiences impacted your growth as an artist and performer?

Opening for The Ruben’s was an absolute career highlight to date. I got a better idea of how to work with different people in the music industry as most of the gigs I’d done previously were just me dealing with the artists and the venue, but this show was my first experience with a touring agency, bookers and artist management. There’s a first for everything! SummerWave was a great experience for a road trip with my band. It was the first time we’d ever spent a consecutive amount of time together and I believe it really brought us closer. I loved the idea of taking something other than mainstream pop concerts, festivals or country acts to rural Victoria! The other pop/rock artists were awesome and it was great to talk to the locals and see how much this one show improved the town's economy as well as the fact it was many of their highlights for the year. 

You have been described as "unafraid to explore the grittier sides of life" and known for your candid brand of badassery. How do you maintain this fearless approach in your music and performances?

Humans are flawed and diverse creatures and I have always believed that pretending we’re all perfect and amazing all the time, is an absolute lie! I would rather talk about things that you wouldn’t expect, like my diagnoses with ADHD and BPD and be honest when I feel like crap, than say everything’s great and look perfect all the time online because that’s not me. It can be hard to be so vulnerable all the time, but I also think it would be more emotionally exhausting to pretend to be fine when I’m not. It goes back to the fact I want people to feel validated and seen when they see me online rather than to want to ‘be like me’ because my life looks perfect. Here’s a secret - it’s not and never will be. 

With your commitment to authenticity and tackling difficult subjects, what do you think is the role of music in addressing and healing from personal and societal issues?

Music is such a powerful and healing medium. It is such a simple way to advocate and empower yourself and those around you. We use it to be relatable or to relate to something, and when we hear a song that we relate to, our mood increases regardless of the topic. Music brings people from different walks of life together in all different spaces and no matter your political or financial status, everyone is just there to have a good time. 

I remember when the pandemic hit and we had Isol-AID (online live streams of artists playing music), Triple did songwriting challenges with artists like Oscar Dawson and Ali Barter that brought smiles to our faces, I even started doing live streams every week and would sit on my iPad in my bedroom talking and singing for hours on end connecting with people I’d never met but having a great time and bonding with what we were going through at the time. Music is such a therapeutic and vital part of the world and without it, I think we’d be screwed! 

As someone emerging from the vibrant Melbourne music scene, how do you see your music contributing to and evolving within this community? 

Over the last few years, I’ve seen a huge increase in femme pop/rock/punk in Melbourne and I’ve loved seeing this uprising of artists who purposefully want to bring each other up as opposed to the Tall Poppy Syndrome I remember seeing when I first started releasing music and performing. There’s more unity than there used to be and I think it will only get better! I look forward to creating that safe space where people can come to my shows (or I, their’s) and we just support each other and create a pathway for the network to lead to further collaborations and works together. Let’s stop being afraid of asking to collaborate and just do it! 

Lastly, can you give us a sneak peek into any future projects or collaborations you have planned following the release of 'Dear Lilith'?

Yes! I’m excited to be a part of Listen Up Music’s ‘The Songwriting Prize’ Melbourne Semi-Finals on September 13th for my post-EP single ‘Charlotte’. ‘Charlotte’ is another mental health advocacy banger that I’m excited to share! 

I’ve also started working with another artist, Sorcha, and another friend, Siobhan, on a project called ‘Platform’ to bring more original live music events to the southeast suburbs of Melbourne which is another thing I’m passionate about, accessible music! 

Other than that, the rest stays a secret so you’ll have to come to the ‘Dear Lilith’ launch to see the live show, and stick around and follow along to see what’s next for the Lili-Violet project!