GRXCE dives into the DIY grind, the confessional heart of her new EP, and the chaotic balance of touring, self-producing, and telling the truth louder than ever.
Somewhere between Wollongong’s salt air and a fast train to Paris, we catch GRXCE’s Jamila Grace – two weeks out from tour, living out of a suitcase, writing at 2am, and somehow still finding time to breathe.
It’s fitting for an artist who thrives in motion. Born from DIY grit, late-night overshares, and a punk-leaning instinct to just do it herself, their new EP things I should probably keep to myself feels like the clearest snapshot yet of who they are a band: blunt, tender, a little chaotic, and completely unafraid to tell the truth.
Recorded in a Tempe home studio across stolen weekends and long train rides, the project marks a darker, grungier shift for GRXCE – one built on trust, instinct, and a whole lot of self-belief.
Ahead of tour, we sat down to talk honesty, evolution, and the art of turning your mess into music.
HAPPY: What are you up to today?
GRXCE: I am actually currently on a train to Paris, its two weeks before we kick off tour and I have been exploring London/Paris the past few weeks which has been absolutely stunning.
HAPPY: Tell us a little bit about where you live, and what you love about it?
GRXCE: I live in Wollongong currently but before that I lived in Glebe for three years. My favourite thing about Wollongong is the beach, I grew up by the water and it feels nice to be able to come full circle and spend more time in the ocean again.
HAPPY: You’re very DIY–very punk in many ways–both as an artist and as the band’s manager, how do you find balance with it all?
GRXCE: To be very honest life rarely slows down for me but I think I thrive better like that.
I have gotten way better at noticing when I need more rest and making sure to prioritise it.
I am no use to anyone if I am ill so it’s really important to me to make sure I focus on my health (both physical and mental) to be able to keep up my work load.
I think overall I am very lucky that I love what I do and I think a lot of it is innate, I will write music at 2am, even when I go on holiday I am thinking of ideas for visuals and album concepts, it makes me who I am so its kind of as natural as breathing at this point.
HAPPY: The new EP title, things I should probably keep to myself, feels very confessional–what’s the story behind that name
GRXCE: I came up with title after we demo’d the first few songs, it was actually a title for an old demo of mine from years ago and I had always been so fond of the name.
It basically sums up who I am as a writer to a tee, I overshare and I am honest and blunt (probably too much sometimes), the topics I speak about in our music is stuff that is kind of terrifying to share, in what other world would you be airing out your dirty laundry online and sharing details from past relationships with anyone other than your friends.
Songwriting has always been incredibly personal to me and with every new record I like to push myself to be even more lyrically honest, to not be afraid of being a bit explicit or cheeky or worrying about how someone might feel when they listen to it.
HAPPY: Tell us a little bit about where you recorded the EP, and who you worked with on it—what was that process like?
GRXCE: We self-produced this entire record. We wrote and recorded every single song in Alex, our drummer’s, home studio in Tempe.
Because I wasn’t living in Sydney it was a lot of weekends travelling up on the train to record for two days straight or trying to fit sessions in between shows.
Every song kind of came to life in the order in which it was released, I think we needed the time to really make the most of having the production control.
It taught us to trust ourselves and each other, to be open to more ideas, to think outside the box on what was possible.
Having less time and money pressure gave us the freedom to really step into ourselves as a band and I dont think there will be any turning back soon.
HAPPY: Your final single sabbatical drops just before the EP—why did you choose that track to close out the rollout?
GRXCE: As I said every song kind of came in order of us finishing it so I think it was kind of accidental.
However even if it was an accident it does feel right. It’s the most experimental for us and also is a combination of two songs written at the very start of the EP process.
We were at this crossroads of picking the final songs and I didn’t want to let either song go but I also knew we didn’t have space for both, it birthed this entirely new song which I think made sense of my grief and heartbreak a lot better than when I had first started writing for the EP.
HAPPY: You’ve supported Thelma Plum, The Rubens, WAAX, and merci, mercy this year—what’s been the biggest lesson or highlight from those shows?
GRXCE: The biggest lesson is to be grateful for the small stuff. I think for me being on the road is the time I wanna be present and spend quality time as a band, it can be a bit of a whirlwind so its important to always celebrate the small wins along the way
The biggest highlight for me was playing with The Rubens in my hometown of Coffs Harbour. It was our largest ever crowd (over 1000 people ahhh) and my mum and my music teacher were there. Just very wholesome and cool to get to do something I never thought was possibly in the place I grew up.
HAPPY: You’re about to head on tour with Pacific Avenue and Mac The Knife—what can fans expect from a GRXCE live set right now?
GRXCE: We always wanna make sure you get an experience when you come to a GRXCE show. We are blessed to have Alex as our producer because he is able to experiment with the transitions in the live show a lot more.
We hope people come away with a feeling that it was cinematic and also get to come and say hi to us. As serious as we might look on stage we really just wanna chat to everyone hahahah.
HAPPY: Sonically, where does this EP sit compared to your debut release? Do you feel like GRXCE has evolved in a new direction?
GRXCE: It is completely new for us. This new EP is nothing like our debut record and I think that comes from turning everything in-house.
At the beginning I don’t think I knew how to articulate what I wanted or even knew what that was so I was caught between these influences of rock, folk, pop and was trying to make sense of it all.
I love that the music feels darker and grungier and has more edge now but I think we still have the same charm and tongue in cheek across the songs.
It’s still GRXCE at its heart just with a lot more guts and self conviction.
HAPPY: You’ve had a huge year–what’s one thing you’re keeping to yourself for now, and one thing you’re excited to share with fans?
GRXCE: I am excited to share the full live show on tour – getting to play all the new songs and some oldies is always fun.
I’m not sure there is much I am keeping to myself (I am a pretty open book) but maybe people will have to wait and see what comes next year!
HAPPY: What makes you happy?
GRXCE: My friends and family. The people around me. Also dogs in sweaters (like how can one thing be that cute omg).
Check out things I should probably keep to myself to here.
