Independent artsist Amy Grace delves into the gritty side of music biz, and offers up a glimpse into the future
Sydney’s emerging talent, Amy Grace, the singer-songwriter behind the debut, ‘Seasons‘, invites us on a musical journey that transcends the ordinary.
In our candid chat, Amy shares her day-to-day, from catching sunrise waves to the poetic chaos of her work at an athletic center.
Unfiltered and unrestrained, she peels back the layers, revealing the influences that shape her unique sound—from the mainstream magic of Taylor Swift to the indie landscapes of Benjamin Francis Leftwich.
Whether you’re a seasoned Amy Grace fan or a newcomer to her melodic universe, join us as we unravel her debut gem Seasons.
Happy: What are you up to today?
Amy Grace: My sister and my nieces have joined me today to stay out of the heat.
Their place doesn’t have any air conditioning so we’re all going to spend the day here hanging out in the cool of our apartment.
In fact, both my nieces have taken turns sitting on my lap as I’ve been writing out the answers to these questions.
Happy: Tell us about where you are from? What’s the scene like in your neck of the woods?
Amy Grace: We spent a lot of my earlier childhood living in the western suburbs until we moved a little further east for my father’s job.
I loved the house I grew up in and I have so many wonderful memories with my siblings from there, but I also love the area we’ve been living in for the last twelve years.
It’s a very wholesome suburb and some of the first people I met in this neighbourhood/community are still some of my best friends today.
When my closest group of friends were all still living in the same neighbourhood it would take 5-10mins to walk to each other’s houses which I think we definitely took for granted because we now all live in different states and we miss being so close to one another.
Both my siblings are married and out of home, so I live with my parents in a small apartment in the same suburb we originally moved to.
We do our best to all catch up for dinners either weekly or fortnightly; usually at my sister’s place.
Happy: Describe an average day?
Amy Grace: I work at an athletic centre so my job is quite event-based. When we’re in our busy periods, I work most days and often early mornings and long hours.
During our quieter months I have a lot more spare time to focus on music and my other interests.
On my days off I usually like to have a sleep in or sometimes I do the complete opposite and try to catch the sunrise.
Sometimes I’ll just go for a drive to a lookout, but this past year I’ve started to learn how to surf so if the waves are predicted to be good I’ll wake up extra early and go for a sunrise surf.
I also spend some of my free days with my nieces at my sister’s place.
I love spending days with them and I try to go as often as I can because I love being a strong presence in their lives.
I like to stay active so I’ll usually try to fit in some sort exercise throughout the day as well, especially if I’m not working.
So to answer your question, my days vary a lot because I don’t have a consistent schedule which some people might hate but I kind of love it because it leaves room for spontaneity.
Happy: What inspired you to pursue a career in music?
Amy Grace: My passion and love for music has always been there but it definitely grew when I started to learn guitar.
I loved covering other people’s songs and I still do but the feeling I got when I wrote my first song is hard to describe.
Song writing slowly became such a powerful and comforting outlet for me but I’d always tell people it was a hobby and never really thought I was good enough to pursue it.
In the past four years my music taste has expanded significantly and I was introduced to so many new artists who made me fall in love with the idea of making music, the most notable artist being the wonderful Lizzy McAlpine.
I think it was during lockdown 2020 that I came across a cover she’d posted on TikTok and I went onto her profile and saw she had music out.
I grabbed my headphones and listened to her album ‘Give me a minute’ all the way through and it honestly changed my life.
I also experienced some big changes/moments in that time period that changed my perspective on life, which sounds very ambiguous but those events and listening to that album became the catalyst for me choosing to pursue music.
Her music and artists similar to her have continued to inspire me throughout the last couple of years.
Happy: Are there any particular artists or genres that have influenced your music?
Amy Grace:Throughout high school my music taste was mostly mainstream artists such as Taylor Swift, Adele and Ed Sheeran so they’ve definitely all had some sort of influence in my music.
I also grew up listening to a lot of worship music so that has definitely had an influence as well.
In more recent years I fell in love with indie/folk music and artists such as Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Ben Howard, Ziggy Alberts and Hollow Coves.
Absolutely love their music and some of my other favourite artists such as Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Lizzy McAlpine, Phoebe Bridgers, Hozier, Noah Kahan and Searows as well as bands like Spacey Jane and The Paper Kites make music that I’ve adored for years.
They’ve definitely played some influential roles in my musicality and artistry and continue to inspire me to keep creating.
Happy: Can you share a bit about what ‘Seasons’ is about and what inspired you to create it?
Amy Grace: I’d written a lot of songs over the years that I hadn’t been able to do anything with so when I finally decided to reach out to Ben and properly record them, it was more about choosing which songs I wanted to feature on my first album.
Originally I just went through all my songs and chose some of my favourites but I really wanted the album to be cohesive and to have songs that would complement each other so that meant I had to leave a few off the final track list.
The track list went through many different forms but I sat down one day with some of the final songs and wrote out the main ideas behind each of them and that’s when the concept for the album became a lot clearer to me.
All the songs have themes of change and metaphors of nature woven throughout them and a few different concepts that all worked under the umbrella of ‘Seasons’.
The order of the songs was also very deliberate and a few of the songs also reference each other in the lyrics which wasn’t completely intentional to be honest.
I love listening to albums that have songs run beautifully together and I’m really happy with how ‘seasons’ ended up sounding.
Happy: Can you walk us through your songwriting process?
Amy Grace: Song writing is how I process what’s going on in my life, so a song may be inspired by something that I’m feeling or something that I’ve experienced or I’m currently experiencing.
Occasionally it’ll be inspired by something a friend or a family member is going through because if it’s something weighing on their mind then it’s usually weighing on my mind as well.
I often get stuck inside my mind or my thoughts and sometimes the only way to free my mind of those thoughts and emotions is by writing.
I write when I have something to say and I try and write poetically when I can, but sometimes I just say it how it is.
Often the words will just flow out onto paper which is always a wonderful feeling, but sometimes some of the phrasing sounds a little clunky so I’ll spend a little longer going back and rewriting certain lines to make everything flow a little better.
Sometimes my songs will start off with a few lines that I’ve jotted down in my notes app or on a rogue piece of paper and other times it will start with a melody or a chord progression which I’ll quickly record on my phone so that I don’t forget.
It changes depending on the song and I’ve learnt to lean into whichever form it starts off as. A few songs have started off as poems and then I’ve rewritten them as songs which has been really fun to explore because it doesn’t happen too often.
I’m not really someone who can schedule in a writing session, I just have to let the songs come when they come.
If I try and force a song, it doesn’t feel authentic and I don’t have as strong of a connection with it so those songs don’t usually go anywhere.
Sometimes I’ll write several songs in a single week and then I’ll go a couple of months without writing at all.
This used to scare me when I first started writing because I’d always think ‘what if I’m never able to write another song?’ but I’ve slowly learnt that I don’t always need to be writing because sometimes I don’t have anything new to say and that’s okay.
It’s honestly such a relief when I do write a song and it often feels like a massive weight off my shoulders.
It makes me feel lighter getting things out of my head, heart and soul onto paper because then I can breathe and move on from whatever it was that was weighing on my mind.
Happy: How do you approach performing live versus recording in the studio?
Amy Grace: I haven’t had too much experience performing live yet! But when I do have live gigs I like to spend a good amount of time putting together a really good set list and then I like to practice those songs consistently until I feel confident with them.
If I’m playing my own songs I try to change up the melodies a little bit to keep it interesting and when I’m covering other people’s songs I like to add my own little spin to them.
I think it’s really good to go into a live gig knowing that you’re prepared but also being aware that live shows are never perfect and there’s always going to be some mistakes or problems that you run into and that’s okay.
I also try to remind myself to have fun performing and to not put too much pressure on myself to get it perfect.
I have quite a different mindset going into studio sessions because I don’t like to plan too much of it.
We’ll often work on one song, occasionally two in a day and we’ll often have demos for the songs before bringing them into the studio.
We try and set a goal going into the session so that we’re using our time effectively but we also give ourselves the space to get off track to experiment and get creative.
Ben, my producer, will often ask for songs that he can use for inspiration in terms of sound, so I try to always have a couple lined up for him so he knows the sound/style I’m aiming for.
I love being in the studio recording and creating and I like to make sure it’s all perfect because unlike a live performance, we can keep going until we get the right take.
Happy: What challenges have you faced in the music industry, and how have you overcome them?
Amy Grace: Being an independent artist means that most of my savings go towards studio sessions and other music related things and I don’t really earn anything off what I’m making.
I feel like this is a common challenge experienced by most artists in this industry and other creative industries and it’s something that I would love to see change.
For now I’m just going to keep my head down and keep working hard so that I can continue creating.
Happy: How do you stay creatively inspired and motivated?
Amy Grace: There are a few things that help me stay creatively inspired. I
love to listen to new music either that I’ve found or that people have recommended to me.
It’s always refreshing to listen to some new tunes and to discover new artists/bands. Being around other people who are passionate about music is also a wonderful way to stay inspired because it feels as though you’re speaking the same language and it always leaves me excited and motivated to keep creating.
I absolutely love live music and I spend a lot of my spare time and money going to concerts to see some of my favourite artists/bands play live.
I always leave concerts feeling excited and inspired which is always refreshing.
It’s often quite easy for me to stay motivated to make music because that’s where my passion lies however I do find it hard to stay motivated in terms of organising everything behind the scenes because the admin side of music doesn’t come as naturally to me, so I really have to push myself sometimes to get everything done.
Happy: Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations you’re excited about?
Amy Grace: We have started making demos and coming up with a concept for a new album which is really exciting!
I won’t be able to give you a time frame for when it’ll be done because we’re still in the early days of creating but I’m really excited to get back in the studio and start recording some new music!
I have lots of ideas for this one so I’m really excited to see how this album shapes up!
Happy: Lastly, what makes you happy?
Amy Grace: I’ll try not to ramble on and get all existential with this question because I have a tendency to do that but I don’t there’s one thing that makes me happy, it’s definitely a combination of things.
I think I’ve given myself the space to really get to know myself these past couple of years and so now I’m really intentional about how I spend my time and who I spend my time with. Knowing myself better has also given me a lot more confidence which is has been wonderful to grow into.
I believe that your passions are tied in with your purpose and so pursuing music has been a big contributor to my happiness these past couple of years as well.
I’ve also really loved pushing myself to learn new things and step out of my comfort zone because I believe this is such a good way of meeting new people and discovering things that make your heart and soul happy.
I love spending time with my family and my friends and exercising, road tripping and adventuring. S
o a combination of all these things contributes to my happiness.
