Misty Jean has only just arrived, but she already sounds like she knows where she wants to go.
Her latest single ‘I Wanna Know’ put the Gold Coast songwriter firmly on our radar, so naturally, we wanted to know a little more about the person behind it.
Turns out, Jean is a keen reader, studies Creative Writing, has a serious appetite for new music and seems just as happy talking Fleetwood Mac and The Strokes as she is Olivia Dean, Clairo or Troye Sivan.
We caught up with Misty Jean to talk about growing up on the Gold Coast, the books that make their way into her songs, working with Benny D Williams, her teenage ukulele era and what she’s got coming next.
HAPPY: What are you up to today?
MISTY JEAN: I started the day with some reading which I do every morning. It’s my favourite part of the day.
Then I had a pretty long day at Uni, which I usually don’t mind except for the treacherous drive to Brisbane.
I am currently doing an internship for my school’s record label which means combining school with something I love.
By the end of the day, I was sitting at a park listening to some bands play live while filming a bit of their sets for the record label’s social media.
I love coming home after Uni, and cooking, something I’ve really gotten into lately.
HAPPY: Tell us a little about where you live? What do you love about it?
MISTY JEAN: I live very centrally on the Gold Coast. I’ve always loved the beaches here. My dad used to take us to the beach growing up every Sunday and we would swim for hours in the ocean.
My parents like to remind me of the fact that they never had quite the privilege of living somewhere with constant sun.
I’ve always found so much to do here, there’s so many childhood memories I have in every corner, like the ice rink I used to go to every Friday when I was fifteen.
The theme parks that my friends and I would become regulars at during those early summer holidays at school.
During summer though it really is magical, being able to drive ten minutes to my favourite beach and spending the whole day in the sun, and somehow still there is always a waterfall I haven’t been to yet.
HAPPY: ‘I Wanna Know’ is your debut single, what made this the song you wanted people to meet you through?
MISTY JEAN: ‘I Wanna Know’ wasn’t actually the first song I took into the studio, I think it might have even been the third.
When Benny and I were putting this song together I knew that this was the exact sound I wanted to continue making.
It just felt very perfect for the kind of vibe I’ve always wanted my songs to have.
HAPPY: There’s a really nice push and pull between pop and indie rock in the track. What kind of music has shaped your taste over the years?
MISTY JEAN: There have been so many influences for me, I love finding new music all the time, I’m a frequent Spotify weekly fan.
The Strokes are a big influence in my music especially their catchy riffs, Beabadoobee is another big one.
I’m a massive fan of Fleetwood Mac, The 1975, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Clairo, Mk.gee, Paramore, Troye Sivan, Olivia Dean, Hozier. Too many to choose from!
HAPPY: The song is about that painfully familiar space where two people like each other but nobody says what they actually mean. Are you good at being direct in real life, or did you write this because you’re absolutely not?
MISTY JEAN: Honestly it really depends, usually I really have no problem with putting all of my cards all on the table.
I do prefer being direct and I find it quite freeing to just be honest with someone I’m seeing, I’m usually the person to make the first move.
However, sometimes I’ll just have a crush that I’ll do nothing about because it is fun to have a crush.
HAPPY: You’ve been writing songs since you were 15. What’s changed most about the way you write since those early songs you’d rather keep buried?
MISTY JEAN: Well, my first songs were written on a ukulele. Very different times, hahaha.
They were very inspired by Dodie at the time who I am still an avid fan of.
I feel like the songs I wrote back then while nostalgic were definitely more just representative of the time period and not what I wanted to be remembered for.
Also fifteen was a very angsty time for me and it was more of an escape that I kept to myself.
HAPPY: Benny D Williams played a big role in bringing the track to life. What did he add that surprised you or took the song somewhere you hadn’t expected?
MISTY JEAN: Benny is seriously a musical genius, sometimes I’ll just show him music that I want the song to have a similar vibe to and he’ll come up with a solo on the spot.
The bass line that he came up with for the song – I remember that moment really solidified the whole song.
I don’t know a lot about bass, but ever since then it has become one of my favourite parts of the songs.
Another thing he taught me was how complex I could make the choruses, we worked really hard to make slight changes to each one.
The last chorus is especially my favourite, we were trying to come up with a way to make the last one open up even more compared to the others.
There’s a really cool riff that you have to pay hard attention to hear but it adds so much to the song.
HAPPY: You’re studying Creative Writing as well as making music, do you think in stories when you write songs, or does music come from a completely different place?
MISTY JEAN: 1000 percent. Sometimes I feel a story taking place when I write a song, I like to think of these songs written from another perspective.
There has been times where I write songs after I read a book and it’s the aftermath of how I imagine the character feeling in that situation.
Other times I’ll just feel a pile of emotions and I’ll write a song in ten minutes and it’s like taking a deep breath out.
HAPPY: What’s coming up?
MISTY JEAN: A lot is coming up which I am very very excited for. I have a single called ‘No Coming Back’ which should be out by the end of next month.
I’ve got four other songs in the studio at the moment which I am very proud of, hopefully will turn into an EP by the end of the year or an album if I keep having songs stuck in my head.
HAPPY: Lastly, what makes you happy?
MISTY JEAN: My book collection is my most favourite thing, I get through books pretty quickly so I am always having to buy new book shelves for my room. I can’t go a day without reading.
Music of course, there isn’t a lot of time I spend without it.
Solo travelling, I like to go for extended periods of times to new places where I know no one and see how you can really make a life for yourself anywhere.
My friends and family make me incredibly happy, they are my biggest supporters and I love creating memories with them, whether we’re road tripping to different beaches or having lazy movie days.
Lastly my animals, I have four dogs and one cat – all of them very clingy.
