Introducing Interview: Tia Gostelow

Having supported the likes of Frightened Rabbit and The Rubens, Brisbane-based artist Tia Gostelow creates compelling, heartstring-tugging ballads, capable of taking your breath away with her soaring, rich vocals.

Gostelow has just released emotion-strewn new single ‘Blue Velvet’, so we caught up with her to find out more…

Hi Tia, welcome to Get In Her Ears! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hey! Thanks for having me. I’m a 19 year old singer-songwriter from Brisbane, Australia and I’m currently touring Europe!

How did you get started creating music?
Well, I’ve been singing and playing guitar since I was seven and I started writing songs when I was about fourteen. I remember seeing Taylor Swift when I was really young and thought that I wanted to be exactly like her!

Your debut album Thick Skin is out now – can you tell us what it’s all about? Are there any themes running throughout the album?
I wrote Thick Skin between the ages of fifteen to eighteen, and for me it was honestly just about what I had experienced in those years. There is a major theme throughout most of the songs being a social issue called ‘Tall Poppy Syndrome’, meaning a tendency to discredit those who have achieved great things in life. I felt like throughout high school I wasn’t supported by my friends in my music career, and it was nailed down to jealousy and bitterness and it really got to me. I felt like I didn’t have any friends, I felt like I wanted to quit music because what’s the point if even my best friends aren’t proud of the things I’m doing? I’m so glad I stuck it out and kept pursuing music, but it was a really tough thing to go through and I think the title ‘Thick Skin’ says it all.

You’ve been compared to the likes of Mallrat and Nina Nesbitt, but who would you say are your main musical influences?
What amazing ladies to be compared to! I’m not sure if I have any particular influences, but I do listen to a lot of Billie Eilish, The Growlers & BROODS at the moment.

How is your local music scene? Do you go to see lots of live music?
The Brisbane music scene is great, everybody is so supportive, and it’s small so if you need something or some advice you’re sure to find it! I see so much live music, when I’m not playing shows or at one, I work at a live music venue, so I’m always around it.

And what can fans expect from your live shows?
A really diverse set and some dancing and sing-a-longs!  

As we’re a new music focused site, are there any new/upcoming bands or artists you’d recommend we check out?
I would definitely suggest I Know Leopard, their newest record is insanely good.  

And how do you feel the music industry is for new bands at the moment – would you say it’s difficult to get noticed?
I think that it’s always going to be difficult to get noticed, this industry is hard and there are thousands of people trying to get to the same place, but I think were in an era where there is so many resources and so many people to help you get to where you want to be.

Finally, what does the rest of 2019 have in store for Tia Gostelow
Lots of touring, writing and recording!

Huge thanks to Tia for answering our questions! 

Thick Skin, the debut album from Tia Gostelow, is out now.

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Track Of The Day: Foundlings – ‘Caught Up On You’

Following acclaim for their previous singles from the likes of BBC Introducing’s Tom Robinson and BBC 6Music’s Steve Lamacq, and having charmed us with their twinkling live set at The Finsbury, Brighton/London band Foundlings have now shared another new track taken from their debut EP.

Oozing all the dreamy vibes you could ever desire, ‘Caught Up On You’ is a truly uplifting slice of heartfelt indie-pop. With shades of the likes of Best Coast or Real Estate, gentle whirring melodies accompany Amber’s luscious, honey-sweet vocals, making it impossible to resist Foundlings’ sparkling, sunny charm. And, apparently, it’s the band’s first song featuring a full-blown guitar solo… What’s not to love?!

 

Foundlings’ eponymous debut EP is out now via Last Night From Glasgow. Stream on Spotify now. And catch them live supporting faves Suggested Friends at The Cavendish Arms on 27th June.

Mari Lane
@marimindles

 

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WATCH: Birch – ‘femme.one’

The title track from Birch’s debut album, ‘femme.one’ is a good introduction to the complex electronic layers of Birch’s sonic world.

The sound is layered and complex, but deceptively soft and minimalist seeming. Because her lyrics are delivered almost conversationally, her message can be missed sometimes. Here, for example, she is thinking of those “who have gone before me”, and an energy that she “can’t contain”.

The accompanying video shows a young woman completing a range of physical training activities in the early morning. She begins in the grey light not long after sunrise, on a wet roof on top of a tower block in an urban setting, with simple stretch exercises and shadow boxing. Then she is running along empty streets past shutters on closed shops.

“The words of our mothers are the ones that we live by” concludes this poignant, delicately powerful song.

Watch the new video for ‘femme.one’ here:

Cazz Blase
@CazzBlase

Photo Credit: Off Season Creative

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WATCH: Drea – ‘Monster’

(CW: Rape, sexual assault)

Even in the era of #MeToo, in a time where more womxn are speaking out about sexual assault and their abusers, it’s still rare to hear a song that directly confronts it. However, Los Angeles artist Drea is diving in headfirst with latest track, ‘Monster’.

The video and song are both recounting the night in which Drea was raped. Written almost immediately after that terrible night, the words that flooded out onto the page are near mirror images of the feelings she and many victims are left with in the wake of such an experience: terror, sadness, isolation, and entrapment.

It’s also a reflection on the inner strength she found in herself to get through an experience that far too many share. Of her experience on the night in question, Drea says: “it was like knowing I was going to get in a life-threatening car crash, and having to watch it unfold in slow motion.” All the more, she also knows that no two experiences are the same, still hoping the finished product will speak to other survivors in saying “You’re not alone.”

Drea originally wrote ‘Monster’ as a dance track for another artist, only later realising this was something she wanted for herself. It was her; her survival story and in releasing it, she was boldly standing up for herself against the demons that haunt us.

The track is a collaboration between Drea and Los Angeles-based DJ Kayja. Kayja also provides the unidentified male hands in the video, coming out through the smoke to reveal each terrifying emotion she came away with that night. These safe hands were also the third to take on the production of ‘Monster’, a track years in the making.

In honour of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (which was in April), and her own outpouring into the #MeToo movement, the track and video for ‘Monster’ are bold, honest, and soul-baring. The thumping, slow-rolling music creates the tension of a depersonalised fraction of time; the kind that leaves you asking “why?” forever.

“So much of me didn’t want to film this video,” explains Drea. “I didn’t want to go to that place again.” But she did, for an earlier version of herself who felt alone and every other womxn of whom ‘Monster’ stands up for and says, “This is for her.”

Watch the poignant new video for ‘Monster’ here:

‘Monster’ is available across all digital platforms now.

Em Burfitt
@fenderqueer

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