CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 131: ALBI WON'T BE YOUR LVR GRL

Interview by Brooke Gibbs.

Making her industry debut with house-funk single Vicinity in November of 2022, ALBI has been nothing short of an underdog statement maker. Drawing inspiration from the likes of PinkPantherress and Kaytranada, ALBI fuses her love for electronic garage music with RnB-flavoured vocals.

ALBI has stepped up the game yet again, with her latest single LVR GRL. Futuremag Music Editor Brooke Gibbs caught up with the pop star for a fun chat!

Watch the full interview below.

FMM: Thank you for joining me. I'm really excited because LVR GRL came out a couple of days ago. How does it feel to have it out there in the world? It looks like it's gotten some great response online.

ALBI: Oh, my gosh, it feels so good to have it out. It feels like it took us forever to actually get it out. The actual process of making the song and actually getting it out to the world, it feels like it took forever, like a few months to actually make it happen. So, it finally being out. I'm like, oh, my gosh, people can listen to it now. I've been teasing it forever. Now, everyone can enjoy it. It's great. It feels so good.

FMM: That's amazing to hear. Did you have any big celebrations on the day?

ALBI: Just at home, really. I didn't really do all too much because I worked that day, so I was a bit tired. But I've got my dog Enzo, who's actually here. We just had a cute little… got some takeout and stuff just to relax because honestly, it felt like I'd been working. I'm like, you know what, I'm going to take the night off and just enjoy that. So, it was good.

FMM: That's so good to hear. I love this one, especially like the lyric, ‘I won't be your LVR GRL until you learn to love yourself. What inspired this track?

ALBI: So with this one, I guess it was inspired by several situations that I've been in where I realised that as much love as I've got for somebody, if they don't love themselves, they can't show up in a relationship the way I would want them to and the way I would deserve them to show up. It's just a little epiphany moment where it's like you know what, I'm going to stand up for what I know I deserve and I can recognise that you can't give me that. That's okay, I'm going to step back now.

FMM: That's a great message, too, because I feel like it's one that everyone can relate to and I think we've all been in that situation as well.

ALBI: Yeah, definitely. I think the importance of realising you can stand up for yourself and you don't have to stay in situations where you feel like you've got to fix someone or feel like you've got to pour more into a situation to try and get any sort of love back, I think. That message is really important to me. It's one that I've learned, unfortunately, the hard way, but I guess the song is a great way to celebrate that. Learning to stand up for your boundaries and not letting people's inability to show up for you keep you in situations you shouldn't be in.

FMM: I love that you've been able to realise that and also share that with the world as well in terms of music and your art.

ALBI: Yeah, absolutely. I just love that it's a positive message and I've already gotten a lot of feedback from people saying that they resonate with it so much and they feel like it's such a powerful message. That just feels so great.

FMM: It must be a nice feeling knowing that people can relate and give that back to people.

ALBI: Yeah, absolutely, because at the end of the day, it was inspired by situations that left me hurt and upset and I was able to sort of channel that and turn it into something that has a positive impact in other people's lives. That's really special to me.

FMM: I find that it's delivered in such a fun way as well, because I love the dance-pop, the garage type sound. What draws you to that kind of genre and music?

ALBI: Well, I feel like my whole sound is very UK-influenced with that garage sort of sound. I love that it's upbeat, I love that it can get you up and moving, it gets you feeling good and in a good mood. I feel like it's something different, it's not something that you hear all the time in mainstream media here in Australia. I just felt like I would target that sort of sound because, one, it makes me feel good and I love it, but also it's just something different. You can have a powerful message in a song with that sort of vibe, but people can still dance around to it, do you know what I mean?

FMM: Absolutely, and that's the main thing, because people vibe with it, but also being able to dance around with it rather than just relating to the lyrical side of it is a positive thing.

ALBI: Yeah, exactly. You're not just sitting there listening to lyrics about a sad situation. It's like, oh, I'm vibing to it.

FMM: I guess that kind of answers my next question, too, because I was going to mention that you only made your industry debut last year, but you seem to have attracted a really nice, supportive fan base online of people listening to your music. I was going to ask what it is you feel people resonate with your music and how this success came about?

ALBI: Yeah, well, obviously it's still growing. We're still a small little group at the moment, but at the end of the day, all my songs are written based on things that I've gone through and it's real and it's honest and it's me. I think that authenticity really just resonates with people because if I've gone through it, there's probably someone out there that's gone through it.

I guess with my ability to make songs that are catchy but also have a message in it that people can resonate with, that just draws people in and it's been amazing, the response. I guess I had no idea what the response was going to be when I first released my music in November. You never really know what the response is going to be to a song that you release, but everyone's been super welcoming. I've made connections with new people, received so many lovely messages from people I don't even know all across the world that love what I'm doing. It just inspires me to keep going, to be honest. I love that it can resonate with people and I love that people can just enjoy my music.

FMM: Yeah, it's a beautiful gift to be able to put out there and receive that positive feedback as well.

ALBI: Yeah, absolutely, because just being a creative in general, you have to be pretty vulnerable to be able to put your personal situations out there in the first place. So, to get that warm reception back is just amazing.

FMM: Do you still struggle with that vulnerability sometimes, or how does it feel when you put something so personal out there that anyone can come across?

ALBI: I feel like there is sort of in the creating stage of a song, especially like, when you're writing, it can feel like sometimes I might just double take and be like, do I really want to put this out there? What if the person that I'm writing this about hears it and has a bad reaction sort of thing? But, at the end of the day, you just have to sort of realise, this is your story, this is your truth, and I'm not hurting anybody by speaking my truth. I know that by doing it, I'm going to help somebody else out there or someone's going to resonate with it. It's sort of like a bit of like a mental game where it's like, oh, this is scary. I don't know how this is going to go, but it could have a really good impact. I just try and assume that it's going to have a great reception, people are going to love it. That sort of gets me over that initial fear of, oh, I don't want people to know my personal stuff, you know what I mean?

FMM: Yeah, I can totally feel that. Yeah. Also, I love that it was produced with Song Higginson as well because I feel like that's a perfect collaboration. How did that come about and how did you know he was the perfect fit for this particular release?

ALBI: Yeah, absolutely. I had initially done up a demo of the song to a completely different track, and my manager actually works closely with Song, who’s this other artist, so he said, look, this demo is great. I've got a producer that's going to be perfect to make this happen. Obviously, because Song's over in the UK, so we did everything over Zoom, which is great. I just sent him the track and he put together his own thing and then we just sort of worked on it and tweaked things here and there. I think it was like three sessions that we did, three or four, and it was just honestly seamless. I told him what I wanted and he just made it happen. Pressed a few buttons on the computer and it happened. It was honestly such an amazing and easy experience to work with him. We have similar tastes in music, so I think that also helped with just how seamless the creative flow was. We were on the same page when we were making the songs.

Yeah, it was great. Honestly, I can't wait. We're going to be making heaps more music together, so I'm just super excited. He's an amazing producer.

FMM: I love that. It seems like the collaboration came about really naturally and flowed together really well for you guys.

ALBI: Yeah, definitely. It was great.

FMM: I'm excited to hear that you've got more music in the works, too, because I've listened to your back catalogue and you've got some amazing singles. But, do you have any plans for an EP or an album coming up?

ALBI: Yeah, so by the end of this year, there will be an EP out. I can't give an exact date, but yeah, there's more music in the works. An EP is coming. I'll be doing collaborations with a lot of other cool artists as well, so there's heaps coming for the rest of the year, don't worry.

FMM: I'm excited to hear that. Do you perform live or how can people that are loving your music come out and support you as an artist?

ALBI: Yeah, absolutely. I recently had my first live performance supporting Kai at Felons here in Brisbane, which was super cool. I've got another show coming up in September that's in Burly Heads. Essentially, any live shows that I've got coming up will be all over my social media. But for now, the one in September is the next one that I'm looking forward to.

FMM: Perfect. I feel like that's going to be good because your music is the type of music to get up, go see live, dance too.

ALBI: Yeah, well, it was great when I did… because it was last weekend where I had my performance and it was just so good to see people dancing to my music for the first time. It was amazing. They were really getting into it. My music is definitely get up, get dancing, fill the vibe kind of thing. That's so fun to perform.

FMM: Definitely, and for anyone that's coming across your music for the first time through this release, how would you describe yourself and your music and how you got to where you are today?

ALBI: I feel like my music will get you up and dancing, but if you're really listening to it. It'll also have a really personal message, a message that you can probably resonate with. It's honest, it's real and it's authentic, but it's also super fun. I guess there were heartbreaks that got me to this point that helped me create this music. I feel like it's all just one beautiful journey where I've gone through hard things, I've learned from them, and I've been able to channel that energy into something that's creative, into something that's fun, into something that people can enjoy. Even though it was tough going through it, I made it into something that I'm proud.

FMM: Yeah, that's inspiring. I love to hear that.

ALBI: Thanks.

FMM: So I guess in saying that, what's your future ambition? What mark do you hope to leave on the the music industry in Australia?

ALBI: Yeah, definitely. I feel like Australia needs its next sort of big pop star, if that makes sense, and I would love to be that person. I would love to write music that can be consumed by everyone over here and to make Aussies proud. As a woman, I want to channel that sort of independent woman coming up, doing it on her own sort of energy, because that's what I do. I do pretty much all of this on my own. All my visuals, everything is done by me. I really just want to be that force of independence, creativity and just making it happen. The sky's the limit, to be honest. I see myself on the stages, I see myself performing for people and creating that atmosphere that people love at concerts.

It's so hard because I've got so many dreams and so many ambitions. I want so much to happen and I'm just working really hard to do it. But at the end of the day, I just want people to enjoy my music. I want to bring joy and I want to bring fun, and I want to bring that through real experiences that people can also relate to.

FMM: Definitely. I feel like that experience and that fun is the most important thing when you put something out there.

ALBI: Yeah, absolutely.

FMM: And I love that you do it all yourself as well, because it gives you that creative direction as well, when everything you put out is true to you and how you want to be represented.

ALBI: Yeah, absolutely and that's what I like as well, because I would say that I'm quite particular with what I do. I love collaborating with people, but I find that when I have full control, I'm able to execute what I want to do, specifically how I want to do it. So far, it's worked really well. I'm super proud of what I've done so far.

FMM: That's amazing to hear. Australia has some really good pop artists, like yourself, who are doing everything themselves and putting some incredible work out there. Do you have any pop artists that inspire you that you might look up to?

ALBI: At the moment, I would say Peach PRC is absolutely killing it. She is incredible. She's like in a lane of her own. She's taken over the industry. I remember following her back in like, I found her back when we were in COVID Lockdown and she was just sort of posting just her normal sort of content with a few covers here and there. I fell in love with just how authentic and real she was. . Now, just to see how far she's gone in a pretty quick amount of time, she's amazing.

FMM: Yeah. I think she's a prime example of how people that love an artist that they connect with because she shared so much personal stuff in her music and also her online presence that people resonate with that and connect with that artist on a personal level.

ALBI: Yeah, absolutely, because she's real and you can relate to what she's gone through. Then, she has this other element of herself being this amazing pop star. So it's just like you're just in awe of her because she's just got these sort of two different sides to her that you can just love. You know what I mean?

FMM: Yes, so hopefully we see a collaboration down the track with you and Peach.

ALBI: Oh, my God, that would be an absolute dream. Wow. She's all pink. Maybe I have to be like all purple or something. I have to pick a color because she's…

FMM: I feel like the green suits you well. You've got the green vibe going on now and that kind of suits you well.

ALBI: Yeah, I do. I've done the full green with my first single, Vicinity. I'm wearing green now, so who knows? Who knows?

FMM: And lastly, I'm interested about your stage name, too. How did you come up with ALBI and how does that represent who you are?

ALBI: Yeah, it actually was an accident. I was in the car with a friend driving around, and I was talking about stage names because my personal name is already taken and every variation is taken. So I'm like, I need a stage name, I need a stage name. We're driving in the car. My car has one of those screens where you can see the artist's name and the name of the song, all that. Anyway, so we're driving along and a song comes on and I'm looking on the screen and I go, oh, ALBI. Like, that is such a cool name. I've never heard of that before. And the person in the car looks at me and goes, that says Alibi, not ALBI. I'm like, oh, okay. Oops, I didn't read it right. I didn't have my glasses on. So I'm sitting there, I'm thinking, but ALBI sounds cool. I've never heard that before. So I'm like, all right, I'm going to look up what it means.

It is an Arabic term of affection that translates to 'my heart. I was like, oh, I love that so much, because everything that I do, all the songs that I write come from my heart. It just feels like it embodies me in that sense, because it's like everything I do comes from my heart. ALBI means my heart.

FMM: I love that, it's so cool. I feel like that's the best accidental name story I've heard of.

ALBI: Well, me too, because I'm like, wow, this is so random, and it has such a connection to me and what I do. I'm like, yeah, okay, this is it. I'm ALBI.

FMM: It's got a ring to it as well. I can imagine you going on stage and someone introduces like, this is ALBI. It works. It flows. It rolls off the tongue easily. It looks nice in words, so I'm just like, it's perfect.

FMM: Yes. Thanks for that. Was there any other comments you wanted to add about yourself or about your latest single that we might not have covered today?

ALBI: I think that's everything. I just really want people to resonate with the message. I know the song is LVR GRL, but I feel like even if you don't identify as a girl, you can just change the lyrics in the song. Do you know what I mean? So it works. The message is a universal message. LVR GRL is just like a term. I just want people to love it. I want people to dance around. I want them to scream it at the top of their lungs and just have so much fun with it.