CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 155: ANNIE HAMILTON ON HER UPCOMING UNDERTONE SET

Interview by Brooke Gibbs.

UNDERTONE FESTIVAL is the newest all-ages festival coming to Miami Marketta on Sunday 10 November, 2024.

With 8 stellar acts on the line-up, and no set clashes, Undertone Festival is an inclusive, accessible and family-friendly festival for music lovers of all ages. 

With a powerful lineup of local and national talent, Undertone will amplify some of Australia’s hottest female and non-binary acts – bringing Aussie favourites and emerging voices to the main stage.

Futuremag Music sat down with Annie Hamilton to discuss what she has in store for her set.

FMM: We are so excited to see you perform at UNDERDONE Festival this weekend. How are you feeling leading up to it?

Annie: I’m so excited. I’ve just released my album on Friday, so UNDERTONE is going to be one of the first shows where I get to play a bunch of songs off the new album. I just can’t wait to play these songs live after having worked on them in the studio for so long.

FMM: What a treat! This must be a very busy week for you as you have your solo set, but you’re also a member of Jack River’s band, so you essentially have two UNDERTONE performances. How are you preparing for the festival?

Annie: Yeah, look, I love playing the two sets. It’s a lot, but playing two sets on one day is always like pretty chaotic, but so much fun. And I mean, I love playing in Jack River’s band and love that music, so I guess in the lead up, I’m just trying to find time to actually practice because I think, especially in album release mode, there’s so much promo work and getting everything ready to post on social media, it’s like I actually forget that sometimes my job is just to play guitar and make music. So, it’s a nice reminder to just sit, just play guitar and do some singing and get in the zone for the shows.

FMM: I hear what you’re saying. Being a musician isn’t just about making the music. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work as you just mentioned with promo and social media content, and I know you make your own outfits as well, not just for yourself, but for others, too. You’re balancing many different roles and hats.

Annie: Yeah, yeah, it’s a lot, but it’s all amazing, creative stuff, so I can’t complain. Even though sometimes I think I’ve taken a lot on, and I’m doing a lot of different things, I’m also very grateful for the fact I’m doing all these creative projects as a living. It’s pretty amazing.

FMM: It’s the fun kind of busy and not busy in the sense you may burn out because you’re so passionate about these projects and your careers.

Annie: Yeah, exactly. It’s honestly like a total dream with everything up doing with this tour coming up and then UNDERTONE Festival, which I think is such a cool lineup. I haven’t played in the Gold Coast ever with my own music. I’ve played at Miami Marketta in other bands, but never with my own band, so I just can’t wait.

FMM: How do you find connecting with new audiences? I know some artists prefer doing hometown shows because their family and friends come, while some other artists love new audiences so new people can discover their music. What are your preferences?

Annie: Honestly, I just love all live music. I love going to gigs and going to festivals, and I love playing them. Whether it’s a hometown crowd of people, or a crowd of avid fans, or a crowd of people who have never heard of me before, as long as they are enjoying it, listening and staying to watch, then I’m just so happy to be there. The thing I love about playing festivals is that when you’re playing to a crowd of people who aren’t necessarily your own hardcore fanbase, it’s a fun chance to win them over and to invite them into your world and to show them what my music’s all about. It’ll hopefully gain some new fans, build that community up, and hopefully they walk away, enjoy it, and they want to go listen to the album.

FMM: In saying you want to show people what your music is all about, you describe your music as sunshine gothic, which initially appears a bit contradicting, but when you listen to your music, it actually makes sense. Can you tell me more about why you use that description to summarise your work?

Annie: Thank you. I think I love describing music in a way that doesn’t really contain any words that are traditionally used to describe music. I think the idea of boxing yourself into a particular genre or sound doesn’t really make sense for what I’m doing because I feel like my music breaches across a lot of different genres and sonic landscapes. Sunshine gothic just popped into my head because everything I do has that thread of being attracted to dark and gothic vibes a bit. I love creepy bugs and I love nightmares and darker and mysterious films, books and music. That’s what I love, but I also think there’s no reason I can’t be happy, dorking, jumping up and down and dancing on the table. Those two things can totally exist at once.

I think it’s easy as an artist, especially when you’re developing an aesthetic and a sound, it’s easy to bos yourself in and then limit yourself and the capabilities you have to be creative because you think a certain thing doesn’t fit in with the aesthetic of your project, so then you stop yourself.

I think for me, sunshine gothic is about embracing that duality and that contradiction, like you said, and remembering that we’re all human and everyone has different sides to them and different parts. Those parts are equally as special and important and deserve to be embraced.

FMM: I really love that perspective, and I think the reason why I resonated with sunshine gothic so much is because through doing these interviews and speaking to so many incredible artists each day, my playlist has become quite diversified to the point it confuses passengers in my car if I put my main playlist on shuffle. I feel sunshine gothic also describes my playlist from having the darker music but then also have some bubblegum pop songs in there I enjoy, too.

Annie: Exactly. I think also the music industry gets really stuck in these ways of labelling or boxing in artists with genres and it seems like an outdated thing to me for labels or music industry people to think that music fans like someone who likes a dark, guitar rock band can’t also love a hyper bubblegum pop act at the same time. People have lots of different sides and edges to the spectrum.

I think the way that things have traditionally been done in the music industry is like, music gets boxed into a certain genre and then the fans do as well. I just hate that. I like the idea that it's all a bit of a chaotic smorgasbord and everyone's into all sorts of different things all at once. That’s more human.

FMM: That’s the great thing about festivals because it’s not just one artist and you’re being presented with a different range of music tastes, sounds and genres.

Annie: Yes, exactly. The UNDERTONE lineup is so good. Having Jack River headline, and I’m biased because I play in the band, but I can guarantee that every Jack River set is so much fun and just leaves everyone up and dancing. The songs are so good and the energy is so good. Then, acts like Montaigne, who’s releasing new music and their project is going in such amazing directions, and it’s amazing to watch. I haven’t seen them perform for years probably, so even as a performer, I can’t wait to go watch all the other sets.

FMM: [Laughs]. My next question was going to be who you were most looking forward to seeing perform at UNDERTONE, but I guess that answers that one.

Annie: Yeah, I mean, the whole lineup’s amazing. I can’t wait. I feel like I’ll be a bit exhausted because it’ll be a few days into my tour, so I might be a bit sleep deprived and a bit exhausted, but it’s like I play way better shows and put more energy into it because it’s almost like there’s nothing left to lose, and you really just go for it. Whereas sometimes for the first few shows of a tour, you're holding back a bit, and I want to really just go for it.

FMM: What I love about the UNDERTONE Festival is that there are no clashes because I’ve spent so much time at festivals trying to decide how I’m going to see two incredible artists at once, and how I’m going to split their sets to catch both. With this festival, it’s just back-to-back great music.

Annie: Yeah, it's so good, and it's such a good venue as well. It's so cool.

FMM: There are so many reasons why this festival is great other than just no clashes, but my favourite thing is that it's all female and non-binary artists. There are countless reasons why that’s important in what can often feel like a male-dominated industry, but I’d love to hear your thoughts about what being on this lineup means for you and why you’re taking part.

Annie: Oh, my God, it's so important. The industry as a whole is so male dominated still and especially in this kind of like indie rock genre. Even though it has like come a long way in the last few years, it's still really heavily skewed male. There are so many reasons for that and I think the answer is in every piece of the puzzle. Everyone in the industry, across the different kind of aspects of the industry has to pull their way and really be making space and platforming and championing gender diverse and female artists. So like festivals booking lineups like this, which are fully female and gender diverse, is so important. Also, it’s been proven now that that’s what audiences want. Look at the success of Charli xcx, Sabrina Carpenter and Chapel Roan, at the moment. They are taking over the world. It’s like the world is going through this female artistry. Everyone’s just really celebrating it and it’s so cool.

I think in Australia, we’re a bit behind the rest of the world and we really need to have spaces like this and platforms like this that are really doing the groundwork to support our local artists from the ground up rather than just having the big, American artists fly in and tour. That’s all well and good, but we really need to be doing the work in our own industry. It’s actually so refreshing to see and I feel very grateful to be a part of it.

FMM: Yeah, and that's a really important point too, that it's all local talent as opposed to getting Sabrina Carpenter or Chappel Roan, even though they are doing great things for the females in the industry.

Annie: Yeah, I think it’s just so important to have platforms like this that are balancing out the damage that has been done in that the industry has been built on this kind of patriarchal, male-dominated foundation. Events like this are really actively breaking down those foundations and are building something new, and I think that’s really cool.

FMM: Without giving too much away, can you tell us what we can expect from your UNDERTONE performance? You mentioned the new album has been released, so I’m sure that will be a huge focus.

Annie: Yeah, so I've got my full band coming and yeah, we're playing a bunch of songs from the new album. It'll be like one of the first times we've played all these songs, which is a bit terrifying and exciting. The new songs are a bit more electronic and a bit more dancey. So, I mean, I hope that, even though it's this weekend, I hope people have had a chance to kind of listen to the album and get on board the new music. But even if people have never heard it, I'm kind of just excited to show people what we've got.

FMM: Speaking of the album, I've got a question that’s more so sparked out of my own curiosity, but I’ve noticed an increase in artists adding preludes and demos into their albums. I see you’ve done the same with without you and stay my mind with the departure and arrival. Can you tell me more about that and how it adds to what your album represents?

Annie: Yeah, I mean, I love albums. I love the concept of having a whole body of work that is created to be listened to all in one go in its correct order. I think, even though the music industry now is much more based around just releasing singles and just pumping out songs, I actually think there will always be a place for the full album. I think it allows you to paint a wider picture, or you can fill in all these details. Whereas, if you’re only releasing singles, there’s songs that are more geared towards radio or streaming and geared more towards an audience who’s never heard of you.

I think the beauty of an album, and that’s why I love doing little interludes and preludes is that my album is really telling a story and it’s designed to be listened to in that order. I think each song informs the listener’s reaction to the previous or the following songs. Each song is meant to tell a piece of the story.

As an artist, I guess it’s a luxury to be able to tell that whole story and put everything in there and to know that the fans who really love it and dig deep will really appreciate those songs, even if some of those songs hardly get any streams because they’re not on the big playlist, so they don’t get radio play. That doesn’t matter to me. It’s way more important, the smaller number of fans who are really loving my work and connecting to it. I want them to be able to experience what I see this work being.

I guess I love albums that have these whole kind of storylines and arcs. And so for me, it was just something that I wanted to make sure I did.

FMM: I think that's so important, especially now when people do listen to albums on streaming services and we're just so in the habit of putting it on shuffle, which means you are missing those storylines the artist is trying to convey.

Annie: Exactly, and there’s totally a place for playlists and shuffle. I love making playlists, but I also think it’s so important even if an artist has created an album, for me to go and listen to that from start to finish and to really focus. It’s like they've gone out of their way to really create an experience for you rather than just pumping out songs that are suited to whatever the industry wants at any particular moment.

FMM: Definitely. We touched briefly before on you hand making your own outfits, so will we be seeing on of your creations on the UNDERTONE stage?

Annie: I haven’t figured out exactly what I’m going to wear yet, but I would say there would definitely be at least some element of it that I have made myself because I make most of my stage outfits. It’s just that I never know exactly what I’m going to wear until on the day when I feel like wearing something, but my tour suitcase is kind of just like big, sparkly, chaotic mess of sequins, lace and trims. I always have a sewing kit and scissors in my bag. I’ll be backstage sewing the finishing touches on my skirt of something 10 minutes before set time and everyone in my band is like, ‘What are you doing?’ But I would say, I can probably guarantee that at least some element of my art shoot on Sunday will be handmade.

FMM: You’d be the ideal person to have in a band, not just for your musical talent, but for your sewing skills too for any wardrobe malfunctions and fixing things before going on stage.

Annie: Yeah, I mean, it's definitely in Jack River. The number of times I've had to sew up Holly's. We've been about to go on stage and Holly will have some incredible dress or something that all of a sudden falls apart. It is handy having someone who a needle and thread at all times, I’ve got to say.

FMM: You’re the all-rounder. If you need a fashion person, you’re there. If you need a singer, you’re there. If you need a guitarist, you’re there.

Annie: [Laughs]. Exactly.

FMM: Three in one. And lastly, after UNDERTONE, you’ve got your own tour you’re doing which pretty much takes us through to the end of year, so what are your plans after that?

Annie: So, after the Australian tour, I actually go to the UK and I’ve got five shows in the UK, which will be amazing. It’ll also be very cold and dark and Wintry, which I’m a bit scared of. Then, I get home from the UK and I have my Sydney show, which is the last show of my tour, so that’s in December.

I haven't announced this yet, but I'm actually releasing some remixes of some of the album songs and hopefully I'll be dropping the first one in the next few weeks. But I'm really excited about those because I just want to keep this album going for as long as I can because I just am loving sharing music and I got some of my favourite artists to remix a few of the songs, so that’s what’s coming next.

FMM: That’s so exciting! If you could have any artist remix one of your songs, who would it be?

Annie: I'm currently manifesting Tkay Maidza remixing slut era.

FMM: Yes. That would be so cool. Yeah, okay, I can see that. That would be amazing.

Annie: I love her so much. Yeah. Incredible.

FMM: Well, thank you so much for your time and we look forward to seeing you at UNDERTONE.

Annie: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat.

FMM: No worries at all. Enjoy the rest of your day and we will chat soon.

PURCHASE TICKETS TO SEE ANNIE HAMILTON AT UNDERTONE FESTIVAL HERE.