Melbourne artist Grace Robinson is ready to share her whole self, with the release of her debut solo album choppy. Introducing audiences to the person that’s been working behind the scenes for years, she’s leaving any pretence or facade at the door. She’s embracing the turbulence that comes with growing up, and hoping that listeners can do the same. “I’m gonna show you the messy shit, not because I want you to feel sorry for me, but because I’m hoping that you feel it too and then we can like..fist pump” she laughed.
With the record out on November 13, Grace is now cementing herself as an emerging indie-rock artist who’s making her mark on the Aussie music scene. I got to chat to Grace about her journey, and how it wasn’t always the most linear trajectory that got her to this place in her career.
“I grew up in the North of Melbourne… and I went to a school that had a really good music program. It was in the trendy inner North area where jazz was the thing.. it was sort of the bar that was set and I was just the sort of kid who was like cool I’ll do that! Then when I got a bit older at school I realised I was actually quite good at jazz… so it seemed like the natural thing to go to VCA”.
Not long after starting at jazz school, she realised it wasn’t quite for her. “It was this thing that I aspired to for so long because I thought that it would mean something, that I would become something”. She pushed herself to stay in the course, studying for seven years despite knowing that she wanted to do something else. “I came out of COVID and was just so mentally beyond it.”
When talking about why now was the right time to put out a solo record, Grace admitted “I think I always felt dissatisfied, I don’t think I had the confidence for many years to think about doing what I’m doing now. It took me having some real distance from jazz school and COVID kind of did that…it gave me time to realise I was unhappy in my music and it was just because I was pretending to be someone that I wasn’t”.
So while she wasn’t ready to create her own solo work during that time, she still carved out a very impressive resume working across the music industry. From co-writing on an ARIA-winning album by jazz artist Barney McAll, to being a part of electro-soul group Empress, working as a choir director and as a booking agent, Grace continued to be surrounded by artists. “That really helped me, working with so many different artists that then made me realise I could do this”.
While wearing all of these different hats, she felt the brunt of an intense burnout, where she was forced to confront herself and slow down in a way she never had before. Speaking of this time, Grace said “A big catalyst for the record was that my mental health got really bad..it was quite sudden. It was the first time in my life I had to do therapy and think about all of my shit”. While it was a dark period in her life, it was these struggles that eventually led to the creation of choppy. “It was in the recovery of that that I felt like I was finally connected to myself again, in a way that I could write stories again because I had language to use again and I suddenly then opened a dialogue that was in me.”
Grace teamed up with producer Alex Gorman, who has worked closely with Angie McMahon, a huge inspiration for Grace’s own music. “Angie does a lot of that self-fulfilling prophecy writing that I feel like choppy has a lot of where I’m writing it and I’m saying it but I’m actually mostly saying it to me” she laughed. “A lot of Angie’s music brought me out of that anxiety period, so it felt very special to then be able to work with Gormie who produced a lot of that album with Angie but also plays with Angie.” The album was mixed by Marcus Paquin, who too has worked with some of Grace’s other musical inspirations including Julia Jacklin and Saya Gray. The opportunity to work with people who had a hand in bringing some of Grace’s favourite music to life was an exciting prospect, as Grace said those musicians “were like my pinnacles.”
Speaking of other musical influences, Grace called out some of the music she grew up with. “I still listen to the Dixie Chicks or Indigo Girls, that’s my mum’s music and then my Dad always had on Johnny Cash and Tex Perkins.. it’s all storytelling music..when I was making choppy it was very much listening to music that was about stories.”
The album’s title choppy came from Grace’s childhood nickname. “It was the first thing I was introducing everyone else to” she said of when choosing the name. “People knew Grace already, the only people that call me Choppy are my family and are the only ones who know Choppy as the person I am when there’s no one else around, that felt like what this album was.” She lets her guard down on the record as she says she pushed herself to “be honest..that felt like going back to choppy, because Grace wasn’t that for years”.
In the lead up to the album launch, Grace released three lead singles, with the first being “Harder Than You Think”. She called this one “the obvious choice” as to what would be the introduction to the world of choppy. “Sonically it really represents the direction of the album..it feels like one that was like, yeah that’s an indie-rock album”.
“‘Is It Over” was a bit of a rogue choice for the second single. That song’s one that people are either obsessed with or either don’t really care about as much, and I kind of liked that”. It touches on a subject matter that Grace “wanted to have it’s time, and I was worried it wouldn’t if it wasn’t a single. Lyrically it’s quite different to the rest of the songs, it’s talking about the body dysmorphia sides of my life that I felt like no one was talking about..so I wanted to be like talk about this guys”.
The album covers subjects that have plagued Grace’s mind throughout her life, and the pressures she’s placed on herself, both internally and externally, as she’s navigated growing up.
The track “Before I Was” touches on the perceptions that people around you have of you, how these can impact the way you see yourself, and how difficult it can be when those perceptions don’t resonate with who you feel you are. “It was a big breakthrough moment in my journey of this coming of age, of growing up and realising the reason I have so much anxiety of doing this solo project is because I think everyone hates me.” She spoke about the pressures that came with “always being labelled as too much” and the struggles with being outspoken, as “people are not down for a confident woman..that’s not palatable. I’d come in swinging, I’d call people out on shit..people just hated me”.
But now, she’s leaving behind the pressure of trying to fit in or be someone she’s not, admitting “I’ve never been cool..I tried for years and that ended in panic attacks. ‘Before I Was’ was a song that was like everyone’s deciding who I am based on these things, but no one ever fucking asked.”
On what she wants people to take away from the project, she said “I just want people to feel seen. I made an active choice to not shy away from scary topics or shy away from making myself look like an idiot.”
“It sounds terrifyingly horrible, but I love when people are like I listened to your song and I cried” she laughed. “I hope that there’s other people that are waiting for that music”.
Grace’s debut album choppy is available now, with tickets for the album launch event on December 4 on sale HERE
You can read our review of the album HERE.
Header image supplied by PR
