theaussieword.com sits with Plum Green for this special blog interview!
What can you tell our readers about you? How and where did it all begin?
It began in a drawer, that’s where my parents put me when I was baby (I was born in a squat in London and they couldn’t afford a bassinet).
What had you first interested in music?
My crazy parents. My mama is one of those crazy people who thinks life is a musical.
My papa can play any sort of wind instrument you give him, e.g.: saxophone, clarinet, flute. Anything.
I would sit in bed as a child, very much entertained by the music they made together, and fall asleep to it.
Who motivates or influences your quest to make great music?
A selfish desire to ease the pain in my anxious, nervous, aching heart. And I guess a not so selfish desire to ease the pain in others hearts, as cheesy as that might sound it’s true. Life is hard. I just want to hold everyone’s hand.
Do you have any planned tours coming up?
After the release of my album, Rushes (at Grumpy’s Green on the 29th Nov!), I would love to play in other areas of Australia. My ideal situation would be to tour with another act, if anyone expresses interest in taking me on tour, please get in touch with me!
What are some of your biggest goals you hope to accomplish as an artist? I think the biggest thing is dealing with your own ego. All artists of every kind have to go through the whole, “what the hell am I doing?!” phase, and it’s really tough. I hope one day I can strike a balance between feeling the need for people to hear my music and to just feel incredibly lucky I get the chance to make music in the first place. It’s a psychological head trip sometimes.
What can fans expect from you in the coming months?
Music videos! Live performance videos too. New songs, and more updates on my sound cloud page. And of course all the sexy loving I can possibly give through my Facebook page. I love to connect with my followers/friends on a daily basis. I use my personal page more (than my “musician/likey page”) because it’s easier to control the flame wars that can erupt suddenly.
Success, what is the secret to it and what has been your biggest career highlight so far? The secret to success in my view is just being satisfied and proud of the music (or any kind of art) that you create and not being afraid topush your creations out into the world any way possible. Don’t be shy now. I love Jarboe from the band Swans. I was offered a support slot for her this year and she cancelled. The highlight I guess was that I still got to play the show (with Scott Kelly from Neurosis). Also, I sent Jarboe a message sending my regards and she replied to me, she’s a massive hero of mine so it meant a lot to me.
Which stars of the music industry do you find inspiring?
Marilyn Manson was always a great inspiration to me in his younger days. It’s not so much his music I’m a fan of, it’s just him. He was so full of charisma, passion and intelligence. My favourite band at the moment is Einstuerzende Neubauten, I saw them live for the first time earlier on this year and I couldn’t believe how incredible they were. They blew my mind. Blixer was just so incredibly sexy, he just gets sexier and sexier the older he gets. I was stunned for days afterwards.
How would you best describe you and your music to your fans?
I’m a timid and nervous introvert forcing my deepest darkest desires and vulnerabilities out of me with all of the passion, rage, fiery energy and love I can possibly muster. I seek to deliver truth at your feet. I offer secrets and dreams to my audience, and most of the time they will drink it in and give me some of theirs back. My music is extremely honest, sometimes the honesty scares me. I’m shedding every single layer of protective outer wear and letting you see my insides.
What can you tell us about your latest album?
It’s a collection of songs I’ve been cultivating for years based on 100% truth. All the musicians who collaborated with me on the album are friends of mine and they all did it for love. It’s a bundle of pain, love, passion and suffering sewn together with friendship and endless loyalty. One of my closest friends plays piano on the album, and she’s not alive anymore. She made an enormous effort to send me her recorded piano parts in the mail, three years before the album was released. Are there any new exciting projects in the works?
I’ve been writing songs since being in Australia and I’m going to start recording again soon. I can’t keep my hands off my guitar for very long.
The music industry is huge, where do you see yourself a few years from now?
In terms of the music industry, I am not so sure. In general, I’m just hoping I will be wiser. Maybe I will have grown a beard and bushy eyebrows.
Name a few of your favourite Aussie artists.
Jennifer Kingwell, The Naysayers and Zoe Fox. All awesome.
The shape of the music industry has changed significantly over the years, including the use of social media, how do you feel about the industry as a whole and what does it mean to you in getting your records out into the public eye?Me and the music industry haven’t had much to do with each other, it’s sort of like asking me what I think of a second cousin. I’d love to hang out sometime, hope we have stuff in common to talk about and that it’s not too awkward?! Social media is brilliant! I’d be a lonely sad old fool strumming softly to myself in my bedroom…Like I am now, except without anyone listening to my music online…if it weren’t for social media!
Thank you for the interview! What can you leave fans of theaussieword.com with here today?
Thank you so much for having me. I will leave you with my favourite quote, “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return” – Nature Boy by Eden Abez.
Website: plumgreen.co.nz Facebook: facebook.com/missplumgreen Twitter: twitter.com/PlumGreen