q&a: eliza hull
Describe your sound in five words or less.
Honest. Dramatic. Electronic. Pop. Shifting.
Was there a particular moment or artist that made you want to pursue music when you were growing up? Who were your early influences?
During my school years I would set up a make shift stage in the lounge room, I would go so far as making the kitchen backstage and having pretend audience members on the couches. When I made these performances I would go through mum and dad’s collection and sing with Michael Jackson, Sade, Carol King and The Beatles. Mum always had a heap of female artists CDs lying around so I became really inspired through their voices. My first song was written as a kind of ode to the Beatles. When I moved to Melbourne I fell in love with more of a rock sound like Veruca Salt and I started my first band with a group of friends. During that time I started going out to clubs and I fell in love with ‘drum and bass. ’ I answered a couple of ad’s in the street press and starting MCing with some great local DJ’s. When this finished I knew that I loved both the live/rock element as well as the dark and deep sounds of electronica so my music is now a combination of both.
What are your other interests/passions?
I currently am the writer in residence at Australian Poetry due to receiving an Australian Council grant. I write poetry and creative writing and I really want to pursue this more eventually. My dream is to one-day write a novel. I just bought another great typewriter so I have been writing a lot of new poetry and lyrics on that.
Who do you most admire?
That is a really hard one because there are so many amazing people to admire. I admire females who work through barriers to live their drams. Just recently I went to Myanmar and met five amazing young women who are in a girl band called Me N Ma Girls. I sang with them through a chance encounter (my best friend is working with the band) and it was such an inspiring moment for me. They are giving a lot to be in the band, they are going up against military, laws, rules, tradition and their family just to live their dreams and sing. I admire that.
Greatest achievement to date?
Working for four years on my debut album, believing in it, paying for it, keeping the love for it alive and then accepting right at the end that in fact I ought to put out an EP first. My style is changing and only six of the songs represent the change. I feel that takes courage because it’s sometimes hard to give up even though it’s the right thing to do.
A song I wish I wrote/played is…
‘Gorerki’ by Lamb.
I couldn’t live without…
Love
The best advice I ever received was…
Love yourself
Do you think the music industry treats female musicians differently to male musicians? Do you think it’s more difficult for women to establish themselves?
I surround myself with amazingly talented female artists and we all support each other, push each other and so I feel like it’s easy to establish ourselves if we work together. I have never felt discriminated against in the industry through being a female. I guess though there is a side I haven’t been involved with as much (the business end of the industry) and there seems to be only space for some female artists to creep through the cracks whereas there seems to be a lot more space for males, and male fronted bands.
Is there anything you’ve always wanted to be asked?
I would love if Portishead asked me to tour with them.
Eliza Hull has her final show for 2011 at the Evelyn Hotel on the 28th of December support from Haarlo.
