interview: ainslie wills
Music, particularly good music, can mean many different things to different people. Too often it’s relegated to the role of simply background noise or something to groove to, and while there is certainly a place for this kind of enjoyment, so much is overlooked when we don’t take the time to scratch below easy lyrics and constant beats. What we hear about even less frequently, however, are the discoveries the artists themselves make when creating music.
‘Sometimes when you’re writing you’re not actually aware of what’s going to come out and why it’s coming out,’ says Melbourne musician, Ainslie Wills, of her latest single, ‘Fighting Kind’. ‘The song poses a question to somebody, “do you mean any harm?”, and I suppose I’m posing that to myself. The way that I’ve actually written it, it seems that I’ve deflected the question by it seeming like it’s removed from myself when in fact I’m asking those questions myself. I think that’s probably the biggest truth that’s come out through this song.’
Wills likewise had a pivotal moment in listening to someone else’s music when she first heard the late Jeff Buckley’s album, Grace, opening her eyes (and ears) to new possibilities in music.
‘I know that he has influenced so many musicians so I’m wary about what an obvious statement that is to be so influenced by Jeff Buckley. But I have a specific memory of being given that CD and putting in the player and listening to it for the first time and being absolutely mesmerised and blown away.
‘He’s definitely been a massive influence and I still go back to that album purely because he’s able to paint moods so well … you can definitely hear that that’s an album that has a 90s kind of edge to it but I don’t think it really ages. I think it’s quite a classic, nice well-rounded beautiful album so it still resonates with me quite strongly.’
More recently, Wills has been especially inspired by artists such as Joan As Policewoman and St Vincent. Closer to home, she has chosen Adelaide four-piece, Gold Bloom, and Melbourne’s Lisa Salvo to support at her upcoming single launch. The decision to have predominantly female musicians on the line-up was a conscious one, she says.
‘Not just because they’re female obviously but because they’re amazing at what they do … there definitely has to be a genuine love of what they do. I definitely try and encourage, and am encouraged by other female musicians and I think it’s really important. I think it should happen no matter the gender, but I definitely think it’s nice to have people in a similar situation to you that you can talk to and [who] have been through certain situations. It’s really good to have that kind of support.
‘There’s no denying that it is a bit of a male-dominated society in the music world and there’s definitely been a change and an increase in more female performers and I love that.’
Wills has already been likened to a number of female musicians, including PJ Harvey, Cat Power and Stevie Nicks. While flattered, she’s cautious about reading too much into such comparisons, feeling that they’re not necessarily accurate representations of her music.
‘I can see that there are elements that could be compared to PJ Harvey and female artists playing guitar … I suppose people pick out what they need to wrap their head around something if they haven’t heard you before.
‘When I hear a musician, there’s moments where I can tell that they’ve been influenced by something but it does seem sometimes that journalists are a bit one-dimensional in the way that they talk about or explain what the music sounds like. It is hard though. Sometimes it’s hard to articulate what something sounds like, you’ve just got to listen to it. Even I find it really hard to define what my music is because there’s just so many things that you listen to or are influenced by so it’s tricky.’
Ainslie Wills is launching her latest single ‘Fighting Kind’ at the Workers Club in Melbourne on May 12. Click here for more information and tickets!
