*Aiming to aspire to inspire as I chat to others, picking their brains, exploring their gifts and practices. All posts are raw & unedited because none of us are perfect & it is time to celebrate that - I'm here for the honest & real, you?
Who are you?
My name is annie hamilton and I'm an artist based in Sydney/Eora.
What sets your soul on fire?
Making things, listening to music way too loud, lying on the floor giggling with my friends, tequila.
How your music serves as a reflection of your identity and personal journey. What aspects of your life do you see mirrored in your songs?
Music has always been a tool for me to process, navigate and document my own experiences. Sometimes I listen back to my songs and they feel like time capsules, but they also mirror back to me things I didn't expect or realize I had put in there. Sometimes I write lyrics that feel completely random and abstract and then a year later I realize that it was my subconscious pinpointing something that I hadn't come to terms with yet. It's kinda creepy. But also it's just so fun to channel a really specific feeling into a song without having to explain why or what it's about - it's like a really potent distillation of an emotion or an experience. It can be very freeing to have an outlet for that energy.
In what ways do moments of rebellion and empowerment, such as those in 'Slut Era,' resonate deeply with your personal journey?
Slut Era is my industrial feminine rage pop song. It's about the impossible patriarchal and societal expectations that are placed on women. The chorus captures the absurdity of these expectations - gotta be shareable, vulnerable, fuckable, relatable, dinner-on-a-plateable, burn-her-at-the-stakeable. I wanted to capture this feeling of having an invisible rope around you pulling you backwards every time you feel like you're moving forwards - it's like the glass ceiling. The word slut has been used against women for so long and I love how it's been flipped on its head the last few years as women are taking ownership of it alongside the widespread reclamation of girlhood that we're seeing in pop culture. This song is also a stab at the double standards of the music industry and the way female artists have traditionally been treated - the expectation to constantly share our 'authentic' selves on social media, the pressure to be 'dinner-on-a-plateable' (palatable, passive, grateful, smiley, marketable) and simultaneously 'burn-her-at-the-stakeable' (don't forget sex sells!!!)
How did your childhood experiences shape your artistic vision and influence the themes you explore in your music and fashion?
I had a pretty beautiful childhood - lots of time in nature and lots of timing doing arts and crafts. A lot of my core childhood memories involve catching tadpoles in the creek down the road from my house, going for bushwalks, sitting in little clearings in the garden or in the bush and looking for fairies, collecting twigs and feathers and stones and dead bigs and displaying them on my windowsill like precious treasure. (I still do all of these things except maybe catching tadpoles)... This fascination with the natural world definitely comes out in my art - from the more literal examples like botanical illustrations printed on my clothing designs, to the more abstract - my songs always feel like they have a specific setting which influences the tone of the song, like the clouds rolling down the hills in Kitchen or the wild electrical storm in Electric Night.
Can you share the story of how you turned your passion for music and fashion into a full-time career? What were the pivotal moments along this journey?
This definitely feels like an ongoing journey - I don’t at all feel like I’ve ‘made it’, but I do feel like I’m on the right track. Even just reading this question made me stop and reflect on the fact that I actually have turned music and fashion into a full-time career, which is insanely cool… When I finished school I had no idea what I wanted to do for my ‘career’ because music did not seem like a realistic career path. I worked a lot of random jobs, travelled a lot and dabbled in Fine Arts and Design degrees but dropped out of both. I never studied or worked in fashion but I always loved making my own clothes, and music was always my #1 passion, so over the years I’ve just always stuck with those creative outlets out of the pure love of the process. Without much of a road map they’ve now become my career (and graphic design too - I do a lot of illustration and graphics for other musicians and creatives). I’ve often felt really frustrated and impatient, with this perpetual feeling that I’m not getting anywhere, but looking back on the last few years it’s the unexpected detours that have ended up leading me to the most exciting places. I always go back to this vision of laying stepping stones to create a path through a forest - you never really know exactly where you’re going or what’s on the other side but as long as you just keep going with these baby steps that feel authentic to you on a gut level, then you can always trust that you’re going in the right direction. It always comes back to trusting the process and following the spark.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when establishing yourself in the music and fashion industries? How did these challenges shape your approach to your work?
There are obviously so many external challenges in the creative industries (financial challenges, industry gatekeepers, patriarchal double standards, etc.) but honestly I think the biggest challenges I’ve faced have been overcoming my own self-doubt, anxiety and imposter syndrome. I’ve held myself back so many times because I didn’t feel that I was good enough or because I didn’t feel that I deserved a seat at the table. Working through these mental barriers is still an ongoing process but the more I just do my thing, my own way, and stop caring about all that other shit, the more I teach myself that actually I can do whatever I want and I can make whatever I want, and things like budget constraints become creative portals rather than obstacles as they force you to think outside the box. Obstacles can become fuel for the fire if you let them.
What upcoming projects or collaborations are you most excited about? What can we expect to see next from your music and visual art?
My next album is 99.9% finished and I’m currently deep in the last 0.01%... Finishing things is always scary because I have endless ideas and I could keep working on it for the rest of eternity if I didn’t have a deadline, but it's definitely at the point where it feels complete, like it tells a story, and it’s ready to be shared. I love this body of work so much and I’ve learnt so much from the process of writing and recording it. The next single is like a warm and fuzzy trip through a glittery bat cave where you end up dancing with your crush under a music festival sunset.
If you could choose a song symbolise your life's journey, which would you pick?
Big Time Sensuality by Bjork - "i don't know my future after this weekend, and i don't want to"
Outside of your music and fashion endeavours, what hobby brings you the greatest joy and relaxation? How does this hobby influence your creativity?
I've just started knitting again and am getting addicted... It's so meditative and scratches my itch to be constantly moving and creating. I always find that when I'm doing repetitive crafts like knitting / hand-sewing / drawing my mind wanders to interesting places and I end up with a billion new ideas for other creative projects, lyrics and melodies arrive in my head, I start envisioning new designs. Same with gardening or cooking - there's something about busying the hands with a repetitive task that frees the mind to travel to far off places.
If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be, and what conversation would you hope to have with them?
I'd love to thank Cleopatra for inventing the first ever vibrator (she put bees in a hollowed out gourd. pure genius)
Reflect on a moment of defeat or setback in your career. How did you navigate through this challenge and find the strength to overcome it?
The thing about having a career in music or the arts is that for every win there are a thousand little defeats or setbacks. It's easy to see everyone else's highlight reel on social media and feel like you're failing, but no one is really sharing the losses. There are so many things that I've missed out on, or felt rejected by, or times that I've felt like I'm failing because I didn't get some specific thing that I was going for, but at the end of the day you just have to realize that it's all part of the process - you win some, you lose some. I've really worked to de-centre external markers of 'success' (like stats / radio play / 'likes' / etc.) and redefine success for myself. It's such a cliche but it's true - the most important thing is to be making art that you love.
Maintaining a balance between creativity and the demands of your career can be challenging. How do you manage this balance, and what practices rejuvenate your creative spirit?
I have daily practices that are my non-negotiables - journaling, exercise, no social media before midday, spending time in nature and jumping in the nearest ocean/river/lake whenever possible. I have definitely experienced periods of major burnout when I wasn't prioritising my mental/physical health over the demands of my career, but I'm slowly learning that I can't actually make good work or play a good show if there's no fuel in the tank. The to-do list can seem really overwhelming but sometimes you've just gotta turn off your phone for a day and go for a bushwalk. I am also lucky to have so many amazing friends who absolutely fill my cup. I think it's also important to separate the art and the career - the art always comes first.
If your art could change one thing about the world, what impact would you hope to achieve?
I would like my art to inspire other people to make their own art.
Looking back on your journey, what is the most valuable lesson you've learned about creativity, resilience, or staying true to yourself?
The most valuable lesson I've learned is to fall in love with the process and to detach from the result. Thinking about the end result while you're still in the process of making will kill the creative spark.
If you could redo one decision in your life or career, what would it be, and how would you approach it differently now?
I don't really regret any of the decisions I've made, because everything I've done has led me somewhere interesting, even if it felt like a mistake or a disaster at the time. The only thing I'd say to my past self is be not afraid ~ stop giving a fuck what anyone else thinks, stop being scared that things won't work out, trust your gut and just go for it.
Compare your current relationship with yourself to how it was a year ago. What changes have you noticed, and how do they influence your artistic vision today?
The older I get, the more confidence I have in myself and my artistic vision. I'm leaning more into just being myself and doing what makes me happy, making the art I want to make on my own terms, and having fun with it.
What do you wish you could have told your teenage self?
Stop trying to step out of yourself and focus instead on stepping into yourself.
Advice for anyone wanting to start in your field?
Don't overthink it, don't hesitate, stop making excuses and just start. You're never going to get it perfectly right, you're never going to be fully prepared, the timing is never going to be perfect. Just start.
If you could have any animal as a pet, what would it be?
A SLOTH
What is your biggest fear?
That I'll regret not trying things out of fear that I would fail
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Slut Era Annie’s new single is out now. With more new music on the way soon.
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