Despite having one of the year’s biggest hits with local rapper 360 in ‘Boys Like You’, Helen ‘Gossling’ Croome doesn’t quite at home with the hip-hop community just yet.
“I toured quite a few shows next to 360 so I got to really experience the Aussie hip-hop crowds on that tour. It’s very different to a folk show where everyone sits quietly and listens!” says Croome.
“The first show I did on that tour I noticed right away that the energy in the room is just completely different. Everyone is so amped up. I was almost a little scared, walking out on stage my legs turned to jelly. That’s not what happens at my shows, I can assure you.”
“A lot of my friends and some of my fans too would joke about me playing to ‘bogans’ every night… It’s a funny word isn’t it? You can call someone a bogan but they’ll never admit to being one themselves will they?” [laughs]
An indie singer-songwriter who writes her own material and plays her own instruments, Croome says that working on ‘Boys Like You’ was one of the most ‘pop’-like experience she’s had so far since beginning to make music.
“I didn’t write the chorus for the song. To have the experience of literally just being a ‘voice’ to a song was interesting and very different to what I do. His [360’s] record had heard my music and that’s how it started. We recorded that song two years and 360’s album was postponed, I had pretty much forgotten about the track, really! It just kind of… exploded everywhere? It’s been a very exciting time to be featured on a song that everyone seems to know.”
Anyone guilty of turning on a radio in the last 12 months is bound to have heard Gossling’s vocals playing through their speakers. From hit ‘Boys Like You’, sugary sweet ‘Wild Love’ or her covers of mainstream tunes (her acoustic version of ‘Dance The Way I Feel’ becoming a favourite with Triple J listeners), Gossling has quickly become one of the country’s most popular new singer-songwriters with a knack for turning pop songs on their head.
“I recently fell in love with the song ‘Wicked Game’ by Chris Isaak. I love throwing it into my sets acoustically, I don’t really sing it for any particular reason. Just for myself! [laughs]”
“When you strip those songs back, they’re just such well-written songs. I used to perform a cover of Britney Spears. It’s an incredible song. But there’s a lot of stuff that to a pop track that is distracting from how intelligent a song can be.”
With 3 EPs under her belt and a slew of covers and acoustic songs behind her, Gossling has more than enough material to keep fans at her live shows on their feet. But a year later and still no full-length album, she admits the thought of recording a studio album is the most daunting thing she’s faced.
“I found the idea of creating an album quite intimidating,” says Croome. “The idea of writing 10 or 12 songs, making them sit well together and have a full theme running through it. It’s so scary! It’s taken me to record 3 EPs to now finally be comfortable with writing songs for my debut album. It will be out next year, don’t worry!”
Gossling will perform at the Gorgeous Festival on Saturday, November 24. Tickets and more information at www.gorgeousfestival.com.au. Follow @gorgeousfest on Twitter.
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