The 90s indie rock scene is quietly surging and Melbourne based Self Talk is leading that wave. Cool and sophisticated doesn’t even begin to describe the quintet fronted by Stacey Cicivelli, who have recently announced not only their EP Almost Everything, but a tour across Australia as well. With their second single ‘Bedside Dictionary’ just released, Stacey, AKA music teacher/ singer/songwriter extraordinaire, took some time out to talk all things music, recording and touring with Glam Adelaide.
Okay, so you’ve got you’re EP coming out August 11—has it been an exciting process getting everything recorded? Stacey: Definitely, I love everything about it [music] but recording is absolutely one of my favourite parts. I’m always itching to get everything recorded as soon as I write it.
And are you a music or lyrics first type of songwriter? That’s a really good question, I’m always like ‘what did I do first?’ and it’s really weird because I always find it hard to remember—which I think means that it might be different each time. I tend to write down lyrics randomly when they come to me and then I probably add them to music. But sometimes I write music for the lyrics. I think it’s a mixture for me.
In that case, what’s your favourite part of writing music? I don’t know—I think it’s a really cathartic thing. You kind of feel like you’ve got this song that just appears and you’ve gotta get it down. So it’s really nice to get those creative things out of you and turn it into something, that’s probably my favourite thing.
I hear you’re a music teacher, that must mean you play a few instruments.. I mainly play guitar and sing, but my first instrument was keyboard. I learnt that all through primary school, which led to an obsession with the saxophone in high school. My dream was to play in a big band, big jazz band—but that never really happened.
After listening to ‘Bedside Dictionary’ and ‘Old Habits’, I’m starting to feel like you’re telling a bit of a story. I think that EPs always tend to have a bit of a theme running through them, so I definitely think that’s true, though I didn’t intend it that way. I didn’t sit down and write a bunch of songs about a particular thing. At the end they seem to be threaded together somehow, which is kinda cool.
Well then, what can we expect from the rest of the EP? I think that something we do well is writing diverse music. I don’t think our songs sound the same, and we are influenced by so many styles, that it kinda comes through. So while there is that theme going through the songs, they all have their own sound. There is a couple of really mellow songs on there —which is a bit different for us—and they all have this pop element to them. We love big choruses, catchy melodies and hooks, so of course there is a lot of that too. But they are quite diverse and it feels like a good flowing record, from start to finish, with lots of differences in there.
What would you say is the biggest influence for the EP? My feelings! I certainly write from personal experience and they are all pretty particular to me. I don’t think there is one big influence, but I am writing about the way I feel about things that have happened.
And you’ve even got a tour planned! Looking forward to hitting the road? Absolutely. We haven’t played many shows this year because we’ve had a lot going on outside of music, so we are so excited to play a bunch of shows in a row and not have a 3 month break in between.
Is there anything specific about touring that you like? Some people hate it and some people love it.
Just playing shows back to back—it’s kind of the dream getting to play music every night. I can’t think of anything bad about that, though I know it gets tiring, but it is a part of the job. I love doing it and getting up the next day and getting to do it again. I love making new friends and listening to all these awesome bands that you’ve handpicked to play with you in every city. There are so many positives.
Almost Everything will be released Friday August 11, with the band performing live at the Crown And Anchor Hotel, Adelaide, on Friday August 25 (18+).
By Zoe Butler
LISTEN TO ‘BEDSIDE DICTIONARY’:
https://selftalk.bandcamp.com/music
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