ALICE HURWOOD

●  Welcome to your interview with Songbirds! First and foremost introduce yourself to our wonderful readers!

Hello. I‘m Alice Hurwood. I‘m a singer-songwriter from Melbourne, Australia and I‘ve been living in Berlin for a little while, which is where I met the lovely writers of Songbirds!

●  You have a background in classical music. Tell us a little bit about that and tell us how you discovered your love for folk-pop.

I think it‘s interesting because I actually started with a folk background. My mom played in quite well-known bands in Australia and I naturally went to a lot of concerts of theirs when I was growing up. My mom had studied classical music when she was younger, but she had to stop due to injuries. I actually came to classical music in my teenage years and it was really easy for me to get obsessed with it because practicing and getting better feels like a drug. Then I went to University for classical music as well, but I always had folk music on the side and it wasn‘t until I finished University that I really invested more time towards folk music to see where it takes me. I still love classical music. I‘m actually going back to start my masters degree in classical music. I really try to keep both sides as active as possible.

●  Do you think it‘s tricky balancing both sides? Does it have to do with all the rules one must follow in classical music as well?

Yeah, there is a certain judgement towards other musical genres when you‘re in the classical music world. It‘s obviously not always the case, but there were times when I asked myself ‘Is this me failing in classical music by turning to a different genre?’ If you want to become a soloist in classical music, you do have to give your entire life to it. I think I’ve found a way to realize what it is that I want out of classical music and I can keep that up while still doing everything in folk music. Moving overseas was also helpful for me to let go of any other judgement put on me. But I have to say everyone was very supportive of me: my cello teacher told me “Yes, go for it!”. I’m realizing that everyone has their own path and taking a break from classical music was not me failing at it.

●  Have there also been benefits of coming from a classical background?

Absolutely. Even just the work ethic of practicing my instrument everyday and having a knowledge in music theory helps me. You can definitely have no knowledge of theory and still be a brilliant musician, but I quite enjoy it. I’m also realizing by working with other singer-songwriters and working in bands, that it’s such a gift to have the skill set that I know I can rely on on my cello. I’m just very glad to have had so much time to dedicate to music by being a part of the classical music world, so it’s definitely been beneficial for me.

●  How was it that you picked up the cello in the first place?

My mom was a cellist and she actually wanted to have my brother play the cello, but it didn’t really work. She had to bribe him with Pokemon cards to keep him practicing (all laugh). It stuck a bit better with me, although I didn’t practice a whole lot as a kid. I was more passionate about singing and I sang in choirs earlier on, but I really got into practicing the cello in Highschool. I joined a youth orchestra where I met a lot of other cellists my own age and wondered ‘why are they so much better on their instruments?’ And my mom told me that’s the result of actually practicing. So that really got me motivated to practice more and the fact that i get to inherit my mom’s cello was also a motivation.

●  You’re from Australia but decided to come to Berlin. How did you come up with that decision and what are some differences and/or similarities in the music scenes?

In Highschool, year 10, I did an exchange program to Germany, to a little town south of Germany called Biberrach an der Riß, where I spent a year. I learned German, and had beautiful memories with a fantastic host family. After moving back to Australia, I really missed my time in Germany and wanted to come back at some point, but as much as I loved my host family and the town I stayed in, I wanted to be active as a musician and also have a life of my own as a young adult. My host sister actually told me: “Alice, if you come back to Germany and decide to live in Biberrach again, we’ll be so disappointed”. Then everyone recommended Berlin as the cultural place to be, so, here I am.

Coming to the second part of the question, Australia is quite different in the fact that it’s so isolated from the rest of the world. I must say, there is a fabulous music scene in Australia, but it is in its own bubble because we’re so far away. Whereas in Europe and especially Berlin, there are so many people constantly moving in and out, the music scene is very vibrant. I remember going to my first open-mic here in Berlin, and I had thought of open-mics as places where people try out things for the first time, where the vibe is more relaxed, but my first impression of a Berlin open-mic was: wow! There was so much creativity in the air and so much going on.

I also remember how much quicker things happened for me after moving out to Berlin. I had interesting projects not long after moving to Berlin. Much faster than what I had experienced in Melbourne. In fact, in Melbourne, there is too much good music and not enough opportunities.

●  It feels like your presence on stage is something very natural, not very much altered from your everyday self, but also you keep it very professional. Is there a certain approach you have, or is it something that came more naturally?

First of all, thank you, it’s very nice to hear. I definitely worked on it. I went to a lot of shows growing up and I realized I really enjoy it when the artists connect with the audience and talk. It’s something that I missed a bit in the classical scene. Nowadays there are more classical musicians that talk with the audience, and it helps warm up the audience and even if you make a mistake, people are more forgiving because you’ve connected with them on a more human level.

I definitely practiced, especially when I was starting out, what I would say to the audience. I practiced with my parents on what I’d say in between songs. I’ve seen performers trying to fill in gaps and really just ramble on without having thought about what they want to say and it creates a ‘okay… what now?’ kind of vibe in the audience. I don’t think or practice what I want to say as much any more and I also have moments when I ramble on. I’ve also talked in German with the audience and it was frightening, but it was good that I gave it a go. I think overall, I find it quite easy to be vulnerable on stage. I remember my boyfriend’s parents came to see me perform and they said afterwards: “Wow, she’s more open on stage than she is at the dinner table.” 

Also something that I find rewarding is, when someone comes up to me after a show and says “That song felt like something I also went through.” The feeling that I get when a song about something that I went through resonates with other people is something special and cathartic.

●  Your beautiful album „Can We Talk Sometime“ was just released on streaming. Tell us a little bit about its creation.

It’s a collection of songs from my university years. I was very intensively focused on my studies and whenever I was practicing my cello, I had the impulse to write songs. They would just come so naturally for me. It was a collection of emotions that I felt very strongly and they came out in the form of music during that time. There are a lot of songs on the album about one person in particular, whom I was obessed about. Whenever I performed these songs, I kind of hoped that this person doesn’t come to the show, although I always invited them.

In my final year of university, I decided I was going to record these songs, and I decided I was going to reach out to people that I really admire to ask them to be a part of the album. They thankfully all agreed to work with me, which was really exciting.

The whole recording process went very swiftly. I finished recording the whole album over one weekend. Then I edited the album myself, which was very cool, but also intimidating: I had never edited an album and I had to trust my own choices, but in the end, it was exactly how I wanted it to sound. 

I uploaded the album on Bandcamp a year earlier and it finally came out this year on streaming. I was waiting for the right moment to release these songs and I couldn’t put it off any longer and decided to share it with the world. It’s been quite a long time since the inception of a lot of these songs and by the time the album came out, I was once again falling in love with these songs, which was really nice because while I was editing these songs, I had slightly fallen out of love with some of these songs and becasue I’ve had time away from the songs, I found the energy again to promote them. It’s actually really interesting to have that distance from your own music. I had shared some of the material that I had recorded with other people and they would pick out bits and tell me they loved it, but in my mind I was thinking ‘I hated that bit!’ (All laugh)

I had also learned a lot from releasing an EP earlier. When I was working on that, I was obsessed about being on tune, sounding technically perfect and had neglected slightly the emotional aspect of my music. So with this album, I went into the recording session being a bit more relaxed and letting myself emote, which worked out fantastic for me.

●  Speaking of recording in a studio, it is a very strange setting to make music: you’re not interacting with an audience and you don’t get the energy or feedback that you would get in a live performance. How do you deal with this?

I think they are 2 different processes. I tried to focus on the story of my songs. I would listen to artists of whom I think are very good story-tellers and tried to get myself ready to do something similar. I knew I was going to tap into a more obsessive part of my brain, so I tried to let go of that side of myself and tell a story.

●  Tell us a bit about how you curated this track list for your album.

I had definitely chosen the songs in advance. It was very obvious to me which songs I would start and finish the album with. The last song “Sun and Moon” has a very long outro which worked really well as a way to finish by fading out of the musical scenery. The first song “Middle Car Seat” is a favorite for a lot of my listeners, and it’s lively and upbeat which was perfect as an opener. I had to think about the people who don’t know my music and how I would get them to listen past the first song, and I thought this was the best way to go about it.

For the rest of the album, I was thinking in various ways: does the album flow from one song to the next, does it work thematically, what arrangements come together, do I have a bunch of songs that are just voice and cello in one pile, or do I have a mixture of different arrangements? All of these were factors that I considered.

●  We also need to talk about the album and single covers; such a stunning photoshoot! What's the idea behind this aesthetic?

There is a very famous painting of Ophelia by John Everett Millais with her head coming out of the water. I love this painting and Ophelia also had red hair in this painting, which goes well with me! This was my first inspiration and then I found an incredible photographer in Melbourne, Lisa Murray who I thought could really depict this style the best. Luckily, she also had a few friends who had natural ponds in their backyards with lilypads, so I just brought along a few outfits and she had brought a case for her camera, so that it could work under water. I probably spent about 2 hours in this pool and by the end a thunderstorm was over our heads, which in retrospect I should not have been in the water, but it made fantastic photography. During the photoshoot, I just trusted the photographer a lot and she had brought out so much of who I actually am. I usually focus on my red hair because I feel like that’s what people recognize first when they see me, but in this, because my hair was also wet, it wasn’t that red and I saw myself for who I am without focusing on the red hair. It was definitely a darker aesthetic than what I had initially planned, but it went well with the songs on the album.

●  In 2020 you won young songwriter of the year at the APRA AMCOS Music Awards. How did that come to be and how has winning such an award influenced your trajectory?

APRA AMCOS is similar to GEMA in Australia and they have a songwriting competition for children, which my brother had won when he was in the 8th grade. That motivated me to also enter the competition. I entered every year and when I was in year 12, which also happened to be during the pandemic, I finally won. This was also reassuring for me because I realized through the experience that I could write songs that people can relate to. It then pushed me to record my first EP as well. 

●  You’ve done many concerts and live sessions in Paris, Cologne but mostly Berlin. What were the most memorable performances you did in Europe?

Definitely the TEDx performance. That was the strongest imposter syndrome I ever felt. I was backstage with people who had saved hundreds of women’s lives in Kenya and I was there just to perform a few songs. And all the women who spoke that day were talking about quite heavy topics, because the evening was about women’s healthcare systems and I had a huge deal of imposter syndrome, but after my performance, I got incredible feedback from the audience. I guess because the whole evening was about such a heavy topic, people were grateful for the music that helped them process some of the emotions that they felt during the course of the evening.

Also the show I did in Cologne was memorable because it was with a group that puts on neuro-diversion friendly concerts and that’s something I think about often: how do I make my concerts more accessible, and they really worked that out great.

●  Is there a „core memory“ that shaped you as an artist or as a person?

Oh my gosh. Maybe when I was about 14, I went on a tour with a sister-folk duo, who were also my age. I was playing cello for them and it was a lovely time, but I wanted to be the one telling my story, playing my own songs. That was maybe the first time I realized that this is what I want to do.

●  What’s first when you write a song: music or text? 

Probably music. It does come quite simultaneously, but I need the instruments for my songs. I don’t think I can work just on text. My texts are very influenced by the music in the sense that the rhythm of the text is influenced by the rhythm of my music. I’ve tried writing texts on their own similar to poetry but it’s never really worked for me. At the same time, I can’t write a song, unless I know what it’s going to be about, so they’re very intertwined but the music does come first.

●  Do you remember your first ever song?

I think it was about my first kiss. It was actually a quite sad song. It was very dramatic, just as a teenager would be about their first kiss. I probably still have the song somewhere if I looked for it. Looking back on it, it’s over dramatic, but I also love those teenage songs of mine: you feel very strongly about things, whereas now, I feel like I have almost too much perspective. I don’t think I was great at talking about my emotions as a teenager, but I could put it in my music. I do have to say, it was very cryptic compared to how I write now. I was so nervous that my parents would find out about my life, so I put everything in codes, quite poetic.

●  Name your favorite line out of a song of yours and what it means to you.

I quite like the start of the second verse in “Tide”. “I can feel the sting of the cut on my lip but you’re still biting down.” You’re hurting me and I’ve told you, but you still don’t change. I wrote that back then about a friend, but it almost feels like a romantic setting. I think some friendships are actually even more intimate than romantic relationships.

●  Many singer-songwriters play the guitar or the piano. You accompany yourself with the cello. Does it play to your advantage?

Absolutely. It’s very different and it helps me bridge the gap between classical and non-classical audiences a bit. I’ve also found that a lot of older audience members are a bit more conservative when they listen to music, but they do listen to my folk-pop because it’s through the lens of playing the cello. It is definitely annoying to carry around, but it’s also cool because I can add other instrumentals to the equation. It makes me make different choices as well. I think playing the cello also means I can play the bassline and the trebleline. I can tap into different sound worlds.

●  Who are artists outside of your own genre that you like?

So many. James Blake: just booked tickets to go see him. He has an electronic core sound, but can really do everything. He also makes very interesting choices. I would listen to his music when I’m not feeling great.

Rosalia is someone I love as well. Her earlier music was more electronic, but she’s really gone in every possible direction, even into German operatic music.

I’ve also recently been listening to Jackie Evans, who doesn’t have a lot out there, but she is an incredible pianist. She plays more jazzy and I just love watching her live performances because her hands go crazy and she sings like it’s nothing.

I listened to a lot of jazz when I was growing up as well.

●  Something we really appreciate about your music is that you have your own way of expressing yourself. You use unique chords, musical developments and even how you write text is unique in its own way. Is that something you do consciously or unconsciously?

I think with the text, it’s quite conscious. I love telling the story in a folk way: here’s the story and this is how I’m going to tell it.

With the chords, I quite often don’t know what chords I’m actually playing. Which in turn makes it interesting, because I have various influences from classical music, jazz, and also pop music and they come together quite beautifully. The limitations of the cello makes it also interesting to find chords that I want to play, but how I write the chords is definitely unconscious. I just follow wherever my ears take me.

●  Quick round! Pick one:

1. Squished in a middle car seat vs Travelling all by yourself

Travelling alone.

2. Sun vs Moon

Sun

3. Retrospect vs Prospect

Prospect

4. French toast vs pancakes (real ones will understand)

100% French toast.

● What kind of songbird are you?

I would be an Australian Magpie. I’ve missed them here in Germany quite a lot.

● What is a trend in music that excites you and what is a trend that you find concerning?

I definitely don’t love AI. I probably don’t understand enough of it. I also worked in a cafe where they only played AI created music and it made me a bit crazy.

I love that there are a lot more queer lyrics. Artists are much less afraid of using the pronouns of the people they talk about in their songs. I find this to be really cool and it’s inspiring me to do the same in my own music.

● Is there a question that you’ve always wanted to be asked? Or is there something you’ve always wanted to talk about but never got the chance?

Two things come to my mind. I feel like we should bring our own water bottles to gigs rather than asking for plastic water bottles. I’m trying to do this more as well and I see a lot of artists do the same. It’s something that’s been on my mind. Quite random, I know.

Coming from Australia, I want to talk about supporting indigenous artists is something I find very important. There are a lot of people coming up in the scenes who use traditional language in their music, which you otherwise wouldn’t hear. It’s a great way to preserve that side of culture as well through supporting these artists.