‘5 Questions With’: Esmé
Interview by Danielle Temeng
EQ: Hi Esmé! Can you tell us a little about yourself and how you ended up on this career path?
E: I cut my teeth on jazz, which I started when I was 16, but had listened to it predominantly for as long as I can remember. My song ‘Ella’ is a bit of an homage to that history, in honour of Ella Fitzgerald. I got my first gig in a little bar at that age, up in Northern Queensland. I actually lived in this bar in a little loft/room up above as I had left school, moved out of home and I had initially started working as a waitress in that bar. The owner just so happened to be a jazz pianist and let me sing a few nights a week instead of waitress and I guess that’s how I started in music professionally and I’ve never gone back. I sang jazz songs alone all the way up until 2017, when I wrote and recorded my first original track ‘Come With Me’. I don’t know exactly what encouraged me to do that, I guess just a shift within that ignited a little fire in me to tell my own stories. Now I am just addicted to the process of writing, and consequently sharing the songs in hopes of connecting with others.
EQ: Is Esmé the artist the same as Esmé the person? And if you could describe yourself (and your sound) in 3 words what would they be?
E: I think that yes, I am the same person, but one can’t really survive without the other, or at least function very well without the other. When I embraced myself as Esmé the artist, that’s when I was able to really write my own songs. Funny how much courage a title or name can give you! Three words, ok here it goes – elusive, melodic, bittersweet.
“When I embraced myself as Esmé the artist, that’s when I was able to really write my own songs. Funny how much courage a title or name can give you!”
EQ: Your brand new EP ‘Brooklyn’ is out this week – congratulations! We’re obsessed with your sound here, it’s so effortless and ethereal! What was the creative process like for you creating this body of work?
E: Thank you! I’m glad you like it, that really means so much. Well, the EP is named after the location in which I recorded it, Brooklyn USA. All I took was my iPhone voice memos over there, which were all jazz tainted, soft guitar-like, timid vocal demos. I was truly surprised at why the team who found me (Twilite Tone, Royce Wood Junior & Chris Penning) chose me in the first instance. We basically just workshopped about 7 songs, but in a really organic way, nothing was theoretical and everything was based on feeling. For example, the scat in ‘Ella’ was completely just me messing around in the booth and then Chris Penning weaved it through ‘Ella’ as a hook, rather than having a chorus. The flute in ‘For The Thrill’ was a spur of the moment thing too – nothing was mapped out and everything was just in the moment. I really work best that way, and I think everyone else did too, so the songs really had the chance to evolve naturally.
EQ: Of the 4 tracks on your EP which is your favourite and why? Some feel quite intimate and personal, so to you were any of them harder to put out into the world?
E: ‘For The Thrill’ is quite exposing lyrically to me, which is why I wanted to deliver it with an air of insouciance musically. But if you listen to the lyrics, it really is a bit of a self-confession regarding my ability to love properly. Of all the songs though, my favourite would be ‘Ella’. I am still so in love with the textures and sounds in it, the vocal delivery, the spontaneous moments of feeling and of course, Ella’s own voice sampled within.
EQ: We’re really excited to see where your career goes from here. What can we expect from you the remainder of 2021 – are there any exclusives you can let us in on?
E: I can tell you that I have a release to follow my EP, and it is not far off! This is a collaboration with the Australian based producer Godriguez and Ken Allars. We have created something very cinematic, swelling with strings, brass and otherworldly electro sounds. As we are in and out of lockdowns here, it’s been hard to plan a launch or show, but in any case, I will keep the music coming for sure and there is so much more to come!
YouTube/Esmé
Stream Brooklyn EP HERE
Keep up with Esmé on socials
Instagram: @soundsofesme