Born in Wales and raised in Australia, Stella Donnelly has been making aural waves since she burst on to the scene with last year’s “Boys Will Be Boys”. Following up with the stunning debut EP “Thrush Metal”, she’s since proven herself to be an exciting new voice and a buzzing talent destined to dominate.
Having signed to Secretly Canadian, she’s now spoiling us with a re-issue of her debut record and the release of a new vid for EP fave, “Mechanical Bull”. “’Mechanical Bull’ is dedicated to people who work in hospitality who have to deal with customers, especially drunk ones, harassing them and making objectifying comments,” she explains. “I wrote this about my experience working in bars, it was a nice way to release some of the frustration I had!”
Eager to discover more, we caught up with Stella to find out what else 2018 has in store.
Hey Stella, how are you?
I am great thank you!
How’s this week been? You just released the news that you’ve signed to Secretly Canadian…
This week has been crazy. I’ve been busy writing songs and yes, the news is out about Secretly Canadian, which is really nice because I’m not that great at keeping secrets!
Can you talk us through the process of signing?
I met Ben Swanson who is part of the group that began Secretly Canadian at Big Sound Music Conference in Brisbane last year; he came to my showcases, the rest is history!
So going back to the beginning, when did you first become interested in music?
Since I was a baby and my parents had a janky old piano that I would always play around on.
Have you always wanted to be a musician?
I think deep down I have always wanted to be a musician. It probably became more of a secure dream when I was in high school.
What was the first song you wrote?
It’s a song called “Our Place” about my grandmother’s house. It was a terribly written song, I rhymed “Place” with “Place”! Like Pitbull rhyming “Kodak” with “Kodak”…
“My intention was to put something out that was honest and as real to me as I possibly could get it.”
What kind of things do you draw inspiration from when writing?
It varies between songs, sometimes it’s just a real life event that happened and others it’s an idea of where I think something is headed.
“Thrush Metal” came out last year, what’s life been like since the EP dropped?
Very different, exciting and scary! I have learned so much since the EP came out.
And what was the inspiration behind it?
Honestly, my intention was to put something out that was honest and as real to me as I possibly could get it.
You’ve just announced its expanded release, with new track “Talking”. Can you tell us a bit about the song?
It’s about a previous relationship tied in with his views of the world that didn’t quite match up to mine.
Are you planning on releasing any other records this year?
I am working on a record to be released early next year!
Nice. So elsewhere what do you have up your sleeve for 2018?
I am about to embark on a three month tour which includes Europe, which is really exciting, other than that I’m just going to be writing music and trying to stay healthy.
