Anna Smyrk
Anna Smyrk returns with an incredible first taste off her upcoming third EP. The latest single, Human Condition, explores her new venture into indie-pop. Departing from previous folk releases, Anna incorporates a new elevated sonic production into her latest release while keeping her signature inimitable vocals and melodies at the forefront. Hazy Days Music would like to thank Anna for taking the time out and having a chat.
I’m a big fan of your first two EPs, could you give us a quick run-through of this project’s history? And what have you been up to since your last release?
I released my first EP in 2016, Song of the silver-tongued Magpie, and released my second EP, Swim, right at the end of 2019. They are both quite folk/acoustic sounding EPs. I did a bunch of touring around those two records, playing a bunch of really great folk festivals, and started planning a tour overseas. I was booked in to do some shows in the UK in 2020, but, of course, then everything changed, and I was left here in Melbourne and ended up writing a new EP over lockdown. I recorded that at the end of 2020 and just released my first single, Human Condition. Playing overseas feels like a distant dream now. I was pretty bummed about it when it didn't happen, but people have had it a lot worse than me.
I love the new sound in your latest single, Human Condition. How was writing and recording this song? What led you to experiment with the different music styles?
I'd been thinking for a while about changing things up with the style and sound of the music I was making. I probably wouldn't have really had the time to explore that if I was touring. Staying here in Melbourne allowed me the time to try stuff out and think about it in more depth. This new record wouldn't exist if it hadn't been for lockdown, a silver lining, I guess.
I wrote Human Condition during the second lockdown here in Melbourne, 2020. That lockdown made me really think about how important connection and support is and what crucial and fundamental role it plays in staying well and happy. That got me thinking about how our world/society doesn't really value/prioritise that connection. Our world is much more geared around getting ahead, looking out for yourself, and looking out for number one. It's actually quite hard to build that connection back in pre-COVID times, I was thinking about how that's pretty messed up, and I was feeling kind of frustrated about that. Human Condition is an outpouring of my frustrations on that.
Human Condition is the first song Joel Quartermain, and I worked on together. I really liked his production work on some of the previous records he has worked on, and I was super stoked about working with him. Joel is amazing! And has worked with so many great artists. I sent him a few demos off my upcoming EP, and Human Condition was actually the first song we recorded together. It was probably the one that spoke to him the most off the record and the best track to explore this new shift in sound.
Joel had some really good ideas production-wise and played a bunch on the song, playing the drums, bass, and a little guitar.
It was really just a process of layering up those instruments, doing our parts together and seeing what felt good. I remember finishing up for the day and saying to him; it sounds exactly how I thought it was going to sound but better!
I was super excited!
I can't wait for your upcoming EP to come out! Can you give us an insight into the writing and recording of this record? Did Joel Quartermain help produce the whole record?
It's going to be a six-track EP. I sort of didn't set out to write it this way, but looking back on all the songs, they all are about connection, the things that bring us together and the things that make it hard to connect. A lot of the songs I started writing before COVID.
For my work, I travel a lot, in my other life I work as a consultant for the World Health Organisation, so I spend a lot of my time working overseas. In 2019, I spent a lot of my time back and forth between here and Manila, in the Philippines. I'd be a couple of months working in the Philippines and a couple of months back here touring and working on my music, travelling back and forth throughout the years.
A lot of the songs are long-distance love songs. I was away from my partner, friends and family a lot. I had been away most of the time over the past five or six years, travelling so much for work and touring. Between those things, it's kind of hard to maintain some of those connections that are most important to me.
This EP is really important to me, talking about connection and where I have been living over the past few years.
Joel produced the whole EP. He was just amazing to work with and had so many great ideas. Joel really got the idea of what I was trying to do, maybe even better than I was at the start. It was a big shift in sound for me, and I think I was a bit apprehensive about how to go about it all and achieve what I had in mind successfully. Joel hit the nail on the head and came up with great ideas on how to put the songs together, the different kinds of instrumentation, parts, layers, to get what I was going for.
Did lockdown affect the scheduling of recording this EP at all?
We were lucky to get it done after the second lockdown had finished. We scheduled to work on the songs and head into the studio around August/September, but it all got pushed back. We kept postponing it till we were able to do it together in person in November.
I feel like your melodies and lyrics have always been the main focus of your music. Has your writing style changed while you have been experimenting with this new sound?
I have always really loved writing melodies and lyrics.
I have always been super keen to highlight those in my songwriting, and I don't think that has really changed very much in my process even though the sound has changed.
What has changed is much more on the production side. The songwriting is pretty similar in a lot of ways, the style of production now is a lot bigger, it’s got the typical band feel (drums, bass, guitar and a lot of violin is still on the new record). I play with this wonderful musician Alex Burkoy, who plays in TinPan Orange and a bunch of other bands around the place. He is just incredible and brings heaps to the songs. There is definitely still that element there, but that is the main difference in comparison to the old recordings, which were much more acoustic-driven, and my vocals were the centrepiece of the songs.
You must be excited for your upcoming regional Victorian tour! Where are you playing?
I am doing a little string of shows throughout Victoria. I feel like it's a little too ambitious to go too much further out. I love playing shows in regional Victoria. I'm playing in Chewton near Castlemaine, Beechworth, Bendigo and a Melbourne show.
Check out my socials for the latest news.
*Tour has been postponed due to Melbourne's lockdown and is currently get rescheduled*
The Melbourne single launch is now on the 27th of June at The Retreat Hotel - Tickets here
How tough is coordinating your music, touring and recording around your work schedule? It must get pretty challenging when you are overseas for big chunks of the year.
It's a huge juggling act trying to organise it all and it can get stressful at times, but it all seems to suit me quite well.
I enjoy having the chunks of time when I am not working, where I can just focus on my music and play shows. The other times when I am working, I am still always thinking about my music, it gives me a chance to catch up on the behind the scenes stuff that never stops.
I find that having my brain focused on something else is really good for me. I kind of get bored only doing one thing for too long. I think it's useful to have my brain focused on something else for a little while. It happens to me so often, that when I’m super busy with my work, I get so many song ideas. I think there is something in that, where having my brain really occupied on something else, it creates space for new music ideas.
What are your plans for the rest of 2021?
I'll release another single in a couple of months, it's a song that I really love, and I can't wait for it to be released. My EP will be out maybe six or so weeks after that and I've got a bunch of shows that will follow. It's all still in the works at the moment. Hopefully, we will be able to tour the rest of Australia soon.