Over the past couple of years Queensland artist Billie Rose has been releasing alluring, swirling, sometimes mystical singles including ‘Can’t Bring Back the Dead’ and ‘Black Dress’. Her latest is ‘Slaying Ghosts’ and it’s also the name of the EP that captures those single releases and marks the conclusion of that creative chapter in her life.
Themes unintentionally emerged amongst the tracks, give that the others are ‘Heartbreak Subway Train’ and ‘Label Me a Killer’ – themes of darkness and death (as ‘subway’ could be seen to suggest darkness) that are only reinforced by Billie’s voice with its lightness and clarity that suggest she is telling these stories from a perspective of distance and self-awareness.
Part of the function of art is to help the audience manage times in their own lives that they may see reflected in the art itself; part of the role – and sacrifice – of the artist is to be prepared to pour their experiences into their work so that others may benefit from it. In being willing to work with darkness, Billie gives her audience the chance to also move towards light, as she has by creating these songs.
Billie worked with her regular producer Garret Kato on the new track, and the pair drew inspiration from Nirvana for the production of the song, which she wrote with regular collaborator Peta-Cherae.
In this interview we talk about both of those long-term associations and the benefits of working with collaborators you know well. Billie is also frank about the challenges of being an independent artist, and how she is committed to her art all the same. This is something that artists around Australia can do no doubt relate to: working in small territory, releasing music into a market that is flooded with music from overseas, trying to mark amongst it all. Her dedication to her craft, her persistence in showing up for her music, are inspiring, especially since what that is funnelled into is the work itself: making the best songs possible, then working to take them to as many people as possible.
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