Hatchie on home, creativity and ‘Liquorice’

Hatchie at Against The Grain. Photo credit: Kelsey Doyle (@kjdoyle)

Interview by Kade Homa

Returning to Magandjin/Brisbane for a hometown show, Hatchie is finding comfort in familiar faces, warm weather and a perspective that only comes with time away. With her latest album Liquorice, the Brisbane-born artist has embraced a quieter, more intentional approach to creativity, trading the pressure of chasing streaming numbers for the freedom of working within her own limitations. Ahead of taking the stage at Against The Grain, Hatchie spoke with Kade about coming home, learning to tune out the noise of the internet, finding inspiration in DIY filmmaking and why she's no longer trying to "level up" with every record.

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Kade: How are you today and how does it feel now that you're back in Brisbane?

Hatchie: It's good. It's always great coming back. I love being here. I've already seen a couple of family members and some old friends, so it's kind of nice that we can tie in playing a gig with ticking off those personal social boxes as well. And the weather's beautiful, so I can't complain.

Kade: Now that you've been gone a while, living in Melbourne, how do you feel about returning to Brisbane? Are there things that you appreciate more each time you come back that you didn't quite when you were growing up?

Hatchie: Definitely, yeah. I think I always grew up hating summer. That's a big one for me. I think when you grow up in such a tropical hot environment, it can be easy to get sick of it. I'm a sweaty person. I sweat easily. I overheat easily. So that was one thing that I thought I wouldn't miss. But now in the dark, cold winter in Melbourne I am definitely appreciating it more. It's nice to not have to be bundled up right now. So yeah, that's still my favourite part.

Kade: Something you've spoken about a lot recently in a couple different interviews was about letting go of the need to constantly feel like you're getting bigger, especially looking at, numbers on a screen. With this latest album release and subsequent couple months, do you feel like that's something you've solved yet or is it something you're still working on?

Hatchie: Yeah, it's definitely something I'm still working on. I think it ebbs and flows. There are periods when I'm not thinking about that stuff at all and I'm just so stoked and so satisfied and feel really fulfilled. Then there are definitely times when I, do kind of get caught up in that stuff still. I think it can be hard being a musician right now and trying to not notice those numbers, especially when you're kind of forced to be a content creating machine or you kind of feel like you have to. So yeah, it comes and goes. But for the most part, pretty good.

Kade: For the times when it does come back in, what pulls you back into that bad mindset where you think, these numbers need to go up, and you aren’t necessarily looking at the artistry side of it?

Hatchie: Honestly, just anytime I spend too much time online. So, I know that I just need to spend less time on my phone. I need to stop comparing myself to other artists. That's definitely the biggest thing because everyone has a completely different journey. I don't know, I guess I'm just someone who does compare myself to other people a lot in general. So that's definitely when it happens the most, when I see someone else doing really well and I wonder why it's not happening for me. But that's okay, it’s all part of it. 

Kade: Speaking more about what you've said recently in interviews, one thing that really struck me was when you said you had to take a break partly to prove to yourself that momentum, didn't necessarily matter to you as much. During that period of time, when you were on that break, what did that teach you about yourself outside of being Hatchie the artist?

Hatchie: I think it's helped me to appreciate the little things more. Again, yeah, like it's relevant to being an artist, but also in my personal life, you know, appreciating spending the day with my husband and having a really nice time or going out to dinner with my friends and cackling the whole night long, that kind of stuff. I think I really just took everything for granted when I was super caught up in the success. So now I feel like I actually genuinely; as cheesy as it sounds, I'm more intentional with my time and I really try and stop to smell the roses.

Kade: Now the album on everyone’s mind, the new one, Liquorice.

Hatchie: I hope so [laughs].

Kade: Talking about the album, you said that one of the key parts of it in the creative process was accepting your limitations rather than necessarily fighting against them. In a way, do you think your limitations have become one of your best creative tools?

Hatchie: I like to think so, yeah. I think I've really loved creating within the boundaries of what I can already do and not being so obsessed with trying to level up with every album. So, I do feel more creative. You know, I've been using my voice as more of an instrument. I've been getting less stuck on needing to get better at guitar and needing to be the best at anything. So, it's been good. It's definitely something that I have to remind myself of and kind of force myself to do, but I think it's a really good practice.

Kade: Is there a song or a moment on any of the songs where you feel best personifies that?

Hatchie: Maybe… ‘Liquorice’, the song itself, because that's such a simple track. Production in particular is so simple, but I feel like I was able to do a lot with what I had. So, I was really stoked with how that song turned out.

Kade: Yeah, love it. So, in the writing and recording process, you spent time all around the world, from Melbourne to New York. Do you feel that your creative juices flowed a little differently in each different place that you were writing?

Hatchie: I think it's always good to just be somewhere new for me. I think stepping outside of my comfort zone, kind of getting a fresh start in general, regardless of where it is, I've found has been really helpful. So, it doesn't matter what city it is, as long as it's like a bit of a shift in energy, then I think that always helps get my kind of creative juices flowing. So, I think, yeah, it's not about like being in Brisbane or New York or LA or Melbourne, it doesn't matter.

Hatchie at Against The Grain. Photo credit: Kelsey Doyle (@kjdoyle)

Kade: When you come back to Brisbane, do you ever feel like making music like the old days?

Hatchie: Yeah, totally. I think I'll always have that little part of me that really loves making kind of more simple like 90s power pop, like Lemonheads kind of guitar music. I think being in more Summery weather and being at these kind of events definitely brings that back into focus for me. Whereas when I'm in Melbourne, I kind of make more like moody, sad, cold music.

Kade: Reminiscent of the weather.

Hatchie: Exactly, yeah [laughs]. I'm very much affected by the seasons, so yeah.

Kade: Moving on to the discussion of the album, when you release an album, there's so much discussion online from every corner of the internet. Looking at what people have been saying about the album, is there anything that you think people are misunderstanding?

Hatchie: That's a really good question. I think something for me, something that bothers me is when people take lyrics really literally and they make assumptions about what the songs are about. Particularly with me being in a long-term relationship and being married, I'm in a really amazing relationship that's super supportive. But, you know, it's not without, you know, regular couple problems. So, I think what I'm trying to say is, just because it sounds like I'm writing about like breakups and heartbreak, it doesn't mean that it's not feelings that I've felt and it's not true to my experience.

Kade: Do you feel like there were any times where something along the way was got really misconstrued?

Hatchie: Nothing really with this album like I have had with previous… also I think partly because I don't read reviews anymore and I try not to read comments so that's a big one for me. There probably is a bunch of shit that people are saying that is wrong but I'm trying to tune it out. I think with the last album there were a few reviews or there was one review in particular where they're like "“oh she's obviously taken inspiration from XYZ and I was like I've literally never listened to that artist in my life that kind of thing. Like when people are like “oh this song is about this” and I'm like it's not. It's fine if it is to you, but don't put words in my mouth. So that's the main thing.

Kade: You've been touring a lot, so when you're touring do you ever feel that the songs feel different or have different meanings when you're performing them in a live setting versus a studio setting?

Hatchie: A bit. I mean, it's pretty set in stone for me, but I think yeah, they can kind of take on a new form live, which can breathe new life into them and kind of give you a different perspective, but it's not like an ever-changing thing for me.

Kade: To move towards wrapping things up, I know you've spoken about working with your limitations and working with what you do know, but do you think there's something that if you were to chase it creatively that you'd like to venture into in the future?

Hatchie: Yeah, I mean I'd love to be able to produce my own music because I think I often struggle to get ideas across. I can hear it in my head, and I don't have the tools to get it out onto the page or into the laptop sounding how it sounds in my head and that can be really frustrating. But, I mean, sometimes that means the songs end up sounding even more different or more interesting, so it can be a positive. Something else I would really love to try in another lifetime, maybe this one, would be working on movie scores. I'm a huge film fan, and that was actually something I thought about doing when I was younger, was working on music soundtracking and scoring, so. Maybe one day, but not with my current skill set.

Kade: Actually, just building off of the movies there, I know you mentioned with respect to your creative process of focusing on the DIY, run-and-gun style of [Jean-Luc] Godard, sorry if I’m mispronouncing that [laughs].

Hatchie: Oh, that's fine.

Kade: I wanted to ask you a little bit more about that because it really interested me how a style from one medium can translate to another medium. So what elements really bled through?

Hatchie: I think the DIY was the main thing. The fact that, they were just stealing, they were just borrowing time, they were stealing moments, any moment that they could. They weren't getting permission to film in public places, they were just doing it until they got sent or turned away, and that kind of stuff. It carries across into our music videos. We always have almost no budget for our videos, so Joe, my husband, and I, have to do them together out in public, and it can feel like on the verge of being really humiliating, but you just have to fucking do it. But yeah, I think also just seeing my limitations as informing my style, in terms of vocally and instrumentally. That was also inspired by him.

Kade: Well, I think that'll about do it, thank you so much for you time.

Hatchie: Thank you so much.

Kade and Hatchie at Against The Grain.

Listen to ‘Liquorice’ by Hatchie below.