A Chat with Pipin (07.07.2020)

OSR: Who influenced you to become a musician?

Pipin: Music was always an important part of my family growing up and that creative drive was instilled in me early on. My parents were very encouraging and gave us (my siblings and I) the opportunity to try out a range of instruments, so the interest definitely sparked there. More recently, my partner Hugh Middleton (Mid Ayr, The Trouble with Templeton) has inspired me to develop as an artist and from that creative partnership the Pipin project was born.

OSR: When did you start writing music?

Pipin: Creative writing has always piqued my interest and even before writing fully formed songs, I wrote a lot of short stories and poems. I really started composing proper songs in high school and then throughout university whilst studying to be a music teacher. All the songs that I have written and released for this project have been put together in the last three years, where I feel I have continuously developed my sound and songwriting skills.

---

---

OSR: How do you go about writing a song? Do you start with the lyrics or the melody?

Pipin: I normally begin with a chord progression on either the piano or guitar and work from there until I have a really solid song structure with lyrics and vocal melody. From there, I take the ideas to my producer, Hugh from Out with the In Studios, and together we layer instruments and vocals to create the song. It is an ever-evolving practise though and I’m constantly experimenting with myself to try out different methods of songwriting.

OSR: Does your music fit into your local scene? If so, how do you take advantage of that? If not, how do you overcome that problem?

Pipin: Fortunately, I really feel like there is a space for dreamy pop music in Brisbane. The artistic community here is full of vibrant, welcoming and wonderful people and I feel really blessed to be an emerging artist here.

OSR: Do you sing in the shower? If so, what songs?

Pipin: Who doesn’t sing in the shower? My showerhead is the audience to a wide variety of styles and genres. At the moment, I’ve been stuck on the chorus hook from Emma Louise’s song ‘Falling Apart’. There’s something therapeutic about belting “I keep on falling, falling apart” under the spray of some hot H2O.

OSR: Do you have advice for anyone who would like to enter the music industry?

Pipin: I’m still madly stumbling around and exploring what it means to be a part of this industry myself. I suppose the best thing I’ve learnt is to collaborate, you don’t have to be highly skilled in every single avenue to pursue your art form.

---

---

OSR: Does ‘Can’t Be Friends’ have a personal backstory?

Pipin: ‘Can’t Be Friends’ came to life following an evening I spent with some friends who I was really close with for a period of time. During the course of the evening, there was an unspoken realisation that we just weren’t ‘clicking’ anymore. It made me nostalgic for those friendships and a part of myself that I knew had changed, but there was also an acceptance in that experience that it’s just a part of growing up.

OSR: What drew you to this musical genre?

Pipin: Making pop music is just so much fun. It’s such an enjoyable experience to write, create and play.

OSR: Do you plan your music releases or do you finish a song and release it?

Pipin: I’ve done both. For the first two releases, I just put them out in the world once they were finished. ‘Can’t Be Friends’ had a little more planning involved because of how much I’d learnt from the previous releases and I released this song through a label instead of independently.

OSR: What are your plans for the future?

Pipin: At the moment I am planning for another single release and an EP that’ll come out at the start of spring. Also playing live shows in my hometown of Brisbane as music venues open their doors after the lockdown.

---

Thanks to Pipin for chatting with us! You can find more about her on her Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.