Phoebe Go
Australian musician Phoebe Go is preparing to launch her debut EP, Player. The Melbourne native talks to us about her high school band, how the lockdowns gave her a chance to write the EP and how her music has changed since she started out.
When did you get your start as a musician?
I’ve been drawn to music since I was a kid. I grew up playing classical cello but I guess I started writing songs when I was about 12. I haven’t really stopped since then.
You were in a band in high school - when did you begin working as a solo artist?
I joined my first band Snakadaktal when I was 15 and I guess I've been playing and writing ever since. But I’ve never done it under my own name until now. I’ve been making records with my friend Joey for the last 7 or 8 years in our band Two People. So yeah, I only just started my solo project last year. I was a bit freaked out by it initially, but I’m having so much fun!
When was your new Player EP written?
I wrote the songs in 2020 and 2021. In and around all those lockdowns. It felt like a really cool opportunity to hunker down and figure myself out, like proper hibernation. But I guess it was also kinda intense in that way. There was nothing to break up the process so I was really up to my ears in those songs during that time. I look back on it now and it feels like I didn’t leave that studio for a whole year! It just feels really condensed for some reason.
Do you find it easy to write about personal experiences, things close to you?
I don’t find it easy, but I also don’t really know any other way. I guess I wouldn’t bother writing a song unless I felt like I had something to say or something to understand. I feel like songwriting is the thing I turn to you know. I don't know how to live without it.
Do you feel your sound has evolved much since your teens?
Yeah, for sure, but I’ve been collaborating all this time, so I think that’s inevitable in a way. I think since my teens I’ve just been getting closer and closer to myself. Like I’m probably more comfortable being honest lyrically now than I would have been back then. It’s really cool to take all my experience in music over the last 10 years and use it on a project that is so uniquely me.
There are a lot of great Australian musicians around at the moment - is there anyone you admire or would like to work with?
Oh, so many - and luckily some of them are my friends. Juice Webster, Armlock, Hannah McKittrick… So much good stuff going on.
What else do you have planned for the rest of the year?
Lots of fun things! I’ll be launching my EP and playing some shows around that in Aus, and then yeah, recording more music in November and December. Can’t wait!
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Words: Scott Bates