STACK Issue 151 May 2017

89 / 92

2 1
Night Thinker EP
by Amy Shark is out now
via Sony.
while like ‘I’m into punk bands and that’s
what I’m into.’ But then you meet different
people, and it just took me a while to take
it on and appreciate other artists and stuff.
How did you go hosting Rage?
It was so much fun. Rage was always
on at my house, I was really lucky, I had
a really good library of music when I was
growing up - The Police, Silverchair, all
these great bands. Rage was a big part
of me growing up, and it was really cool
to be in there and talk about songs that I
liked. It was a really cool experience.
Can you walk us through what
happened following Adore dropping
at #2 on the Hottest 100?
Oh man. It was a very big day.
Obviously, the next day was like a lot of
talking about it, and it was hard because
even for me it hadn’t quite registered, I
was like did that actually happen? That’s
another thing that I’ve sort of grown up
listening to, like it’s always been a day
where your friends listen to it. I wasn’t
even thinking ‘one day Amy you might
have a song in the countdown,’ it wasn’t
even in my head. I never even thought
that. To think it came in number 2 - even
when I think about it now it’s weird.
Everything sort of escalated very quickly
after that, which was great.
Is there anyone in particular that you’d
love to collab with?
A stack of people. I really like The
Weeknd – I’ve been a big fan of his since
the early days, I really liked his early EPs.
Obviously I’m a fan of Lorde as well;
when I think of writing with someone
I love how she writes. And I mean
obviously Eminem, but that’s probably
something that will stay in my dream land.
How did the collaboration with Allday
on new track Worst Girl come about?
I’ve been a fan of him for so long. I
think he is super, super talented. I love
the way he writes, he’s just got that
sound, it’s just so cruisy and polished.
I heard a couple of songs where he let
out a couple of real singy parts in his
songs and I was like ‘I really can hear him
on this particular song.’
I was still at the stage
where I was like ‘we’re
not gonna be able to get
Allday, like come on,’ but
then everything sorta
happened and he was like
‘of course!’ I was sorta
talking to him even before
that; he’s so good with
his fans. It was great, and
he liked the song. We
had a day where we were
just sorta driving around
Melbourne and I played it
to him in his car and he’s
like ‘yeah, I’m feeling it,’
and we had a really fun
time in the studio.
You posted a pic with
Greta Ray – is there a
tune on the way or are
you guys just mates?
She’s just beautiful. I’m
actually a Greta Ray fan, I
don’t know how some of her songs sound
the way they do. She has so much power,
and she’s ‘like 12’. She’s so young but so
full of soul, and crazy talented. It’s just
one of those things, we just respect what
each other does. Where there are people
who won’t reach out, we wear our hearts
on our sleeves; if I think you’re great I’m
gonna tell you I think you’re great, and
she’s the same.
What can you tell us about how the
clip for Weekends came together?
It’s pretty different. I knew it was gonna
spin people out a little, but I kinda wanted
that cause it’s got such that big vibe. I’m
sure people thought it was gonna be
champagne popping, but I really didn’t
want that. The whole thing about that
song is kinda reminiscing on times where
you did have that part-time job, where
you’re just stuck in this almost-detention
centre where you’re stuck with all these
people you don’t wanna be around, just
daydreaming about where you’d rather be
and who you wanna be hanging out with.
I watched The Breakfast Club and Empire
Records and I just loved
having people you could
relate to; we were all
absolutely useless at our
jobs and obviously were
all forced to be together
in this one spot on the
weekends.
Where did the EP name
Night Thinker come
from?
I write a lot at night –
I’m a bit nocturnal. That’s
when I’m at my peak,
that’s usually when I’ve
got a space to myself. It’s
been like that since I was
quite young, and learning
to play guitar and writing
songs for this school band
that I was in. I was the
writer and I would always
have a pen and paper next
to my bed. I would just
come up with just these
words, and it would always be just as I
was about to fall asleep, you know. It was
this whole thing, I was just addicted to it,
so the name just made sense.
Is there anyone on the bill for the
festivals you’ve got coming up that
you’re keen to hang out with?
I’m a pretty big Wombats fan. I’m
actually never seen them live. I hear that
they are some of the best acts, like one
of the best acts to see live. I’ve YouTubed
the hell out of them, and watched a lot in
my own time so I’m really looking forward
to seeing them. It’s very exciting.
Amy Shark withSTACK’s
Alesha Kolbe