Mark Moray – Can I say welcome back home to Melbourne, or are you still travelling?
Grace Cummings – No not travelling. I got back into Melbourne a couple of days ago. Just getting used to things again and enjoying coming back to our summer.
MM – So were you born in Melbourne?
GC – I was yeah. I have a very hipster passport; it says Fitzroy on it.
MM – Well then being born in Melbourne, where the live music and sporting mad capital of Australia is located, what made you decide to become a musician rather than a sportsperson?
GC – I don’t know. I probably couldn’t have been bothered being a sports person. I think I pulled a lot of sickies in PE. (physical education) at school, but I’ve always loved music. I never thought I would become a musician, but music always made me feel good. It is one of those things that makes me feel good in a particular way.
MM – Ok, I am going to ask this question with fear if I get this totally wrong, but you must be in your mid 20’s so how did someone at your age seem to be so advanced in your song writing? When did it all begin?
GC – Umm I won’t actually tell you how old I am (laughing). I think I have always been writing stuff. I have always written poetry, and a lot of short stories. I did a lot of writing at university and it kind of made its way into becoming a song or just putting music to something that I have written. I kind of think that its not that different if you sing one thing and read another. I have always been interested in literature.
MM – I see you as a singer / songwriter that plays guitar rather than a guitarist. How do you see yourself as a musician?
GC – Absolutely. I started playing the guitar because I couldn’t pick up a piano and take it to a bar, so it was easier to pick up a guitar. I taught myself simple stuff that I could play and sing over. I certainly don’t think of myself as a guitarist, but certainly as a singer or songwriter.
MM – You began as a drummer?
GC – I did.
MM – So how many instruments do you play, and will you be expanding on that?
GC – Absolutely, The more the better in my mind. Well, the instrument I play at the moment is the piano, and I have been playing that ever since I was a kid which I enjoy most. I love sitting at the piano and singing over it.
MM – To me, your voice has so much power that it seems that the music is a backdrop to your artistic work. Did you practice your singing to deliver your unique sound, or did you try to find a sound to compliment your lyrics?
GC – I don’t know. I don’t think I was trying to seek anything. I think I just let myself do exactly what I feel in the moment. I think if it sounds unique, it is possibly because I have tried not to sound like anyone else.
MM – In 2019 you released “Refuge Cove” (by the way I love the album cover)
GC – So do I. It’s a ripper.
MM – As a first album, did it reach your expectations as songwriter?
GC – I don’t know. It seems like it was done a fair while ago. I think it was the first thing that I had done. I didn’t have any intention of those songs being an album and I had an opportunity to deliver an album to a record label, so I just put it together. I didn’t curate it as a piece of work, so I think that everything that happened with that album was a genuine surprise for me. The fact that anyone managed to hear the album or that anyone wanted to hear it was a pretty good expectation to have.
MM – Being a child growing up in the world of YouTube, Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms, is the importance of being signed to a major record label still a musician’s dream, or is doing your own thing independently better?
GC – I would never say one thing is better than another thing but I feel like it depends on how thick your skin is probably. I think doing things on your own just depends on how much stamina you have. Maybe sometimes you need a bit of help especially when there are so many people around you trying to do the same thing. Any help is good help I think I don’t think that means you can’t do things on your own. I absolutely think that you can. It depends on your drive I suppose.
MM – I suppose with independent labels you may have more artistic say in it.
GC – I guess so, I wouldn’t really take well to someone telling me what to do either.
MM – Your second album “Storm Queen” was released last year 2022 after Covid. To me the album identifies the struggle of Covid and (especially in Melbourne with the Lockdowns) certainly its toll on mental health. So how important was it to complete this album soon after the lockdowns?
GC – It was important to me what I was doing and what I cared about, and it kind of gave me a purpose at a time where I felt I had none. With the state of the world at the time and just sitting around, I thought it was important to me. I tried not to see it as a product of covid or something like that. I would rather not give it any more attention to be honest.
MM – I love the opening song ‘Heaven’. It is powerful in voice, lyrics and with the raw sound of the sax, it is almost theatrical in its delivery. This is so different to the first album. Was this intentional or life experience from the first album that brought you to this different sound?
GC – I think it was intentional and that the theatricality of it was also intentional from me. It was kind of difficult to think about how I would get it done where we couldn’t have more than three people in a room because of restrictions. All I could think about was what I would do with one instrument and one element, and then when I started thinking about the song ‘Storm Queen’ the thought of using a saxophone and baritone sax was really going to make it go WOW! and it does.
MM – I think the production of it is amazing. After walking away from listening to the first album, I thought Grace is a Folk singer, but after the second album, I thought you took folk to a different level. Do you see yourself as a folk singer?
GC – I don’t know. I don’t think I saw myself as a folk singer as a character. I think I get stumped when people ask me questions about genres and stuff as I don’t honestly give it a thought at all, and whatever I fit in (music genre), I am not quite sure.
MM – This year you will be performing at WOMADelaide. How did this come about?
GC – I don’t know, I suppose the same way as I get into other festivals. Through my booking agent.
MM – Have you been to WOMADelaide before?
GC – No haven’t. I am excited to see a lot of people that are in the line-up, which is great, and also my family are all from Adelaide. I went there a lot when growing up, but I’ve never been to WOMAD so it will be a first and a great one.
MM – What are your expectations at WOMADelaide?
GC – I don’t know. It’s a festival that I get to be part of and luckily, I’ll get to play a little bit.
MM – Finally, I believe there is a third album in the making? Is it going to be different from the first two?
GC – Of course. It would bloody want to be wouldn’t it (laughing). Yes, I think so, and it will be coming from me so I think there is still going to be a similar element but definitely going for something different absolutely.
MM – When do you think it will be released?
GC – We are figuring it out at the moment. I hope to have it out into the world as soon as I can. I love doing that.
MM – Have you thought of the album cover for it yet?
GC – I’m thinking about it. Things are rolling around in my brain. It’s a fun part thinking of the kind of design and trying to work it all out.
