We're all about Blush. The Perth-based band are cutting through with an exciting ferocity and energetic unapologeticness. Their recent single EMBARASSED 4 U, and its accompanying music video, have confirmed they are ones to watch. We like their style, their sound and what they have to say:

We love your new single. Tell us about writing it. What was the catalyst? 

Skye: The most fun that I’ve had when writing a song was for this one. With a clear idea already in my head, the lyrics just flowed out so easily; very conversational, directly to the point, and dripping in sarcasm. It was so easy for me to write when at the time, I’d had more than a handful of people express how ‘over-the-top’ and ‘exhausting’ I was. It completely altered my brain chemistry to believe that everyone in the room immediately had that same perception of me. It just got to a point where the only way to shut off that constant negative inner dialogue, was to completely make fun of the entire situation. So, by turning the narrative on top of its head and taking on the persona of these pessimistic voices,I started to realise how ridiculous the entire belief was and continued to roll with that theme for the rest of the song, making it just as melodramatic and absurd as the voices in my head. 

Did the idea begin in the studio? Which environments bring out the best in your writing?

Skye: The idea began in my bedroom. I knew that I wanted a very simple, repetitive guitar part and played the first 3 chords that I thought of, and went with it. It was one of the very few songs where everything came together very quickly; within 10 minutes of having the guitar part, the first verse was written, and everything else followed just as quickly. When I start a song, I have to be in complete silence, often opting for singing over voice memos in my car, or locking myself away in my bedroom or makeshift music room in the back of my house while I pluck away at my guitar until I find something that sticks. 

You worked with Andy Lawson - what does he bring to the world of Blush?

Gianna: Other than being an incredible producer, Andy proves how important it is to work with someone who actually cares about the artists as individuals. He pours his soul into the recording sessions while maintaining a strong alliance with our own personal creative visions. He makes long days fun, creative and personable. 

The video is also great. What inspired the visuals for this single? We were slightly reminded of the Fontaines DC Here’s the Thing video in terms of the treatment (which we love).

Holly: That is the biggest compliment because I absolutely love that video and song! The visuals for this video were initially sparked when in one rehearsal I said to everyone “we should play this with the biggest smiles on our faces and be super enthusiastic” and a vision hit me of us dressing up in 80’s ball dresses on a carnival-like stage to try and impress a crowd. I think the inspiration mainly just came from the song itself, as well as my love for watching music videos with my Dad on Rage every Saturday morning when I was a kid. From the beginning, I really wanted the visuals to be super over-dramatic and play into the sarcastic nature of the song, while also addressing the shared experience of negative self-talk. In the video, you see us on stage and then you also see us as the characters in the audience shouting the lyrics back at ourselves. This was done to represent the battle between yourself and your inner monologue, and how irrational and ridiculous it can get. While on the other hand, the super bright and playful costumes, set design and props were all an integral part of showing how silly and comical these thoughts are when you take a step back. 

Speaking of visuals - we love your style. Is fashion a big part of the world of Blush?

Skye & Gianna: Yes, one million percent. We’ve always been so inspired to think outside the box when it comes to style as a form of expression, from op shop finds, to flipping old forgotten clothes from our own wardrobes, to hand designing, painting and sewing our own merch, to dressing up and styling ourselves for our gigs. Being able to incorporate that part of ourselves into our visual identity is super liberating and exciting, and it makes us feel more and more confident to simply wear what is authentic to us and what makes us happy. Fashion is a statement, it can be fun and playful, it can be political, it can be sexy or it can be daggy or chic, to us, it is the perfect form of self expression. 

There’s an exciting wave of this post punk rock sound coming through Australia right now and we think Blush is one of the most exciting bands within that movement. How has being from Perth and making music there influenced your sound?

Skye & Gianna: Thank you so much! We’re incredibly grateful for the traction we’ve been experiencing within the Australian music scene, it’s been deeply encouraging and inspiring for us as a relatively new band on the scene. We’ve all grown up in and around local bands that have somewhat shaped and influenced our sound, but mostly we draw inspiration from a huge range of powerful female figures throughout music, including - but not limited to - Hole, Amyl and the Sniffers, Wolf Alice, Wet Leg, The Runaways, and so many more in an endless list of talented and influential female artists. The Perth music scene is such a tight-knit, supportive community, making it easy to connect, collaborate, and be exposed to a wide range of artists and styles. This naturally expands our creative vision and continues to push us to evolve and experiment in our own music a whole lot more. Making and sharing music in Perth doesn’t so much directly influence our sound, but more so how we can get our music to listeners across the country when we are the most isolated city in the world. So, we’ve had to focus on trying our best with marketing, and doing what we can to spread our music and name around, not only in Perth, but across the country too. 

Which other artists are you excited about?

Gianna: Some local artists who we are excited about would definitely be Gloss, Symmetrical Dogs, Rapid, Paint, and The Points. All originally from WA, and some of our close friends. We love the grit and originality in each and every one of these bands and are lucky to be inspired by them.  

What makes you blush?

Skye: Our band <3 

And the art that we create together. 

What’s something that’s important to you aside from music? Something you want to use your platform for?

Skye & Gianna: We are constantly learning and educating ourselves on the current political climate of the world, and we are deeply passionate about using our platform to spark discussion about a huge array of topics that we feel strongly about. Some people are too afraid to even glance at the news. We would like to offer a way to open these individual’s eyes to some social issues going on in the world through our art. Slowly, we are trying to drift toward this topic more in our music, and we’re actively trying to open up conversations with our friends and with our followers. 

One topic in particular that we are - unfortunately - very well versed in, is the mistreatment of women, and the misogyny that we face on a daily basis. All of the women in our band have each personally experienced unfair treatment both within the music industry and outside of it. And yet, it’s something that we’ve noticed isn’t nearly spoken about enough, or at least not loud enough. These experiences have only strengthened our commitment to empowering the women in our lives, and encouraged us to be so unapologetically ‘girly’ and proud of our femininity, that no one can make us question ourselves for it. We hope that through our platform, we can spark that same liberation for women listening or watching, singing or dancing with us. 

What’s next?

Skye: We have so much planned for this year, we can’t contain our excitement! 

We have a fresh single due to be released within the next few months, with some more recording booked in this timeframe too. We have some really exciting support shows coming up, playing on Death By Denim’s last show of their Farewell tour on the 6th of March, as well as joining Old Merv’s for their last show of their entirely sold out run at Indian Ocean Hotel on the 7th of March, followed by a show with local legends Sly Withers on the 10th of April. We’re in talks of possibly returning over east at some point this year, but it’s still a little bit up in the air. We just had such a great experience on our recent debut tour over there, we are so excited to go back. So in summary, lots more shows, lots more music, and never enough Blush!

Listen to Blush HERE.

@blushbabyblush