A Moment with Gailla: Interview with a Climate Conscious Songstress
Gailla Music is a Sydney-based singer-songwriter and producer whose work is laced with heart, fight and retrospective melancholy.
Focusing on the mix of terror, nature and daydreams that our current climate crisis brings, her poetic lyricism rings true of the unspoken detriment being heralded on our earth. Her debut EP ‘Over the Earth, Under’ (Nov 2024) is a recent release that follows the five stages of deep ecology processing - i.e. attempting to process the oncoming of global warming. Honing on the Australian music scene, she discusses the facts and influences behind her art.
‘Over the Earth, Under’, Gailla (2024)
A: Can you tell us a bit about yourself as a child and yourself in the past 2 years? What are two things that have stayed the same and that have changed?
G: I remember more of me from age 13-14 onwards rather than me as a child. I think that my interest in history started then and that has stayed the same. I think my steadfastness to keep trying has stayed the same too. I was quite headstrong and I’m glad I’ve maintained that attitude into my life as I’ve gotten older. I think I have learned to back off more than I was then though, which is a good thing. I’ve also become a lot more social and open to connecting with other people. I was definitely more reclusive when I was younger.
A: The focus on togetherness and the nature of humanity is prevalent in your writing and stance as an artist. How did you fit into the community you are now a part of?
G: It was funny how I came to find my community that is centred very much in a place called Splinter Factory in Sydney. I had met one of the housemates, Scout, through my job actually. And then my friend that I met at uni, Maxwell, moved into the house soon after that. And then Maxwell became the drummer in our band, and now we rehearse at Splinter!
A: Your recent project, Over the Earth, Under, was an EP that you released last November. Touching on the stages of processing the effects of climate change, can you explain more about that and how you got into that?
G: The EP is inspired by a concept called Deep Ecology/The Work That Reconnects. I found out about it in 2022 and went along to my first workshop on it in September that year. Deep Ecology is a process of exploring the myriad of feelings connected to the climate crisis, and exploring it as a group. I found this really helpful for me to get out of my activist-y burnout that I had from being so stressed and angry and helpless all the time. The first step was to acknowledge it and feel it, which this allowed me to do. I also just think it’s so cool that there are these processes and inspiring ways of re-shaping our relationship with our home. The readings, the workshops, the ideas and creativity that comes from exploring the idea of The Great Turning / The Work That Reconnects is a constant source of inspiration.
A: Do you have a favourite track on the album? What does it mean to you?
G: Hmmmm I can’t say I have a favourite. I do have a preference for 536 though. I love writing big history-laden but personal songs like that. I was excited to write that song and I really love playing it live. It makes me feel connected to my true purpose and it allows me to tap into the fear and worry that I have about the future, but then to transform that into determination and confidence and strength. I like how the song changes its tone as it develops.
A: I absolutely love that perspective. What is it about history that informs or inspires your work?
G: I just think that history is so fun and inspiring, and it reveals so much about us as people - how unimaginably malleable we are but also how similar we always have been and will continue to be. And there’s so much to enjoy when you look through history and read about things. I find it inspiring to write about the past, and about the hypothetical future.
Gailla at the ‘Over the Earth, Under’ launch gig at Petersham Bowling Club, Sydney
A: You’ve previously mentioned that you want to nurture the music scene in Sydney. Why do you think it’s important for the Australian music and arts scene to exist, rather than be taken out to say the US or UK?
G: I think that a lot of the culture here wants quiet and safety and a sense of normality, which I think we know we are very fortunate to all have. But the attitude of quietness and thinking we’re the lucky country means that when you point out the huge amount of ways that we’re not (huge income inequality, corruption, lots of racist attitudes, terrible terrible lack of action or leadership on climate action, lack of funding for the arts), people get really up in arms and try to shut the conversation down. I think we need to fight to make our arts scene appreciated as much as our sports scene. And to keep exploring what being ‘Australian’ even means, and therefore what ‘Australian’ culture is, we need to be in it and amongst it.
A:What do you go to when struggling to reach creativity and/or having a writers’ block? What advice would you give on this front?
G: I just get off social media and write to be honest! That’s all it takes. The more time I’m off it, the more time I’m able to have a clear head and connect with my creativity. I have heaps of bookmarks and ideas written down that I gather over time that I can go and look to when I have writer’s block but really want to write.
A: You definitely seem to take inspiration from many forms of music, such as the soul of folksong, the catchiness of pop, the heart and diction of musical theatre. It’s so fantastic! Do you feel that integrating a variety of genres into your work strengthens it?
G: Yes for sure I do think it strengthens it! I do focus on folk and pop music, and I love both genres very much. Folk music is the music that means the most to me, and I love writing melodies and structures that make a song fun and catchy and earworm-y. I think it’s important to think about what folk music means in today’s context, and to realise that pop music is also the music of the people/the folk. Folk music is ever evolving and it’s our role as folk artists to help it do that.
A: I love ‘earworm-y’. Are there upcoming projects you have that you’re particularly excited about?
G: I’ve started writing and we’ve started rehearsing/arranging some new songs for the next project! We’re still deciding if it’s going to be an EP or an album, but I’ve got a list of songs coming up. At least 3 of them are completely different from the tone of any songs that I’ve released before, which is fun. There will also be 2 single releases happening this year that I’m looking forward to.
A: Your stance on activism is and always has been executed with such ardency. Are there any fellow musicians, artists and/or organisations you’d like to shout out?
G: My wonderful friends and fellow musicians Aemyn, Emmy Ryan, Zenith Paltrow, Myki Jay, Hazel Mei, Jesa, Mat Ward, Andy Paine - they all make excellent music about politics/the world/ activism. I love Green Music Australia, and organisations that combine conversations around politics/the arts like Moral Imaginations and Julie’s Bicycle. Other great initiatives I love include Outloud Arts, Heaps Decent, The Missions Songs Project and Matt Hsu’s Obscure Orchestra.
A: That’s so great. Thank you so much for your contributions to music and the spirit you uphold so sensitively, yet powerfully. We really can’t wait to see what you’ve got in the mix re next releases!
You can listen to ‘Over the Earth, Under’ on Bandcamp, SoundCloud & Spotify + find more on Gailla @ - interview insert & @gaillamusic on Instagram
