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Alice Smith

Interview - Holy Basil


Thank you for sitting down and talking to FLEX. Can you tell us a bit about how you got into music?


Thank you for the interview opportunity!Being a musician is something I always dreamed about from a young age but for a long time I believed I didn’t have the talent or skills to pursue it. After school I travelled in a van for 18 months in Australia. During that time I was writing a lot of poetry, taught myself ukulele and was exposed to a lot of alternative types of music which really sparked something in me. Despite being shy and having no vocal training, I couldn’t ignore the desire anymore that music is actually what I’m meant to be doing.


Who would you say are your biggest musical influences?


Definitely David Bowie and Kate Bush for their groundbreaking forms of storytelling and self expression. But I also have to say Grimes. I remember first hearing her Art Angels album and I’d never heard anyone create music the way she was, which sparked my curiosity for production and discovering my own style within electronic music. They’ve all created incredible music and they’re influential to me because they’ve done it their way and stayed true to themselves.


Congratulations on your brand-new song 'The Outside' - what inspired this particular track?


Thank you! This track was inspired by a combination of the story my Grandma told me a bout how I cried very loudly and for a long time when I was born, and this feeling I often get around ‘not wanting to be here’. This feeling came up so frequently for me that I just had to write about one day and it really quickly turned into this song.


How do you channel personal experiences into your songwriting, and what do you hope listeners gain from connecting with your music?


Most the time I don’t actually channel my personal experiences intentionally I usually start by writing about a concept and within the concept there’s always a prevalent emotion connected to that it. As the song progresses it becomes more obvious how it relates to a personal experience I’ve had in my life. 


I hope my listeners gain more inspiration to make really cool art and pursue their passions. But also I hope they also feel a sense of belonging like someone else out there gets it and has had similar experiences to them and they’re not alone.


Each aspect of music – writing, recording, practising, and playing live – offers something different. Can you share a particularly meaningful moment from each?


Writing is such a special process for me. Something meaningful about writing music is that it gives me the opportunity to express things that I often find hard to communicate. Weirdly when I have this chance to not only write  but play the song live it, weirdly alchemises whatever was once hard to express, like weight being lifted off my shoulders.


A meaningful moment I’ve had from recording has been recording my vocals in proper studios with some really great producers..hearing my different takes and being like oh I actually sound good. The sound of my own vocals was something I’ve struggled with, so having this experience definitely boosted my confidence.


Practising is a really humbling, process. Without fail every practice run I do of my performances I always stuff something up, but I tend to put extra pressure on myself to get it right. But when I’m actually performing live the experience is so different because I’ve just gotta go out there and do my best in one take and it’s usually way better than any of my practice runs.


A meaningful moment from playing live, I like incorporating Shibari rope, amongst other multimedia expressions into my sets. There was one performance where people in the audience grabbed the rope and it spontaneously made this really unique interactive art piece where I was being pulled back and forth whilst trying to unravel myself.


Is there a song in your repertoire that holds a particularly deep personal meaning for you?

Can you share the story or inspiration behind it?


Yes, it’s called The Art. I have released a demo version of this but recently took it down because the official upgrade is coming. The Art is about how I used to be a very expressive vibrant imaginative and creative little girl but at some point along the way of life I lost touch with all of that. I wrote it from a place of frustration with feeling blocked in my voice and constantly comparing myself to idols and people who seemed to sing so effortlessly. The core message behind the song is how I keep having to peruse The Art and Music as a means to reconnect with my voice and younger self.


What are your goals for the future with your music? 


The main goals I have are to release a new song every 6-8 weeks, alongside videos, merch etc. that reveals more layers of Holy Basil lore. Play more festivals and gigs, with my heart also set a mini Europe tour next year. Aside from that, continue building my dream team and reaching more people who love my music.


What message or feeling do you hope listeners take away from your music?


I hope listeners feel represented within the complexity of life but I also want them to feel inspired to create more beautiful and weird things for themselves.


To wrap things up, is there anything else you'd like to share with our readers?


I have two more songs set to release this year in September and November, so be sure to stay tuned for those! I also have a podcast called For The Art you can find on my YouTube @holybasilmusic and Spotify podcasts to stay up to date with my projects.




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