Sydney Songstress Set to Reach Glorious Heights

By Dan Hutton on August 25, 2016 in Arts

Sydney-based singer-songwriter Montaigne is truly something to behold. With a new album, Glorious Heights, set to drop on August 5, and a national tour about to hit the road in September (with a Sydney show scheduled for October 8 at the Oxford Art Factory), we were fortunate enough to catch up with the thrilling, unconfined songstress during the month…

If I had to describe my sound in one sentence, I’d say it’s… audible, for sure.

My first memory of music is… I’m not sure I really know what my first memory is because of documented evidence of my past (in the form of home videos and photos) interfering with what I truly remember and what I think I remember as prompted by those stimuli. An early memory, whether it be superlatively early or not, or even from true memory, would be me and my sister singing karaoke to Lucky by Britney Spears on the shitty karaoke DVD we had. We had a lot of flair as kids.

My dream gig… would be Arcade Fire, more Arcade Fire, and Arcade Fire supporting Queen (RIP Freddie).

If you come to see me play, you can expect… music and singing and probably me!

There was one time when I was starting out… when I thought the (sound engineering term) ‘foldback’ was ‘fallback’. When people said foldback it sounded like fallback, and I don’t think that’s entirely unreasonable to assume. My drummer patronisingly corrected me about a year into touring, when he realised I was saying fallback.

If I could have chosen one song to have written it would have to be… No Cars Go by Arcade Fire as a general music piece, or Waste of Paint by Conor Oberst as a songwriter’s magnum opus. It’s a bit more depressed than what I usually write, but that song has always stuck with me, both musically and lyrically.

My favourite song to perform would have to be… I’m A Fantastic Wreck. It’s always fun, and always has a good vibe. It’s very much a group song. Drunk people love it.

The best thing about the local music scene is… how small it is. You meet everyone, and I am very gregarious. I like feeling comfortable in my natural habitat, as all people do.

One person I’d still really like to record with is… Owen Pallett.

My biggest fan has got be… my mum, obviously.

I’ll know I have made it when… David Byrne is like, “Yeah, I dig it.”

To find out more about Montaigne, please visit www.montaignemusic.com.au or search for Montaigne on Facebook.