Electro pop newcomer Michelle Xen has never worked so hard as she gears up for her live performances as part of Lady Electronica and her debut EP release.
The Lady Electronica collective includes colourful members of the futuristic pop/ folk/ electro genre: Carly Dickenson, Donna Hewitt and Rose Carrousel. The ladies came together for a collaborative performance in 2010 and decided there was much more to be prodded, developed and explored. They applied for and received a Brisbane Government funded grant and have been going strong since.
“To come together with like-minded people and work in a group makes things easier as we provide support for each other and continuously develop our production skills,” Michelle says. “We improved rapidly in the studio, from being not really confident to feeling like normal professional artists.”
As well as helping each other out, who better to get involved to work behind the scenes and reinforce confidence than industry heavy hitters Goyte (Wally DeBacker) and Quan Yeomans (Regurgitator)?
“We were really amazed and grateful that these guys still honoured their commitments to the project. They just listened to a few tracks and gave feedback on everything from lyrics to chord progressions or arrangements because they work in similar ways, so it was very applicable.”
As a punter, it’s hard to know what to expect from a Lady Electronica show.
“It's like four live shows and we all have different sounds. What we have in common is that we all use organic elements but also we use technology to construct other aspects of our acts.”
As an exciting bonus for punters, Michelle will release her debut EP, ‘Synaesthesia’, at Lady Electronica.
“I definitely made this music EP to try and bring together this visual world and this audio world, that I personally inhabit. I wanted to create it for other people to experience too. It's been a mega crazy year but I totally signed up to that and I'm ok with it. I constantly struggle to think of what I'd be doing if it wasn't this.”
Lady Electronica Perform At Judith Wright Centre November 9-10.
