Start Listening To: Sesame Girl

Canberra’s Sesame Girl talk finding their sound, embracing vulnerability and emerging from the cocoon on new EP Butterfly Wing in a Silver Locket.

On Butterfly Wing in a Silver Locket, Sesame Girl sound more sure of themselves than ever. The Canberra band have stripped their songs back, putting emotion at the centre while pulling together shoegaze, country instrumentation and pop songwriting into something distinctly their own. Butterflies appear throughout the EP as a symbol of memory and transformation, reflecting a band who reckon they’ve finally come out of their cocoon. We caught up with Sesame Girl to talk about finding their sound, working with Simon Lam, writing openly about relationships and body image, and what comes next.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

Well hi we’re Sesame Girl and we’re from Canberra Australia! I’d describe the band as quite soft with some more heavy and gazey elements, combined with some country instruments and pop inspired songwriting. It’s really such a melting pot of stuff, but I think that’s definitely a part of our uniqueness.

Butterfly Wing in a Silver Locket feels like a turning point for Sesame Girl. Was there a moment during the making of the EP where you realised you'd finally found the sound you'd been chasing?

I mean I feel like when we got our friend Paul Kascamanidis to add some lap steel to the record, it really brought out something beautiful texturally, but I think we came into the process of it know we had a bit of a different vision for this project, we wanted to really embrace all our influence, whether they fitted together or not, and let the emotions come to the front by keeping things a bit more paired back.

Butterflies run all the way through this record as both a visual motif and a metaphor. What is it about them that you've carried with you since childhood?

I think just what I feel from the interactions with them over time, like I remember chasing butterflies around the garden when I was a kid, and I remember seeing a swarm of monarchs out mushroom picking with my boyfriend, and so when I see them flying around it takes me back to different versions of myself. And for sure, it feels like with this ep we've really come into our own and had a transformation into something fully realised, but it makes me believe there’s always another cocoon to emerge from and you never have to stop evolving, which definitely inspires me moving forward

You describe this as the first time you've allowed the emotion to sit completely at the front of the music. Was that vulnerability exciting, terrifying, or a bit of both?

I definitely think it was both! I think creating something more paired back and so that it took up less space sonically definitely made it feel emotionally bigger and more intense that way. And so I think either way it’s scary, but exciting each way when it works.

Simon Lam has become one of the most distinctive producers working in indie music. What was it like working with him?

Yeah he’s definitely THE guy in Australia and we felt incredibly privileged to work with him. We’re such big fans of his band Armlock, and so we were really starstruck coming into the studio, but he made us feel really comfortable and he was just endlessly patient with us and enthusiastic which was just amazing.

You mention deliberately stripping arrangements back so the songs had "nothing to hide behind." Were there moments where you had to resist the temptation to keep adding parts?

I think we definitely still added too many parts in the recording than what we needed! Simon said when he was mixing it there was a like seven guitar tracks of the same thing in there for no reason, so he was definitely deleting stuff and that helped pair it back.

‘Wings of a Butterfly’ centres around wanting proof rather than promises. Do you think that's something you've become more aware of as you've grown older, or has it always been part of how you approach relationships?

I definitely wish it had always been how I approached relationships, but I do think growing older and wiser has helped me to know what works and doesn’t work for me in my relationships and I think that’s always been a big one to me.

‘Kick in the Teeth’ is brutally honest about insecurity and feeling unlovable. Has writing songs like that changed the way you see those experiences, or does performing them every night reopen old wounds?

I think performing songs and writing them are definitely two different beasts. And I think I do just get too nervous up there to really sink into the meaning of the song or get any trauma flashbacks which I guess is a good thing! I’ve definitely been close to tears on stage, but that was because I was sucking up there!

‘Prettiest Girl in the World’ tackles body image in a way that's incredibly candid without pretending to have easy answers. Did you ever hesitate before deciding to share something so personal?

I think my body image issues and insecurities are such a part of my everyday life, as I’m sure is the case for many of us femme people living in the patriarchy, that you just become a bit desensitised to it, which is sad. I’m always really interested in having a strong message and a feminist point of view in our music and so i’d rather take one for the team and bear my soul a bit if it can start a conversation that needs to be had.

You joked that you've finally "come out of your cocoon." If this EP is the beginning of a new chapter for Sesame Girl, what do you hope people will notice that's different about the band from this point onwards?

I hope people will notice that the songs now are really good, and I hope we can continue that into the future. No matter what genre or instruments or anything my focus is on making good music that means something.

What do you love right now?

At the moment I’m really loving charge my phone, twerk, be bisexual, eat hot chip and lie.

What do you hate right now?

Bullying? And other stuff too definitely.

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?

I remember the first time I heard Loveless by mbv when I was 16 and it totally rocked my world, I think it’s one of the best albums of all time. And it’s still really meaningful to me for sure.

When someone hears your music for the first time, what do you hope sticks with them?

Of course we hope you love the record as much as we do! And you take that with you, but whatever stays with you and resonates is just as meaningful. The main take away I’d want anyone to have is that they’re not alone in those feelings, and to get a sense of belonging from that.