A Quick Chat With marigolden
Melbourne’s marigolden – the wonderful moniker for Mel O’Neill – has blessed us with another gorgeous track, ‘Mars’. Taking a slightly different approach to her previous releases, which were more aligned to neo-soul, marigolden brings her passion, power and twist of soul to the indie-folk realm on ‘Mars’. She has created an emotive track that pulls on the heartstrings and evolves in a really organic away. This is a must listen for fans of artists like Sharon Van Etten or Big Theif. We caught up with O’Neill to find out a little bit more about this wonderful track, her creative process and more.
Can you tell us what this track means to you and what you want people to take away from it?
I'm a pretty sensitive soul at the best of times and when I'm passionate about something, I go hard. This is a tricky mix. I feel it really deeply and then burn out hard. That's what I'm expressing in this track - the experience of feeling deep emotion to the point of a zombie-like-laissez-faire-ness. This song is a surrender to and embracement of that feeling. I want people to take whatever they need from it, but I guess what I'm trying to communicate is the truth of what it's like to care about things that are completely outside of your control. Whether that's climate change, a friend who's struggling or your dog who won't stop barking. It’s frustrating and immobilising. And when that happens, it’s okay to take a break - it doesn't mean you don't care. The world will still be there. It won't crumble without you (anymore than it already is) and there will still be more for you to contribute to the things you care about when you return.
Who are some of your influences and why?
Authors like Jack Kerouac and Sally Rooney are big influences for me. I like writers who take almost plain language and somehow make it profound. I’m also massively influenced by artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Angie McMahon because their songwriting is just so solid and their music feels like such an authentic expression of themselves.
What's the creative process for you, from writing through to recording?
Usually a melody or lyric or whatever will come to me and I’ll mumble it into my voice memos or jot it down in my notes. Over time I’ll gather enough snippets that are connected to one another that a song is there - I just need to put the puzzle pieces together. When I’m putting it together I try to be objective about whether the song makes sense from a listener’s perspective, for someone who doesn’t have the context of all my life-experiences to make sense of it. Once it feels strong then I’ll start playing it live to get a sense of audience reception. In only one instance have I recorded a song without having played it live at all (we’ll see how that goes). I’ve also been lucky to find a producer I really love working with (Natasha Newling) so I’m dipping my toe into workshopping songs with her as well but I’ve mostly been a solo writer so this is fairly new for me. Recording with Tash has also been amazing because I’ll generally have a strong vision for some elements (be it the drums or different production tidbits or vocal delivery) but if I don’t then we collaborate really well on exploring different ideas. Recording is another whole beast in itself and because you are so time poor in the studio it's a big practice in trusting your creative gut and accepting that whatever will be will be.
What do you think makes a great song?
Songs can come in so many different forms and serve so many different purposes - this is a really hard question to answer! I think as long as the song makes the performer and listener feel something - energised, recognised, validated, comforted, excited, whatever - then that song is successful.
If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?
It would be a bit of a dream to collaborate with Kimbra as I’ve adored her for quite some time and she is such a versatile artist. Stylistically we are super different but I think that a collaboration would yield some super cool results.
When not working on music, what other creative outlet/s do you have?
I love activities. I have an old vintage Pentax LX and love playing with film photography even though I am honest-to-god pretty shit at it and I love the feeling of swishing paint around on canvas (even though I’m pretty shit at this as well). There is so much creativity in everyday activities that I appreciate as well. Making cards for loved ones, doing crosswords, rearranging my plants, cleaning my space. There is also so much creative stuff that independent artists do beyond music - developing social media content, making posters or cover artwork, writing up bios and so much more.
Who are some local bands we should check out?
Phoebe Go - been smashing her EP lately.
Emily Wurramara - divine.
Hannah McKittrick - also smashing her latest EP.
Winter or summer and why?
Either or cause none of the seasons make sense anymore.
What else do you have planned for 2023?
A lot. More releases and a single launch coming up on April 28th at the Gasometer Upstairs in Melbourne, VIC (you should come!). I'm also gonna be making time to have slow days, cuddle my dog, and read in bed.
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