A QUICK CHAT WITH AYLA

What is the song about? Did it come from a particular experience?

I wrote Should’ve Been Fine when my best friend and I were in love, but knew we shouldn’t be together, because we’d tried it before and it didn’t work out - we wanted different things long term. This song is me contemplating “what if we’re just wasting this time when we could’ve been together” and thinking about how it was just because some ‘stupid little things didn’t line up’ - which is one of the lines in the song.

Who did you work with on this song and what was the process like?

I actually tried my hand at demoing the production on this one myself. I showed it to Sam Thomlinson, who worked on it with me, and he was very encouraging. We used that as a base point, and worked from there: adding and replacing sounds. Peter Holz modified some things with additional production, and then mixed the track. Steve Scanlon has mastered all of the tracks I’ve done recently, as well as this one.

Where did you record the song?

I recorded this one with Sam Thomlinson. He lived about an hour’s train ride North of Sydney, and the house was down a paved driveway, covered in moss and framed with overhanging branches. It was a really beautiful spot to record, and I particularly enjoyed the company of his roommate's old blue heeler dog on my lap between takes.

Did you have any musical inspirations for this song?

I usually do have a reference for a song, but I think this one just kind of came about when I was fiddling around with trying to make some synth sounds. I was recording in some parts and layering up some sounds, and I think I just started singing. I didn’t have anything I was trying to write about, but I was right in the middle of this situation (where my friend and I knew we were in love, but thought we couldn’t be together), so that’s what I ended up writing about.

What is your favourite part/lyric in the song?

I like that the verses in this song kind of just chug along, and then the chorus is this big emotive thing. I really love the chorus. It just felt like it perfectly conveyed how I was feeling “one day when the world is ending, will it all be worth the hell then” is probably my favourite line. The lyrics are always my favourite part of the process - I think of them like a puzzle: trying to fit this huge concept of emotions into a concise and relatable sentence.

What do you hope people will take away from the song?

I hope that the concept of the song can translate to people in their own lives. Not just with this exact situation, but relating to the frustration of having something that’s right there, that could have been so good, but knowing it just can’t work/ having to choose to give up something you love.

What can we expect next from you?

I’m so excited to have Should’ve Been Fine out this Friday! After that, I’ll be making the final steps toward the album that my last few releases will be a part of. This will be my first ever full length album, so I’m really excited to have that all tightly put together and released out into the world. It’s looking like there could be some support shows coming up early next year, and I’ll also be doing some of my own headline shows. Throughout the summer, I’ll be putting the new songs into the live set with my band and really focussing on getting the set tight so that we can have as much fun as possible while we’re playing live.