A QUICK CHAT WITH LOUV

What have you been doing between now and your last release? 

 I took a break from releasing music to focus on a crucial journey of healing my relationship with creativity and the creative process. During this time, I underwent a profound shift in my understanding of success, finding what truly matters to me in art-making: the joy of creation and the profound connections it fosters.

Last year I was a recipient o the 2023 APRA Women in Music Mentorship Program. This saw me mentored by publicity icon Melody Forghani. In this process, I rediscovered the beauty of collaboration, the power of connection, and the importance of community in artistic endeavours. I also confronted and began to heal my struggles with perfectionism, learning to release the pressure of achieving perfection and instead embracing what feels authentic and right for each piece of work.

By redefining and uncovering the core values driving my creative process, I found liberation from the stifling grip of perfectionism. I realised that my motivation for creating is rooted in a deep love for the act of creation itself and the connections it cultivates—with others, with myself, and with the creative force.

How did your musical journey start? 

My love of music started as a child, learning piano, trumpet, and dance. I always adored music and creativity, yet I believed that creating music was something for others to do, but not me. I explored many different art forms yet, a longing to break through that barrier and make my own music grew. In 2017, I began experimenting with vocalisation with a vocal coach and electronic vocal processing. Later, while studying a course at M.E.S.S (Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio), my world of experimental pop opened up.  I began performing around Melbourne under the moniker LOUV at an event I co-founded, Fem Fantasy centring BIPOC and queer music artists. I later joined Provenance Collective, led by Aphir aka Becki Whitton and began releasing my music and performing around Naarm.  This led to a feature on Aphir’s LP Republic of Paradise, the release of my single "Power." I followed this with "Rain Has Come," which was co-produced in collaboration with MXMars and featured on the collaborative EP "Reimaginings," and the Provenance Collective 2023 Compilation. This shifted my love of music and creation into a new realm, transforming music into my main art form and primary mode of expression.

What is the inspiration behind this track? 

Heartbreak ofc. The song was inspired by the haunting dance of pursuing love from someone who guards their emotions with silent vigilance. It was born out of a necessity to transmute and untangle the emotional complexities inherent in such a paradoxical dynamic, serving as a journey towards embracing the full spectrum of human experience. 

‘All of You’ highlights a tragic allure - craving someone more intensely for their impenetrable walls. It’s a seductive game of yearning for what remains elusive. I’m urging the other to abandon their defences and surrender to raw connection all the while I’m harbouring the ultimate paradox: a hidden kink for this sort of restrained affection because within its safety lies refuge from my own vulnerability. 

The aim was to embrace the complexity of human desire - not judge it - by finding a strange sort of pleasure and self-acceptance in these paradoxical dynamics. It's a journey of self-discovery and understanding, recognising that navigating such pain and challenges is essential for personal expansion.

Take us through the production of the song? 

The track features industrial, hard-hitting beats and dark pulsing bass within a grainy slow paced atmospheric world of sound. Most of the sounds were produced from a Yamaha CS6x which is a 90s sample synth my housemate owned. The synth has all of these gritty sounds. I used a lot of these and then manipulated them further within Ableton. This was quite an intuitive process paired with the vocal writing which emerged through a stream of consciousness. I really like to let things just flow out before diving deeper into the details of the song. 

It also features warped Sophie samples, screeching vocal moments and some additional lead synth parts from MXMars and Max Lawrence. Max also came in towards the end of the process to create some co-production magic. 

What was the concept for the music video and the cover art? 

The music video came before the art and animation. I imagined LOUV as an ephemeral being, part siren and part human. I wanted to place this futuristic image within the natural world of earth and water in the dark of night lit only by the full moon and a VHS cam on nightmode. Shot by my sister Katie in Marche Italy in rocky landscapes and in the sea I edited the footage myself many many moons later back In Naarm/Melbourne. Because of the way nightmode and the camera flash interacted with the landscape there wasn’t even any need to colour grade as the colouring came out impeccable each frame an artwork in itself. 

For the artwork and animations :
I worked with Digital Artist Samuel Rowe aka dampwetbody’s. I am absolutely obsessed with his work so when he was down to collaborate I jumped at the opportunity. We imagined LOUV as an otherworldly siren in a dark watery void referencing the cover art for my single Power and some of my favourite of Sams pieces. Sam scanned my entire body in numerous siren poses with an Xbox Connect to create a 3D model of LOUV and rendered the cover art and animation.   

Where do you draw your inspiration from? 

I draw inspiration from the natural and spiritual worlds and my own life experiences and emotional landscape is the driving force behind everything. I also get a lot of juice from my favourite experiential pop girlies, FKA Twigs, Eartheater and Arca. 

What is a LOUV show like? 

I have developed a dynamic live show fusing performance art, movement and electronic music which has seen my perform numerous shows including a sold-out Midsumma Festival show alongside Lupa J and The Merindas, as well as supporting Aphir for her Republic of Paradise LP launch, DOGi KATZ single launch and most recently the Max Lawrence farewell show. I begin each show with a sense of atmospheric stillness to help facilitate centering and grounding through slow embodied movement and breathing. I continue to weave this idea of spaciousness throughout my set so although parts are hard-hitting, industrial, intense and fast-paced I like to create that balance so the intense peaks and spacious troughs have even more impact to inspire the audience, myself and my collaborators to feel everything deeper.