A Quick Chat with RIP Youth & Beks

Congrats on the release of your new single ‘Remedy’ How’d it come about and how’d you all meet each other?
Beks: Thank you. Remedy came about very organically and quickly. I met James (RIP Youth) in 2024 on my second LA development trip and we really connected over our love of pop music and pop culture. Prior to returning to LA this year to open for Madelline on her USA tour, I’d made this parody of Real Housewives of Brisbane and James had reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to meet a Real Housewife whilst I was in LA. Of course, I’d never imagined that an offer to meet his good friend Brandi Glanville would escalate to ‘let’s do a feature’ within days, but there I was in my friend’s studio (Matt Riley whose also an Australian producer who moved to LA), with Brandi cutting her vocals.

RIP Youth: Thanks! Glad you like it… Beks and I met a few years back here in LA through a mutual friend. We immediately hit it off, we have the same kind of humour, so it was easy to collaborate. We have been in and out of the studio since and written a bunch of songs together. For Remedy, Beks had called me to say she was coming to LA for a quick trip on her tour so I asked if she’d be interested in jumping on the verse on Remedy while she was here. I liked my vocal on the chorus, but the verse was missing something, she obliged which I was stoked about. Beks noticed I was friends with Brandi Glanville and she’d been sending up the housewives on her TikTok for a minute. I pitched that we should have Brandi in the studio to try it out on the bridge! Beks agreed, we jumped in the studio where she kind of blew us away, so much sass and fun. I showed the finished track to the label and they were sold on it. They agreed we needed a video and one week later it was in the can while Beks was still in LA. A dream collab, it was ready to go in three weeks all up. By far the fastest it’s ever come together for any of my releases, So much fun.

As performers working all over the globe in the Music scene for many years, how have things changed over this time and how do Aussie crowds differ from crowds in the U.S & Europe?
Beks: Coming from a punk background and having been in bands for years, Australia really gave me so many ground level entry points to reaching audiences, I think Australia’s live venues are really geared toward pub rock culture so when I made the switch to electro pop there were little to no ground level entry point venues or audiences aside from gay and drag bars (which I love). So with that in mind, I’ve made the leap overseas to the U.S and Europe where more venues and inbuilt audiences for electro pop exist.

Do you have any festivals or events coming up this northern Summer? Any shows in Aus?
Beks: This summer I’m heading to Europe for my first European Headline Tour and to perform at the biggest queer festival in the UK, Mighty Hoopla. I’d love to play more Australian festivals and shows and I’m working on a homecoming tour towards the back half of the year.

What are some of the highlights or best memories from the Artists you’ve worked with over the years?
Beks: I’ve really loved working as the executive producer on songs for cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race Downunder and opening for Sophie Ellis-Bextor in my hometown is a real milestone I’ll never forget. Then there’s of course having a song with THE Brandi Glanville!

RIP Youth: I would say a song I wrote a while back with Natt Dunn. We had Jojo come in and put her vocals on!! Jojo has to this day one of the best voices I’ve ever heard. We also had Delta Goodrem do a version after that, Delta is always a Slay, she’s the nicest and she just loves the craft. I’d say another fun one was when I released ‘Chemical Rush’ with Brian McFadden and he sang it live on the AGT finale. And when I say “LIVE” (it’s about two hours pre-recorded) we made it back to the hotel and, he, Kyle Sandilands and I and a few others were back at the hotel watching it climb the charts in real time as the performance was being aired. Kyle told me I had to do a soggy SAO if it got to number one and it allllmost did. I was a little sweaty there for a second as it peaked at number 2….. that was my first release and I’ll never forget it. It also got us nominated for song of the year at the APRA’s too!

Where can people catch you playing around Australia / internationally? And what’s next for you guys?
Beks: The plan for me is to tour my new EP ‘Hard Gloss’ throughout Europe. I’m doing my own headline tour in Amsterdam, Berlin and London and then who knows, hopefully Remedy will resonate with people and we can bring Brandi to Australia.