A QUICK CHAT WITH WINIFRED

Photo: Georgia Wallace

First up, can you please give a quick introduction to who you are? 

I’m Winifred, I’m from Townsville and I make ethereal alt pop music. These days I split my time between Far North Queensland and London where I’ve been writing most of my music lately. I’ve just started releasing singles off my second EP!

Can you tell us a bit about your inspiration for your single ‘Want It Bad’?

‘Want It Bad’ is a cheeky jab at the music biz and my general observation of industry culture specifically in Australia, this one was written from the perspective of an artist on the outer edges looking in and asking themselves ‘Is this it?’.  It’s part satirical, part serious. 

Composition-wise, I started this song with a succession of chords that loop around from start to finish. I love repetition with reinvention. The production and toplines give new meaning to what otherwise is a looped phrase. I get excited by simplicity these days. I think because I’m so used to coming at music from a maximalist approach. Parameters are important for me, especially when it comes to writing pop music. 

What are your influences and how do they affect your songwriting? 

It’s all varied. I can be inspired by anything from poetry and fashion to something as simple as someone’s sentence structure. Musically speaking it’s endless. Those who know me well will roll their eyes as I say Caroline Polachek. I’m a huge fan of the way she uses her voice and blends her visuals with her sound so meticulously. She also wrote one of my favourite albums ‘Pang’. It’s a big deal for me to fall in love with an album. I’m usually a one or two song kind of music fan. I don’t usually listen to music for leisure these days sadly, I’m always subconsciously on the hunt for something that gets my creative juices flowing! 

How did growing up in Townsville affect your creative output? 

It was honestly the best place for me to be, I was quite sheltered away in this tight knit local scene, where we all went to each others gigs, played at house parties and wrote music with no intent other than to write. That was a special and formative time where I was blissfully ignorant to the industry outside of a regional city. I wasn’t comparing myself to anyone or any particular industry standard. It was a really sacred time thinking back on it now. 

If you could change something about the Australian music industry what would it be? 

Just one thing? 

Who’s the most interesting person you’ve worked with/met? 

Off the top of my head, I’d have to say Tim Anderson. Tim is from LA and it was one of my first sessions over there. He’s worked with artists like Solange, Billie Eilish and Solange. I remember our session didn’t start til 1pm which I thought was strange and nonchalant, how am I expected to write a song in 4 hours? But somehow we did! We wrote Fallen, track 5 on my first EP. 

What has it been like writing in England and how does it differ? 

I think my experiences writing in the UK feel a lot more open and inspired. I feel more embraced over there that’s for sure and I think it shows in my writing. 

My impression is that people in the UK are way more keen to jump in and create on a whim, I love that. There’s also an insane amount of musical history over there, it’s thick in the air. It feels like there’s an iconic world famous recording studio in every suburb. On my latest trip I was pretty overwhelmed by it all, in a good way.