NORMAL PEOPLE - ALICE IVY

CP | To kick things off, can you give us a quick rundown of your journey? How did you get into electronic music? Were there any formative moments from being a kid that you can remember?

AI | I grew up in Geelong. My parents moved to Australia from Germany just before I was born. I grew up around a fair bit of music, there was always something playing in the house, Queen, Pink Floyd, Supertramp. We used to go to a lot of music festivals like Port Fairy Folk Festival, Queenscliff Music Festival and Apollo Bay Music Festival. My uncle taught me how to play ‘Smoke On The Water’ when I was 10, but I didn’t really start playing an instrument until I got to high school.I began playing in an all-female Motown / soul cover band called The Sweethearts and I got to tour Europe a couple of times in my late teens, performing at Montreux Jazz and Porretta Soul festivals. It was a once in a lifetime experience and it gave me a valuable insight on all the basics of playing a show, touring and performing in a band. 

When I graduated high school I moved up to Melbourne and I was accepted into a music industry course at RMIT University where I was introduced to Ableton Live and sampling. I spent hours in my bedroom trying to get better at music production, inspired by the likes of J Dilla, The Avalanches and others. I was hooked because it gave me the freedom to create whatever I wanted without having to rely on a band! I also definitely feel like growing up on a lot of soul music has influenced the type of electronic music I make, lots of layers of instrumentation and making super uplifting music.

CP | Your latest album is coming out in November 2024. Can you tell us what inspired this project and how you feel your sound has evolved with this release?

AI | 'Do What Makes You Happy' was written at a time where we were finally allowed to create music in the room with eachother again. You can just feel the emotion and energy, because we were all so grateful to be back doing what we love. I feel like I’ve come full circle on what genuinely excites me about making music; live instrumentation, analogue sounds and music written outside of the box. Most of the vocal recordings on the album were tracked on the first day of writing. The music that inspires me, Motown and soul music, was generally done in a few takes and everything feels so raw and warm, that’s how I like to sonically describe 'Do What Makes You Happy'. I can’t wait for people to hear it! 

CP | You’ve worked with such a wide range of artists, especially female, non-binary, and LGBTQI voices. What do you love most about collaborating with other artists, and how do these collaborations shape your music?

AI | Collaborating is one of my favourite things to do, you always learn so much from bouncing off of other people in the studio! You never really know what you’re going to create, you meet somewhere in the middle of the two worlds you come from, and that’s what’s super special about it! Collaborating is at the core of almost everything I make and when it comes to choosing collaborators I’m often consciously or subconsciously working to diversify the sound and look of the traditionally male-dominated studio space. Done right, collaborating can be an opportunity to platform new voices, diverse voices, underrepresented voices and important voices alike. 

CP | Can you walk us through your creative process when producing a track? How do you go from an initial idea to the final product?

AI | It’s quite difficult to answer this question because it’s different every single time. I generally always have a couple of ideas or instrumental starters prepped before I go into a session. Sometimes whoever’s writing with me will bring in an idea that they want to work from, so it can go either way. I usually like to have a fully fleshed out demo on the first day. I'm a true believer of having at least 70% of the song done on the first day because it’s super hard to recreate that energy next time! Sometimes it’s a bit of back and forth, maybe a re-vocal here and there, but that’s pretty much it! I like to work fast, you can get a bit in your head if you’re on version 25 of a song! 

CP | Is there a difference in your process when you are writing or producing music? How do you test new sounds, lyrics and combinations?

AI | Sometimes the production can really help inspire the idea, it doesn’t have to be much, maybe some chords or drums and a bass line. I love shaping melodies around that. Sometimes I’ll put that on loop and write out lyrics, but other times, I’ll pick up the guitar and sit out on the deck and work on lyrics. You know you’ve got something good when you can strip a song back down to guitar or piano and it still sounds amazing. 

CP | Are there any local artists you’re loving and supporting right now? Who should we be listening to?

AI | We are so blessed with the amount of talent we have here in Australia and I’ve been lucky to have shared some studio time with most of them! Three local artists thatI highly recommend checking out are Bella Amor, Tiffi and Beckah Amani. 

CP | Finally, what is something that maybe isn’t normal right now, but you think should be?

AI | Being able to take your dog everywhere in Australia. I mean the grocery store, the mall, on the plane, at the hairdresser, inside at your favourite restaurant! People seem to bring their dogs to everything in LA and I’m into it!