You’ve just finished touring Australia and New Zealand and you did something like 30 shows. How was that?
I loved it. It was so amazing; busy but a lot of fun. It was for Onelove Sonic Boom Box, which is an album I’ve just released with Zoolanda under Onelove Recordings. We toured pretty much everywhere, which is awesome. It was nice to travel with someone else and to have company.
You toured Asia with Tiësto last year, were voted Number 12 DJ in the country in Australia’s renowned ITM top 50 DJ Poll, your single ‘Faith’ with 2 Less has had more than 45,000 views on YouTube and you signed as an exclusive resident to Sydney night club Pacha for its 2014 calendar. Wow, right?
It is pretty crazy. I’ve only been DJing for coming up to three years now. It is ridiculous to think that I’ve already done so much. I think it comes down to hard work, good luck, good management and a little bit of being in the right place at the right time – as well as being able to mix.
So how did you get into DJing?
I was classically trained in music since the age of four in piano, guitar and trombone until 18, so that gave me a strong base of wanting to do something with music but I didn’t know what. I started to go clubbing, as you do at 18, and my eyes were opened up to this whole new world of dance music. I think part of my dream had always been to be a performer and I fell in love with DJing because you can make, play and mix music while performing at the same time. It actually started thanks to an ex-partner who was a DJ – they taught me some tricks and tips and I practised in my bedroom for two or three months before trying some local gigs. From there I entered DJ Warehouse’s Your Shot competition, which was where the journey really started. I actually came second in that and it opened my eyes to a new world really. People soon started to take notice and from there it has just been stupid, whirlwind-crazy with things happening that I couldn’t even have dreamed of. It has been pretty cool.
Lots of hard work too?
Yeah, a hell of lot, and sacrifice, but it is worth it if you love it – and I really love it.
For those that might not have heard of you, describe your sound and look as well… it’s kind of funky mermaid?
I play big room progressive house as well as electro house with the big commercial festival-tune vocal-style kind-of music over the top. That is what I like to play. The way I look? Haha. At the moment my hair is a kind of aquamarine/turquoise. I think my hair is my feature so I hope it never falls out! It has definitely become my trademark and it changes pretty regularly. It has been blue, purple, pink, green, aqua and all different shades of all of the above, but yeah it is fun and I think for me it represents being out there and crazy and having fun with yourself, which I think not many people do.
Who has inspired your music?
The inspiration question is so difficult because so many different people have inspired me on so many different levels, whether it is the teachers that I learnt piano off when I was young, classical musicians such as Mozart and Beethoven, the pop singers I used to listen to like Aqua and The Spice Girls and now moving into the electro EDM progressive house genres. Deadmau5 has been a major influence because his music is flawless – he is the guy that made me fall in love with dance music and he was one of the first DJs and producers that I was introduced to. He has a very soft spot in my heart. And I’m really into some of the stuff these young guns are coming out with like Porter Robinson. They are really pushing the boundaries and taking risks and you can tell that they are musically switched on.
What’s the plan for the rest of the year?
The plan is to keep releasing more music, smash out some mixes and I’ve got some collaborations lined up with Australian and International artists. And yeah, just trying to keep my tour rotation up because I’m actually still at uni full-time at the moment. I’m in my final year and it’s pretty tricky studying and trying to balance it all. I think this year is just lots of music, mixing, collaborations and touring – I have an Asia tour at the end of the year again, which will be really good. That’ll be up until November and when I’m finished with my studies the world will hopefully be my oyster. Who knows what’ll happen…
Tigerlily’s track ‘Faith’ is available to buy on iTunes, as is Sonic Boom Box 2014.
