AMY JOHNSTON | INTERVIEW + TRACK REVIEW
Australian singer-songwriter Amy Johnston has released her album Bumbling Around In Samsara, now available on all major streaming platforms.
Bringing together the sounds of 90s-inspired indie rock and blues, the album showcases Johnston's musical style through a collection of songs that draw from both genres.
For music lovers who enjoy collecting physical records, Bumbling Around In Samsara will also be available on vinyl from 15 November, with copies stocked at Greville Records in Prahran and Rowdy's Records in Brunswick.
TRACK REVIEW -
There's something immediately captivating about a song that knows exactly how much to reveal and how much to hold back. Amy Johnston's Wrote Me A Letter opens with an irresistibly tight groove, drawing you in with a wonderful sense of anticipation. The drums feel as though they're itching to break free, constantly threatening to take the song somewhere bigger but deliberately holding back. It's this restraint that creates such an engaging atmosphere, allowing the rhythm to build suspense while maintaining an effortlessly laid-back charm.
Johnston's vocal performance sits beautifully within the arrangement, particularly when her voice lifts into falsetto, introducing a delicate vulnerability against the groove beneath. Then there's that guitar tone, wonderfully crisp and full of character, carving its own melodic path without ever overshadowing the vocals. There's a natural chemistry between the instrumentation and Johnston's voice, with each element given enough space to shine while contributing to something greater.
Wrote Me A Letter is a wonderfully groovy piece of songwriting that proves restraint can be just as compelling as intensity. Every element feels purposeful, from the anticipation of the opening drums to the subtle vocal flourishes and beautifully balanced guitar work. Perhaps the greatest compliment you can give a song is that it leaves you wanting to discover more from the artist behind it, and Amy Johnston has certainly achieved that here.
Some of your songs were written in the '90s but only found their audience decades later. Did time improve those songs, or did it simply make you brave enough to share them?
I think time did improve the songs as I first wrote them when I was a teenager, so I was wanting to be really reactionary and strange just for the sake of it. Time has added more of my life experience into them. But I also think teens can write great stuff coz they haven't been jaded by the workforce yet. They are fresh into adulthood and they can see the adult world with a new perspective. When I was a teen in the '90s I was heavily inspired by Nirvana and Sonic Youth and Frente and The Meanies. The '90s were quite different than how they have been romanticized now. It was a very sad time for many alternative rock fans. Nirvana lead singer died and everyone who was into the scene was devastated. Yet, on the flip side of things, Melbourne was alive with indie rock bands and many pretty basic bands had CDs out and back then CDs cost $30 each, so indie artists were making much better money than they do now. The internet and streaming has ruined everything. Musicians can't make a proper living anymore. Hence why I'm making vinyl and CDs.
You've described St Kilda as the place that finally gave your music room to grow. Do you think every artist has a place where they become more themselves, or did St Kilda simply remind you who you'd always been?
St Kilda or Yuro Yuroke is where I was born so I felt like I was returning home in some ways by moving back here. It has an incredibly supportive and unpretentious music scene. It's very 'do what you want' and 'come as you are'. Plus there are so many amazing musicians that live around there and they frequent the open mics so it's great if you're a singer/songwriter. If you need a sax player you can find one, or bass or drums or violin-anything you need there'll be someone that you can ask to play on your song and they'll come along and add a solo to your track and they will add a little piece of magic to your song.
'Wrote Me A Letter' began as something deeply personal, yet strangers now hear their own stories in it. At what point does a song stop belonging to the person who wrote it?
I think 'Wrote Me A Letter' has a different story for everyone who hears it. Almost everyone has had a note or letter or words put on page and when they read those words, they might be moved by them in some way. So I think that's why people can relate to the song. I think the song brings up memories for people.
The blues has always been built on honesty rather than perfection. Is there a part of yourself you've never been able to write about because it's still too close?
I'm not sure because I don't ever consciously write about anything in particular. I'll wake in the night with a chorus that my sleeping brain has thought of and I'll rush to the bathroom to write it down or sing it to myself. I never think, 'I'm going to write about this now'. Ideas just come to me. It's like my subconscious tells me what to write. Ha ha. That must sound so corny. But really I can't just sit and think, 'Okay now I am gonna write about how apples have stickers on them'. An idea just comes randomly. I do listen to a lot of blues though. I sit and listen to old blues records for hours and I listen to my parents' old '70s records which are bluesy too. But, no I don't think there's anything I felt I couldn't write about.
Your songs carry memories from different chapters of your life. When you perform them today, do you feel like you're revisiting old versions of Amy, or introducing them to each other for the first time?
When I perform, I'm busy trying to remember the lyrics and chords of the songs ha ha so I feel like I'm revisiting the disorganised version of Amy. But yes I also feel like I'm letting a nice little dream that I've always had come out from my younger self.
Many musicians feel pressure to constantly release new music. You've taken almost the opposite approach, allowing songs to mature before sharing them. Has patience become one of your greatest creative strengths?
No I'm very impatient. But I've had to be patient in terms of making my record coz I keep wanting to add things or alter things or add a solo or a back up singer or redo the song in another style. So it's taken about a year to finally make it happen. I think I'm about a month away now from its release so that'll feel good when that happens.
You've watched legends like B.B. King and Buddy Guy perform, but you've also built your own voice rather than trying to imitate theirs. At what point did admiration stop being imitation and become inspiration?
Those guys are the greatest so I think I just love their music. They will always inspire me. I don't think I imitate them though. I prolly more imitate Etta James. I just wanted to see B.B. King while he was still around. I have lots of his records. Those amazing musicians will always inspire me and I will also always admire them too.
You've chosen to release your upcoming album on vinyl and CD in an age where almost everything is digital. Is that decision about sound quality, nostalgia, or wanting listeners to slow down long enough to really live inside an album again?
Yes the sound is definitely better. But also I despise the internet. I believe it has ruined music. Like I said earlier, musicians get nothing from putting their songs online, or very little. Now concerts are super expensive coz streaming has robbed musos of an income from their music. The only way to earn money is through doing shows. I'm just trying to go back to how it was. Vinyl has stood the test of time and it'll still be around once streaming has phased out and been replaced with some new music fad. So, yes I just wanted to make a record so in fifty years when my grandkids are running from the robots that rule the world, they might have my record tucked under their arm and they might say to themselves, 'My grandma made this'. Ha ha did I say I love vinyl?
The title Bumbling Around In Samsara suggests we're all stumbling through life, learning as we go. Looking back, what's a mistake that turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to your songwriting?
One time my fingers wouldn't play the guitar on stage. It was a bit like Marty McFly in 'Back to the Future' when his hand won't play the guitar at the school dance when he's in the 1950s. Anyway that happened to me so I put my guitar down and sang acapella and I think the audience liked that better. So, I thought I should ask a guitarist who can play much better than me to play while I sing from then on. So that's what I've been doing. But lately I've been wanting to play a bit of guitar again though.
If a young songwriter found one of your records twenty years from now and only had one song to understand who Amy Johnston was, which would you secretly hope they chose, and why?
'Yuro Yuroke', which is a song I wrote in Yolngu matha. I used to live in Arnhemland and I worked as a teacher. I wrote a song in language about the beautiful community I was in. I have rewritten the song to be titled 'Yuro Yuroke' because that's where I was born and it's the name of the St Kilda area. It means a lot to me because of my connection to the land, sea, sky, stars and moon. I love all those things and I've done a lot of travel round Australia and the land means a lot to me so I'd want people to know that and also know how amazing and beautiful and sacred this land is.
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