AMY SHARK: Why I Cry Forever
An interview by Bridget Herlihy.
Over the last five years, Australian singer/songwriter/musician Amy Shark has evolved from an artist posting her music on YouTube to a bona fide musical powerhouse and icon, with an impressive 22 ARIA nominations, including eight wins, already under her belt. During that time her confidence and ability to craft exquisitely raw, honest and attention-grabbing indie pop songs has gone from strength to strength.
Almost three years since the release of her full-length debut album ‘Love Monster’, Shark has released her highly anticipated second album ‘Cry Forever’, a musical tour-de-force that paradoxically soars to even greater heights while simultaneously exploring new depths. Continuing to draw heavily from her own experiences, Shark has enlisted the help of some good friends to join her on the new album – one that should definitely be on everyone’s playlist.
Congratulations on the release of ‘Cry Forever’. It must be a very busy and exciting time for you.
It is. It is very, very exciting. It was pushed back so many times that it’s a little bit unbelievable that it has been released, so it feels good.
Was this a covid-related delay?
Yeah, but I’m glad that I had it all done before hand. And I guess it did allow me to have some time up my sleeve to really sit with it and get it sounding the way I really wanted it to sound. So, that’s what covid offered me; just some time – probably a little too much time.
So how are things in Australia at the moment? Obviously a travel bubble has opened up between Australia and NZ, but what is the general vibe over there at the moment?
Everything actually seems to be looking really good. Things are coming back slowly, and where I am in Sydney feels like… pretty damn normal. Obviously it is a new normal with a lot of check-ins and a lot of temperature checks and everything else. But I think that’s just kind of second nature now. Everyone is kind of used to masks and stuffs on flights, and to be able to travel around the country – it feels good to be able to do that again.
I one hundred percent better be on one of the next flights to New Zealand, because I said to my label that the second this opens up I gotta get over there. Even if it’s just for promo, or whatever, I just need to get back. I need to get out of my country – I’m so sick of Australia! (laughs) It feels good, and I’m so glad that New Zealand is leading the way as well.
I saw you perform at the now late and lamented Kings Arms in Auckland in September 2017, and I recall that I could barely move as there were so many people there. It was so evident then that New Zealand had a love affair with Amy Shark. So, what have you been doing since you were last here?
I remember that show! It was really exciting. That whole time, I think it was sort of the ‘Night Thinker’ time, was really, really special, because I still couldn’t really work out what was happening and how I was going to be able to keep it going. Through that whole first EP and then album I really didn’t know what the hell I was doing, which I guess is what made it exciting.
If you want to know what has happened the last four years, a lot of it has actually been this next album. I kind of got to a place where I can look at it now and break it all down, and digest it and see what bits I enjoyed, what bits I didn’t enjoy, people who I thought I could trust but I can’t, people who are here now but they weren’t then. And there is so much I look back on, and because I’m a bit of a weirdo like that – I remember everything – and it’s a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing for song writing because you can really pinpoint certain moments and put them into a few words, but when it comes to trying to sleep at night it’s a bit harder.
It’s been a journey, and its been a great journey and I love what I get to do now, but its definitely not all popping bottles and celebrating. There’s some tough times and hard conversations and relationship breakdowns, and it’s a lot. But at the end of the day you can’t have it all; no one has it all. It is what it is, and I get to write songs every day, or at least talk about songs, and play music, so it’s been awesome. It’s been really good.
The singles that you have released over the last year in the lead-up, and as a taster, to ‘Cry Forever’ have been superb. ‘Everybody Rise’, which is about celebrity icons and unrequited love, seems to resonate with listeners on many levels. Was there something in particular that inspired the lyrical content for that song?
Yeah, I think it’s the pure fact that we have all been there at one point, whether it was more hardcore for someone than the other, but I always have to write about things that I have really experienced; that I know about really well. And I have definitely been on the bad side of unrequited love before, and I know the pain that it brings, and that hiding everything and trying to get by, knowing that this person doesn’t give a shot about you, or doesn’t even know anything about what you feel. It’s pretty painful; it’s not like an obvious bruise or something that you can show someone and say “give me a break because I’m feeling hurt”, you know? It’s a different sort of lingering pain, and I think that is sort of the magic of that song, and its sung with a sort of tongue in cheek; it’s sung in this big glittery pop song, but that’s what I kind of like about it, because if you break it apart and really unpack it its kind of sad and depressing.
‘Cmon’, which you recorded with Travis Barker is another phenomenal track. You have collaborated with a diverse array of renowned producers and artists on ‘Cry Forever’, including the likes of Keith Urban, Ed Sheeran, Joel Little, Billy Corgan and Diplo. How did all of this come about?
Well, I hustled pretty hard, I worked really hard, and I threw everything that I had at this album. Billy and Diplo, that was just great opportunities while I was in LA. I got to do a couple of things with them, [and] who knows, maybe on the next album some of those songs might come to fruition.
Travis… when ‘Love Monster’ came out he hit me up on Twitter and said “I love your stuff, I see what you have done with Mark Hoppus, hit me up if you ever want to collaborate on something”. So I had that card to play for a long time, and sort of waited until I had the right songs. These people are superstars, and you don’t want to blow your chance, so I waited for my right song to strike with, and was just lucky that he liked it and was really invested in the song and jumped on it straight away and worked really hard on it.
With Ed, I have a really good friend in Russell Crowe – which sounds ridiculous – but I was at his farm once and I saw a big plaque that Ed had given him, and I kind of dropped little seeds, like, “It would be cool to work with Ed”, and luckily Russell just took it upon himself to make that connection happen. So, I got myself to Suffolk, worked with Ed.
I managed to build this great friendship with Keith when he asked me to perform with him at the 2018 ARIA awards. So I massaged that friendship enough to be able to send a track to him. And [it was] a lot of just learning the ropes along the way, and collecting these amazing people to be a part of my friendship groups or just great people to know in the industry that I can call upon. So, the hustle is still real, you know? I thought that I could just kind of chill, but I guess it’s in my blood to just keep on going and striving. I really just wanted this album to be great, and nothing was really going to get in the way of that!
You have spoken about taking a more stripped back approach to song writing and production on this album, yet paradoxically ‘Cry Forever’ sounds just as rich, and seems to have another level of depth to it despite this pared back approach.
Thank you – I am glad that you have noticed and recognised that, because that was probably one of the main things that I wanted to do on this album. I didn’t really want to go in relying on producers or production. I didn’t even want to go in with a particular style or referring to what sort of songs are trending now on Spotify. I didn’t want to know about that; I just wanted to write good songs and make sure that I’m getting my story across and get back to my roots, which is guitar, and have that really shine through.
It’s funny because when I worked with Ed, one of the main things he said to me when we were finishing up the song was, “Just don’t overcook this song. Give it what it wants and not what you think it needs”. And I was like “woah”, that is the best thing I have ever been told, simply because so many times I try and cram things into songs because I think it needs this, and I think it needs that. Whereas if you just surrender to the song and give it exactly what it wants, a lot of songs…if they’re written right, and if you have done a good job on them, they should stand quite strong by themselves.
I found myself during covid pulling back a bunch of shit; just pulling back and pulling back a bunch of layers and letting the song breathe even more. And it was so great; I was really happy when he said that to me and made me feel okay about that, because its true; it you have got a strong song it shouldn’t need much; you shouldn’t need to rely on anything else. So that is when the album started to take proper shape, and I was like “I’m really happy with how this is sounding”.
That is some very salient advice that he gave you!
Yeah, I really feel like I know what I am doing now. I didn’t really know what I was doing the first time, and I think that there is some beauty in that as well; in the rawness of ‘Love Monster’ and the way it looks and feels and sounds was [of] that time. I know a little more now, I’m more comfortable now as an artist, and I have kind of shaken off that imposter syndrome a little bit; [although] it still flares up every now and then.
I think a lot of people suffer from that to some degree; we are waiting for someone to come along and tell us we don’t belong here. At the risk of asking a generic question, but I’m going to have to – what was the inspiration behind the title ‘Cry Forever’?
Well, apart from the fact that it was just sounding super sad, I remember I had this one breakdown moment and I was with a manger, and I was just a bit of a mess, and I was apologising, “sorry I don’t know why I’m this upset’. And he was like, “this is your life now, and you are going to have these ups and downs, and you will probably be crying forever”. And I was like, “yeah, that’s probably pretty true”. And that was okay.
It’s okay; its pretty normal. But I guess the intensity of the music industry, and I guess I have a bit more baggage than most people have – that kind if emotional baggage that I drag along with me – I honestly have never cried so much since I have been this ‘figure’, I guess. Everything is under a magnifying glass, and its so much to take in; you go from living a very pedestrian life, which I liked; a 9-5 routine. Then your dreams start coming true, and there are parts of that dream that you never romanticise, and you never think about. And they are the bits that rear their head, and you are like “oh, wow, that’s a really bad part of this industry”, or “that was a really ugly thing I had to listen to”, or see, or hear, you know what I mean. So, yeah, that’s why I cry forever.
In saying that though, it hasn’t all been bad. There are times where I will get to another stage in my life, where I’m like “I can’t believe this is happening”, and it will bring me to tears because I am just so happy. It goes both ways.
It’s a beautiful title, because there can be beauty in sadness, and that comes through in some of the tracks. You mentioned that you perhaps carry around more baggage than some other people, but it seems that baggage has been a great source of inspiration and experience to draw from as an artist. Do you feel that you are more resilient and better equipped to deal with your role, and certain facets of the industry now?
I think so, yes. Definitely. I know what it takes to roll out an album, what is expected of me and what things can get taken the wrong way, and what my fans even like about me. So many things are more concrete to me now, and I’m more awake, I guess. And I’m more comfortable in my own skin. I’m not like a 16 year old girl who has just been signed.
As I said I have got all this shit that I have lived through, but in turn, you are right, it has helped with song writing. But yeah, I do feel like I’m a lot stronger now in so many ways; on stage, in the studio, in interviews, in weird environments that I am put in every day. I think I know how to do it now.
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And your husband is now your manager?
Yes, god help us all. (laughs)
That must be a comfort to have him by your side and helping direct your career.
It’s been really good. He has been doing a really great job. I have got management for the rest of the world, but Shane has taken over Australia which is obviously a massive market and a lot of work for him. But you are right, it is someone that I can fully trust. And if I scream at him he can’t run away!
So, to finish up – any New Zealand tour plans? I know you want to jump on the next plane over…
I do! And every New Zealand interview I do, it just triggers me, like “What are we doing about that?!” Its such a big thing that I want to do, especially while we can, and I want to capitalise on that very soon. The second I can have a breather [now that] the album is out, and we can look at it, I promise you that I will be over there. I can’t wait. It is definitely right here in my mind, don’t worry!
Amy Shark’s new album ‘Cry Forever’ is available now on all major streaming platforms, with CD’s and Vinyl available here.
Image Credits: Feature Image courtesy of Sony Music NZ. Live Photography courtesy of Doug Peters / Ambient Light.
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