The 27-year-old Australian singer-songwriter is a force to be reckoned with. GRAACE, who has been making music since she was 19, was catapulted into the limelight with ‘NUMB’, her triple platinum collaboration with Australian producer and DJ Hayden James. Now, with almost 100 million streams on Spotify, it sent her star on the rise, taking GRAACE through two EPs, numerous hit singles, and countless tours around the globe.
After taking some time out over the past 2 years, GRAACE found herself itching to get back out there, longing for sleepless nights on a tour bus and lyrical hooks popping into her head on stage. While more than glad that her “time off” is coming to an end, it was in this unusually quiet period when inspiration struck, and ‘afterimage‘ **was born.
Having been through grief, heartbreak, and healing whilst “listening to a lot of fucking incredible women,” GRAACE stepped back into the studio inspired and ready to create. From the opening ‘Jealous Type’ to the closing ‘Honey’, the 7-track EP takes us through jealousy, angst, nostalgia, denial, ambivalence, reflection, acceptance, and then some, with each track representing a stage at the end of a relationship, and the ensuing broken heart when it all comes tumbling down.
Graace sits down to chat with 1883 about her latest EP, her life in Australia, her musical inspirations and more.
Grace, it’s nice to meet you! Why don’t you tell me a little bit about your upcoming EP Afterimage which is your first project after a two-year break? What inspired it?
Oh my gosh. I mean having two years to think was incredible. The EP has changed a lot. And there’s been so many songs that have been cut from it but also added and the ones that I decided to choose, I feel like they all just had such a strong essence within each one. And they felt like different sides of me, or even different sides of a breakup or relationship and stages of that and I wanted to lean into the duality of being a woman and for most of my 20s, I’ve kind of been told to be in a certain type of box, or have a certain genre, and I never really wanted to lean into that. And I was so confused because I’m like: “Well, I don’t have one thing, who does have one thing?” So, I wanted to try to capture that with every character that I created with each song.
Im curious why you named the EP Afterimage? It’s such a beautiful title.
Oh, there were so many different names, but the one I loved was way too long. It was: I still see you on the back of my eyelids. I was like: “What can I choose to capture that image and that vibe?” I was just on Google googling synonyms, trying to figure it out. And I came across the word ‘afterimage’ and it it’s when you close your eyes and you can still see the remains of an image from the light that hits it. And I just thought that captured that so much more beautiful than a long sentence.
What is your favourite song that you’ve written for the EP?
I feel like it rotates which song is my favorite depending on where I am mentally. But I would say I do love Her a lot. I love the production of it. It was a really beautiful writing experience as well and it took me out of my comfort zone sonically. That song just has a nice place in my heart.
What do you want your fans to take away from the EP?
I mean, honestly, the reason why I write music is, it’s therapeutic. And some people don’t have the luxury to make music and be able to express themselves the way that they want to, they’re not able to articulate themselves. I hope that it feels like they’re at a sleepover with me. And able to feel themselves in the songs and the lyrics and be like: “Oh my gosh, I wanted to say that but I didn’t know how to word it.”
I knew one song of yours before talking to you, Sentimental. I’m very excited to listen to the EP! What are your favourite lyrics that you’ve written for Afterimage?
I haven’t really in the past ventured down the sexy kind of fun, that kind of side of me which I loved in his EP. It was so fun to just lean into it and just go hard with that. So probably “Your lies tastes so sweet. You’re like honey dripping on my teeth.” I love that visual and I just love that it’s kind of cheeky, which I feel like is my personality. So, I love that.
That’s so cool. I’ve got a honey tattoo!
Oh my god, sick. I love that!
When did you know that you wanted to become a musician? Was there a specific moment where you were like: “Oh, I just want to do music.” Or did it develop over the years?
I mean, I honestly didn’t ever see myself doing anything else but probably when I picked up a guitar and was like, I’m not sure if you know who The Cheetah Girls are or Hannah Montana. I would just watch that and be like: “I want to be that growing up.” That was the realisation where I was like, that would be a dream that I thought wouldn’t be able to come true and then falling into it has just been insane.
And who are your musical inspirations?
Probably so many. I listen to so many different types of music. I always love to reference Joni Mitchell. I grew up listening to her and lyrically she’s so well written and sonically, her voice and everything, she was also a big inspiration for wanting to get into music.
Yeah, she’s amazing!
And also Hannah Montana, The Climb. That was a pivotal moment.
You should cover it!
I’ll write that down before I forget. Because that is such a good idea.
Do you know ROLE MODEL? He also covered it.
I’ve just been stalking him this afternoon. [Laughs]
He’s so hot, isn’t he? [Laughs]
Yeah. I was just about to watch, I don’t know if you know who Jake Shane is, but he just did a podcast interview with him.
I saw that, yeah!
So that was my afternoon.
I did listen to his album. The latest album Kansas Anymore, I love it!
It’s so good. And the Lizzie MacAlpine feature is so good!
She’s amazing! How did you spend your time when you took a break from music?
I was writing, honestly. Just trying to figure out where I wanted to go with the next project. And it’s been great to get back into the swing of things because it felt like a little bit of a grey area where I was like: “What am I doing with music? I’m so confused.” Because it is such a big part of my identity. I just tried my best to write and get out of any writing blocks to make sure that I had music that I loved when I could release again. I’ve already been writing for the next project. It’s kind of all I do.
Do you have a certain process that you follow when you write songs?
It depends if I’m in the studio writing with someone or a producer but usually my favourite thing and my favourite songs that I’ve written have just been me and an instrument and strumming chords and then a melody and a mumble jumble lyrics will just randomly come out like word vomit. And I try to glue it together and make it sound somewhat good and cool.
I admire song writers so much!
It’s so funny. I don’t know how to explain it, I just improvise. I usually put my voice notes down and my voice memos and just record until something hits and I’m like: “Let me dive into that idea.”
We spoke about who inspires you musically, are there any people you’d love to work with?
Oh, my goodness, who would I love to work with? I’ve always wanted to pick James Blake’s brain because he’s amazing. Bon Iver. Taylor Swift. They’re people that have been in the game for so long and they’ve just been able to reinvent themselves so many times. It just been so incredible to listen to evolve with them as well. The list is massive.
What do you do when you’re not working?
Cooking. It shuts my brain off. That’s my thing.
I find that very therapeutic as well. What’s your favourite thing to cook?
Favorite thing to cook? I love making homemade pasta like homemade ravioli. The best.
How would you compare your new EP to your past projects? How have you evolved as an artist but also as a person in between Afterimage and your previous projects?
I mean, self-sabotage and self-preservation both just felt very me, very like Grace with one A. I feel like in this project I was able to lean in more creatively and out of the box and feeling more like an artist and not just me and I’m not completely attached to every story of every song which been fun to dive into especially with the writing and pulling inspiration from outside situations and not just me. So that’s been exciting.
Basically you write not only about your experiences at this point but also about other’s experiences.
It feels more like acting which is cool.
What is the best advice you’ve ever been given so far in your career?
Oh, my goodness. The best advice actually, I was in a bit of an in-between period with management. And I was just so stressed out. I got told by these men that I needed to fit into this box or I needed to have a lane and I didn’t have a lane. I ended up calling this woman, she’s such an incredible businesswoman, she’s so smart. I told her that I was really upset and I just feel like I don’t have a lane, maybe I don’t know what I’m doing. She was like: “You’re allowed to be multiple things. You don’t have to be one thing only. Especially as a woman. And that’s what I wanted to lean into with this EP as well. And I think she would say to me, not literally, but kind of: “You’re allowed to be kind and also be a bitch. You’re allowed to be everything.” It was such good advice. And it opened my mind to the duality of being a woman, especially in your 20s, just trying to figure it out.
That’s the most important thing to learn that you can reinvent yourself constantly and not only be one thing. That reminds me of a quote that I read once that goes like this: “Just because you are soft doesn’t mean you are not a force. Honey and wildfire are both the colour gold.”
That’s the best way to put it!
What’s one of the best pieces of advice you would give aspiring musicians?
I would say embrace the women and the industry around them because it is a hard industry, and it is tough. And there’s a lot of men around that. And I think there’s nothing better than women looking out for each other in this industry and coming together and doing all that and leaning in to whatever you want to put out the message and not letting anyone defer you away from the message you want to speak to be honest. The people listening they will be able to know that’s authentic.
Other than music, are there any other endeavors you’d ever like to explore?
I wish I knew how to act. That would be fun. That would be really fun. I used to be a presenter on Disney Channel. But that was bad. My sight is really bad. And I had to read those screens and I’m also dyslexic. I was reading screens. I was like: “This ain’t for me.” I think I would always want to stay in the creative industry. That’s something that I’m also figuring out as well and figuring out what are the things I still want to do.
I always think when you’re at the end of your twenties, it feels like time is running out, but that’s not true. So I thinks it’s important to to chill and tell yourself, you can still do so much. I think I’m just learning to embrace change and evolution. My next questions is, what do you like the most about being on tour?
My favourite thing about tour, no matter how big the show is, just having conversations with people afterwards and realising the connection that you see on a screen constantly or numbers. And putting a face to that and having them tell you their stories. That’s my favourite thing in the world. I’ve been really lucky to have that and even hearing my lyrics being sung back to me and hopefully some of the new songs. I’m excited for that. And I’m excited about the outfits. I’m excited to shop. I shouldn’t. [Laughs] Honestly, the whole thing. I love everything about touring.
I think you need to be build for that, to just sleep on a bus constantly when you’re on tour. [Laughs]
Oh, I sleep with my wrist broken on a plane all the time. I wake up and my neck cracks. I think I’m pretty good at sleeping in weird places, which is great.
That’s a good talent to have. [Laughs] What’s one of the greatest things a fan has ever said to you?
Oh my goodness, there’s been so many life experiences and encounters. I’m thinking of this one girl. Her name is Ash and she’s been around for a very long time. She’s got my name tattooed on her and she’s just such a beautiful soul and so supportive and honestly a really big reason why I still do what I do because of connections like that. And she hugged me once and was just like: “You give me a reason to be here.” And that was intense and incredible. And it made me feel like my music was doing something.
That’s the point, I think, to do things to help other people and if you make a difference, and if you matter, then that’s everything. That is so important. What is something that you want to be remembered for? As an artist, but also as a person.
I hope I’m making people laugh. That would be a big one. Because laughter to me is like medicine. It’s just the best thing when I’m laughing, I’m just in heaven. It’s my favourite thing. When somebody’s funny I’m like: “I love you.” My best friend’s the funniest person I’ve ever met in my life. She should be a stand-up comedian. But yeah, maybe making people laugh or smile.
On another note, why are there two A’s in your name?
I can try to be so poetic right now but to be completely honest…. I was in my first ever writing session with a guy called Hayden James and I wrote this song. We wrote it together. And within three months, I’d never released anything. He was like: “Oh, this sounds like it’s getting released in three months. I was like: “Oh, shit, okay.” And my name is Grace Pitts. And my team was like: “Are you going to do it under Grace Pitts?” And I hate my last name. I didn’t want to do that. It looked horrible. And I was just trying to think of anything that would change it or make it feel a little bit cooler. It was a very last minute decision. And now I’m stuck with it for my life. I did it to myself.
I think it’s very memorable. Especially when you just use your first name, because most people use their last name as well, or their second name. It’s like, oh that’s Grace. With two A’s.
It’s funny, the amount of people that I’ve met that have been like: “Are you Grace?” And they’re like: “Grace with two A’s?” That’s what I’m known for now.
And what would you say is your perfect day in Australia?
Sleep which I do a lot. I like to make homemade eggs benedict. What would I do then? Maybe go for a drive down to a pub on the beach. And then maybe go camping? I would love that. That would be a nice day.
What’s it like in Australia? I know that sounds so touristy of me but I would be so scared of all the insects that you have there! [Laughs]
Oh yeah. [Laughs] But everyone here is nice, it’s so fun. It’s so chill. It’s really cold at the moment. But if you have a good setup, it’s so fun.
I’ve never been to Australia but I’ll definitely go someday. I will keep a lookout for your shows. Hopefully, you’ll play in London when I’m there and I’ll try to come.
afterimage is out now everywhere.
Interview Maja Bebber
