INTERVIEW: Amy Shark on her new music and single 'Only Wanna Be With You': "I just feel myself getting more and more confident to do what I want and understand that I know what I’m doing."

Interview: Jett Tattersall
Image: Michelle Grace Hunder

Ever since she burst onto the music scene in 2016 with the single ‘Adore’, Amy Shark has become not only one of Australia’s biggest musical artists, but also one of its most beloved. In just six years she has received 30 ARIA Music Award nominations, winning eight awards, and amassed streams in the hundreds of millions, two number one albums, with her music charting around the world.

In October she returned with her first new solo music in over a year with the single ‘Only Wanna Be With You’ which sees her move into a new era with her artistry and music. A classic pop-indie-guitar track, it has lush melodies mixed with fuzzy guitar, a rollicking chorus and a vocal performance from Shark that is gorgeously subdued yet perfectly conveys the sentiment of the song - meeting that special person you never want to be away from.

“The second this song was birthed I was like, ‘I’m sorry, that’s an undeniable chorus’,” Shark says. “It’s got so many pop, Amy Shark elements to it, but there’s this gritty, fuzzy punk guitar that comes in…I used to be really scared of guitars and maybe just recently, with what I’ve been listening to, it’s brought it to life. I’ve gone with my gut a lot more on this song and the whole new era. I just wanna make cool songs and cool art. Nothing scares me anymore, I’m making music because I love making music again and not for any other reason. I’m taking a lot more risks without fear.”

‘Only Wanna Be With You’ marks the beginning of the next stage of Shark’s career which will see her appear as a judge on the revived Australian Idol in January 2023. She will also be releasing more new music and visuals, which were created from a new place of peace, fulfilment and confidence. “I feel like I’m in a really exciting place, to be honest,” Shark says. “For a long time, since I started, I was writing songs that I loved – they were so deep and personal – and I had to get really comfortable really quickly with talking about things that were still affecting me. I’m in a better place now to manage it all. I feel like I’ve been educated in what it’s like, it’s a nice feeling when you’ve worked really hard and you’ve been in that competitive mode; to back off that mode, I’m actually okay.”

An artist that never fails to create incredible and relatable music, this new era of Amy Shark is looking like it is going to be her most innovative and exciting yet. We recently caught up with her to chat more about her new music and future plans.

Hi Amy, it’s an absolute delight to see you. ‘Only Wanna Be With You’, what an incredible track, and you’ve changed sound. I always think that’s such an exciting thing to do because I can’t stand it when people get annoyed because artists develop.
Yeah, I know. It’s funny, because the songwriting is always going to be me and it’s always going to sound like me, but I remember playing it to a producer that I work with a lot M-Phazes and he was like, ‘I really like it but I just miss sad girl Amy’. And I was like, but that’s exactly what I need, I need people to miss that, so it can come back because I always have those songs in me, you know? But I need to create a bit of space between that, and this song felt so good from the get-go and to be in that sort of production vein felt right. It’s not going to be this crazy turbo pop forever, but, I’ve learned to go with what makes the song the best song it can possibly be, and that particular production made it the best song it could be.

And do you think female artists in particularly always have to be like, ‘Oh, I do this one thing and I promise you I can also do this other thing?’
Oh, the pressure is ridiculous. I had meetings in the past with people being like, ‘would you switch up your hair?’ And I’ve asked myself that question too because I’m a female and I second-guess everything, like every other girl when they walk out of their house - ‘do I look okay?’ But in music now, I’m only just starting to get super confident which I’m excited about in this new era because each year, I just feel myself getting more and more confident to do what I want and understand that I know what I’m doing. Song writing is something that I know I’m good at now, I know how to do that, and also with my appearance and who I am. Styling can be someone’s biggest downfall sometimes. Styling is a lot more important than people think, because people get confused. I remember having that conversation [and] I thought, ‘I get that that’s probably what I should do’, because girls have to reinvent themselves, especially in pop.

Absolutely.
But then I started thinking about guys in pop and Ed Sheeran hasn’t changed up shit. Vance Joy hasn’t changed up shit. Ben Lewis won’t change up shit. And no one questions that because they respect their music because they’re great song writers. If I’m a young girl, or young guy, coming to my show and I don’t come out looking like Amy Shark, I’d be devastated. I’d be like, ‘that’s not the girl, that’s not Amy’. I feel like it’s gotten to the point now where it’s an alter ego for me. It’s a strong brand that I have built. I’m just not listening to people who think I need to switch something up just for the sake of being fresh, and, you know, I did the blonde thing, still kept the top knot. That was like my little fun thing. That was more for me than anything else.

You’re so right, there’s almost the notion that you have to look like the doll that they like, you have to look like the merchandise. Whereas, if it’s a guy it’s like no, he’s male pop star, he’s a respected artist.
Yeah. I just don’t feel like guys feel the need to change it up because like, ‘here’s a good song, deal with that.’ Whereas, there’s all these eras of Taylor Swift because she’s felt like she has to switch it up. She does it so well, but I don’t know if I want to do that. I like the brand that I’ve created and I’m comfortable with what I wear and with what I do so. But it’s definitely tough to be a woman in pop.

Yes, and I think particularly in a country that of course it has been incredibly supportive of your career, but Australia makes little room for the women in music. Which is why, quite often, some of our greatest talents only get recognition when they go overseas, and then Australia is like, ‘oh no, come back, we knew, we just didn’t talk about you’.
Yeah, and now you’ve made it super big we really want to talk about you! It’s this weird level of like we love you as an underdog, yes we’re fighting for you and then when you’re not an underdog anymore and you’ve achieved some things, it’s like, ‘we get it, whatever, we’re kind of sick of you now’. But then if you go into the stratosphere, then it’s like, ‘yeah, come back to Australia!’ It’s so weird. it is a tough, because America is all about uplifting and ‘she’s the best!’ You talk up your friends and you talk up the people in your industry and here… It’s changing slightly, but it’s very competitive.

I was listening to an interview with you recently reflecting on those years before you hit it big with ‘Adore’ and and then the gargantuan cannon fire that your career became. You said that looking back, you probably wouldn’t have actually been able to handle that had it happened to you younger?
Yeah. I definitely just wouldn’t have made the decisions that I’ve made. I’ve seen it with artists, I can see where things go wrong. There’s so many little things that people do that they don’t realise that that’s the start of the demise. Maybe it’s just because I put a magnifying glass on everything and I really look at it, because it took me so long to get here so everything is so fragile to me. I take my career really seriously and I want to learn so much and it’s so precious to me that I’ve been scared that it will be taken away. You can’t just write songs anymore, you have to be a very strong songwriter, but be able to perform. You’ve got to be able to be interviewed and string a sentence together. You’ve got to be able to hold yourself on television. You’ve got to be able to have curveballs thrown at you and know how to handle yourself and hold yourself, and not get too stressed out. Remember a 90 minute set. It’s so much more than anyone really thinks about, you know? Being 16 or 18, like I was a mess. I just couldn’t handle this. I couldn’t have been as professional as I have been.

I’m always flabbergasted when I speak to young artists and they’re kicking ass and quite often, they’re also self-deprecating like ‘I didn’t really start until I was 14’. And I am like… oh, please. Even early 20s, I’m like no!
I was in a writing session not that long ago with a younger, emerging artist and she was like, ‘but how do you have all these topics?’ and I’m like, because fricking I’m in my 30s! You need to live a little. You need to have your heart shattered, you need people to really let you down. You need to make the shittest of mistakes. You haven’t done any of that. You’ve done well to have these songs that you’ve got at such a young age. I’ve got a plethora of shit that I can pick from and I’ll have albums for another couple of decades over my youth that was. I feel lucky that I can revisit these times in my life, but also have a happy married life. There’s so much beauty in what I’ve been able to achieve, but it’s taken a long time to get that balance because it’s just such a full on industry, and if you read certain things and if you pay attention to certain people, you really can go into a dark, dark hole. It can be very lonely.

And you’ve now got ‘Only Wanna Be With You’. Can we talk about the story behind this song because I think it’s so beautiful, and so many people can relate to it.
I had feelings for someone and I couldn’t be with that person. So, I went on a bunch of dates because someone told me ages ago ‘you can love anyone, it’s the amount of time you spend with them’. And I really took that as gospel. It was funny because the whole idea of this song actually came about me [when] I was playing a corporate event and I ran into an ex. I obviously hadn’t seen him in a thousand years. And once you get through the bullshit of someone who hasn’t seen you since you’ve become Amy Shark, he was just like ‘whatever happened with us?’ I had this moment of I can’t believe I’m here. It’s corporate. I was supposed to play three songs and then get the hell out of here and I’m speaking to this dude who I was with a thousand years ago and I started thinking about ‘you poor guy, I was literally with you just to try and like you even though I fully liked someone else’, which was the idea of the song. I write a bunch of notes in my phone, ideas to write about. Sometimes it’s lyrics, sometimes it’s just situations an d that was a classic, classic situation to be in. I was on the plane writing it on my way home and then the next day, I was in the studio, and I was like ‘that’s going to be so fun to write about’, which is why the lyrics came out: ‘I went out with everyone under the sun, but I only wanna to be with you’. It’s one of those songs that came out really quickly and it was kind of fun. A lot of my songs are deep and dark, and a little triggering sometimes, and this one was just fun.

You write with such relatability, we’re just connecting the whole time because you’re always telling a story and your descriptions really paint a picture.
You know, that’s the trick. You could write a pop song tomorrow, you just need to set the theme. That’s all you need to do. I tell so many people it’s really easy, you just need to set the scene before you throw the story at someone. If you think of the best songs, they paint a picture in the first verse, within the first 10 seconds of the song. And you’re in it, you can imagine yourself in it. And then you can build. It’s like a story.

It’s true, you’re kicking stones at parked cars.
I’m kicking stones at parked cars. My bag is hanging off my left arm, you know. You can see me, you know.

Who are your painted picture story heroes for song writing?
Probably Alanis [Morrisette]. She paints a pretty epic picture. Blink 182 do it really well as pop punk, they set scenes and tell stories really quickly, they’ve got 2 minute 50 songs and I think it is so amazing. ‘I Said Hi’ was 2 minutes 50 and I am so proud of it because it doesn’t feel that quick, you know? When a song doesn’t feel that quick but it is, that’s so cool that we’ve got all that in there with the melody and the story, and the lyrics in 2 minutes 50. That’s my little challenge for myself every now and then. Who else is there? Bruce Springsteen is just killer.

Speaking of storytelling, you covered and are now going to be touring with The Killers and ‘Mr Brightside’ definitely paints a picture.
Oh yeah. For sure. That is one of the greatest songs in the world.

It is such a great song and everyone visualises the crap out of that because it is so in the moment.
You are. It’s sad if everyone has been through that because it’s not a nice feeling but a lot of people have. So, that’s why that song connects. That melody… there’s not many times where something just clicks where the guitar riff is different and works with the melody but the lyrics are insane and poetic, but tells a story. That’s what’s addictive about music, it’s like ‘is everything working right now?’ It’s so beautiful and that does not happen often. It’s a really proud moment and it’s like a lightning strike. It’s like, ‘oh, wow, that song was just meant to be.’

Amy, tell me, what else is coming up for you?
There’s heaps of stuff. Obviously new music, if I’m not doing that, what am I doing?! Then, there’s also Australian Idol next year. I’ll on the judges panel. it’s so funny, Harry Connick Jr is on one side and we get along so well, we’ve got this really great friendship happening. Same with me and Meghan Trainor. And then there’s Kyle Sandilands, everyone has an opinion on Kyle. It is such an entertaining panel. We sent Meghan out to Alice Springs, and it’s just been wild. I’ve learned now to lean into what I know. The first day of filming I was really overwhelmed and I was just like ‘I’m not going to be here, this is too much.’ Harry’s just got a million years of experience and the knowledge he has on music itself is just so impressive. And then it’s me, and when I go to speak, I’m like, ‘what am I doing here?’ But it’s cool because I just lean into my experience and and I can tell with the people, with the kids coming in auditioning, it’s nice for them to see an Australian, who’s done the work and is there.

As you said, everyone loves the underdog story, and If you can’t sell that I’ll be shocked!
And people think ‘oh you’ve sold out’. It’s like, no. Think about how much work has to come into it to even get that opportunity. So much work. It’s crazy.

‘Only Wanna Be With You’ is out now. You can download and stream here.

To keep up with all things Amy Shark you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.