INTERVIEW: bella amor on latest single 'all my friends are high': "Truth, honesty and authenticity is a big part of who I am. And if you want to change me, then why are you here?"
Interview: Jett Tattersall
Image: XingerXanger
The Gold Coast’s bella amor has released just two singles since signing a major record deal with Sony Music, but already she is proving she has a singular talent for creating intriguing, relatable pop music with a strong focus on storytelling.
In August she released her first major label single ‘can’t get laid’. An angsty, punky-rocky-pop track which name checked both Greek god Atlas and pop goddess Madonna, the song showcased both amor’s confidence and wit, arguing “what's the point of everything bad in the world if you can't get laid?”
Earlier this month she released the single ‘all my friends are high’. Written with and produced by Konstantin Kersting (Tones And I, Mallrat, Amy Shark), the song sees amor lean into indie-pop, with a softer, gentler vibe created by guitar and drums and amor’s subtle and warm yet powerful vocal. Lyrically, the song isn’t as warm and fuzzy as its soundscapes and explores the feelings of loss and anxiety when you are the only sober one in a group of friends.
“At the time I was too anxious to drink, so I wanted to write a song about being sober while everyone else is absolutely munted around you,” amor says about the inspiration behind the song. “It really made me notice how people change when they're intoxicated, and made me realise how isolating it can leave you feeling if you're not on something too.”
bella amor is only 20 years old, but she performs and creates with the confidence and charisma of an artist decades into their recording career. She is undoubtedly a young talent that has everything it takes to achieve major success in the music industry and we recommend you slide her onto your playlist immediately. We recently caught up with her to chat more about ‘all my friends are high’ and her music career to date.
Hi Bella, so lovely to meet you. First off, what an alias, bella amor, beautiful love.
Pretty cool, huh? It’s pretty cool.
It’s the most beautiful thing. I don’t want to dissect it, but when you were choosing your moniker, what was it that made you go ‘it’s beautiful love’?
Something people have always, always told me throughout my life, within, like, the first five minutes of meeting me is ‘Oh, did you know that your name Bella means ‘beautiful’ in Italian?’ My full name is Isabella, so I've had that knowledge all my life. And then ‘amor’, I don't know, that's something that I just want to preach and put out there. It's just beautiful love. Because I love love so much. That's really where it came from, and it just flowed in the Australian way saying it ‘bella amor’. It just worked.
It’s so wonderful. I love, I love what you’ve gone with and it’s so wonderful because now we have ‘all my friends are high’, what a beautiful love of a song.
Oh. I am so glad you like it. It’s one of my favourite songs that I have right now in my little vault. I’m so happy with it.
It’s just a beautiful pop song. Talk me through its creation.
So I was working with Kon [Konstantin Kersting} in Brisbane, and honestly, it's a bit of a blur because I did write it either last year or the year before last. I think I had a voice note of a melody that I was like ‘I'm kind of rocking with this today, can we of work with that?’ I gave it to Kon and he is a wizard, he is so good. He just put everything together and I was like, ‘wow, okay’. At the time I was feeling really isolated with the fact that I didn't drink or I didn't do like drugs or anything and all my friends were. I was just like ‘I'm feeling so alone right now’. I just went with that and I wrote the song in maybe an hour and a half. It was really, really quick. I chucked it to Con and we fine tuned it for the next half an hour to an hour, and then we had a song. It was a really quick creation, which was quite crazy to me because my songs are never like that. It was definitely a very quick, but beautiful process.
And it's a beautiful song. You’ve had just two songs released to Spotify, major label big releases but if we backtrack, there’s a ton of music you’ve been putting out before. Have you always sung? Have you always wanted to do this?
I actually wanted to be a hairdresser when I was younger. I'd always say to mum, ‘mum, I want to be a hairdresser’. But I would always spend my lunchtimes going to the music room and just banging out some songs and covering lots of stuff and then I kind of was like I feel like I've got a little bit of a knack for it. Maybe I'll give it a go, maybe I'll just try and write something. And then I went to a music school and I was like, ‘oh yeah… this is pretty fucking cool, I like this’. The creation of music just started coming and coming, and I kind of found my groove. So it wasn't something that I always wanted to do, but now that I have found it, it's something that I want to do.
With regards to your song writing, we've had ‘all my friends are high’ which followed ‘can’t get laid’, two very different songs, but they’re both in a very similar realm. ‘can’t get laid’ was a lockdown situation as well, wasn't it?
Yeah. That was written on Zoom, which is still so crazy to me. I don't even know how we did it to be honest. We just wrote it, and I literally just recorded it on my shitty little shit that I have at home, which is not great stuff. We just created a demo from that and then once I was able to get into a studio, it was like, vocals done, which is pretty crazy.
And it’s a fun song too. Now tell me. you were banging in the music room and then you went to music college, and now we have your songs. What was your career trajectory? How did you get from music school to suddenly playing everywhere?
I ask myself this all the time, you know. I just posted online, that was a really big thing that helped me get recognised if you will. That was how I was found. I'd spend hours in my room just playing guitar and covering music. Covering songs is what helped me to create songs. Just putting it out online so people could find it, but also just because I thought it was fun. I love doing that stuff and I love singing, it's something that I really, really enjoy. I just put it out there, and just wanted to share my love with music for everyone, and people found it and they liked it. And I guess that’s why I'm here!
I have been watching some of your covers, but when you were first tinkering around and singing, who were those musical sheros? Who were the women that you were like ‘this is who I want to sound like’?
Mother frickin’ Adele! I love that woman, what an icon. She is genuinely one of the biggest inspirations in my life. I definitely love to cover her stuff, But also Yebba, Abbey Smith, is another really big one. Beautiful, beautiful voice, just so awesome. And Hayley Williams from Paramore, I love them. I love a lot of music, but for me, those three women will always be timeless. They will forever hold a beautiful special place in my heart. And God I fucking love them!
I always love hearing this from artists because it's never going to be who you think it's going to be. Now I can hear Adele or Hayley Williams in your voice. You have that storytelling, the way you play with your voice, the way you'll lead into softness, and then belt. And the fun element of it as well, there's humour in your writing even interlaced with some pretty dark times, which I think is really the way everyone has to deal with the dark times.
Oh, completely. It turns something that is pretty shitty and pretty sad into something that's really beautiful. A lot of other people can relate, which also helps you in a way because it makes you feel less alone and it’s all just like a one, big intertwined ball.
How have you found that now that your music is getting more and more traction? Have you had some great responses from listeners reaching out to you?
Yeah, I have, especially with ‘all my friends are high’. With ‘can't get laid’, you know, some people can't get laid so it's a bit like, ‘aww’ but I feel like with ‘all my friends are high’, it’s a lot more heartfelt, even though it is really fun and it's a fun song, the lyrics are a little bit deeper. The responses [I’m getting] show me that people really understand where I'm coming from and that makes me really happy because I always felt super alone. And just knowing that I'm not makes me feel better. It makes me want to keep doing things. We rely on each other quite a lot, which I think is awesome. But the response has been really, really beautiful and heart-warming.
That's great, you really have found your community within music.
Completely. I feel good about where I'm at right now and who I've kind of attracted to this project, which is good.
Well, the world is, as we know, particularly in Australia, it's not the kindest place for female solo artists. And quite often, even when they are accepted or getting airplay, they can get very easily coerced into being something they're not. But everything you're putting out, from the get-go, you're really wearing your comedy, your heart, your feelings, your likes, your hobbies, I feel like there's nothing that you're keeping from anyone. And it almost feels to a point, it's like a challenge. Am I right in thinking that? You're like, ‘I dare you to try and turn me into something else’?
Yeah. And I actually really appreciate that you've picked that up, and that you see that, because that is my whole I guess you could say mantra or my mission statement - honesty and transparency. That's all I want for anything that I do in life, truth and honesty and authenticity is a big part of who I am. And it's like, you know what, if you want to change me, then why are you here? Because this is what I'm doing and this is me. So like, leave. You know what I mean? That's the way my mindset is. I have really strong women in my life, so they've really shaped me into who I am.
Who are these strong women in your life?
Definitely my mum and my Oma, for sure, which is my grandma. They are two of the most strong minded people that I've ever met in my life, especially my mum. She takes no shit and I love that for her. She is a big part of my life.
We need more of that! Now, tell me, we have some beautiful music, and the visuals to go with it. What else is coming up for you this year? I know there's not much of it left, let’s say what's coming up for you for the summer?
Let's just say that there are lots of shows that are going to be happening. We got new music coming out, I’ve got one more song to release before the end of this year is done and I’m working on more new music. But mainly my focus for next year is shows and performing, which I'm super keen for.
‘all my friends are high’ is out now via Sony Music Australia. You can buy and download here.
To keep up with all things bella amor you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok .
