INTERVIEW: yergurl releases new single 'LOVEU/LOVESICK': "If someone asked me what falling in love was like for me I’d send them this track"

Image: Zach Timmins

Bendigo born and Melbourne/Naarm based singer, songwriter and producer yergurl (real name Fae Scott) is fast making waves in the music industry for her left of field indie-pop, all of which she writes and self-produces.

Her debut EP Love Bite was released in 2019 and is a collection of dreamy, electronic-indiepop. After a break of 18 months, she returned earlier this year with single ‘Puppy Dog’ which saw Scott overhaul her sound and embrace a harder electronic sound that encompassed rap and hip-hop.

Today she releases her new single ‘LOVEU/LOVESICK’. The track is a song of two halves which in many ways represents the two stages of Scott’s career. The first half of the song is reminiscent of her very first releases, a gorgeously sweet electropop track with delicious melodies, while at the halfway point it transforms into a darker track with chants and rapping.

“‘LOVEU/LOVESICK’ is puppy love vs deep obsession,” Scott says. “I explored memories of my past crushes-turned-obsessions and really wanted to exaggerate just how insane I have felt and how intense my feelings have been. This song is almost my twisted little way of reclaiming my “insanity” and accepting myself as a boy-crazy hopeless romantic.”

Also out today is the music video, directed by Charles Buxton-Leslie based on a concept by Scott.
”I generally wanted to create a feeling of overall ‘off-ness’,” she says. “I liked the idea of the first half being so simple that the second half essentially comes as a shock, despite not much actually changing location and subject wise.”

yergurl is only 21 but is already proving she is a force to be reckoned with, taking full creative control of her project and staying true to her vision of the music she wants to make. Recently signed to Mushroom Management and performing at BIGSOUND in September, this is an artist who is only going to get bigger. We recently caught up with her to find out more.

Hi yergurl! Thanks so much for taking the time to fill in this Q&A. How is life in your world right now?
Heyo!! Life b pretty hectic and busy at the moment, but I’m grateful to be busy after so long of being bored! However i’m holding up and having lots of fun, so excited about ‘LOVEU/LOVESICK’!!

Congratulations on the release of that new single of yours ‘LOVEU/LOVESICK’, it is such an infectious bop. You’ve said it is inspired by your “past crushes-turned-obsessions”, can you tell me a little bit more about the story behind this track?
Thank you!! Unfortunately I was blessed with the tendency to become obsessed with people I fall for, and it’s a subject I’ve definitely covered in my music before, but with this track I kind of wanted to poke fun at it a bit, exaggerate it and overall express it in a light-hearted fun way rather than this depressing, longing type of vibe. Even though the LOVESICK half is dark, it’s still so outrageous that it’s not meant to be taken seriously.

The song, like all your work, is self-written and self-produced. It is a song of two halves with the sound and mood changing entirely at the half way mark. Can you talk me through your intention, or desires behind the sound of the track?
I simply started off with the poppy first half, had no real intention to switch it up until it became sickly sweet to me and I figured a hectic beat switch up would be a fun thing to try. It’s not really something I’d done whole-heartedly before, but I thought it would be a perfect way to tell this story, especially when I do relate to both moods. If someone asked me what falling in love was like for me I’d send them this track!

If there is one message you want listeners to take away from ‘LOVEU/LOVESICK’ what is it?
To be honest the song isn’t necessarily meant to be taken literally or interpreted in a deep way, but if people do honestly that’s cool. I’d like to know other people relate to feeling fucking crazy in love. I just hope it doesn’t inspire anybody to cut the legs off their lover and keep them in a hot car ha ha ha!

You’ve released some pretty amazing videos for your previous singles, what can we expect for ‘LOVEU/LOVESICK’?
I kinda went for a different approach with this one, and I hope that’s obvious hehe. This video was fun for me to indulge my ideas without being told that something was “too out there”. I’m so grateful to work with someone as creative and open as Charlie Buxton-Leslie. LOVE HIM!

What role did music play in your childhood?
My dad was a singer so I was essentially singing from the moment I popped out of the womb. However I didn’t have a musician family agenda put on me which is sick and just allowed me to fall in love with creating music on my own. As much as I had no idea I’d end up a musician, there’s a part of me that thinks I kinda always knew. I joked about wanting to be a pop star just because I “liked singing”, but here we are! I didn’t even really start doing any kind of music education until year 9.

Who were the artists that you were into and inspired you when you were growing up?
In young childhood I was raised on all the mainstream pop artists/rappers like Britney Spears, P!nk, Eminem. I think that was helpful for me to develop such a strong understanding of pop music, but into my teenage years i got more into artists like Lana Del Rey, The 1975, Marina and the Diamonds, Melanie Martinez, and that was the kind of music that really resonated with me. I’ve always been a bit of a pick-me girl (lmao) but I also was aways a little different and those artists really were the ones that built the foundation for my own music.

As previously mentioned, you retain full creative control over everything attached to your project, and write and produce all your own music. This creative control is something that traditionally has been denied a lot of female artists as the music industry is, in the main, run by older, white straight men, ever since its inception, who denied women the respect they deserve. What are your thoughts on gender equality and sexism in the music industry?
So, so true. I feel so lucky to now be surrounded by people that support my vision and don’t try to change it. I’m also lucky that I’ve developed the ability to really fight for what I want. It’s still a bit shit and sometimes I still feel like my opinion isn’t taken as seriously because a) I’m young and b) also a woman. Sometimes i really have to push back what feels like five times before I get my way. Luckily, I don’t feel as though I’ve experienced too much intense sexism, but I know of many woman in the industry that have and it’s gross but I’m not shocked. Still out here feeling lucky, but growing up a ‘pick-me’ has brought me much insight on how the male brain operates and I feel like I’m reasonably good at tapping into what I need to say to a man to get him to respect me. Sad but true.

And what is your advice to young girls and women out there that want to make a career in music?
Learn to produce! Even if it’s just the basics, that’s all you need. Having those basic production skills can really elevate your demos and just help other people hear what you’re hearing. You may even fall in love with the craft, and THAT’S special. Maximising your creative control is so important and if you can flesh your ideas out as much as possible, your ideas are more likely to stay your ideas. I sometimes feel that the more people that get involved in your music, the more your unique sound and ‘fingerprint’ gets rubbed out.

‘LOVEU/LOVESICK’ is out, what else is on the cards for yergurl for the rest of 2022?
More tuneage for sure! As always, plans get re-arranged a hundred times before a song can come out but i have more shit under my belt for 2022. But to be honest everyone needs to get excited for 2023 cuz THAT’S my year…

‘LOVEU/LOVESICK’ is out now. You can download and stream here.

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