Radio, Charts and The Creative Act with Tilly Fenton (AU-NZ Music Podcast)
Welcome to the AU-NZ Music Podcast, where Reuben (GYMjot) dives into the Australian and New Zealand music scene with industry guests, sharing insights on music news, standout tracks, and artist development.
Episode 10 features Tilly Fenton, a singer-songwriter who just released her debut EP.
📰 News Fix: CBAA Launches National Community Radio Airplay Charts
🎶 Song Spotlight: Your Plans - Tilly Fenton
🦾 Artist Development: Recording an EP and being Patient
This podcast is presented by GYMjot: Get Your Musical Journey On Track, an artist development service based in Melbourne. If you are ready to unlock your inner artist, then get in touch today to get a
Below is a full auto-generated transcript of the podcast, you can watch or stream the episode on YouTube or your local podcast service.
Okay, Kiaora folks, we are back here. Episode 10 of the AU NZ music podcast. Welcome back. Hey team, sorry we've had a little bit of a recording malfunction with Tilly Fenton for the start of part one. I'm going to still give you the bio and the news digest and then she'll be joining us to comment on that. Sorry. Today we are joined by Tilly Fenton. We're recording here at the start of November, folks. Um probably coming to your ears end of November. So that's how we roll. I'll give you a little bit of a
background information on Tilly. Uh Tilly is a young indie pop singer songwriter from Melbourne. Her journey kicked off in 2023 when she took to Tik Tok to campaign for a spot on Lexi Jade's debut Australian tour. Tilly was handpicked by Lexi herself to be the sole support act, a dream come true and the perfect launch pad for her music career. Since then, she's been hard at work on her debut five track EP, which she released at the start of October. It found her collaborating with Australian
award-winning writers and producers Anna Leveri and Michael Balsa, and her punchy single, It's You, got added to the Triple J rotation. So, if you're a fan of artists like Lizzie McAlpine, Gracie Abrams, Olivia Rodrigo, or Phoebe Bridges, you'll love Tilly's vocals and storytelling. Let's move into our news article for the week. We've got uh from Connor Locky at the Music Network on October 24th. his article entitled, "The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, CBA, has announced the launch
of the Community Radio AirPlay charts. These charts will provide a weekly snapshot of Australian music being played at community radio across the country. The Community Radio AirPlay charts will be available on anrap.org.auu, replacing the current download charts. The impact of community radio on the discovery and support of local music will be quantified using automatic content recognition technology. They say this new tool highlights the value of amrat.org.au as a platform for discovery, provides
fresh promotional opportunities for local artists, labels, and teams, and recognizes the essential role that community broadcasters play in Australia's music ecosystem. The CBAA music director Andrew Kori emphasized the m measurable impact community radio has on Australian artists. Between October 2024 and May 2025, AMRAP reported 250,000 plays of Australian music on community radio tracked via their internal reports. And the December 2024 community radio listener survey revealed 60% of respondents reported feeling more
connected to their local music scene through community radio. Additionally, over 1/3 discovered local cultural or music events via community radio and 1 in 10 financially supported an artist by purchasing music or merchandise after hearing them on community radio stations. So, a couple of questions for you, Tilly. What is your experience like with your fresh career uh in the community radio space and how do you feel about the idea of these charts and maybe charting music and awards in general? How does that hit you? Community radio
and charting. I think with the charting, I haven't really turned my mind to it yet because I'm just starting out, but I think it definitely seems to be like a good metric for success in Australia, which I guess is a good and bad thing cuz you know obviously there's the area charts and there could be um you know an artist who gets in the top 10 which is so exciting for them and so amazing but I guess as well it is somewhat limiting because you know there's definitely a top 10 and there's also so much good
Australian music that's coming out that might not not necessarily be featured on that which is like I guess like a tricky situation but yeah I do I yeah haven't had too much experience with it yet but I guess as well with the community radio stuff though that's really exciting that they're bringing in that kind of charting because um yeah like you said what was mentioned in the article there's um just so many good artists and to be able to have almost like a smaller community radio like charting system is
awesome for people to see what's being played and not just the mainstream music that's being released. So yeah, I think it's really exciting. >> Yeah. And it feels like a win-win actually in that community radios get something out of this too. they become more relevant to these metrics that artists like to lean into and emphasize in their biographies or um sharing on socials and stuff. So, it's not just about community radio honoring Australian artists. It will also be an avenue for artists to honor community of
radio a little bit more. >> Um [snorts] I think that's really important. >> Um yeah, the charting thing. I was just curious about that because there there's a thing with music where it's like how do you chart music? It's a funny thing to chart on unless it's democratic and it's just like voting systems. >> Yeah. >> Um how do how do we judge music? It feels like a weird thing to try and >> judge objectively because it's such a subjective art form. We all have our own
tastes. >> Absolutely. Um, how how do we decide who's who's worthy of number one this week, you know? [snorts] >> Yeah, I know. It's such a tricky one. Like, >> yeah, like I said before, there's just so much music being released literally every day and even internationally as well. There's just like an overwhelming amount of music. So, yeah, it's awesome that yeah, the community charts will kind of give the people that may not necessarily make the super mainstream
charts um a safe space. And yeah, especially for those community radios as well that are doing so much hard work to support um Australian artists, they'll definitely be championed through this, which is awesome as well. >> Yeah. Have you interacted with community radios intern uh nationally or just here in Melbourne more or what's the vibe? >> I think I think mostly just here in Melbourne. I had um an interview with Sin Media before and a few weeks ago I actually did a little segment on Joy FM
which was fun and I hopped on their show for an hour which is awesome. So I think mostly just in Melbourne. Um, but yeah. >> Nice. Nice. Cuz when I think community radio, I also think uh just to give shoutouts, TripleR, PBS leading the charge here. Yeah. >> In um Melbourne. And I'm mostly familiar with the Melbourne community of radio stations, too. I've done some work with both Triple R PBS. And it's not just that they're um supportive of artists. I feel like they're just supportive of
everyone who wants to be involved in the music. some way or another. Music lovers, you know. >> Yeah. >> They want to create a space to congregate people around music. >> That's beautiful. >> Yeah. Yeah. PBS does an awesome job. Like I I feel like I see so many cars in Melbourne driving around with a little PBS sticker. It's almost like I don't know where people even get that from, but I always see on cars. It's always like the little PBS sticker on the on
the back of their their windows. >> Yeah. I know a lot of a lot of the community radio stations have a big uh volunteer base that they pull from and I'm sure that this this probably comes with a sticker at the very least. [snorts and laughter] >> So yeah, maybe it's a little totem, you know, I volunteer for PBS. Here's my sticker. Yeah. >> Literally, I love it. So good. >> Yeah. Cool. Um, you also made an interesting point about how uh national radio stations
um it's a bit harder for them because they've got this more specific taste that they're trying to constantly um almost loop throughout the whole day. >> There there's a lack of diversity in their shows perhaps. Um, but also it just brings me to the idea, how relevant are national radio stations in our day and age in your opinion? You know, you've obviously released your EP through streaming services and whatnot, and there's a lot of controversy around streaming at the moment as well. almost
feels like we're on this new frontier of trying to find another medium of music listening that's rewarding for the listener, the consumer, cuz streaming is very >> accessible and rewarding for the listener. But now the sort of the terms of service are feeling dodgy. AI music's making things murky and payout's always been a problem. >> It's always been a problem with musicians in general. I mean, yeah. How do how do you think um national radio and streaming and community radio all
play towards and the impact they have on an artist's rise? >> Yeah, for sure. I think for me um with national radio like it's always been such a big part I think of of my life like growing up I used to listen to it in the car all the time like anywhere I went before you know you could just plug in and like play. I mean, you obviously could play CDs in the car, but you couldn't just open your phone and play whatever song you wanted unless it was on iTunes maybe, but yeah, the accessibility is like it's so wild. And
I think because of that radio is definitely not as I think it's still relevant but it's I think the national radio in Australia at the moment definitely plays a lot more international artists than I think you know someone or like a radio station like Triple J. Like obviously I think they do play international artists but also they're like at their core they're supporting Australian artists um which is amazing but I also I've been really lucky to have um an awesome experience
with national radio as well. I do think it does make a difference. I was really lucky enough to be played a few times on the hot hits um with Nick Kelly and Lauren. And I think that those two are just doing such an awesome job at kind of finding like a happy medium and supporting the artists and the international artists that they would play on national radio. I think they have been doing such an awesome job at giving smaller artists a chance as well, which is really exciting because, you know, most people listening to national
radio in the car, most of the time it would be songs they've heard before or like by something that's, you know, trending at the moment or like a huge song on Tik Tok or just in the world at that time. So, it was super exciting to be able to kind of put that on my resume that I've been played on hot hits, which is awesome. Um, but yeah, I think also when it comes to streaming, there's definitely I feel like there's such a big thing about looking at the number of streams and measuring success on
metrics, which is a really tricky thing. Like I know for me, as soon as I put something out, whether it was my EP or um the singles that I released before that, it's so easy to get in the loop of like going onto Spotify for artists and literally every hour just refreshing and refreshing and almost trying to gain some validation from just numbers, which is definitely a hard thing because obviously for me it's something I've put so much work into with my music and then for it to just be uploaded and you know
you don't necessarily see success straight away. Um so I think yeah streaming is a tricky one. Obviously it's awesome for so much so many people all around the world to be able to listen to your music but I also sometimes try to take a step away from the numbers and just think about like the community that I've built and not just be like oh I've got like this many streams on this song. Um, and just kind of it's good it's a good like grounding exercise, I think, because it's it's
wild, I think, to see how many people listen to your song and I guess decide whether it's going to be a good or bad day for you. So, yeah, I think it's important to step away from like the numbers even though >> it it does still matter. >> Yeah, it's it's it is a tough balance. You're right. And yeah, that is a very mature stance to have >> on it because it's not it's not just streaming, is it? It's like this is sort of the age of counting um impressions,
engagement stats. It's all across social media, too. These are things that as artists we're monitoring as well, like, oh, what hit, what didn't, what was the best time to do this? >> My fans seem to like this, they seem to like that, yada yada. It's it's it's all data. And it's quite not it's not just like um a validation seeking thing. It's actually just exhausting too because it's a lot to process. >> How are you meant to process all that data and actually integrate it into
actionable next moves. >> Um which is why I asked about the charting thing cuz the there's something about charts which is also kind of that number counting thing, >> right? There's there's something similar to it. >> Very similar. Um and so there is a bit of sweet love with such things. Um yeah, it's complicated territory. >> Yeah, for sure. >> But yeah, I appreciate you um >> expressing your experience with national radio. I think it is important to
>> Yeah, of course. >> to reflect on the past and how important they were for our upbringing. And I I think you're right. I still think most people who listen to national radio will be car listeners, I would imagine. >> Yeah. >> Um >> Yeah. And yeah, they are sort of like the the stations that curate not just music in Australia but internationally. Whereas community radio seems to lean into community music. Yeah. Relevance to the community they're in. So they have
>> they have more spaces in their um airwaves that they can fill with Australian music whereas national radio um >> yeah there so if there's so much music in Australia my lord there's so much music in the world. What is it? Something I think it's over 100,000 songs are being uploaded to Spotify alone every day. >> That is crazy. >> Yeah, it's so overwhelming. >> And the craziest thing is >> I think they're doing a really good job. >> It's just going to keep going.
>> It's crazy. [laughter] >> Yeah. On that note, we Let's listen to one of your songs. Cool. I'm king. >> What do we got? This The song is called Your Plans from the Debut debut EP. What's the name of the EP? Could you tell everyone? >> Yes. It's It's a feeling that I know. >> It's It's a feeling that I know. Nice. >> That I know. [laughter] >> Great. Great. And this is her song, Tilly Fenton's song, Your Plans. We're
going to listen to it, team. Have a little listen here. Go check her out. If you want to hear the full song, you can find it on all the local platforms and maybe some community radio, too. Haha. See you soon. I thought I knew my worth, but [singing and music] you made me doubt. All [music and singing] the things my mom warned me about. If you tried a little more smile coming through [singing and music] the door, my daughter made me feel so bad. I bet you thought I'd stay. You traed me [singing]
this way. I ruined all our plans. I ruined all our plans. >> And we are back team. Your plans from Tilly [music] Fenton on air with us right now. How about that? Aren't we so lucky we get the full inside scoop today? >> Tilly, I am curious. Tell me when and where or if you have an image of when and where you wrote this song. Where did the song come from? How did the creative act occur? >> Yeah. So, this actually was written like halfway across the world in London about I think two over two years ago now. and
my manager Chelsea and I, we flew to London for a little writing and recording trip. And it was my first ever time co-writing with anyone and doing sessions in a studio basically. So things were all very new but I was working with Anna Lavity and we had a session just us two and yeah I kind of brought some ideas to the table about grieving this sort of relationship and I hadn't written about it yet and this was the first experience where I was like let's write something about it and actually funnily enough I really wanted
the end of this song to turn angry but that was kind of when we stopped, we probably stopped writing it about halfway through and that was kind of what we did for the day. And then it took me probably 6 months to come back and finish off the rest of it just on my own. I think at the start of last year um and we decided that we could take that angst and start writing It's You instead, which is kind of what we did. Um but yeah, so I wrote this song quite a while ago. um and finished it off at
the probably the start of last year. I kind of wrote the the chorus and the bridge was I think I needed like a bit of time to write those verses and then kind of just grow as a person and just yeah kind of took me a few months to figure out exactly what I wanted to say and and yeah and then once the song was like pretty much done I took it to my producer Michael Bellsar and he worked his magic on it and yeah just like I feel like I barely had to even show him any references. He just like heard the
song, started playing some piano for it, and it all came together pretty quickly once we started recording it, which was pretty fun. But yeah. >> Do you write with just vocals then, or do you have a harmonic instrument that you use to support yourself? >> Yeah. So, usually I write with guitar. So, that's what we did on the day. And then, but I also I also play piano. I'm classically trained in piano. I started when I was when I was like six, I think. So, funnily enough, I actually find it
harder to write on piano. I think because I grew up being taught to read the sheet music and play the notes on the page. It's actually >> I've grown out of it a bit now, the last year or so, but it's definitely something I had to work on. And I think it was a lot easier because I started just teaching myself guitar in co and it was a lot easier to just listen to chords and be like, "Oh, well that sounds nice. That's just going to be the chord." >> Instead of like being way too in my head
about it and being too, oh, but this is inversion and blah blah blah. >> Yeah. Yeah. Theoretical. It's a blessed curse. >> Yeah. >> Um >> Yeah. Literally. >> Cool. Cool. And um did the lyrics seem to flow out for this one or did you have to mind them out? >> I think I think it was probably a bit of both. I think when I first started writing this with Anna, I think it it was a little bit hard to get some lyrics out, but I think for me the way that Anna and I worked best was I would
usually explain her or just literally tell a story. And I think for me when I first started songwriting, I was really in my head about wanting it to be super poetic or just more than it needed to be. And I think >> it took me a while to to be able to realize how to put my like how I would actually tell a story just in conversation and to then be able to translate that into lyrics. I think I just when I first started writing, yeah, it was just way too in my head about it and it was like this needs to be more poetic and I but I
could just say it how I've literally said it. So I think that was what was awesome about working with Anna is that she would just write down little notes about how I would how I was telling the story. I think that probably was how the line um how did you make me feel that bad? I probably literally just said that and she wrote it in like a little Google Docs and then once we started kind of playing around with the guitar. I think I would like just have the what she had written down in front of me and kind of
just try to sing along and then other ideas would kind of come to mind. But I definitely think when I started writing the I think it was the chorus or kind of the end of the song, I was sitting in my room and I actually funnily enough quite a few songs that I finished like Valentine and your plans. I actually was doing a gig I think in March last year and it was a solo acoustic gig and at the time I probably only had about 30 minutes of original material and I had to do a 45minut set. So my manager was like we
have to finish these songs and I remember being super stressed out about it and being like oh my god there's like a week there's like a week left and essentially my goal was to finish the end of your plans and write a whole brand new song. And I remember I was kind of I definitely think I had a bit of a writing block at the time and I was like, "Oh my god, it just seems so daunting and scary to be like, I have to finish these songs and write a whole brand new one." But I ended up having
just like a bit of motivation when I think it was just I was I was literally about to go to bed and I got my guitar out and I kind of I think I probably ran through what was already written of your plans, which was kind of the verses and everything. And then I did a bit of journaling, which also is just another way to help get my thoughts out onto the paper and then be able to see them as I'm kind of singing along melodies and figuring out lyrics. And that's when I definitely think the chorus kind of just
like flowed out, which is the line, um, what is it? But you won't even see half of what you did to me, and you will never know all the help I had to get to let you go. which is that kind of section. And then I showed it to my manager the next morning and she was like, "Yes, oh my god, you're the best." [laughter] >> Yeah. >> So that was definitely a nice >> I think it also shines the light on there's value in deadlines with these sort of things too. Um, it can unlock
this sort of dormant [clears throat] creative energy >> that was waiting to be released even when we're sort of like Absolutely. I think I think the whole block >> the writer's block thing can be a narrative you start to lean into a bit >> and I think deadlines are a great way to to just cut that because you're like, well, I don't have a choice. >> Yeah. >> It doesn't that narrative isn't serving my end goal here. I got to get this done. >> Yeah. Literally. And I think it's it's
so hard to find a good balance between that. I think for me at the end of 2023 I finished my uni course and I was studying music performance and in that I kind of like majored in songwriting. So that was something where almost every week I was kind of writing and just like flexing that muscle and like getting better at it. And I think that's actually where The Secret um my first ever single that's literally was started off as a uni assignment and that was one of those things that I just had to get
done and it was literally like I think it was like a sense writing exercise and it was just like write like a A and a B section and that's kind of where the the verse and chorus for the secret started. Um which is really cool. But then at the start of last year was when I didn't have that structure anymore and I was kind of out of uni doing music full-time and it's so hard to, you know, I think it's definitely easier to wait for inspiration instead of pushing yourself because you are you are trying to get
out of your comfort zone and it is uncomfortable at times especially when you're sitting down trying to write a song and you're like I literally have no idea. So, I definitely think having structure is a really good thing. And I think, you know, as I'm kind of writing more going into this next era after my debut EP, I definitely I've been kind of having sessions where I'll just we'll just like book in a a few days with my producer and it's just like we'll just start a song at the
start of the day and just the aim of it is to get as much done as possible. So, I think that's also nice just having having somewhat of a deadline. I definitely think it's good to just like push yourself sometimes and just like force yourself to actually lock in >> cuz you never know what could come of it. >> For sure. I a group of my music friends, we used to do Tuesday song writing night and we would do these things called an hour of power >> and it would be you've just got to
finish a song [laughter] >> in an hour and we would make >> prompts and would almost purposely make prompts to make it less serious because a big part which can block you from finishing a song is that you want it to be a every song needs to be the best possible song >> and it actually doesn't. It actually doesn't. And you'll sometimes find along that path of like >> not seeking perfect, you find something that's just right. >> And that that's I remember we did one
that was like we've got to write a song uh the chorus has to be in three four. It has to have one key change in the bridge. It's going to start in the key of B >> and the lyrics have to be um relevant to all Adam Sandler movies. And that was that was the that was the promise. So good. I love it. >> And it was fun and quirky and silly and it wasn't an awesome song and that's okay. >> Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Like Yeah. Giving yourself like those restraints. I think Yeah. Cuz that's what I definitely
had at uni and we kind of were learning how to write for a brief and stuff like that. And I think it definitely just helps to get a song out. And one of the main things I remember learning it while I was at uni was I can't remember which teacher but someone said that there's kind of I guess like if you look at it like percentages and statistics there's like 90% of songs that are just like not good and then you have like your 10% of songs that are like your really good songs and if you don't just keep writing
then the 10% isn't going to get any bigger and obviously that 90% of bad songs you got to get that bigger or just write as many songs as possible to be able to reach the that 10% of better songs. >> So true. It's it's got to keep throwing against the wall until something sticks. >> Yeah. >> Literally. >> Yeah. >> Which is tricky, but >> Mhm. >> It's good. It's always worth it once you get to that good song and you're like, there we go.
>> That's the work. >> That's the work of the creative, right? The idea I think when I think about a prolific songwriter is I think of it's that person who can't not write. >> They're just they're pouring out of them >> all the time and they don't really care. They don't really judge them. They're just sort of happening. >> I think there's always a time for refinement, but that's a different stage than the creative act. >> Exactly. 100%.
>> Yeah, >> for sure. >> Yeah. Speaking speaking refinement, let's I just want to turn back to um some of the production >> from >> Yeah. >> your plans. Um Michael, did he make all the instrumentation choices or do you guys do that together or how do you guys go about production? >> Yeah, I think I definitely think it's a very collaborative process. We also um in the creation of your plans and my debut EP, we had um my drummer Ben Ellingworth as well and he is just like
even though he's technically like like a drummer, he is also just so creative just musically and he has always >> Are you trying to say drummers aren't creative? >> No, absolutely not. [laughter] I think I think it might be almost like a common like misconception that's like oh like you're a drummer but it's like I feel like >> drummers are always listening to everything else at the same time >> and I think that's just really cool. So, no, I feel like it's always
>> drummers write the best songs. >> Like, anyways, but yeah, so we had Ben um in the mix as well. So, most of the time it was just us three in the room. And I think Michael definitely takes the lead when it comes to instrumentation, but it's it's interesting because I think Michael just gets me. And it's like it's almost like not like spiritual, but like he will literally do ex like or put in or have an idea of exactly what I want without me even having to say it out
loud. I think he just knows me so well and >> working together is just like so much fun and I feel like we're very intuitive with it and we never are thinking about oh is this going to is this going to do well for this audience we just create how it feels I think um so yeah I think it was most of the instrumentation was kind of came from him but he would always be like oh like what are your thoughts on this or what what are your thoughts on this kind of this synth sound and >> yeah, it was definitely very
collaborative and and yeah, and Ben had so many awesome ideas as well. >> I feel like there's one maybe acoustic guitar part that Ben put in in your plans. >> Oh, yeah. >> But yeah, it's definitely a very collaborative process, but it's just so much fun working the three of us. I love it. >> Well, I I feel like it would be fair to say that that's a spiritual relationship that any anything that involves intuition fall into the spiritual realm for me cuz I don't really have a better
way to describe it, you know, [laughter] like what else is that? >> Yeah. >> Yeah, >> that's cool. Literally, >> I really liked how the drums enter in uh verse two, >> the the delayed drum entry. That's nice. [snorts] >> Yeah. >> Well, that's that's all Ben's magic. And I think, funnily enough, >> I think your plans was actually one of I think I mean I won't speak for Michael and Ben, but I think after we recorded this, they both like this is this is our
favorite song, >> which I know Ben said to me before it's funny funny that it's the song that he plays like the least amount of drums in. >> But I think for him that's where he gets to like listen to everything else, which is really cool. >> Yeah. Well, playing the least amount of drums is a creative choice as well because it's leaving space. That's also a choice of a drummer is it's about when to emphasize and what to emphasize and when just to let things breathe.
>> For sure. >> So, yeah, that is a creative decision. >> Was he drumming on all of the tracks? >> Yes. >> Okay, [snorts] cool. >> And then Michael played all the instruments. >> I think mostly. Yeah. I think I think we had I think for most of the songs Michael does is like a wizard at all the synths and everything. Amazing guitarist, amazing bass player. Actually, the bass the bass part is one of my favorite parts of Your Plans. It's I think Your Plans is like a very dreamy
song, but the bass is actually quite punchy >> and I remember Michael having heaps of fun recording that which was fun. But most of the time, Michael will do most of the instruments and then I'll usually do like a bit of piano, bit of guitar, and then we also just have so much fun when we're tracking vocals and doing BVs. I think I think especially in your plans, the BVs are a huge element. And we have that kind of like at the end of the verses there's like the how did you make me feel that bad and it has like a
little echo with the BVs kind of like arpeedio thing and that was really fun to create because they're all they're all different like the timing comes in I think the first one is just like normal and then the first the second kind of line or like BV comes in like earlier than you would expect it to. We just had so much fun doing the BBs, even for the whole EP. We It's just again like such a collaborative process. >> So, I love it. So much fun. >> I agree. BVS are fun to do. Like it just
is that cherry on the top. It feels like it pulls everything together. Makes everything sound crisp. >> Um >> Yeah. >> Yeah. In terms of the recording phase, it's really what gives it um >> some some some zap, some energy. I don't know how I guess you don't really get to hear hear it like that until it's recorded. Eh, like when you're writing the song, >> you can only sonically predict the V BVS, but then when they're actually there on tape, you're like, yeah,
something beautiful about that. >> Yeah. Yeah. And it's been so much fun working with Michael on it. Like I think before I started working with him, I felt like just tracking vocals in generally in general was I felt like it was more of a chore and I was like, "Oh, I have to sing now." Even though I love singing so much, but I think there's like a good and bad side of recording vocals, especially sometimes I can be such a perfectionist. And you know, when you're when you're talking into a mic
and you can literally hear every single thing that's going on, it is like hard not to get trapped in that bubble of, oh well, let's just keep going until it's like literally perfect. But I think, yeah, Michael does a really good job at directing me and being able to kind of be like, "Okay, let's do like a few more takes of this." And then he'll be like, "That was the one." Or funnily enough, it's usually we always use end up using like the first >> the first take or like the second one.
It's always the one >> that's never thought too hard about which is really cool. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. And then even like writing. >> Sorry. >> Sorry. I was just going to say there's like there's sometimes some touch-ups I find like those first two or first two or three takes normally capture the general sentiment of it and then for me at least then it'll just be maybe a couple of little phrases that I'm like, "Oh yeah, maybe we'll just redo that
one." But you're totally right. You can get lost in the perfectionism of it >> and it it helps just having someone there to be like that's good or that needs to be we could we could get that better. I think we can get it better. >> Yeah% just to keep you out of your head a bit, externalizing those those selfdoubt. >> And sometimes like you do some when you're tracking vocals, you'll do like a quirky vocal thing that you didn't even mean to do and it's not perfect, but
there's some sort of >> Yeah. >> There's some sort of feel in it that you're like, actually, >> yeah. >> Yeah. >> I like it. >> Yeah. I feel like there's actually been a lot of that um just in general writing with Michael like the some of the newer stuff that we're working on together. Um there's been I think there was one song we wrote a few months ago and it was literally Michael I think was already bouncing the audio and we just kind of
we had like a verse kind of section but not a chorus yet. And then I was just sitting on the couch and usually like when I'm in the room with Michael I'll always just be like humming along to the song cuz I just love to sing and it's just fun to be able to like or whatever. >> Mhm. >> And we were listening to the intro and I just hummed this little thing and he was like I was literally like on the couch super far away from the mic and he was like do that exact same thing again.
Just do that again. Put the mic a bit closer and do it again. And it's literally now the intro of the song >> and yeah, it's just so much fun. I love it. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. Those creative moments is cool, eh? Where does it come from? Who knows? >> Yeah. >> It's beautiful. >> Who knows? All the spontaneous ones are the best. >> Yeah. Yeah. Uh, normally we do uh talk about artist development more directly, but I feel like we've just interwoven it
into your the songwriting practice as it is. Um, but before we close out this this part, this podcast, >> if you had any like direct artist tips for other artists on the rise or things that you've noticed that you think would be valuable information to share, >> please indulge us. Yeah, I think I think for me I did not realize how much patience I would have to have for this just project as a whole. I think I always think about if I had told myself say 2 years ago that I'd only just released my music now. I
probably would be a bit disappointed. But I think some advice I would have is just try to be as patient as possible and remember that it's okay to take time and allow the music to just sit and just be able to like breathe a bit before putting it out. And I think that's something that I've had to do. I think it took a long time for me to kind of just understand what I even wanted my sound to be and for a long time I didn't really know what the vision was or I did but there just was always something that
didn't feel 100% right and I would just say to trust your gut because I feel like you know we talked about intuition before but I think just trusting your gut is something that's so important and if something doesn't feel right or if you don't like it, just remember like this is your project and it's your music and if there are other people telling you it should be like this, if that doesn't feel right to you, just remember to like stick your ground and yeah, like you know, it is your project at the end
of the day. So, you do want to be super proud of it and yeah, so I think don't be afraid to take time and don't rush it is something that I've definitely had to learn. And I would say my last piece of advice would just be to stay true to yourself and just be just be just be yourself because I think that if you're yourself the whole time, I think that just comes across really well with your music and and just surround yourself with people that that just want to lift you up. I think that's
really important, surrounding yourself with people who Yeah. just just want the best for you is super important. So yeah, feel like that's probably hopefully that's good advice and helps someone [laughter] >> patient intuitive trust community. >> Yeah. Yeah. I like that. >> Absolutely. >> Awesome. Thanks. >> Yeah. Nice. Thanks Tilly so much for uh joining us today and giving us some key insights into the industry and your practices. Um, if people want to keep in
touch with your journey, uh, where can they do that? >> So, I mean, my music is up on Spotify and all streaming platforms, it should just come up as Tilly Fenton. [music] And then on Instagram, my handle is Tilly.fenton. And then I'm also on Tik Tok, which is where I post quite a bit of content. And I think it's I think my username is Tilly Fenton, but the O of Fenton [music] is like a zero like the number. So yeah, that's where you can find me. >> Super creative. >> Yeah. Nice. Cool. All right. So Insta
streaming and tick tock, folks. Go check out Tilly Fenton. We're going to play the song out here just to give it another little zap. Your plans. That was episode 10, team. Um, I think we're done for the year with the AU NZ music podcast. We're going to have a little break for December and we'll be back next year with some more artists, industry heads, [music] and whatnot to fill in the holes in the Australia, New Zealand music scene. Until then, cha chow. Take care.