Mardi Wilson Don't Stop Interview

Mardi Wilson Springs out with Huge East Coast "Don't Stop" Tour

Mardi Wilson is a singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, self-managed, alternative folk artist. Hoping to help people learn about themselves and others through storytelling and music, she released "Astronaut" earlier this year that dove into her insecurities and her drive to simply accept them. A few weeks ago she released "Don't Stop" which she is celebrating with a string of dates along Queensland!

The second taste from her upcoming debut album, "Don't Stop", was first premiered on Music Is My Muse. Drawing from party culture, the song features Mardi's velvet vocals, confident guitar work and a slew of surprising percussion and sound effects including Bottle Caps, sirens and drunken babbling which she recorded at a relatives house party.

"Don't Stop is a track about "that one mate" who always wants to get loose and has a habit of taking things a step too far. On a deeper level this song alludes to the constant search for the next best thing, whether this is internally or in our day to day lives." - Mardi Wilson

Recorded at Blind Boy Studios with producer Brad Hosking, they shared instrument duties with Mardi covering percussion, drums and some guitar with Brad adding in beats, guitar solo's and backing vocals.

You can find Mardi Wilson spending a lot of her time sharing music up and down the coast line with gigs between Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and exciting news coming in from an event in New South Wales. Mardi is looking forward to capping off this latest run of gigs at now famous Buskers by the Creek on the Gold Coast in Queensland.

Interview with Mardi Wilson

Question: How would you describe your music?

Mardi Wilson: I would describe my music as alternative folk though I'm influenced by so many genres. I think you can hear singer/songwriter vibes as well as folk, indie and pop influences.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Mardi Wilson: I do love the recording process but to me nothing beats performing live. I love the energy of a crowd and when you can bounce off of them, it creates the most awesome atmosphere.


Question: Which is your favourite song to perform live and why?

Mardi Wilson: My favourite song to play at the moment would have to be "Get Lost", it's a really fun song to play because it's a little different from anything I've written before. I play it with the guitar on my lap in open C tuning and there's a lot of percussion on the body of the guitar. "Get Lost" is about filling your life with people and things that bring you joy so it's also a message that I love to sing about.

Question: If you could have anyone, in the world, attend a show, who would it be?

Mardi Wilson: If I looked into the crowd and saw Dodie Clark (Dorothy Miranda) there listening to my music that would be unreal… and I'd probably try to rope her into a post-show bev. I'd love to hear about her journey as an independent artist and some of her experiences in the music industry. I really admire Dodie and I think she writes some of the most beautiful music so having her attended one of my shows would be absolutely amazing.


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Mardi Wilson: My music is usually really emotionally driven. I find that I'm most motivated and passionate when there's some strong emotion behind what I'm writing about. For me this really helps to keep the momentum going in the writing process too.


Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

Mardi Wilson: There's so many to choose from! Some of my old favourites are Dodie, Kim Churchill, Paul Kelly, The Pierce Brothers and Matt Corby. But I've also stumbled across some artists recently who I'm loving listening to like Hollow Everdaze, Adrianne Lenker and Haley Heynderick.


Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Mardi Wilson: When I first saw Kim Churchill perform at the Bluesfest busking comp in 2009 I was so inspired by his song writing and just the energy that he had on stage. I had a chat to him after and he told me a bit about how he had started out and what had led to him playing in the comp. I had never really thought seriously about doing music before that but it definitely planted the seed that maybe my songs had the potential to be taken from my bedroom and onto a stage somewhere. Every time I've chatted to Kim since then he's had some new gem of knowledge to share and it is the best thing. Last time we chatted he really reinforced some of the things that I believe are important when working in the music industry. People describe the industry as pretty cutthroat and I'd been hearing a lot of advice like "if you can't handle the heat get out of the kitchen". It was reassuring to hear some different (and more helpful) advice from Kim, like treating everyone as a potential friend and being your authentic self. I think that in this industry these things are so important so knowing that there is an artist I can look up to who shares those views is really nice. Kim has dropped some of the biggest inspiration bombs and all of them have helped me in different ways, mainly he has helped me realise the worth of creating music and sharing it with the world.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?
Mardi Wilson: Is it bad if I say Kim Churchill again? I really think we could make some interesting music together and I'd love to see his writing process. Though I have to say, Paul Kelly is one of my favourite song writers of all time, so to collaborate with him would also be unreal.


Question: What is the biggest challenge you have faced along the way to your musical success?

Mardi Wilson: The music industry is challenging, there's no doubt about it. I know I'm not the first and won't be the last artist to face all kinds of hurdles along the road. I think sometimes it's easy to compile all of these obstacles and make them seem like one huge barrier, but in reality, my biggest challenge has been how I deal with these obstacles within myself.

There have been so many times when I've been disheartened and wanted to blame outside factors for a lack of success with a release or a show, in these moments I've started to question if I have what it takes to stick it out in the industry. To me dealing with these negative thought patterns has been the biggest struggle. It's difficult, but sometimes I have to swallow my pride and accept that maybe things aren't going the way I want them to simply because I could be doing more. Other times I have to take a step back and give myself credit for the work that I have done and what I have achieved.

At the end of the day I've learnt that it's not healthy to beat yourself up over the inevitable highs and lows that go hand in hand with working in the music industry. Instead I try to remind myself that this is the nature of the beast, I have to roll with the punches, accept let downs, don't place blame and keep pushing forward.


Question: What's a typical day like?

Mardi Wilson: I can't say there's such a thing as a typical day! Sometimes I'll spend a whole day practicing and writing, other times I'll spend most of the day travelling and preparing for a show. On a quiet weekday it's a lot of admin stuff like booking shows and invoicing, being self-managed I try to have as much structure as possible on those days when I'm not gigging. I really like that every day is different and there's always something to do.


Question: What has been your favourite part of becoming a music artist?

Mardi Wilson: My favourite part about being a music artist is being able to share my take on the world through music. It's awesome to think that when I share a little piece of myself in my songs it can connect with people that I may have never even met. It's a crazy feeling knowing that my music has touched someone, made them laugh, made them cry or helped them through a tough time. To me this is the most rewarding part and I don't think I could ever get sick of it.


Question: Can you share your socials?
Mardi Wilson: Facebook
@mardiwilson.music/
Spotify
YouTube 
Soundcloud
Triple J Unearthed 


Interview by Brooke Hunter