Ms.45 Neuromancer Interview

Massive Attack meets Patti Smith

New to the Melbourne music scene, Ms.45 is the brainchild and alter ego of arcane pop chanteuse Ella Jackson. Having been described as everything from "Massive Attack meets Patti Smith" to "the goth Taylor Swift", Ms.45's set is genre-defying yet familiar, sometimes hypnotic and sometimes abrasive.

Despite only being around for a year or so, Ms.45 have very quickly become favourites on the Melbourne gig scene, playing countless shows and releasing two singles in 2018. 'Salt Water', their second single of 2018 was included in The Ripe's 'Best Singles of 2018'.

Ms.45 has released their debut EP 'Neuromancer', recorded by John Lee at Phaedra Studios (Totally Mild, Lost Animal). The tracks on this EP are wide in breadth, including a tonguein- cheek political rap number, a blissed out disco banger that will transport you to all-white, cocaine-laden, Bret Easton Ellis influenced dance parties on the beach, and disjointed ballads straight out of Twin Peaks.

Ms.45 will be playing The Tote each Thursday in November in support of the EP release, along with a small run of Melbourne shows to close out the year - to be announced.

Thursday 22nd November - The Tote, Collingwood VIC
with support from Poppongene, Gun Ctrl
Thursday 29th November - The Tote, Collingwood VIC
with support from Premium Fantasy, Dark Water

Interview with Ella Jackson

Question: How would you describe your music?

Ella Jackson: Ahh. It's really hard to describe your own music! Two of my favourite comparisons were "David Lynch meets Lana Del Rey" and "an alternative soundtrack to Buffy the Vampire Slayer" though.


Question: What inspired Neuromancer?

Ella Jackson: A lot of stuff that was going on in my life at the time I guess. Sonically I was really inspired by tacky film soundtracks from the 80s, by artists like Angelo Badalamenti, Giorgio Moroder and Goblin. I really wanted to create something that transported you to some sort of freaky dystopian universe.


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

Ella Jackson: I have a track called 'Station' that we play at the end of every set that I absolutely love playing live. It's not on the EP but it'll be on our upcoming album for sure. That and a few other newer ones that don't appear on the EP are a lot more organic and piano/guitar based which gives us a lot more room to move in our live set I think.


Question: What should we expect from the upcoming residency at The Tote?

Ella Jackson: Oh, I don't even know what I expect from it to be honest. We've had a couple of lineup changes at the very last minute and everyone's still learning the songs so I think it'll be either very spontaneous and cool or just a complete disaster.


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

Ella Jackson: David Lynch, hands down.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Ella Jackson: I love different aspects of them both. If I had to pick one probably performing though. I love the adrenaline I get when I'm performing, particularly if the audience seem to be connecting with it. There's something really magical about that.


Question: What is the story behind the name, Ms.45?

Ella Jackson: It's actually the name of one of my favourite films. I had a bit of a crush on the lead actress and wanted to give a nod to her.

Question: How did the band come together?

Ella Jackson: I guess it kind of started as a bit of a cooked bedroom recording project. I've slowly put a band together since I made those initial demoes, one member at a time. They're all just great mates of mine that I hang around with all the time anyway so it all just fell into place more or less.


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Ella Jackson: All the usual kind of things… Sadness, anger, lust, love, my friends, etc.


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

Ella Jackson: I don't really listen to music much to be honest. I like silence. When I have listened to music recently it has almost always been Goat Girl though. I think they're great.


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

Ella Jackson: I don't know, it has honestly just always been something I've thought I needed to do, from as early as 5 years old. I was always quite shy and took a lot of pushing from my friends and family to make it happen though. If there's anyone that I could say pushed me the most I would say it was my father.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?
Ella Jackson: It changes all the time but at the moment I've been thinking it would be rad to make a rock opera with Joss Whedon or something bizarre like that.


Interview by Brooke Hunter