Having recently released her 5-track debut EP “It’s yours.”, Melbourne based singer-songwriter Genevieve Sovereign also completes a year-long vlogging adventure as a relative newcomer to music creation.
“I believe we each bring our own unique potential into this world, with every moment of our lives an expression of limitless possibility. My music’s purpose is to help people rediscover themselves and (re)create in loving authenticity with every breath,” Sovereign explains. Her compelling combination of profoundly inspired new music and a week-by-week personal vlog of the entire process behind its creation makes “It’s yours.” a genuinely unique debut EP release.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Genevieve about the debut release, technology, adapting during a pandemic and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and how do You describe your style of music?
I was born and raised in rural north-western Ontario, Canada – one of the most beautiful parts of the world I’ve seen to this day, incidentally. Growing up, our closest neighbour was a 15-odd minute walk down a rambling old country dirt road. The closest village was a 15-20 minute drive away and the closest city (Thunder Bay) not much shy of an hour distant, depending on the weather. Tucked up at home, I’d often sit upstairs in my bedroom window for hours – legs dangling out over the ledge just watching the moon and stars shine down on fields of summer fireflies, or clouds drifting across a distant winter sun. The depths of meaning to be found amidst all that quiet vastness, and the foundations it laid in my heart and mind as a girl, have been a source of strength and inspiration throughout the years since.
Musically my tastes have always been eclectic, which probably explains what I would describe as my “experimental electronic singer-songwriter” style. Name a broad genre and I can probably nominate a handful of artists or pieces I enjoy which are at least adjacent! In terms of my musical training, back in highschool I learned to play flute and piccolo, becoming an avid participant in both my school’s concert band and that “nearby” city’s youth orchestra. When I moved away to Toronto for university, both my interest in music and my highschool-long rental flute (which my parents kindly bought for me as a graduation present!) went with me: I performed in the pit orchestra for a musical comedy production on campus at UofT, whilst simultaneously studying engineering full-time and working a part-time office admin job to support myself.
Before long though, those levels of commitment across that many channels became unsustainable – especially once I took on a leadership role running an artwork and creative writing magazine that was also based on campus. I had to choose my priorities carefully then, and music was one that fell by the wayside. I actually didn’t revisit music as a focus again for well over a decade, until the rolling lockdowns of 2020 here in my newer home of Melbourne, Australia.
How did you get here? As in, what inspired or motivated you to take on this journey through music and the music biz?
Music was a huge sanity-saver for me when the pandemic lockdowns began. It turned a potentially highly stressful time into almost a gift in disguise, honestly. All the beautiful music I began discovering (and rediscovering) whilst locked away under Melbourne’s various travel prohibitions and curfews really helped keep me connected and grounded through the isolation. It also deeply inspired me to revisit music-making myself. I began writing songs and learning to use a digital audio workstation (DAW) – simply diving in and completely immersing myself in this freshly reawakened passion.
As it happens, this in turn led to my starting a personal vlog on YouTube comprised of weekly updates to help track my progress, as well as my exploration and growth as a music creator. You see, I started to feel this would be a massive and important journey for me, one which I was starting at the tiniest baby steps – just learning how to sing and write songs and use a DAW. But I knew too that progress would build faster than expected in many ways, if I kept working hard and consistently. So, I began my weekly YouTube vlog as a way to stay keen and aware of my own development. It’s been hugely valuable as a learning aid, and also as a series of time capsules. I’m always amazed on reviewing old update videos, seeing how far I’ve come in such a short time. If you’d like to check the vlog out, it’s at…
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrMFZSVJdUhKu1GXmj9R7NQ
This multi-faceted approach to creation as a longer-term journey in itself has also been hugely helpful for my motivation and confidence levels. Spring-boarding off the release of my debut EP “It’s yours.” on 18 March 2022, I’m now exploring possibilities around releasing a full-length album next. Very keen to continue building my music network too, as well as learn from and collaborate with other artists moving forward. The ideas just keep coming – it’s like this process has unlocked mental floodgates I didn’t know existed! A seemingly endless stream of new concepts and possibilities is clamouring to emerge from my brain these days, into this big wide reality we share. It’s incredible, and super-motivating for getting my nose onto that grindstone to get things done.
How does your latest project compare/contrast with your previous release(s)? Were you setting out to accomplish anything specific, follow a specific theme, or explore different styles of creation?
Well with “It’s yours.” being my debut EP, I haven’t got heaps to say about previous releases – at least not in the music sphere! If you want to talk publishing though, I’ve got a couple peer-reviewed psychology articles in the world (because Psychology postgrad is the logical progression from a Chemical Engineering major / Bioengineering minor undergrad, right?). Those can be found in the Journal of Happiness Studies (“Mind, Body and Wellbeing: Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory and Self-cultivation Systems as Wellbeing Influencers” at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-019-00216-5) and the Journal of Business Venturing Insights (“Disinhibition predicts both psychopathy and entrepreneurial intentions” at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352673420300640), if you’re curious.
On the musical front though, my fundamental driver is a belief that everyone brings unique potential into this world – with each moment of our lives an expression of limitless possibility. I aim to create music which helps people rediscover who they are, nurture peace and inspiration within themselves, and continually (re)create in loving authenticity with every breath. That’s been my guiding vision throughout this process, and one which I plan to keep at the forefront through all my works yet to come.
Name the biggest challenge you faced as a creative during these unprecedented? How did you adapt? How have you kept the creative fires burning during all this?
I would say that rather than presenting challenges for me in particular, instead events since 2020 (i.e. Melbourne winning the dubious prestige of officially becoming the longest locked-down jurisdiction in the world in October 2021) actually helped to inspire and facilitate my pursuit of music. Without all the extra time spent at home, I’m not sure I’d ever have made the space in my schedule necessary to start exploring and dabbling in creative pursuits to the degree necessary for achieving something like this.
So, as twisted as it might sound to some, in truth I’m profoundly grateful for what the past couple years have brought me – the challenges, gifts, opportunities and achievements all. I’ve grown so much as a person and as an artist, as well as learned things about myself and the world which I doubt I ever would have otherwise.
What was the last song you listened to?
Whilst I don’t recall the specific song, it’s likely one of the old or new faves in my Spotify playlist “Gen vibes with this!” – which I actually compiled around my EP launch as a way to share some love, by featuring songs and artists that have been deeply meaningful on my musical journey.
For example, there are songs on there from artist friends and acquaintances (i.e. Dandelion Wine, Valicension, Bloc-Chain, Roxley, Plum Green, Car Machines) whose work I admire and want to help promote. Also now peppered in amongst that playlist’s mix following my album launch are all five tracks from the “It’s yours.” EP, often specifically positioned adjacent to pieces that helped influence or inspire them – and thereby providing a little more insight into my own tastes and ambitions I guess, haha. The “Gen vibes with this!” Spotify playlist can be found at:
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? 8-tracks? Cassettes? CDs? MP3s? Streaming platforms?
I’m very much a child of my era, and have always treasured my CD collection. Even though I had to leave a significant proportion of it behind in Canada when I moved to Australia (including most of the jewel cases for those albums I was lucky enough to bring here with me) I still love snagging a CD whenever possible. It’s my favourite form of merch! On the digital front, I much prefer having my very own files to listen to – either as WAVs or MP3s, to play howsoever and whensoever I wish. I kinda treat streaming as a necessary and often irritating evil, haha. It has its uses but is certainly not my preferred medium!
Where is the best place to connect with you and follow your journey?
I’ve got a handy-dandy directory page to assist with that, catering to a variety of possible platform preferences as best I can!
DIRECTORY | https://linktr.ee/genevievesovereign
That right there is a one-stop shop cataloguing all my socials, web pages, music streaming / downloading options and other online presences. I’d love to connect with folks on any and all of them! But I’ll take this opportunity to particularly cherry-pick from it…
WEBSITE | https://www.genevievesovereign.com
VLOG CHANNEL | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrMFZSVJdUhKu1GXmj9R7NQ
BANDCAMP | https://genevievesovereign.bandcamp.com
I really appreciate Your time. Anything else before we sign off?
We’ve shared a lot of text here talking about me! At this point I want to thank you, Joshua Smotherman (presuming that’s who I am indeed addressing here, as well as anyone / everyone else in the Indie Music Discovery team, and of course IMD’s amazing readers!), for creating and nurturing this wonderful platform which I’m sure has helped innumerable artists and listeners over the years. People like yourselves who genuinely care and are passionate about music – as art, as expression, as a vital component to a healthy world, and/or whatever other factors may drive your actions – you help to ensure that the beating heart of music survives through the good times and the not-so-great alike.
So, to yourselves and the readership of Indie Music Discovery, please accept my deepest gratitude and respect. Endless love atchas all! xoxo
Genevieve Sovereign
