INTERVIEW: SIOBHAN COTCHIN CHATS TOUR WITH KINGSWOOD AND INSPIRATION FOR NEW SINGLE

We gave Siobhan Cotchin a call to chat all about her captivating new single 'When the Curtains Close', we also wanted to hear how excited she was about her national headline tour and support with Kingswood on their West Australian and South Australian legs. We threw a couple of extra questions in too so you could really get to know your favourite Perth Rock artist!

How was Bluesfest?
It was pretty good. It was super fun, I think the Perth artists definitely had a hard slog playing at the same time as all the other bands. I was at the same time as John Butler which  wasn't as bad because it was acoustic but you could hear every stage. I don't think the setup was the best but I had a good time on stage. 
I met Jessica Mauboy and embarrassed myself, I was just like, I love you! We had a nice chat and her performance was insane. I’m still exhausted from the weekend to be honest!

And how do you feel about joining Kingswood on the WA and SA legs this year? 
Oh my god. I'm so excited. It seems like it’s going to be so much fun. And I just feel like it's gonna be a really wild time. And I'm ready for that. I'm ready to party and play some rock shows. 

It's a pretty lengthy tour considering it's only two states, looks like it'd be a really fun experience. 
Yeah, we've got a lot of dates but I mean, I'm excited. It's gonna be like a holiday but with a little bit of work involved. But honestly, playing music does not feel like a job, it doesn't feel like work. It's just fun.

On the back of that you have announced your own headline Australian tour as well. How do you think they're gonna be different from last year's one? 
Well, hopefully more people know me over east and people are interested in coming to shows. I just hope it goes well, as well as it did the first time around. 

Any particular state you're excited for that you feel like you have the most fans at the moment?
I’m excited for all the hometown shows and all the regional shows, that should be really fun. I’m excited for all the states because I have friends all over the place so It’ll be nice to see some familiar faces and make some new fans along the way too at places I haven’t been before or haven’t stayed long enough. I’m keen to do whatever really!

Are you taking the band with you again?
Yeah. 

That adds to the fun too!
Yeah it makes it so much better, playing shows by yourself is great but at the same time, it's kind of like, oh, I miss that interaction I have with the band on stage. I miss that connection. So it's really fun and they're great to travel with as well. And, yeah, it's a bit of emotional support as well. It's really nice.

Yeah it doesn’t  feel as lonely being away from home.
I mean, my mom comes with us as well. She's kind of also my emotional support. And she is sort of like the logistics behind everything. So she helps out a lot, which is great. 

That's awesome. She sounds like a supermom.
Yeah, It's giving like Kris Jenner. In the best way possible. 

That's awesome, I love it!
You are currently celebrating your contrasting new single ‘When the Curtains Close’. This track is beautifully written in a way that it gently captivates the listener, what was your main source of inspiration for this track?
Well I kind of wanted to just put out a song that was completely different from all the Rock tracks I was putting out. I had this song on the back burner for a while and I didn't really know what to do with it. I played it to Sam (Sam Ford, Tone City), my producer and he was like, ‘Yeah, let's do it!’ And I feel like in the realm of what I'm trying to do at the moment, like the 90s nostalgia, nostalgic sounds in my songs, I feel like it kind of fits in with that because we were listening to a lot of Elliott Smith and also Phoebe Bridges, who's very inspired by Elliott Smith, and you know, he just wanted to like still keep that 90's feel but make a little bit more modern the way that Phoebe bridges does.

We just got in the studio and it was a very simple track so it was just a couple of guitars and voices and a few synths as well. So, a different process, definitely buy it was super fun and chill and I'm really glad I put it out because I feel like I just want to show people that I'm not just a one trick pony and I can sort of do it all. 

I feel like this song is also an ode to the music that I really love as well. That pure singer songwriter, melancholic really sad girl vibes. I feel like that's the music that I really, really love. So yeah, I just wanted to sort of pay my respects to that a little bit.

Do you know what a song is going to sound like when you're writing, or does it evolve in the studio?
Yes, because I feel like when I was writing it I was listening to a lot of Phoebe bridges at the time. So I was kind of like, oh, I want to write a song in that way. I was going through a lot at the time and it all just kind of came together. I just think it really fit the mood that I was in and you know, sometimes I don't really know what it's gonna sound like until I bring it to the band. Which is like the step before going into the studio, so I know what it's going sound like in the studio. But I think with the band, that's kind of like where I find out where it's really going to go if that makes sense. 

Did they lean into this with you or did they want to start rocking out to this one?
Well it went through a few phases like we tried some drums with it a while ago because I think I wrote this song in 2019, 2021 maybe. It's a pretty old song. We tried a few things in the past and nothing really worked and then I kind of just thought it might be nice just to give the boys a bit of a break and I’ll take this one.

I think that's really important with art is to kind of understand where it ends and not just keep adding and adding
Yeah, definitely, I love playing heavier stuff and I feel like there's room for that. But there's also room for being simple and gentle. There needs to be that duality. And as an artist I just want to show people that I’m versatile and I’m not just one thing. You know, I feel like I get very pigeon holed by the whole country thing. And it is kind of frustrating because I do think that a lot of the music that I'm putting out at the moment is not country at all. And this new EP that I'm putting out as well is like, not country so I'm just trying to like show people that I can do it all. I can be the soft, sad singer songwriter I can be the rock chick, but you know and I can also be country music.

I find that really frustrating, as soon as you put on a cowboy hat it's like, Oh, your country. It's never been restricting for me because I just think I just want to prove people wrong a little bit. That it's kind of given me ammunition to be like, Oh, I can show you, I can do it all.

I think it was Abby Butler (Triple J Unearthed) who said “You toe the line between earnest country folk and heart-on-the-sleeve indie like no one else.” And I thought that that was really well put because, in my opinion, listening to your music, I don't go straight to country. You can hear the elements of that for sure, but I think she was right in saying that you definitely play with both genres really well.
Thanks, that's really nice, I do agree with that. I feel like I'll always have that twang in my sound, but that doesn't mean that I'm country.

Do you have a favourite time of the day that you'd like to write?
Well, I definitely like writing at night. I feel like that's when I'm my most vulnerable, so that's a good time and usually I'll be busy during the day. But recently, things have kind of slowed down for me during the week. So I've found a lot of time to write during the day and I've been doing a lot of co- writing and that normally takes place during the day. I think anytime I feel like writing is a great time for me. I really enjoy both writing during the day and writing at night. Definitely like those like midnight writing sessions that I've had in my room by myself. It can be very vulnerable and scary but I feel like with the daytime, it's a bit more approachable.

I've really made the effort to make more time in my day to like, devote to creative writing. I try to journal every day and do all that stuff. I just definitely made more of an effort to make sure that I'm writing during the day. I finished writing a song yesterday and I felt a lot more clear headed. Maybe I’m more of a day person, I kind of love that for me.
I’m an all day person. I'm an everyday person.

Do you find that your music helps you in other areas of your life as well?
Oh, absolutely. Oh my god. It's such a great form of expression for me. And it's like free therapy. I say that all the time. Because it's true. If I can't get in a session with my Psych I'm like, Okay, let's write a song about this.
So, I just feel like it's helped me navigate so many parts of my life and it's just really helped me understand and come to terms with a lot of things that I've dealt with. It helps me communicate how I feel to other people when I've struggled to.

I love it. I think it's just part of me, it's what I need to do to feel whole and I just think it's a productive outlet of my emotions, because I've got a lot of them. So, yeah, I love it.

What is something about you that people might be surprised to know?
I'm a very open book.
Oh my god.
I don't know I literally share everything about my existence.
On my Tiktok you’ll find something about me that you'll be like, wtf why is she like this? 
I was gonna say, I'm kind of really into witchcraft. I'm a crystal bitch and I love lighting incense and cleansing the room before I write, I really enjoy doing little rituals. I'm a little baby witch, I don't think I've talked about that a lot. But I do dabble in the craft of witch every now and then because it's fun.
I’ve actually started reading Tarot cards! 

Oh, cool! How are you finding those?
Really fun. I feel like people are kind of afraid of them because they think it's going to tell you when you're gonna die or whatever.
What I found out is some of them, like the death card, are actually really great. because the death card means a new beginning.

You're saying goodbye to something and then welcoming in something new, so I feel like learning about it has really helped me understand it and make more peace with it. And then I feel like if I want to do readings with my friends and stuff, it's like, no, this is good. You just have to have the right energy for it.

And one more question if you could go back in time. Which artist would you go see live and when?
Holy shit. Oh my god. Well, the first person that came to mind was Jeff Buckley, because Jeff Buckley had such an important impact on me like when I was a teenager and his music just really speaks to me. So I feel like I wish he had more time and it's really sad. I wish he made more albums and oh my god. Yeah, definitely Jeff Buckley. 

I imagine going back in time and seeing him in one of those little bars that he used to play in. 
Yeah, or at the cafe. 

Yeah, the cafe! Have you listened to the ‘You and I’ album? 
Yeah!

How cool is that album, when he speaks in between each track.
I love it when you see and hear artists behind the scenes stuff. It just humanises them a little bit more and makes them a bit more accessible. Yeah and I think because he's such an enigma and we don't know much about him anymore. Because you know, obviously rest in peace, having those little pieces of him just makes him more human. And more real when I feel like that's super special.

For more information on Siobhan Cotchin's upcoming tour and support shows with Kingswood, click here.

Interviewer - Keeley Connolly