Image: Photo: Zak Kaczmarek
Brisbane’s young singer/songwriter Ayla is the latest in a batch of musicians who make you contemplate how and why you hadn’t achieved as much as they have at such a young age. Ayla first broke onto the scene at just 18 and has now returned at 21 years old with a fantastic new single, Shallow End, teasing an upcoming EP.
Even Ayla herself says it still feels “funny and doesn’t seem real” to be such a recognisable name in Australian music. Following her debut EP Ayla was compared to Lana Del Rey and Lorde but even through all of this she has still maintained a humbleness.
“I actually have more trouble the other way, in terms of having confidence.” said Ayla, “I definitely don’t feel like anything has gone to my head, I just feel super lucky to be able to do music.”
Struggling with confidence wouldn’t appear to be conducive with an upcoming national tour but as Ayla told us the stage is actually where she feels the most confident. “I know it sounds tacky but I feel like that’s a place where I am meant to be. Being on stage is an amazing feeling and where I feel the most comfortable.”
In just three short years since breaking onto the scene Ayla has not only grown in confidence on stage but also in the recording studio. Whilst she is incredibly thankful to Elliot Heinrich, the producer of her debut EP When The World Ends, for kicking off her career a change was needed to continue the career progression.
“Elliot really kicked everything off for me because he took my songs from simple acoustic songs and took them to a level which I could never have envisioned for them.” explained Ayla, “With that EP though I wasn’t as ready to be as involved in the production aspect as I was with the new EP. With the new EP I was ready to be a little bit more involved so I sat there with Sam [Cromack] in the studio which was really fun.”
For the upcoming tour Ayla says she plans to play all of the songs from both EP’s to date which means not only will there be “some songs that have not been heard” but also that she now has a “full set of songs that feel real which is really exciting.”
Jun 23, 8pm. Factory Theatre, 105 Victoria Road, Marrickville. $10+b.f. Tickets & Info: www.factorytheatre.com.au
