IZZY FARRAH
Where did you come from?
My earliest memories of music were that my mum would always play music for us. There were no Wiggles at our house, it was a strict diet of PJ Harvey, Ella Fitzgerald, Joan Jett, The White Stripes and the Foo Fighters. She got me and my sister those toy Paper Jamz guitars that would play music when you tapped them. Mine played The Ramones, REM and The Romantics. We always had instruments around the house, an old guitar, keyboards and toy drums. Even when I was 3 months old there are videos of me banging drums and pressing keyboards while my mum held me up! But it wasn’t until my 9th Birthday that I got my very own guitar. A Fender Squire in Daphne blue. I played that thing all day long. My sister got a Pearl Drum kit for her birthday a few years later and we made a music room under the house that we still use now. We used to jam to the White Stripes together, we even entered the school Talent Show with Grade 3, me on guitar and my grade prep sister singing “We Are Going To Be Friends” . We didn’t win but we nervously gave it our best shot!
I started playing around with chords and writing my own music when I was about 8. I would sit with my guitar, lock myself in my room and write all day. At first I wrote these really intense bluesy songs about friendship and betrayal, but after lots of trial and error found my groove in what I like to call “ soul pop… in the key of sad”! I’ve written over a dozen so far and am slowly learning how to record, mix and produce music that I can share with others.
I started performing through my dance school and primary school as early as I can remember. We mostly went on stage at Her Majesties Theatre. My absolute favourite stage is Her Majesties Theatre. It’s very ornate, dramatic, beautiful and full of so much history. I just love it so much. It holds a special place in my heart because my great Grandmother, Grandmother and mother have all performed there, and my great grandfather painted and added the gold leaf to the ceiling, so it feels like home to me. I prefer the big theatres, it’s very confronting when I can see a whole row of my family staring back at me. They always all want to be in the audience. But it is nice that they want to support me.
The feeling of dancing and singing on that stage makes me feel so alive and totally scared at the same time. Apparently, the first time I came off stage I said, “Why were all those humans staring at us, that really freaked me out”. I once played a whole guitar band set in my socks. I didn’t care at all because I was too busy being a 9 year old rock star to worry about shoes! But my absolute favourite performance was playing Motor Mouth Maybelle in Hairspray Jnr. I got to belt out the big number, “I Know Where I’ve Been” like Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson. It felt like nothing else! Also playing “One Crowded Hour by Augie March at my schools Presentation Night, which was the first song I performed with my band. (In Year 5, I gathered together a few mates who played instruments and asked the school for a weekly rehearsal space, we have played together ever since). After we played that song the Principal gave us a big write up in the school newsletter and we felt like famous rock stars.
I recently had the opportunity to join a songwriting workshop where we wrote and performed an original song. I also got to learn all the behind the scenes work for performing at a gig. We decorated the stage, arranged the seating at the venue, designed and printed the setlist and programs, greeted and seated the audience members, organise sound and lighting and introduced and interviewed each act. I was also able to arrange and sing in a combined choir with U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. I loved performing one of my first original songs, learning more about the behind the scenes tasks and working with amazing people. Most recently I have been able to record at Bantam Studios and film music videos on location. So many amazing opportunities. I can't get enough of it!
How do you do that Voodoo that you do?
I try to put all the emotions I am feeling into my lyrics and music so the song can hold it for me when it’s too much.
I write the music first. I start off with my guitar or ukulele and start playing four or more random chords. If they aren’t working then I’ll change a couple, keep them the same and try picking out notes in the chords or different strumming patterns until it clicks. Then, I will hum a melody over it and maybe random words that fit or relate to what I’m feeling as they come to my mind. When they start to form a story or structure, I write them down in a little book where I keep all of my songwriting notes.
A very good friend of mine writes poetry and I asked her if I could find any inspiration for a song in her poetry. She generously gave me some of her poems and I wrote guitar parts and a melody to them. This was such a lovely way to collaborate, even though it was the opposite way round to how I would normally write a song. We were able to bring her words to life.
An average day for me would probably be to find a way to play music all day long. I also play in a Band and various ensembles and choirs, drum lessons, voice lessons, dance and drama, jazz, musicals and playing and singing my own music on guitar, piano, ukulele, drums, and anything else that makes a noise!
Who on earth are you without a guitar in your hand?
My weirdest non-musical skill would probably be fire twirling. It’s really meditative because you’re in a silent place and the sound of the fire is so calming…not when it hits you in the back of the head though! I haven’t been doing it for very long but it’s really fun to practice and takes my mind off the day. I also like making jewellery, making art, skating, riding my bike and taking photographs and my two cats - Chonk (Harry) and Bonk (Gingerbread).
If the arts were completely off the table though, I would probably be a scientist because maths and science are my favourite and best subjects. I think Forensic Science would be fascinating, like deciphering a big puzzle while helping to solve a crime.
Storytime?
My most embarrassing, funny moment performing would have to have been when I was doing my first musical. I was in the ensemble but they needed someone to take the coat off the main character and throw it side stage. On closing night when the show was being recorded, I threw the coat a bit too far and it landed on top of a camera at the front of the stage! After the scene finished and the stage went black, I quickly grabbed the coat in the darkness so no one could see and ran it off stage. I thought I would get in so much trouble but no one really noticed and the teacher just laughed and said, “ I bet you couldn’t do that again, even if you aimed for it!”. Being part of a show is like one big family. We have a lot of fun and make and share a lot of great experiences and memories.
Are you cool as a cucumber or full of butterflies?
Of course I get anxious and scared before a performance! It’s because I want to always do my best. I get most stressed just before I go on stage. Sometimes I feel like I will faint or throw up butterflies! I get scared that I’m going to forget the words or forget a line, but when the curtain goes up and the music starts, something just clicks and I’m there doing what I love and nothing else matters. But at the end of the day, you just have to think that no one in the audience is wanting you to fail, and if the worst happens and you do mess it up, you just have to go on like it never happened and perform your heart out so the audience remembers that, not the mistake.
What are you trying to say?
I don’t necessarily put hidden messages in my music, I just write messages to certain people in my music. I will write songs with specific people in mind but I never make it obvious who it is. I put what is on my mind, what I want to say to them or what I’m feeling towards them in the songs, things that I am too scared to say in person. It helps me write the lyrics and put emotion into the song when I’m singing it. I hope that there is some truth in the song that reminds people of their own thoughts and experiences. If I write a song and it relates to you, it’s your song. That’s how I look at it.
The best piece of life advice I’ve been given is “Happiness is an inside job”. Don’t be afraid to express who you are. Be who you want to be, not what someone else wants you to be. You can never win at that game of trying to please everyone. So as long as you are not hurting anyone, life is yours to live and yours to give. My grandma always says, “Who’s in charge of you?” and I would always say, “ME!”. What she means is, good or bad, it’s up to me to take responsibility for my happiness and my life. It’s both scary and freeing.
Because of this, I don’t want to let any second of time slip through my fingers. I want to be ready for every opportunity that comes my way, even if it scares me. Sometimes if I think I can’t do something perfectly, I remember I need to spend 10,000 hours on it. Not all 10000 hours will be winning or even fun, most of it will be failing and trying again. “Dare to fail” is another piece of advice from my grandad. What he means is that if you only try because you know you’ll succeed, you’ll never push yourself to be better and go further. My family will tell you I am very stubborn (or determined, depending on how you look at it). When I was little, I climbed up on the table, my mum picked me up and put me back on the floor. I climbed up again and the experiment began. It took 26 times climbing up and being set down before I decided I should probably stop. 26 times. I think of that story every time I don’t get things right the first time. Try it 26 times and see what happens!
Most of all I’ve learnt in my short years that it takes the same amount of energy and heartache to try to be what you want or what everyone else wants. At least what you want will get you there
Please…take care of yourself and each other, this is the most important thing.
Why did Pirates Steal Your Joy?
When I was little, I loved programming robots and making stuff up on Scratch. I managed to get myself onto a Minecraft Programming Hacks video call from America but had to have a screen name. The lady on the end of the call said I sounded like a pirate so she auto-generated a username and piratesstolemyjoy was born. I've kept it ever since. I think it sounds like a weird mix of heartbreaking and tough and a bit funny, kinda like me!
What makes you get out of bed in the morning?
MUSIC!!! My favourite musicians are Joan Jett, PJ Harvey, Aretha Franklin and Billie Eilish. Their music has meaning, power and passion to it and it expresses so many emotions whether they be happy or sad or angry. They are songs you can crank up the volume and jump around your room to or listen with friends or sit within quiet moments alone. They are also really strong women who do things their own way and have their own style, attitude and mind.
Aretha brought gospel music into the mainstream and does things with her voice that gives me goosebumps! She is incredible. The performance she did at The Kennedy Centre of “Natural Women” is probably the most mind-blowing thing I have ever seen. When she threw off her fur coat and started riffing at the end of the song. Carol King and Obama are crying and the audience is going crazy. If I could do just a tiny bit of that I’d drop the mic and be satisfied forever!
I grew up with Joan Jett in my ear, whether it was in the soundtrack to Shrek, learning “I Love Rock and Roll” on my little guitar or knowing that her music has influenced EVERYONE. I saw the documentary “Bad Reputation” and she has anything but that. She had such a tough time early in her career with The Runaways, but when she took things into her own hands, she flew! Every musician from Iggy Pop to Miley Cyrus loves her. She has done so much to promote women in music and music in general. She has so much time for mentoring other artist and is still playing gigs today. She is a huge inspiration.
I also grew up on PJ Harvey, it was the first time I had seen a woman with a guitar and such a cool and powerful aesthetic just rocking out in the “This Is Love” music video. I’ve heard her crazy 4 Track recordings to her album made from her travels with her photojournalist friend and the studio that was part of an art installation. I enjoyed seeing how she made the album and that you can find inspiration from something as bad a war. Taking the sadness and turning it into something beautiful. I still love songs from “Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea” and also “To Bring You My Love”.
Billie Eilish is amazing. She is so down to earth and real. She uses her talent, not her looks, and lets the music speak for itself. She has achieved so much at such a young age, it makes me want to try harder and make my music the best it can be.
I can’t even imagine it happening but I wish I could collaborate with Billie Eilish or Joan Jett. They both started in music so young and have worked hard and gained so much experience and knowledge along the way. They would be amazing to work with because I know I would learn so much. I think the quote, “Always surround yourself with people better than you…they will pull you up” is so true. Their music style and their songs have so much meaning to me. That is the sort of music that I love to sing and listen to and I’ve always wanted to create music that conveys that level of meaning and emotion.
My bucket list would be to open for Augie March. They have been my favourite band since I was born and they have been a huge part of my life. They always play in beautiful venues and mostly because I would get the opportunity to watch their show from side stage! Augie March was my first ever live show. I was 9 years old and it was at the NGV in Melbourne. I got to stand right at the front, close enough to touch the stage. I couldn’t believe how they were able to take the music that I had heard through my headphones and put it up on stage, live. There were so many people on stage, so many instruments, mics, and amps and wires. I sang along to all their songs and even got to meet Glenn Richards, the lead singer, afterwards. I was so little, he had to bend down to shake my hand.
Where are you going?
The next big thing on my list is the musical Moana Jnr. I successfully auditioned for the principal role of Tamatoa. I am currently rehearsing and having so much fun as the show comes together. There are always opportunities to perform in soirees, showcases, musicals and online with school, BCMA and other groups I am part of as well as trying to write as many songs as I can to put together an album and record it. I will get to do this soon with Sonika Records recording at Bantam Studios in my home town. This is so exciting!
I want to take my music from my bedroom to stadiums and everything in between. But I know I am young and have a lot to learn to reach my potential. For now, I want to work really hard on all aspects of my music skills, learn from people who have already been where I want to go and get my music out into the world. I love music and want to write and play music just for the fun of it every day. Performing on stage is a huge thrill. The experience of anticipation before I go on stage, feeling the fear and doing it anyway when I step up to the microphone, enjoying the performance while it’s happening and really appreciating the applause of the audience when it’s finished. If that could be my job, then I’m the luckiest person alive.
Do you sing in the shower?
Do I sing in the shower? Who doesn’t?! That’s probably my favourite gig of the night! The acoustics in a bathroom are to die for! That’s where I sing all the big numbers from my favourite musicals and pretend I’m on Broadway.
What's your little 20c worth?
The internet has made a big impact on the music industry, in my opinion, because now there are so many platforms to get your music out there without having to go through traditional channels. You are able to make the music you want, in a little studio in your bedroom, upload it and just see what happens. Equipment and expertise are just a click away and if you’re willing, you can learn so much on your own. However, there is nothing like the feeling of a live performance and learning from the knowledge and experience of industry professionals, but I think you can strike a good balance and still have control over your creativity and process. It's important to soak up everything and never be afraid of not knowing everything.
I’m not in the music industry yet but when I perform or people see who I am, it can change their view on me because I am not what they expect me to be. I want people to see me and think that if she can be herself, so can I. Once I found out that some of my favourite female musicians were like me, it made me feel like nothing could stop me. I picked myself up and decided I will always be myself no matter what, to friends and family and anyone else. Everyone has been so supportive and I couldn’t be happier and more grateful to have all of them in my life. No one should be punished for any aspect of who they are. We should focus on the similarities and celebrate the differences. I want to be an example of someone who is unashamed and confident to be exactly who I am. I’m Izzy, nice to meet you! HERE are some of the ways I get involved with my community and try and make a difference.
Having four generations of feminists come before me, I can’t unsee how society promotes a certain “stereotype” of women. Knowing that I don’t fit into that box and knowing that it’s rare for women to break the mould, makes me more determined to be myself. It is changing and I hope to be part of that change. The only way to change anything is to learn from the old ways and create something new! Music is part of what makes us human and should represent all humans. Without music, we would all be like robots.
“If there is no ART on EARTH, it will just be EH!”