The lack of female fronted bands in the Melbourne electronic music scene is substantial and Empress is proactive in creating platforms and opportunities for young women in this genre. They commit to prioritising female-identifying and gender queer musicians when curating all of their lineups, as well as First Nations and BIPOC women. 

Empress members have made waves in the music scene alongside some of Australia’s luminaries such as Barney McCall, JET, Rat Child, Sex on Toast, Harmony Byrnes, Hoi Palloi, Emma Volard, The Mummas, BUMPY and more. The three front-women, Grace Robinson, Stella Dunai and Matilda Pungitore, created this ensemble when it became clear that women were severely underrepresented in the “hip” dance music scene in Melbourne. After attending multiple festivals and local electronic music gigs that were dominated by male instrumentalists, they decided to create an ensemble which brought women to the forefront of this industry.

Demure spoke with the lead singers of empress about their CONSCIOUS effort to better FOREfront women in the music industry

Stella Dunai. Grace Robinson. Matilda Pungitore.

D: Everyone loves to know how a band came together so how was it in the beginning?

E: The three of us lead singers first met in high school, where we connected through vocal harmony. In fact, 5 out of 6 Empress members all went to high school together! We were lucky to go to Princes Hill Secondary College, where they have strong vocal and choir programs. Us lead singers gravitated towards each other as we all had similar music tastes, and found we blended together as a trio pretty damn well! We then all went on to study music at the VCA, and realised that we were underrepresented as female musicians – both in our course and the music scene itself. After attending multiple “hip” electronic/dance gigs with little to no diversity and representation, we decided it was time for us to not only bring female representation but also vocal harmony to the forefront of the industry.

Given our upbringing and experience in vocal arranging, we were able to create a unique sound by blending the dancey pop/soul music that we love with complex three-part harmonies. We wanted to create a band that communicated a female perspective through our compositions and image. We were also lucky to have gone to high school and university with the instrumentalists in the band, so we already had strong connections with them as both musicians and friends.

A few of us have been playing together for close to 10 years now. We are extremely lucky to have a band connected on a musical level but also as a group of close friends, we all value each other tremendously and we think this really translates in our songwriting and performances.

D: What has been the biggest achievement as a band? Have you released any of your songs anywhere?

E: Considering we only formed a couple of months before the pandemic, our progress has been restricted to little bursts as we try to make the most of the time between lockdowns. We were lucky enough to be booked for a June residency at the Evelyn Hotel following 30/70 that sadly got cancelled except for the last show. We can also proudly say that we have sold out every show we have ever played and hopefully it continues that way!

We feel very strongly that our best achievements are yet to come, and we are very eager to jump on every stage we can post-lockdown! In the meantime, we were able to film a live video a few weeks ago set to be released very soon, as well as working in the studio to deliver you guys some material as soon as possible! We are taking these times of isolation to really work on writing some new tunes and refining our live set, so we can jump back out there with a BANG as soon as possible!

D: You’ve stated that the three front-women wanted to create an ensemble to better forefront women in the music industry. Do you examine this in EMPRESS’ music and if so, how do the songs show a connection?

E: Much of our songwriting is heavily inspired by female pioneers in our genre and broader music scene. We began by covering a bunch of songs written by women such as Becca Stevens, Tune Yards and Joni Mitchell, and we take heavy inspiration from these female songwriters as well as Nai Palm, Erykah Badu, Sylvan Esso and Destiny’s Child. When we began to write our own music, we wanted our compositions to examine the female experience and consume these spaces in a scene severely lacking our voice and perspective. We have also been very aware of diversity and representation in the curation of our lineups, and aim to perform alongside other female fronted groups, or those representing marginalised communities. Our writing is a collaborative process which reflects the ideas of all members in the band, both female and male. We want our music to be relatable to all listeners. However, by providing representation we hope that women and upcoming female musicians find comfort in seeing us at the front of this industry.

D: Your music is highly experimental, particularly the song GRANDMA YOU LIE. What is the creative process like when producing music together?

E: Thank you! Our writing approach is actually very collaborative! Every song is created differently and we wouldn’t say we have a specific writing technique. More often than not one of us three vocalists will write the lyrics and the melodies, and we often send little ideas or demos made from our bedrooms back and forth so we all are involved in this process. We then arrange and clean up songs in rehearsals with the whole band. Having studied and played together for quite some time we have a familiar and lovely way of working together, and the guys bring so much to the table in terms of arranging and writing. Now that we have settled into our groove, we find we can write and arrange songs in just one or two rehearsals! Each of us are so unbelievably grateful to be working with some of the most talented musicians we know and that we can also call such close friends. Everyone in the band has something really unique that they bring to the table - and when this is coupled with really open minded, talented musicians it makes the writing process really dynamic and exciting.

D: EMPRESS’ performances are quite energetic! When having the pleasure of watching you live I often feel myself getting really into it. Was this a conscious effort?

E: When we first conceptualised Empress we knew we wanted our image to be powerful, fun and bold. We wanted to take up space, get in peoples faces and just shake up the monotony of male bands dominating the Melbourne scene. We also feel as if vocal harmony is not often perceived as something that can be high energy and super loud, and we quite like the idea of recontextualising vocal group singing into something new and exciting through our performances. This energy is integral to the music we love and connect with, it feels like a necessary and natural way to perform and communicate with our audience. 

D: I’m hoping to rock out to the band again soon! Do you have anything in store that we can look forward to?

E: These lockdowns have been a massive nuisance, as is the case for all creatives but if all goes ahead we should be joining some pretty cool lineups in September and October, however it’s all pretty hard to say at the moment. In the meantime look out for our live video as something to brighten up your lockdown!

Interview by Isabella Cini (she/her)

Photography and Styling by Eye to Eye Productions