Public Figures: At Full Volume
Interview by Ellie Moran (She/her)Unfolding from the long-running creative connection between Evie Vlah and Gigi Argiro, punk band Public Figures are carving out a place for themselves with an unapologetic sense of intensity. Fresh from stages shared with some of the loudest acts in Australian rock, the band, completed live by Lakota Vella on lead guitar and Mary-Lou Hylands on bass, thrives on instinct, catharsis and complete creative freedom.
Ispoke with Evie and Gigi following their appearance at Golden Plains and in the midst of their regional tour.
The two have been making music together since they were teenagers, bonding over the same records and instincts. A lot can happen between then and now, but their tastes remained so aligned that Public Figures eventually grew from that connection.
When the idea of starting a band together finally emerged, the process felt immediate. What began naturally has continued to grow alongside them, shifting shape while remaining grounded in the same shared sensibility that first brought them together.
“We really bonded over similar things and realised we grew up listening to the same stuff. We also learnt so much about each other through our individual tastes.”
Even the name Public Figures carries the same balance of humour and self-awareness that runs through the project.
“It’s pretty tongue-in-cheek really,” Evie says. “It feels quite silly and funny to decide to start a new band and call it Public Figures.” The joke is part of the point. So is everything underneath it.
The band’s debut EP, Figure It Out!, was largely written before the name itself even existed. Once suggested by their friend Jem, it immediately stuck.
Asked to describe the band’s sound, Gigi points to a collision of high energy, oversized guitars and an in-your-face attitude. But describing Public Figures’ music as simply “punk” undersells it. The influences scattered throughout the conversation tell a fuller story: The Muffs, Kim Gordon, The Divinyls, Kate Bush and Kiss, revealing a fascination with both abrasive noise and theatrical pop sensibilities.
“It’s a fairly vast landscape that we’re trying to build. It’s super easy to be boxed into genres and styles, which is totally fair, but we’re into lots of different stuff and try to sprinkle each part of our palette into that vision.”
The band’s raw and confrontational edge is an honest reflection of who they are as people.
“We are never the ones to stray away from the truth,” Evie says.
The songwriting happens in real time, in the same room. Sometimes they start from scratch by messing around on guitars or picking up the pieces of a demo and building it into something full-sized. After landing on a thematic idea or feeling, they loop sections of the song while humming melodies and writing lyrics beside each other until they find the missing piece.
“It’s a fun process and can feel like time travelling when we really lock in.”
It’s hard to ignore the broader context the band is operating within. For Public Figures, punk exists not only as a sonic language, but as a way of processing the world around them. It absorbs the ambient dread of a given era and turns it into something visceral. For Public Figures, that feels less like a genre choice than a natural response to paying attention.
Speaking on what currently fuels the band creatively, Gigi describes a constant backdrop of political unrest and collective anxiety.
“It feels like with every passing hour there’s a new historical event happening. Tragedy is everywhere and it’s pretty dark at the moment. But you need hope and joy to fight the powers that be. We try to channel as much of that anger, frustration and overwhelming sense of doom into something positive to share with others and ourselves.”
Golden Plains was a milestone. Both Evie and Gigi have attended the festival as punters for years, which made playing it feel genuinely surreal.
“We couldn’t have dreamt up a more perfect set and receptive crowd,” Evie says. “It was very surreal for us to share that iconic stage. What an honour to be trusted and believed in to play the opening slot at Golden Plains. We feel so lucky.”
Onstage, what they’re aiming for is simple: “Something real, something electric,” Evie explains. “It’s all about stepping into your power and feeling free.”
While the band began with Gigi and Evie, Lakota Vella and Mary-Lou Hylands have become integral to its identity.
“We asked Lakota to join the project more than two years before Public Figures properly existed,” Gigi says. “We already knew she’d be a perfect fit and that we’d have so much fun playing together, so we were stoked when she was still keen after all that time.”
Mary-Lou Hylands quickly became the band’s first choice for bass after years of seeing her perform around Melbourne in other projects.
“We’d always seen her around town rocking in previous bands, but we were too nervous to ask her to join,” they explain. “Eventually we sent her the demos and thankfully she was into it. Now we’ve built this gorgeous friendship and band together.”
For Public Figures, the visual identity of the band is inseparable from the music itself. Artwork, styling and performance exist within the same evolving world, shaped as much by instinct as intention.
“The visual world of Public Figures goes hand in hand with the music we create and play,” Evie explains. “One is not one without the other.”
Driven by what she describes as a deeply visual way of thinking, Evie approaches the project through fragments of imagery, emotion and abstract ideas that gradually take shape.
“Drawing inspiration from all walks of life, everything we work on for Public Figures just makes sense and seamlessly fits into the world,” she says.
“It’s ever evolving and it’s here 4eva.”
While the band are only just beginning to settle into life on the road, the excitement surrounding their first interstate run remains palpable. Between road trip playlists, petrol station snacks and carefully packed cars loaded with gear, the realities of touring still carry a sense of novelty. So far, though, the experience has largely exceeded expectations.
“All the shows so far have been a dream,” Gigi says. “We’re keen to get in front of some new faces.”
Of course, no conversation about Public Figures’ live shows could avoid mentioning the now-infamous Fed Square performance supporting Amyl and the Sniffers. The set was cut short when crowd pressure caused a barricade to collapse, forcing organisers to shut the show down mid-performance in front of 15,000 people. Amyl responded by putting $5,000 bar tabs across seven Melbourne venues, turning the chaos into something the city is still talking about. Public Figures were on stage for all of it.
“Definitely a show we’ll never forget,” Gigi laughs. “Getting to play with a band like Amyl and the Sniffers alone would’ve already been a lifetime memory. But then getting booted off stage during the set because the show was shut down… pretty iconic.”
As for what’s next, the band remain intentionally elusive.
“Expect the unexpected.”
