An exlusive Q&A with Ainslie Wills about “Society” and high jump

With her beautifully crafted and honestly told stories, Wills has gathered an army of lifelong converts at home and internationally. Her Oh The Gold EP was chosen as Lauren Laverne’s “Track Of The Day” and featured on Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour, both on BBC6.

Wills’ captivating live show has seen her support the likes of Leon Bridges, Grouplove and Michael Kiwanuka, grace the stages of The Great Escape, Falls Festival and sell out headline shows in Australia and the UK. To celebrate the release of “Society” Wills will perform at Reeperbahn (Germany) this September, with further Australian, UK and European dates to be announced shortly.

Listen to her latest, “Society”, here:

Check out our full Q&A with Ainslie Wills below:

1) How did you get here? Did you always know you’d be a musician?

“I knew I wanted to make music of my very own when I was around 14 after hearing a record by the name of Grace by Jeff Buckley, it blew my mind. I wrote some pretty shitty songs to start but they got better as time went on. ;)”

2) What has been your proudest moment so far in life? Music or otherwise?

“Mmm this is hard one but I always feel like I’m doing something good when people come to a live show and come up afterwards saying how much they connected to the songs and sounds and how they’ve been able to access emotions that they didn’t think were accessible, that makes me feel pretty proud.”

3) What was the songwriting process behind “Society”? Who was involved? Do you have any pictures you could share?

“No pics to show, unfortunately, I always forget in those situations as you get so wrapped up in the most important thing- the music!

Society was written as part of a songwriters weekend in Sydney, Australia. I was lucky enough to be paired with Mozella and Bram Inscore and something just clicked on the day. The lyrics were born out of a conversation I was having with Mozella about where I felt my life was headed, I wasn’t really following the same life trajectory as many people around me were so Society is about.”

4) How do you deal with naysayers? In life? In work?

“Great question! Compassion is my go-to, there is a reason why people are the way they are or act the way they do, I try and understand where the person is coming from as much as possible which makes me take things less personally and therefore not spend unnecessary time thinking about things I can’t change.”

5) Do you have any tips for any women in the industry?

“- Be yourself no matter what.

– Don’t compare yourself to anyone else, your path is as unique as you are.

– Don’t be afraid to see through an idea even if you’re told it isn’t a good one, sometimes you need to see where the idea leads you and what you learn from it.

– Work hard but don’t burn out, try to incorporate as much self-care into your life as possible.”

6) What’s one thing most people don’t know about you?!

“I used to be pretty great at high jump…”

7) What’s next for you in 2018?

“I’m currently in London doing some writing with some incredible people over here, then it’s off to Europe for some live shows and then back home to put another song out before the album comes out early 2019.”