At the moment there’s a tiny revolution happening in Australian music. It’s all about the young women, the ingénues as it were.
Seeker Lover Keeper – the superband comprising of Sally Seltmann, Holly Throsby and Sarah Blasko – is a recent epicentre, the gravitational pull of this collaboration bringing incredible new talent to our shores in the form of Tiny Ruins.
Tiny Ruins is one Hollie Fullbrook. She’s an ingénue too. She comes from New Zealand. She works in a library. And her music is as intoxicating, if not more so, than the music the young women of Australia are making.
‘Folksy blues’ focused with lyric and ‘guitar finger picking’ are how Fullbrook describes her songs from her first album, Some Were Meant For Sea. Beneath that though is a musicality that is slightly classical, stemming from a childhood of playing the cello.
‘I picked up the guitar at the age of 11,’ Fullbrook recently told OUTinPerth.
‘I already had the strength in my fingers from playing the cello, so the guitar was a natural extension. It was really easier to play than the cello too.
‘Plus the fact that I could sing and play the guitar at the same time was a really big appeal – I tried and trust me, it was just too awkward.’
The name isn’t as easy to pin down: it just emerged after Fullbrook had been writing music for local theatre productions back in Wellington and playing at spoken word gigs. A passing song on the radio cemented the name in her brain.
It fit snugly, the ambiguity emphasising the charm of her distinct sound.
‘I like the fact that the songs can almost be seen as ruins. They have a roughness to them, as though they should be discovered. But any name grows into itself, given time.’
Discovery is a recurring theme in the story of Tiny Ruins, whether it’s people discovering her via the internet or her discovering her place here in the Australian music scene.
‘It’s hard to gauge where your place is half the time. All you can really do is focus on what is in front of you.
It’s easy to be overwhelmed. But personally I think there most certainly is a place for what I’m doing.’
‘But that’s one of the pleasures of what I’m doing – I’m discovering my place by playing with all these bands and meeting all these artists. I don’t see it as a competitive thing.
‘There’s enough room for everybody. And there’s a lot more going on – music is so diverse right now.’
But more than that, Tiny Ruins seems to have landed on our shores at the right time, providing further inspiration for young women and girls everywhere to discover their own voices.
So – as an aspiring singer songwriter come librarian – what recommendations does Tiny Ruins have when it comes to discovering a good read? After all, discovery can take place anywhere, especially at your local library.
‘I’d recommend the 700’s,’ Fullbrook laughed, blushing slightly at her other life back in New Zealand.
‘I’m not completely accurate with the Dewey Decimal System – I think I have the wrong brain to be working in a library. Some people can rattle off numbers of good books like there’s no tomorrow. Not me… but I can definitely guarantee you’ll find a good read in the 700’s.’
Some Were Meant For The Sea is out now through Spunk / EMI.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
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