Olympia
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Olympia

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Bartley’s brand of alternative pop is sonically and lyrically adventurous. However, the pared-back presentation accentuates each individual element of her carefully formed compositions. An eye-catching live performer, you will likely see Bartley in her trademark getup – a glittering bodysuit topped with a slick blonde bob.

“I’ve been looking into a lot of Australian bands from the ’70s and old Countdown footage,” she says. “They dressed up so much compared to us. Musicians are quite austere these days, so I like to disrupt the norm a little bit.”

Although Bartley has been making music for a long time, the Olympia project is a relatively recent development. It is also the blueprint for a bigger band. “When I started this project, I had a long-term vision involving a nine-piece band. However, touring with multiple people is incredibly difficult,” she says. “I pour a lot of effort into writing my songs – they are quite unusual. I think the songs are strong enough that I can play them on my own or explore them with a band. The aim is we can do special shows with horns or choral elements.”

While she’s now a promising musical talent, Bartley began her professional life as an artist and designer. “I guess I’ve always been a creative person,” she says. “I love to stay home and rip pages out of books and recreate them in plastic folders. I do approach music the way I approach making artwork. My family all play instruments and are such naturally gifted players, so it seemed easy to pick up a guitar.”

Earlier this year, Bartley performed at the National Gallery Of Victoria’s winter music series, Unplugged Live, which explored resonances between art and music. She still finds herself most productive when working between disciplines and gathering inspiration from a wide range of sources.

“Often it’s picking up an ARTAND Australia magazine that will give me an idea for a song or the way artists are always trying to push things forward,” she says. “That’s what I really admire – when artists push ideas forward and bring their audiences with them.”

Over the past few months, Bartley has been collaborating with Burke Reid, a member of Gerling and a producer attached to some of the most powerful voices in Australian music, including Dan Kelly, Courtney Barnett, The Drones and Jack Ladder. “Burke works so hard, you can’t help but trust him,” she says. “There are not many people that put so much of themselves into your work.”  

Looking ahead to her soon-to-be-released record, Bartley says the new suite of songs is more personal than ever. “Many of them are quite strong, even though they seem quite fragile. I took them into the studio with Burke and pulled them apart – it was quite a deconstructive way of working. We had access to all these vintage synthesisers, which I had never used before. It was such a privilege to keep on creating in that recording environment, which is such a pressure-cooker. I was open to seeing how far we could go with these songs.”

BY ANNIE MURNEY