Premiere: Meet ISY ISY and the video for her latest single, I Set Me Free

2018 has been a big twelve months for Australian pop, whether it's the victorious triumph of acts including Troye Sivan, Cub Sport and Eves Karydas putting out full-length records or, on the other side of the spectrum, the plethora of small, budding musicians showing some incredibly promising signs so early on in their career. ISY ISY is among the latter, but she's primed for a big 2019 ahead, with a great 2018 - she dropped her debut single earlier this year to a bunch of love, supported G Flip and did a run of east-coast shows throughout the year - setting her up very nicely. I Set Me Free, her second single, is the best display of her promise thus far, combining a lush production aided by Taka Perry with her own delicate vocals, which contrast the thickness of the production underneath. The song itself was inspired and written at a time that I was caught up in a manipulative threesome. Me, my ex-lover and his label manager," she says on the song, which precedes a full, debut album in early 2019. "I could choose to continue to fight for our love and music vision we shared and take on the manipulative beast that was controlling our lives, or I could just set myself free of the both of them and take control of my music career alone, free of record labels and managers control. So when I couldn’t convince my lover to come with me, I cut the cord and set myself free."

Today sees the arrival of the single's video, which really acts as the cherry on top of a good year for the rising musician. The clip, filmed at Cracked Records Studio and around the King Cross area, further solidifies the single's themes of self-empowerment and self-actualization, as ISY ISY explains: "I think this video really captures the story but also the happiness and freedom it brought me, the situation and process was not an easy decision or change but one of the best I have ever made. I feel the first minute of the video definitely reflects the raw emotion that comes with the lyrics of the song and I am so glad it also shows the madness and how random and fun I am."

Watch the clip below, and better get to know ISY ISY ahead of a big year ahead.

Tell us about yourself?

As a child I was raised at sea on sailing yachts until I was about 13, I spent most of my days on different islands and was homeschooled by my mother. I didn’t have a lot of regular connection with other kids and I ended up spending a lot of time on my own on the back deck singing to myself. I always had a desire to be a “normal” kid with a house and a pet, but looking back, I am really grateful for the solo upbringing I had. I had some amazing experiences with wildlife; I think it has made me very creative with my resources, also knowing how to sail a ship is pretty cool too. If our country was to go to war, I know I'llill be out at sea on a boat with my family hiding out 'til it’s over.

When I was 22, I fell in love with an incredible drummer/producer and he taught me a lot about producing music and how to DJ. The first two years of our relationship was really wild, there was a lot of drugs and rock n roll on the road gigging with his bands, and we spent almost four years making music and DJing together. In 2014, I sold my boutique fashion business to do an Audio Production degree at SAE Institute. It was then I started to take my producing and song-writing a bit seriously and as you can probably tell, I took a lot of inspiration from our break up in late 2016. That was when I began to write the Levels EP and thus, the song I Set Me Free was born.

But all in all, I am just a curly haired cabin girl from the ocean trying to create an emotive connection with the rest of the world.

What’s the vibe music-wise?

Interesting I’d say, I plan to confuse and intrigue ears with something different every time I release. My genre varies so much; I started out writing bass heavy glitchy electro beats on a little four-GB Acer laptop with Ableton with major influences from Hermitude and Flume. Since 2016, I have been singing and writing more indie pop numbers; my lyrics always come from really deep within, it’s not often I write lyrics that aren’t secretly stewed from my soul's heartache or from a place of insanely overwhelming happiness.

What are your production and writing processes like?

My process varies like all artists, but I find that my vocal and lyrical driven songs start in my car with a voice memo then to build on it from there I tend to make a basic beat on Ableton to fit than the feel and then map out the rest of what I want to say.

Once I have a rough idea down I'll mute the vocals and then go ham on the track with different beats and arrangement. I love finding distinctive samples that work and then that’s when I tend to go for extra synths and midi instruments and then eventually record a final vocal demo with the new arrangement.

I use Ableton religiously and love messing with samples, and I really enjoy writing just instrumental beats. My first EP was mainly sampled drum loops, midi synths and warped bass. This time last year I met an epic producer Taka Perry (Rule, Max Frost & Mallrat) and we teamed up with my Levels EP, and it was the best decision ever, I absolutely love working with other producers and am so keen to do it more!

Can you tell us about your new single and video, I Set Me Free?

I HOPE THIS SONG INSPIRES WOMAN TO ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS AND SET THEMSELVES FREE OF TOXIC MEN AND INDUSTRY MANIPULATORS.

Any shows coming up?

I am currently planning a national tour for March 2019. Dates and venues to be announced after the new year.

What does 2019 have in store for you?

Well, I have another banger I am itching to release end of February, so I am pretty excited for that and then finally the release of my debut EP LEVELS early March followed by my first full national tour.

Where can we find more of your music?

Well, peeps can find my latest releases on all the main platforms but if you also want to listen to some of my early unreleased EP “Panda Eyed Unicorn” you can download it from my website.

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