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[title]When Tash Sultana’s Notion EP hit the airwaves back in 2016, you’d be hardpressed to go more than a day without hearing it on the radio. Tracks like ‘Jungle’ racked up hundreds of millions of streams, and people were taken by Sultana’s ability to write, sing, mix, produce and loop all of their music live and on their own.
Since then, Sultana has played sold-out shows the world over and has put out two full-length albums, Flowstate and Terra Firma. The latter came out in early 2021 at the peak of the Covid-19 lockdown and has yet to be toured – until now. Just before Sultana took off for their first show in Spain, we gave them a ring and chatted about what they’ve been up to and what it’s like to tour again for the first time in more than two years.
How are you feeling after having had more than two years to prepare to perform on big stages again?
“I’m actually feeling the more relaxed, centred, grounded and chill about going on tour than I ever have before. But I feel like I had two years to prep, you know? All I’ve done this whole time is just play music, all the time. I just practised and practised and practised and practised, so that when I got the green light, I was ready. And literally what my life has been over the last two years is just trying to get better. To be a better singer, writer, producer, and to be better at playing the guitar and at playing all the things associated with the performance that I put on the stage. I’ve been prepping this new show for two years, so I’m ready. I want the world to catch up with me and where I am.”
Does having had that long period of time to prep for this tour make you want to be able to do that before every tour you do in the future?
“Yeah, I think in the future what I would do is definitely take gap years when writing records. In my opinion, there’s just no way that you can possibly write the record and go on the tour in one hit. I won’t ever do that again, and I want to have a total separation of those two things. [That way] I can just focus on being out on the road with the songs that everybody’s learned and knows, and then focus on going into the studio and writing new bodies of work.”
I know it came out in early 2021, but since you’re only just able to tour it, can you talk me through your headspace and desired outcome of Terra Firma?
“I just wanted to take a step up from where I have been. With everything I’ve ever done musically, I’ve produced it, engineered it and played all the parts. I feel like people don’t actually realise that, and that’s something that I really want to try and bring to light – the fact that I actually do the entirety of the whole body of work. Every time I do something in the studio, I play all of the instruments, I compose everything, I produce everything. And with Terra Firma, I was really trying to push past a boundary that I felt stuck in. With Flow State, everything was based around how was I going to loop this live, whereas with Terra Firma, I just wrote the record with no boundaries and figured out how to play it after.”
You recently joined Medibank’s We Are Lonely podcast to chat about your experience with loneliness. We’ve all been feeling a bit of that over the last few years, so can you speak to how it’s influenced your music and creative process?
“We all experience loneliness because we’re social to an extent. We can be unhealthily social and then you can’t be alone – or you could be too alone [to the point where] you can’t be social. It all kind of comes down to loneliness management. For me, when I start trying to fill the void with other things, it’s because I’m not being creative enough. I have faith in creativity, the same as other people feel grounded by their religious practices or God. For me, music is the centre point and everything else falls around that.”
You’re leaving for your tour in just a couple of days — what are you doing between now and then?
“I’m not all packed, but I had my teeth done, I’ve had my skin done and have all my new clothes ready to go. All of my stuff is already over there, it’s been freighted. So now it’s just the final crunch time, spending the last few days with my wife and our animals and then we’re out. [Also] getting a bit of washing done and keeping the plants watered. I’m a really organised person, so all this is about now is just packing a bag. I got a label maker recently and I’ve just gone ham on that, let me tell you. I’ve been labelling literally everything.”
Looking for more interviews with your favourite artists? Read through our chat with Beach House's singer Victoria Legrand. If you’re keen on seeing some live music this month, check out our guide to the best gigs happening in Melbourne this month.