INTERVIEW: Anna Cordell On The Intersection Between Music And Fashion

Anna Cordell. Photo supplied.

Melbourne’s Anna Cordell has just released her new single, The Children, and it’s a track that shows off her vocal prowess. She’s recently returned to making music after a decade-long hiatus, during which she embraced her love of fashion. These days, she’s balancing both.

I spoke to Anna about the new track, as well as how motherhood has influenced her music. I really enjoyed speaking to Anna, and I think it’s a great discussion of how different creative pursuits feed into each other, even if you don’t necessarily expect them to do so.

Ben Madden: Firstly, can you introduce yourself and your music?

Anna Cordell: My name is Anna Cordell and I’m a musician and designer from Melbourne!

I wanted to ask about the return to music after an almost-decade hiatus. What brought you back to making music, and did it feel natural to start creating again, or was it something you had to re-learn?

When I had my first daughter really young and dropped out of music school... I decided overnight - not intentionally exactly - that music was over for me. Life had taken a huge turn and I was a little shocked. I’d really lost confidence with my music before that, too. I wasn’t sure what my direction was. I’d just started to dip my toes into the industry and found it all really overwhelming. It kind of killed my initial love for writing. 

I fell into fashion after that and it took all my attention and seemed to fit better with having young kids at the time, so I just threw myself into that creatively. But after a while, I started feeling an emptiness, like it wasn’t really where my heart was. I had a couple of stores and was designing for some large companies, and by the time I had my 4th daughter, it was just all too much. So I stopped and moved to the beach with the kids, staying home full time.

That’s when, maybe 6 months in, I just started picking my guitar up at night when everyone was asleep. I’d sneak out to the shed and play - and it flooded back! It was really quick. 

The Children talks about trying to ground yourself when you’re struggling to do so. What techniques do you use to ground yourself when things are spiralling out of control?

I think when I’m getting panicky and a bit out of whack, I often go straight to one of my close family members or a friend. When I’m really trying to nut something out at that deep, personal level, when things feel out of control, that’s when I turn to writing and my guitar. 

I find writing so hard, but I never regret doing it. It helps me work out what’s really going on, what I really think, and often helps me get to some truths I maybe manage to avoid in daily life. That’s why it’s hard! It scares me because writing can serve up some scary truth nuggets sometimes. It’s harder to lie to yourself on paper. 

Being the mother of five children would definitely be a handful! How has being a mother influenced your music, both lyrically, and through the arrangements/instrumentation you write for your songs?

It’s hard to say what effect it has on my music. It’s so much just the life I know. Perhaps at the beginning, it made me hold back a little - I’d be worried about how my kids would hear my music. I feel pretty free of that now. I think the experience they give me is something that enriches my writing, because they keep me in that state of wondering about the universe and all the big questions. They stretch me and help me see things from a new perspective, multiple times a day! 

Following on from that – what music do you listen to with your children, and do you think any of them will pursue music as they grow up?

Ha! Such a battleground with the music in the house! There is such a broad range of music going on, I love it!

I’ve never tried too hard to force them to listen to what I like or like what I like (they might correct me on that). I mean they hear it - my husband and I have similar taste in the record department, so when the records are on it’s all us with our vintage kind of music. But then there’s the kids and YouTube and Spotify and whatever - it’s a total mash-up! They play a lot of pop at the moment. I hate a lot of it, but they probably hate a lot of my stuff too! 

Most of my kids play a musical instrument or are in the choir at school. I’ve really encouraged it, but I’m not forcing it too much either. I really want them to feel free to explore their own interests. I can definitely imagine one of two of my daughters getting right into music though. I’d love that. 

You recorded your previous album, Nobody Knows Us, over in New Zealand. You’re working towards your next project – will you take a similar approach with recording, or will you be changing things up?

I’m going to change it up! With the album, I really wanted to focus on collaborating with the producer Ben Edwards because I loved everything he did so much. So a lot of it was taking my songs to him and working on it as we recorded. I was so excited about doing it intensely over two weeks in New Zealand and just being immersed like that. 

Now I’ve done that, I’m really looking forward to doing things local this time- and more driven by my new band and the sounds we come up with before we get into the studio. That’s partly because I have a really clear idea of what kind of sound I want for this and we’re already getting that happening in rehearsals, so it will be more a case of capturing what’s already happening.

I’m planning an EP this time too. It’s a whole new sound and the length of an EP makes me feel really free to experiment with that and push it as far as we can. 

Outside of music, you’re also a prominent fashion designer. How do you feel that the worlds of fashion and music intersect?

I’ve noticed them intersecting a lot more lately in Australia which I’m very excited about! When I did my album I thought ‘I’m going to put loads of effort into the artwork and my clothing and dare to look like I tried!’ The Melbourne music scene was very lo-fi - jeans and t-shirt, make sure you don’t look like you care kind of vibe - and I just wanted to go for it!

At the time I didn’t realise that mood was obviously happening around me - so many amazing shoots and costumes and cover art are happening now. Musicians are looking to fashion far more, and as a designer, dressing musicians for shows or photoshoots is a dream! It is so much fun and really stretches me creatively.

READ MORE: INTERVIEW: Purple Drapes On How Sitcoms Inspired His Debut Single ‘Richard’  

Finally, what are your next few steps, both personally and music-wise?

Trying to work out the balance between music and the clothing biz is my main objective now. I really want to carveout much more time for music, so I’m hoping to get some more people on board to share the work with the other things. 

It’s a constant push and pull, but I’m realising it all ties in together - my children, the designing and the music - they all feed into this beautiful chaos that makes me a little crazy sometimes! I love it. Recording the rest of this EP is high on the agenda!

You can follow Anna Cordell on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.