Olive Rush and Scout Eastment use their new single 'For Ages' to highlight the importance of open conversations on mental health – a message much needed after a few years of chaos worldwide.
'For Ages' features a breezy guitar riff, light pop beats, and a hopeful outlook. . . With lyrics like 'Take a leaf outta my book, and take time to be patient / Faking it better feel good, cause I'm done with the favours'. . . Before the monotonous yet hypnotically catchy 'ah ah ah, ah ah for ages' refrain.
“Depressive episodes take a long time to heal from,” Scout says. “Just over a year ago, Olive and I went to Culburra on a budget 'writing trip'. One morning I felt just so disconnected and honestly just didn't wanna do anything.”
“Olive went out on a walk and I had to force myself to sit down and do something musical. By the time Olive came home, I had somehow come up with a bass line and this monotonous refrain of 'ah ah ah, ah ah for ages'. The song acts as a conversation between Olive and I, about where our lives were at the time.”
The duo have already toured with Pinkish Blue and Odette, played Brisbane's BIGSOUND, and in 2019 were triple j Unearthed's 11th most played artist of the year. In 2020, they were one of 16 recipients of Unearthed's Level Up COVID Grants.
Soon, EGOISM will hit the road for a bunch of east-coast tour dates. . . But before they do that, we had a chat about the new single and what's to come.
Tell us a bit about this track.
Olive: 'For Ages' is about the feeling that things are gonna get worse before they get better. Specifically it's a conversation between us on that very subject.
Why was it an important song to write, from your perspective?
Scout: I guess for me it captured how I was feeling at the time. There are few experiences more paralysing than feeling the onset of a depressive episode. For me it’s like a paralysis spreading through my body affecting the way everything feels. I wrote this this after what felt like a long period of depression, just before it would get a whole lot worse. But in some ways this song allowed me to take some ownership and understanding in that situation; how I communicated what was happening and accepted it in a neutral way. That frame of mind helped me a lot – allowing me to understand that it’ll feel like a long time but it will end.
Do you have any interesting/fun stories about the writing/recording process?
Olive: We had a whole version of this song ready to go last year, but it just wasn't sitting right so we had to go back and literally record over the original demo. I'd say about 2/3 of all the instruments were recorded within the first 30 minutes of writing this song.
What are you hoping listeners take away from ‘For Ages’?
Scout: First and foremost I hope they enjoy listening to it – that’s what I always want. But in terms of this song specifically, I’m hoping they can get comfort if they are going through a hard time. For someone in the weeds of a sh.tty situation, whether it’s mental illness, grief, relationship issues or whatever, I’m hoping it provides some comfort knowing that you can keep going.
On the other side of that, what are some things YOU have taken away from its creation?
Olive: Always trust your instincts, and sing from the heart.
There’s an accompanying music video too. Talk a bit about what went into it.
Olive: We wanted something really simple, where the wow factor came from subtlety. Billy (Zammit) the Director really took that literally and constructed this beautiful multicoloured world that really is just set in extremely ordinary locations.
You’re hitting the road this May/June. What’s your favourite thing about performing?
Scout: A lot of the time music can feel weirdly distant, especially the last few years. You are constantly working on it and then all your feedback comes from the internet; it can feel so distant. But then playing a show, suddenly it’s real and you get to actually see all your hard work come to life in a tangible way!
And what can big fans and newbies alike expect from these shows?
Olive: Confidence. We have really been putting the hours in and I feel like it shows.
What’s next for EGOISM? What’s on the horizon aside from the live gigs?
Scout: We’re always writing new songs and working on our skills as songwriters. Hopefully now that we can make more money playing shows again, we can release more and more music! I think we want to start working on bigger projects with our music too.
'For Ages' is out now.
EGOISM Tour Dates
7 May – Black Bear Lodge (Brisbane)
20 May – Workers Club (Melbourne)
27 May – La La La's (Woollongong)
28 May – Cambo Warehouse (Newcastle)
2 June – Waywards (Sydney)
