Penelope Austin

...The crowd was treated to the entire track listing on Sadnecessary, pulled into the funky world of Milky Chance with audible stops ranging from the Deep South to the Caribbean. The twangy, southern guitar, the cheeky, reggae vocal and the deep, vibrating bass proved to be an enigma that couldn’t be ignored. The room erupted for crowd favourite Flashed Junk Lights and, predictably, their mega-hit Stolen Dance.

But while Dausch’s beats and Rehbein’s sensational vocals are addictive and impressive, it was their special guests that I left the show raving about. Penelope Austin, stunningly beautiful in that why-do-I-bother-leaving-my-house way, could very well be Australia’s answer to Lana Del Rey, with a voice and song style that had me madly googling her from the car park. Check out her tracks Trigger and Underwater to know what I’m talking about..... - Music Feeds

Various bits of press on Pinterest board - Various

We last checked in with Sydney-based songstress Penelope Austin back in March this year when, off the back of a couple of vocal appearances on club stormers for Denzal Park and Ivan Gough, Walden and Jebu, she gifted us a free download of her single ‘Dynamite’.
Now Penelope is back again, this time with her phenomenally impressive new single ‘Trigger’. Co-penned with the supremely talented Robert Conley, the new tune will feature on Penelope’s upcoming album, due later in the year.
Given the song was penned in New York City, we suspect she really had no option but to hop on the first flight over and shoot the video there too, giving us a gorgeous little snapshot of the city that never sleeps.
‘Trigger’ is out now. - Auspop

Now, Penelope shares her favourite memories.

1. My mother
I wouldn't say she was careless, it was more that I was an oblivious child, which was particularly highlighted one day, years ago, when we were painting our house. I accidentally swallowed a few mouthfuls of turpentine presuming it was water. Although this memory appears to be an undesirable one, it was in fact my first memory of feeling completely protected. I was rushed to hospital and was in and out of consciousness, with a mask on my face and tubes in my side... going... going... The last thing I remembered was her holding my hand and when the doctors tried to pull her away she wouldn't let go. She didn't let go.

2. Christmas Eve in New York
I fled to New York with $150 in my pocket, a beat-up guitar and a wealth of hope. I took a cab to my friend's bar which cost $60, which, after the exchange rate, left me with peanuts. She asked me how much money I had knowing that I hadn't come from a good place. Without even thinking, she went to the safe and pulled out a thousand bucks. She told me to pay her back one day. It was the beginning of my New York City love affair.

3. Lost in Paris
I flew to Paris to meet my aunty. We had arranged to meet in a certain place, however I had no map, very little sense of direction, no phone and I barely spoke any French. When neither of us arrived at the correct meeting place, panic ensued and we both screamed around the city trying to figure out where and how we were going to connect. As fate would have it, in the suburbs, far away from our designated meeting spot, we both turned a corner at exactly the same time and ran into each other in a rush of profuse apologies. It was my first memory of believing in the power of fate, laughter, red wine and cheese platters!

4. Morphine
I woke up from my surgery surrounded by my best friends who were bickering among each other while I was blissfully high thanks to the morphine. This also made me oblivious to their carry on and I was loving that. It was like a scene from a bad comedy.... One friend was being scolded by the other for eating my hospital food, another was freaking out about a spider that crawled over her arm en route to the hospital, another was bitching about work and all were talking about men... who phoned back.. who never did. It was a chaotic mess. But the drugs made everything fucking good.

5. Kissing
Kissing him for the first time and realising I was going to love him forever. In that instant, he made up for all of the many homes that I have lost. -

Meet Penelope Austin. She’s been everywhere, man. For over ten years the Southern Highlands songstress has been travelling the world, seeking (mis?)adventure and snaring sonic inspiration from the ever-growing collection of stamps in her passport.

Some of this time she spent on her own, some of it on tour with The Rolling Stones. No biggie. Her next destination: stardom. And it’s fair to say, Penelope is on course. She’s already blown up the Twitter-sphere on club anthem collaborations with Ivan Gough and Denzel Park, and now she’s flying solo with the LA cool, hip-pop sounds of her first single, “Dynamite”.

We managed to keep Penelope still for five minutes, to chat about her travels, her music and her upcoming album, set for release later this year. We even managed to take some pictures, which you can see HERE in this exclusive editorial shoot by Hannah Scott Stevens.

So maybe take some time to get to know Penelope Austin. Because soon enough, she’ll be everywhere, man.

Where are you coming from?
I grew up in the Southern Highlands. My mother unfortunately passed away when I was 14. From there I decided I needed to get out of the small town that I lived in. I went on exchange and went to Oklahoma for the first time. I lived with a family of Mormons, which was really a shock to the system.

Mormon men can have as many wives as they want and I’m pretty sure he wanted me for his next. I thought, “Holy fuck, my life back home is totally awesome in comparison to this, get me back to the small town.”

I came back home after that and I recorded a song for my mum. I never thought I’d be a singer but she always told me to sing.

I finished my HSC then and as soon as that happened, I packed up and moved to London with my guitar. I travelled around Spain and Europe; the travels were quite hilarious.

I was in Greece one time and I had 100 euros. I thought I can either get back to the airport, get back to my job in London and be sensible, or I can just get really blind tonight and hire this motorbike and have the best 24 hours of my life, and deal with everything tomorrow. Which is what I did.

How does that turn into being on tour with The Rolling Stones?
I was gigging in a pub and running a pub on the south coast of England, in a place called Chichester.

This girl used to come in all the time, and she would ask me for my CD and I never gave it to her because I was lazy. It was a really sleepy town and I didn’t think anything would come of it. Eventually I gave her a CD and she came back a few days later and she said, “My dad really, really loves your music and he’d love you to come on tour with us.” I said, “Who is your dad?” and she said, “Have you heard of Keith Richards?”

And I didn’t know who it was. She said, “Have you heard of The Rolling Stones?” And I thought, “Oh fuck. Yes I have.”

Next minute, I was on the phone to Dad saying, “I’m going to South America and Mexico on tour with The Rolling Stones. I don’t have a phone, I’ll be in touch.”

I jumped up on stage with them at this little underground show they did in Mexico. They didn’t tell anyone they were doing it, they just went to this underground club.

From there I went back to New York, and decided I wanted to give that a crack. I did a lot of writing and a lot of gigging. I worked in bars illegally. I did VISA runs all the time. I’d go back to the UK and stay with the Richards. I did that on and off for about five years.

Do you take much inspiration from different spaces and places?
I guess I always sort of go back to those experiences. It’s all about what I had felt and experienced when I was over there. The highs and the real lows.

You're not afraid to venture into something darker…
A lot of my album is quite dark and, I guess sexual in a kind of way. Some people squirm when they hear certain lines in the songs but I think that’s good thing.

Three words you never want your music described as:
Soft, boring and generic.

Explain your unique writing process…
It’s like someone is tapping on my shoulder saying, “You need to pick up the guitar now.” After sort of years of writing I’ve figured out that generally the first thing that comes out - the first melody, the first word, the first idea - is the best one. You can try and recreate it and make it better but you usually just mess it up.

I think it comes from a place we don’t know about. And one day, maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll find out.

Is it the same when you’re collaborating with other artists?
I like it just as much as working on my own. I enjoy the experience because you meet new people. It’s creative, you’re with creative people, it’s inspiring, you get the juices flowing and come up with something cool that you can all put your name to.

Working on the EDM tracks with Ivan Gough and Denzel Park was awesome because I didn’t even know what EDM was. Aside from one night, clubbing in London - the first and only time I ever did ecstasy, the only time I also went to a club - I didn’t know anything about dance music or EDM.

So it was really amazing to see doors open through that. We were getting tweets from Germany and Spain and Mexico about these tracks, and I didn’t realise how big that world was.

Where are you going?
I’ve finished the album, it’s been mixed and mastered. The album is done, we recently went over to New York and L.A. and shot several music videos. We’re just pumped, we just want to get it out. Expect lots of tours, getting on some shows, getting the live act happening, releasing the album.

Just sort of letting people know who I am. - Summersite

Summersite Photoshoot on link above - Summersite

Photos on the above link - AU Review

Photo of Penelope Austin performing at this years APRA Awards with M-Phazes and Thief - AU Review