The first real contact I have with acoustic singer KRISTY APPS is an apology left on my voicemail, saying that she slept through our scheduled interview and sounding gravelly to say the least. My assumptions jump to late night gigs and too much celebrating, despite her citing a late night at work as the real reason. When we finally speak to each other later in the day, I'm pretty taken aback to learn that next to soulfully strumming guitars and writing heartstripping lyrics is her part-time reality of semi-trailer trucks.
"At the moment I'm at a warehouse, packing them up before they head out. It's really long hours but there's a light at the end of the tunnel and this job is filling up my soul for things I want to do. It's kind of nice having something mindless because I can put all of my energy into what I'm doing musically," she reveals.
As an established artist, Apps returns with her third album, entitled Pour Me Out, but has taken a completely different route to the one she's previously trodden. "I didn't want to so much change my sound, but I definitely wanted to change the way I went about delivering the music," she says. Heading into the studio and teaming up with producer Anthony Lycenko to collaborate on the album was something she'd never done before. "In the past it had just been me and my guitar, going in and laying down what I wanted and that was it. This was a lot more collaborative though. I went in really excited, having someone else's directions and ideas that they had for where the album could go."
Collaborating with other musicians she'd never met meant she could "work out what was best for each song. I think sometimes being in a band for years can make you think 'this is how the song goes' and develop habits with your music, which is something I don't want to do. This way they were built up from their bones, doing it in bits and pieces, and it's now a finished thing that's real," she says. After solidly plugging away at the scene, it seems the recognition is finally coming home. Be Patient, one of the released tracks from the album, recently found itself in the top ten Q Song nominations, which is quite a feat considering the 1500 entries. The product is a truly beautiful piece of Australian guitar playing and soulful vocals, something that sheds the layers of Apps and exposes such intense, honest harmony to your ears. "I definitely lay it all on the line; songwriting is my way through everything. It's so personal when I'm lost in it but I never walk away and feel like I've left too much of myself up there on the stage."
And sadly, just like that, as most people are leaving work for the day, the truckie industry begins and it's time to farewell this
multitalented woman.
Kristy will play at Phoenix in Civic on Saturday September 5.
