Diandra Interviews St. South: Get Well Soon
I can’t say that a little bit of me did not leave with my exes. There is who we are before, during, and after a romantic relationship, and it is hard to not feel like the “during” of a relationship was you at your “lightest.” For St. South, and her AMAZING new album, Get Well Soon, out July 17, the “you” after a break-up can be the strongest version of you and, in that, there is light. Thus, her debut album, approaches the strange grief and maturity that comes with losing someone you love because they don’t love you anymore. Luckily, in our interview, there is much love as St. South
Diandra: If St. South were the patron saint of anything and had special powers, what would be her patron and powers? How about her origin story?
St.South: I’d probably steal the powers of Saint Vitus. He protects from lightning strikes, animal attacks, and oversleeping.
Me: Begins lighting candles to St. Vitus.
Diandra: With that in mind what is one character or person, you wish you could hang out with? Why?
St.South: Sōsuke and Ponyo! We could swim all day and eat ramen all night.
St. South – Not Angry Yet (Official Video)
Diandra: What inspired the name St. South?
St.South: I grew up in a small country town called Denmark, 400km South of Perth – heading South always means going home.
Diandra: Get Well Soon has some phenomenal, soulful “break-up” songs. What are some of your favorite break-up songs from other artists?
St: South: Thank you!
- Talia by King Princess
- Comfort by Julia Jacklin
- Godspeed by Frank Ocean
- Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell
- Something by Julien Baker
- Decision by N.Y.C.K
- Mended by Vera Blue
- Something Tells Me by Meg Mac
- Still Feel It All by MARO
- Soon by Angie McMahon
- I Can’t Believe I Had You by Emmit FennJust a few from my break-up playlist
Diandra: Usually, we learn about love, growing up, through films, shows, and books. Name some that showed you romance? In perspective were they right or off?
St.South: Most of the romantic films I watched growing up were heteronormative, so they weren’t very relatable for me. That said, I must have watched The Notebook a hundred times as a kid. I loved musicals too – Grease was way up there. They were definitely way off, but I think there’s a lot of beauty in exaggerated romance. Much like music, movies are there to make you feel something, whether it’s realistic or not.
Diandra: What do you feel the process of making Get Well Soon made better in your life?
St. South: It helped me to grieve, process, accept, move forward and grow. It taught me a lot about myself; the type of love I think I deserve to receive, and how I choose to give it in return.
St. South – Growing Up (Official Video)
Diandra: Usually, Get Well Soon is something you say when someone has been hurt. What is one really vulnerable song, off the album, to approach heartbreak? Why did you pick that one?
St. South – If It’s Not You (feat. N.Y.C.K) Official Video
St. South: “A Little Alive.” It was the last song I wrote for the album, and I wrote it about 9 months after everything else was complete! It’s a pretty raw and honest recount of very specific moments that hurt me a lot – moments that I didn’t know how to process in order to articulate them at the time. I still get a little pang in my chest whenever I listen to it, but mostly it makes me feel strong and empowered. It’s fueled by the strength and anger I didn’t yet have when I wrote ‘Not Angry Yet’.
Diandra: What is a wise thing you learned through grief?
St.South: That you can survive anything if you learn to direct your love inwards.
Me: POWERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Diandra: There is an intimacy to your music. What is one lyric you have written that you feel was very revealing of you or your emotions?
St.South: The last verse in ‘A Little Alive’. This entire song is like a journal entry, or a letter I never sent. It’s everything I wanted to say but was never given the opportunity to. Writing this song taught me that there is great strength in being vulnerable.
“You treated me to a call in the days of your leaving
I said love is a choice but you think it’s a feelin
And maybe it’s both but I’m sick of believing
That everyone will treat me how I treat them
I remember you told me you miss Summer Liv
But I don’t want your love unless it lives through the seasons
And I never expected you to leave like you did
But I guess I assumed you’d give me a reason”
St. South – Does Your Brain Ever Get This Loud? (Official Video)
Diandra: What is your favorite childhood memory with music?
St.South: I have so many, but my top two are: driving to school with my mum, singing along to a Tracy Chapman cassette, and dancing with my dad around the lounge room while he played his favourite records.
For More Information On St.South And To Buy her debut, Get Well Soon, On July 17, Click Here. The record is stunningly simple in melodies and completely relatable, in verse, to all the thoughts we think when heartbreak leaves us stumped.
