Woke Australian artist Stella Donnelly’s Desert Island Discs, secret crush & Falls Festival diss

Stella Donnelly wishes for a five heroine roast of Donald Trump, as Rock City asks her some crafty ‘n’ caustic questions.

Stella Donnelly is Australia’s wokest 25-year-old.

She’s a member of brash punk upstarts BOAT SHOW, pinch-hit as keyboardist for Methyl Ethel at Falls Festival Fremantle, and, let’s not bury the lede, a burgeoning solo star who pretty much took over BIG SOUND in Brisbane last year.

Her name was mentioned so much in Fortitude Valley the two words fused together and became a cicada-like din as everyone briefly looked up from their feeds, locked eyes and chirped “stelladonnellystelladonnellySTELLADONNELLY”

The mousey-haired maverick’s BIG SOUND showcases were choc-a-block, she impressed everyone at the recent Face The Music conference in Melbourne and now she’s hitting Sugar Mountain Festival at 12.30pm, ensuring punters will need to wake early to be woke.

Donnelly released her debut EP, Thrush Metal, last year via Melbourne indie label Healthy Tapes and her breakthrough track Boys Will Be Boys spoke of physical abuse and cop-out male cover-ups prior to the #MeToo movement really taking hold.

Expect a top ten finish for Boys Will Be Boys in the Triple J Hottest 100 on Jan 27 (not Jan 26, wokeness is catching on) this year. Haven’t voted yet? Rectify.

Time to put the Fremantle (not Shelbyville, sorry, Perth) singer-songwriter-slayer under the Cahill Grill.

Real name?

Stella Donnelly although I wish now that it was Della Stonnelly

Guilty pleasure?

Solitaire

Where is home?

Fremantle, Western Australia

Career Plan B?

Care Worker

Biggest Bug Bear?

Bigots

Earliest Memory?

I think it was playing dress-ups at my Nan’s house

Your Best Quality?

Sensitivity

And your Worst?

Sensitivity

As woke as 10 alarm clocks. Fremantle artist Stella Donnelly in Brisbane for BIG SOUND

5 Dream dinner party guests?

I would love to be in a room with Gloria Steinem, Magda Szubanski, Michelle Obama and

Patti Smith while they all roast Donald Trump

5 Desert Island discs?

The Beatles - The Beatles (White Album)

Jenny Hval - Apocalypse Girl

Aldous Harding - Party

Kylie Minogue - Greatest Hits

and any So Fresh Hits of Summer from the early 2000s

Advice to teenage self?

Be the main character of your life, don’t be a supporting role

What did you have for breakfast today?

Baked beans on toast!

Top of your bucket list?

I’m not quite sure anymore! I’ve definitely ticked off a few things in the last 12 months so I feel very lucky

Biggest inspiration?

Women

Secret crush?

The British comedian Alan Davies from QI! The secret is out!

Secret skill?

Some board games!

What do you see when you look in the mirror?

Depends on what time of the day it is!

Starstruck moment?

Being in Jen Cloher’s presence at Fairgounds festival last year

Career highlight?

Playing at BIG SOUND festival.

Favourite tipple?

Milo

She won’t settle, petal. Stella Donnelly outshining sunflowers.

Cameron Avery or Jay Watson?

They are both sweet angels

Falls Festival or Laneway?

Laneway — much safer and diverse.

Tired Lion or San Cisco?

San Cisco, sorry Sophie, Matt, Ethan and Nick!

Odette Mercy or Carla Geneve?

I need them both in my life

Korg or Juno?

Totally depends on the song

Phone interviews or email interviews?

Emails understand my sarcasm better

Spotify or iTunes?

As a listener, Spotify. As a broke-ass musician, iTunes

How did you develop your creative vision?

No idea! I’m still working it out.

For those coming in late, here is a handy explanation of the word “woke” by the Oxford, sorry, Urban Dictionary.

Woke (adjective): although an incorrect tense of awake, a reference to how people should be aware in current affairs.

Five Other Woke Artists on the Sugar Mountain bill:

1. Joey Badass

“I personally feel like I was put here on this Earth not only to inspire, but to wake people up.”

Scared money don’t make none.

— BADMON (@joeyBADASS) December 31, 2017

2. AB Original

I think Melbourne should get more concerned about the White Nationalist / neo-Nazi / Soft-Serve Cowards “patrolling” the city. I’ve seen 100% more trouble and pissant rallies organised by those numbskulls than these “African Gangs”.

— Senator Briggs (@Briggs) January 16, 2018

3. Kardajala Kirridara

“Something is happening. People are hungry for connection and understanding. I think there’s such a big rise for women. I’m a producer and having the accessibility to take a studio to Marlinja and make an album out there, with that technology, it does feel like it’s all coming together to create more of an underground movement. It not being controlled by a bunch of white men in office.” Beatrice Lewis

4. Laurel Halo

STOP CALLING MY MUSIC PLAYFUL !!! ! ! ! !!!! I AM NOT A CHILD IN A PLAYBOX I AM A DAMN WOMAN MAKING MUSIC THAT I LOVE AND CHERISH GO TO HELL U PARROTS

— LAUREL HALO (@LaurelHalo) January 12, 2018

5. Honey Dijon

Anita Baker just announced that she is retiring from music. She has been part of the fabric of my entire life.... https://t.co/cSPgwermVf

— Honey Dijon (@HONEYDIJON) January 3, 2018

Sugar Mountain, VCA and ACCA, Southbank. Sat, 11.30am. $129. sugarmountainfestival.com

Previously on Sugar Mountain:

Sugar Mountain 2016 review: duelling violins, Hot Chip spruce Springsteen & party that ends with Royal Headache.

Sugar Mountain 2017 review: Moses parted the sea and The Avalanches tumbled down.

Rolling, lolling updates from your sherpa here: @joeylightbulb