Alice Ivy's life is chaos.
That’s not a judgement call, either – that’s straight from the horse’s mouth. Alice Ivy is a Melbourne-based producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who is Zooming into her chat with Mixdown from the front seat of an Uber, running behind schedule as she embarks on a songwriting camp. She is promoting her third studio album Do What Makes You Happy, which itself is running behind schedule following delays in its production leading to its release date being pushed back. So yes, there’s chaos – but there’s beauty to be found amongst it. Just ask the centre of the chaos herself, who is all smiles discussing her latest effort as it finally arrives in the world. “Pushing it back was the right idea in the long run,” she says.
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“When you make records with so many collaborators and artists on it, making that work for everyone’s timeline can be quite difficult. I also don’t like the idea of releasing music that I’m not 100% on – I’m definitely a perfectionist in that sense. Ultimately, it took three years of my life to make this record, and that’s just the way it goes sometimes. It’s totally fine – it’s all about doing what feels right.” Indeed, Do What Makes You Happy is a Goldilocks level of just right. It’s a blend of blissful electronica, snappy pop, big-swinging R’n’B and raving unto the joy fantastic – an eclecticism that has come to define Ivy as an artist over the last decade.
Teletronix LA-2A
Despite a wide range of genres, collaborators and studios – from her native Melbourne over to LA – there’s a distinct consistency to the sound design of Do What Makes You Happy. Ivy puts this down to technological advances – plus a dependency on equipment that has paid off long term. “I always bring the same gear with me no matter what studio we’re recording in,” she says. “I’ve always got my UAD[-2] Satellite [Thunderbolt, DSP accelerator], and I’m always using the same interface and microphone. For this album I used a lot of Neve preamps, and I bought an LA-2A which I ran all of my vocal chains through. A lot of it is in the box, of course, so I’m not necessarily restricted by what the room sounds like the same way other artists might be. With what we’ve got accessible at our fingertips, you can do anything.”
Expanding on the sounds of Do What Makes You Happy, Ivy points to some key instruments that she used across the LP’s creation that further assisted in defining its sound. Unlike her 2018 debut I’m Dreaming and its 2020 follow-up Don’t Sleep, Ivy’s focus was more drawn to tangible instrumentation rather than MIDI and programming. “A lot of what you’re hearing on this record is my analog synth collection,” she says. “Probably the one that features the heaviest is my Roland Juno 60 – the sound of it, to me, has been really inspiring in this latest phase of my songwriting and my creative process. I also got an Omnichord, which was gifted to me by Liam McGorry – who played a bunch of horns on this album – and that’s present on there too.
“For bass, I went between a Hoffner and a Fender Jazz. The Hoffner has flatwound strings, and it’s my go-to for more of a deader, 70s style of sound. When I need something a little heavier, that’s when I go for the Fender Jazz. As far as the guitars go… I normally do everything on my Fender Tele, and I don’t go past it most of the time. A few years ago, though, I bought an Epiphone Sheraton and I absolutely love how soulful and chunky it sounds. There’s also a guitar I bought in Nashville that has Nashville tuning and octave strings. It has this gorgeous jangle to it, and it’s quite fascinating to hear it used within electronic music.” Ivy laughs upon realising she has essentially taken Mixdown through her entire collection. “I really could talk about this stuff for days!” she says.
To note how far she has come from a creative perspective, Ivy points to the album’s title track – which features Detroit artist Sam Austins. To her, the song exemplifies everything she has learned over the course of making both I’m Dreaming and Don’t Sleep – in that it’s a song that she wouldn’t have had the confidence to have made during the process of either. “I really pushed myself out there with that one,” she says. “It’s a four-and-a-half minute song, full of fuzz, distortion, live drums and 70s guitars. It’s big! It shows my growth, and I think when you’re a producer and you’re an artist you have to grow. You can’t keep putting the same music out over and over. I’m at a point in my life where I can really make music that not just feels like me, but is me. Everything about this song – and by extension, this album – is really exciting to me.”
Alice signs off with Mixdown sharing her hopes for Do What Makes You Happy – specifically, wanting people to hear the album from start to finish. “Escape for a day and really throw yourself into it,” she says. “There’s a lot of gems embedded on this record, and it all aligns really well in my head. There’s a beautiful energy to it all, and I can only hope that it will resonate.”
The new record from Alice Ivy, Do What Makes You Happy, is out now via Helix Records. Keep up with Alice Ivy herself here.
