Tell us a little bit about your journey from when you first picked up a guitar and starting writing songs, to releasing an EP and supporting world-class acts like Tash Sultana and Harry Styles?
I grew up on Bruny Island, south of Tasmania. I started writing and playing the guitar the start of high school, then I started gigging around Hobart on my own from the age of 16. I did a few little supports and shows around Hobart, got the songs ready and released Drown It Out in the middle of 2016 – and that was when Triple J Unearthed got around it .. and it kind of went off from there. It all kind of happened at once, but I’ve kind of been working at it for a while!

Your new EP Not Human At All is being released this Friday (March 2). What do you hope listeners will take from it?
Not Human At All is kind of the track that sums up all of the songs, the songs I have been playing around for roughly a year. Not Human At All is a song about being human – and how kind we kind of all struggle to remember sometimes. And that we’re all not perfect. It’s a bit of a look into life and figuring it out I guess, as a young person.

You recently shot the film clip for Not Human At All (with real-life humans). What was it like putting the track together visually?
It was awesome working with LP Creative – I just got a heap of friends down and just were just being as human as possible … which was kind of, um, easy! We filmed a lot of human interactions, we were all being ourselves, so it should come out pretty good .. I hope.

What has been some of your major musical influences?
I grew up with a lot of Australian music – my parents listened to a lot of classic Aussie rock and awesome bands like Fleetwood Mac. Growing up I listened a lot to Missy Higgins, Little Birdy … Paul Kelly’s a huge one. It’s always been about story telling for me, but I do like a bit of rock too!

You’re in town for the Daisy Went Crazy festival at Burleigh Brewing on Saturday March 10, which is your first headline act in Queensland. Tell us, what can us Gold Coast folk expect?
A bit of fun! I’ve got lots of things to say and I hope that people get something out of that. It’s a bit of relatable fun … and we’ll have a bit of a dance. I’ll have the full band there too!

Daisy Went Crazy is showcasing a predominantly female line-up and is themed around International Women’s Day. How has it been for you, being a relatively young woman, managing to pave your way in the industry?
The industry is growing and changing constantly. I feel like there is definitely a feel of change happening, where we we (females) are not seen as an underdog or not capable. It’s becoming very evident, very quickly now, that women have a huge power behind them and we have a lot to offer. I mean, I’ve seen and dealt with a lot of crap like other musicians have, and I know it’s out there, but it’s really great to know that there are a lot of people more aware nowadays and are treating us like equals in the industry and realising that we’ve got so much to offer. There’s a positive change happening. I like to think I am pretty strong-minded when it comes to that anyway – it’s good that I have a voice now and can take a bit of action, and look, if I can be a role model to anyone in that sense, then that’s amazing. I think we’re on our way to something really, really good.

So, what’s in store for Maddy Jane in 2018?
The Not Human At All EP won’t be the last release of 2018 for me – we’ll have new music and hopefully a proper headline tour … and I’ll get around to see everyone!

Finally, what words of wisdom do you live by?
It’s really hard without sounding super corny. But, Abbe May said to me that the best thing that you can do is have the best friends in what you do – that’s what will get you there furtherest. And, don’t be so hard on yourself – I’m super hard on myself … that’s something I’ve learnt recently.

Maddy Jane is in town to headline Daisy Went Crazy – the coast’s newest music festival. You should go. Jump over here for more info and tickets.