By James Murphy
At 16, Grace Shaw, better known to audiences as Mallrat, began releasing music while in year 11 at Brisbane’s Clayfield College. By 19 she had an international record deal and had toured nationally with Peking Duk, and by 21, she had broken the top 5 in the Triple J Hottest 100 with ‘Charlie’. While a global pandemic may have kept her from touring, in March this year, Mallrat, now 24, dropped her debut album, Butterfly Blue, which peaked at number 6 on the Australian charts. Fresh from playing arenas across Europe, the already acclaimed Queenslander, who will be touring as part of St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, remains committed to continual self-improvement, to further honing all aspects of her craft, while also hoping to pave the way for young female artists that seek to follow in her footsteps.
In a career already studded with highlights, Mallrat’s 2022 European tour in support of YouTube vlogger turned bedroom pop superstar Conan Gray was a career highlight.
“It was the first time overseas for a long time”, Mallrat says. “It was summer in Europe and everything looked like a postcard. We’d drive through the Swiss Alps and we would drive through Sweden past these amazing lakes that looked like glass or so many yellow fields; endless yellow fields.”
“Conan’s fans were so sweet and engaged which is not always the case. Sometimes when you’re the support act, you’re playing to people who wish you weren’t there or they’re just talking over you while they’re having a drink or something.”
Aside from soaking in the scenery, Mallrat often uses long stints on the road as an opportunity to absorb information on how to produce music in the studio. Halfway through the recording of Butterfly Blue, she expressed regret to her friend, Japanese Wallpaper’s Gabriel Strum, that she was not producing the album herself, but he soon positively reframed her concerns.
“He said you can always produce your album another day but what you’re doing right now in the studio learning from some of the best producers in the world, you can’t go to university and get an experience like this and you can’t pay for their time. You’re so lucky to be in this position where they trust you enough to share information with you so make the most of it and soak up as much information as you can.”
Mallrat’s drive to become an accomplished producer stems from multiple sources. Producing was her initial musical passion but also record producers are predominantly older men, who often act as gatekeepers in the industry. In the lead up to this year’s ARIA Awards, Mallrat spoke out about the continued work that the Australian music industry needs to do to eliminate gender inequality.
“[I] try to equip young female and non-binary artists with the confidence to be producers or to articulate what they want in the studio with a basic understanding of production. It’s such an overwhelming thing, especially when all you see around you is guys in their late 20s or 30s or 40s. They’re the only producers that you see. It is very easy to feel not good enough.”
Alongside all female headliners, Haim, and Grammy Award singer songwriter Phoebe Bridgers, Mallrat will take to stage at St Jerome’s Laneway Festival’s new Adelaide location in Bonython Park on the 10th of February.
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