Listen to the full interview here
Welcome to Coffee with a Coastie. We had the pleasure of chatting with Country singer and Central Coast local Courtney Keil. Courtney has hit the ground running since her debut release in 2020 of ‘I Just Wanna Hold You’ and has continued to release hit after hit. With the release of her debut album ‘The Good Kind’ we sat down to chat with Courtney.
You were born on an Adelaide Hills deer farm and lived in both New Zealand and Melbourne before making your way to the Central Coast. What brought you to the Central Coast?
My music brought me here. I’ve been lucky to live in Melbourne which was beautiful and Auckland when I was really little. Though it was when I came up to the Central Coast for the first time in early 2016, I think it was, that I fell in love with it, and knew that it was such an incredible place for music, especially country music. That I thought, oh, maybe I’ll live here one day, and it took a few years, but I’m here now.
Your first single ‘I Just Wanna Hold You’ was released at a time in 2020 when things weren’t exactly normal and all of our borders were closed. What was the inspiration to push through and make this song come together?
Well, it was challenging and though probably the biggest thing was that I’d quit my full time job in February 2020 to go full time into music in 2020 so I didn’t really have a choice. When the pandemic hit, I was meant to be heading to Nashville to do some recording and writing. Then the trip got cancelled 48 hours before I was meant to be getting on the plane and within a week we were in lockdown. So, it was a bit of a rocky start to what was going to be my music year. But after the dust settled, I thought you know I’ve got to do it either way. As that was the goal for the year, so thankfully I had incredible people around me to support me and encouraged me to keep going, like Central Coast native Rod McCormack, my producer.
During this time you created a post on Instagram captioned ‘3 things people have said to me as a musician during the pandemic’ and one of your answers was ‘people need music now more than ever’. Was it this thought that helped inspire the release of your second single Hummingbird in 2021?
Yes, absolutely. I think Hummingbird came at a really important time with everything being so negative in the world. It’s funny though, I didn’t really like the song at first. When we were writing it, I thought it’s a bit too cheery and chirpy. Which was very negative at the time of course. But once we finished the song and I got to start recording it, I thought actually I do like it and maybe that’s the whole point of this song. To get people to look at the good, focus on the positives and spread love around. When at that time people were separated from loved ones.
Your song ‘The One’ is about your grandparents, ‘Lets Pretend’ is a song about a vulnerable conversation with your mum and you have walked the Kokoda trail with your dad raising money for Beyond Blue. Your family obviously have a big and beautiful impact on you. Can you talk about the influence your parents have had on your music and on you as an individual outside of music?
Absolutely. I don’t think I’d be at this point in my career without them. I’m so grateful to have such great support that I know not everyone has, especially musicians. Not every parent’s dream is for their child to be a struggling musician in their early years. But they’ve always been so lovely, and I owe a lot of where I am today to them. It means everything to have their support and belief in me, especially on the days where I’m not really feeling it.
You posted a photo showing you at 16 captioned, ‘16 year old me would be so amazed at how many cool things happen in the next 9 years’. What’s the coolest thing that has happened since that photo?
Wow. That’s a tricky question. The overarching thing would probably be the fact that I am actually living my dream. At 16, I was hoping that I’d be doing music full time and getting to tour and record. So the fact that I am doing it is amazing. But then within that, there’s been some incredible moments. Like getting to sing the national anthem at Bathurst for the Supercars and getting to tour with Gina Jeffreys and Tania Kernaghan. I got to do some awesome shows with them at festivals. I have to pinch myself that I’m actually getting to do this stuff. It’s really special.
Thinking back, can you share what 16 year old you was like compared to now and if you could speak to 16 year old you, what advice would you give her?
Well at 16 I was still in school. I was being bullied. It was not a good time in my life. I hated school. I really did not feel like I fit in, mainly I think because I knew I wanted to pursue music and I felt like what am I doing here when I already know what I want do. Also, girls can be mean in their teen years. It was a very challenging time, but thankfully I had my music outside of school. I had my safe place to do the thing that I loved. So really, the advice I’d say is just keep going. If I could go back and talk to myself, I’d say don’t worry about all the stuff that’s going on. Don’t worry about everything that is going on at school. It’s all short term stuff in the scheme of things. When you are at that age, you feel like that’s the be all and end all of everything, but it’s not.
What moment over the last 9 years has had the biggest impact on you and why?
The biggest thing would be working with Gina Jeffreys and having her in my corner supporting me. To have someone that actually knows what you’re trying to do and knows what you’re going through is really helpful. Having Gina mentor me over the last two and a half years has transformed everything. It’s taught me to set goals and really plan ahead to what I want to do. Having someone to kind of hold your hand through the process because it can be a little daunting when you’re trying to pave the way and do something new.
What is the best piece of advice you have been given and who gave it to you?
Gina gave me great advice very early on. She said that as an artist you are like a jar of Vegemite. Some people like Vegemite, some people don’t like Vegemite and that’s just part of life. It was something like, you know, as a writer not everyone’s going to love your song, that’s just part of it. But a lot of people love Vegemite as well, some people like it a lot and lather it on some people only have a little bit and it’s a bit like that with country music. Not everyone’s going to have country music as every single song in their iTunes or Spotify library, but if there’s a little slither in there, try and make sure it’s you.
Lastly, what advice would you give someone young that is starting to develop a passion for music but just sees the opportunity of making something of it so far away?
I think the big thing is listen to all music. If you can get a broad knowledge of music, it’s going to help you a lot and can take you a long way in your music education. At the same time it’s just sticking to it. Whether it’s sitting down and writing a song or learning some stuff on piano, it’s all those little steps that really end up being the big steps when you look back. It’s spending time working on your craft even when you don’t feel like any opportunities are coming. Then as much as I hate to say it, those piano scales or vocal scales, keep them up. You might hate them, I still do, but it’s all the little things that make a difference in the long run. If it’s your dream, you have to find a way to make it work.
You can check out Courtney Keil by visiting her website at courtneykeil.com