The team at Milk! Records are fastly becoming a household name around the country. Since launching the label in 2012, Courtney Barnett has worked alongside co-founder and label manager Jen Cloher to provide music lovers with a killer roster of extremely talented musicians including Jade Imagine, Loose Tooth, East Brunswick All Girls Choir, Evelyn Ida Morris, Hachiku, Tiny Ruins, The Finks and Dyson Stringer Cloher.

Aside from the typical album releases and string of tours and festival slots, the artist-run label curates a heap of special events, compilations and collaborations. They're currently getting ready for a special party at Leadbelly on Friday, November 9. We spoke with some of the Milk! artists that you'll be able to catch at the event about their future plans and how they came to be a part of one of Melbourne's most iconic record labels.

East Brunswick All Girls Choir

Band members: Marcus Hobbs, Rie Nakayama, Robert Wrigley, Jen Sholakis

1. Your recently released album 'Teddywaddy' is named after rural town 230 km North West of Melbourne. What was your main motivation for using this town as the centrepiece for the album?

I spent a lot of time there when I was younger and although the album isn't about Teddywaddy specifically it is one of the many focal points of place that I can look at and recall a lot of stories. It's an important place for my family, my grandfather stills runs a farm there and I still try to get there when I can. It's an interesting spot that you would never notice but it has a history which has more or less been wiped out and I do wonder how many other places like this exist throughout Australia.

How is it working with the Milk! Records team? What has been your biggest achievement working under the label?

Milk! are always great to work with, a fountain of knowledge and optimism which you can always do with a bit of. There's also a bunch of people behind the scenes doing a lot of work that perhaps goes unnoticed, which I think means they're doing the right things. I'm not too sure what the biggest achievement is, I am hoping that we are simply able to keep working with them and to try and put out better records all the time.

Loose Tooth

Band members: Etta Curry, Nellie Jackson, Luc Dawson

1. Your video clip for 'Keep On' is pretty epic and features you travelling around in various modes of transport from a shiny red sports car to a single-engine plane and even an army tank. If you had to choose one mode of transport to use for the rest of your life, what would it be?

That's a really tough question, I'd like to say a shiny red sports car, but maybe the real answer is a bike.... better for the environment!

2. Living in Melbourne, there is a whole heap of local talent. How has the Melbourne scene helped you grow as a band?

Without the community, we'd all be nothing!!! Playing with & alongside likeminded people is very important to a healthy musical eco-system. We love our Melb music scene and like to think that we all work together to grow one another. Strength in numbers.

Evelyn Ida Morris

1. It seems like you're pretty darn good at playing a lot of instruments. What's one instrument you don't know how to play but have always wanted to?

I would love to confidently know how to play stringed instruments like the violin, viola or cello. Actually, also I LOVE saxophone and trumpet. I have dabbled in Sax but I'm definitely not competent. So there are probably heaps of instruments I would still like to try actually!

2. Your music creates a lot of discourse around gender fluidity. What advice would you give to those struggling with the experience of being non-binary?

I think it can be really liberating and really important for your own sanity to establish what your needs are in the world. In fact, I think folks should do that regardless of gender - it would make things operate a lot more smoothly I am sure! I think for us all to have good helpful dialogue and discourse, we all need to be aware of our needs and boundaries, and respectfully communicate them - that is the most powerful act of resistance, and it is mutually beneficial. The system of white supremacy and patriarchy have to alter themselves to accept the needs of marginalised people, and telling everyone what they are is really helpful in creating that change. Don't let anyone tell you how you should be in the world. (As long as you're also being aware of your own privileges!)

3. You spearhead the organisation LISTEN, an organisation that uses the feminist perspective to promote the visibility and experience of marginalised people in Australian music. Can you talk us through your role and the impact the organisation has had since its launch?

LISTEN is a thing I am really really proud of, but I encourage everyone reading to go check it out and see what it is up to now! I haven't been involved for a couple of years now, and don't like to pretend that all the hard work that is happening at the hands of volunteers still inside the organisation is my work or something I can take credit for. Go check it out though, it has changed heaps for me personally, and I think for plenty of other folks in music!

listenlistenlisten.org

Jade Imagine

Band members: Jade McInally, Tim Harvey and Liam "Snowy" Halliwell

1. We're in love with the film clip for your song 'Walking Around' and we secretly wishing we could push past all those slow walkers out there. Can you tell us a bit about your thought process for the clip?

It was a pretty fun clip to make. I felt liberated being able to push past all those people, but also had to apologise to everyone afterwards, worried I'd given them bruised shoulders. The film clip was a very literal take on the song... I am literally "walking around", down a street. Then we had the thought to push it one step (pun intended) further by making it a homage to Richard Ashcroft's walk in Bittersweet Symphony. With only one week from conceptual stage until the shoot day, we tried our best to get it pretty similar, shot for shot.


2. What are you most excited about for the coming year? Do you have much planned?

We're releasing our debut full-length album next year! So I guess we'll be touring that a whole bunch. That's probably the main thing I'm excited for at this point. Excited to see where it takes us, and to see how the songs are received out in the world. Other than that I'm just looking forward to creating more art and more music with my besties. I am grateful for every day that I get to spend doing the things that I am passionate about.