"What The Fuck Happened?" Tash Sultana On Racking Up The Followers

"I'm pretty stoked with it," Tash Sultana admits of her debut Notion EP. Although some of the songs on this EP have been in her life for a couple of years, Sultana explains, "It just took me a while to decide I wanted to do an EP." After proposing that "most people figure out who you are... from a single" these days, Sultana observes, "Back in the day you'd hear the song that you like on the radio and you'd have to go and buy the whole record... which was good, because it's more profits for the musicians and, like, you didn't have piracy and whatnot. But more people hear your music now because you can put it in so many different platforms."

After Sultana uploaded a series of live bedroom recordings to YouTube, "it just went viral". "I woke up the next day and my page had notched up 10,000 followers," she enthuses, "and I was like, 'What the fuck happened?'... it was just from people sharing it all the time."

But Sultana has certainly put in her 10,000 hours. She was only three years old when she first placed her little fingers ("well they're still little fingers," she points out) on "a small acoustic guitar". "My grandfather gave me a guitar and I've been playing it since," she shares. So does she have callouses on her fingers? "Yeah," Sultana laughs. "I can't feel the tops of my fingers."

When asked to recall her first public performance, Sultana offers, "I think it was at The Cornish Arms Hotel on Sydney Road when I was about 13." Fortunately, Sultana had a fake ID, which she used "for many years until [she] turned 18". "It was some girl's licence," Sultana remembers. So did the photo on the "girl's licence" bear a striking resemblance to Sultana? "No, she didn't look anything like me but for some reason it worked," she chuckles. "I used to say that my stage name was Tash Sultana so they'd just let me in."  Sultana sneezes. "Sorry, I'm actually really sick... I went to bed really early last night and I've just been lying in bed all day, drinking tea and not doing anything, 'cause I have to play [BIGSOUND] tomorrow." Sultana made a lot of BIGSOUND must-see lists this year. (And we have it on good authority that she smashed her BIGSOUND set at Oh Hello! in front of a capacity crowd.)

"No, she didn't look anything like me but for some reason it worked," she chuckles. "I used to say that my stage name was Tash Sultana so they'd just let me in."  

We discuss cold and flu remedies such as smothering your feet in Vicks VapoRub then putting socks on and wearing them to bed. Sultana says she's heard that putting chopped onions in your socks is another option. She's hating being in Byron Bay and "laying [sic] in bed", but recognises the importance of getting match-fit for her marathon upcoming world tour.

By now Sultana will be in Europe performing her first international shows, all of which are sold out except for one date in New Zealand "and that hasn't got many tickets left either", she adds.  

On starting her own Lonely Lands Records label, Sultana says matter-of-factly, "I just pretty much wanted to organically and independently release my music - and I am the sole owner - and, yeah! I just can't part with anything so I decided to do it all myself." Starting a label requires "a good business mind" and Sultana recommends you "use the people around you". "I've always wanted to do it. Forever. So I did," she proclaims. Together with her management ("very good people"), Sultana marvels, "We sort of crafted this whole empire... I just wanna do everything myself as independently as possible."

When asked whether she'd be open to signing acts to her label down the track, Sultana ponders, "I didn't really start the label for anyone else, I just started it for me so I can release my music through my own label. Down the track, maybe I might sign but that's, you know, talking when I'm a lot more established than I am right now."

She's turned 21 and so we wanna know how Sultana marked the hallmark occasion. "I got really fucked-up in the backyard," she laughs.

All in all, Sultana's just stoked she gets to play her music. "Getting into it young, I think that's probably the thing that I'm most happiest about," she reflects. Then sneezes. "I'm just kinda like cruising. I acknowledge that all this stuff has happened to me and I love it, but I don't feel any different," she concludes with a laugh.