Abbe May Gives Us An Insight Into Her Best Tracks

As part of Fremantle Festival, WA singer-songwriter Abbe May will host The Tonight Show at Fremantle Town Hall on Monday 26 October.

She’ll interview eight musos and perform select songs by them. We got May to give us the stories behind some of her best tunes before the main event.

PONY

I have been constantly surprised by how much people enjoyed the Like A Version I made for triple j in 2013. I played it in my set for a while and then retired it, because I thought it was in danger of tipping over into a not so respectable innings and probably appropriate for me to stop flogging the poor pony. But such is the popularity of triple j’s LAV and I guess of the original song itself that I just keep being asked to play it, so, I still do. People who come to my shows are so likeable and pretty it is impossible to say no to them.

I think Ginuine’s Pony is so loved because it transports people to a place where sex is funny as well as sexy – which, in my experience and opinion, is a perfect placement for sex.

Also…the vocoder bass. Gets you errrytahym.

KARMAGEDDON

I had just come off the back of 2 years of intense and constant touring and recording, capped off with a run of Australia’s super naughty fun summer festival circuit. I had been madly in lust during this time, which, as per the cliché, was extremely sexy, deliciously destructive and eventually went horribly wrong. Combining this with touring life had helped me to develop a level of alcohol abuse that was at that point unchecked by myself and by those around me. I think sometimes it is very difficult to notice someone is struggling in this area when they are very good at holding their liquor.

I wrote the lyrics and recorded the chorus vocals to Karmageddon at probably the lowest point in that time of my life. Supremely hungover, heartbroken and hoarse from the night before and the many months of excess and brutal romanticism that had preceded it, all I had left to say was “I think you will say whatever you need to say to get your fuck on and somebody to pay for you.”

Though I was in a great deal of discomfort, I remember loving the sound of the broken voice so we kept it. To this day people often ask me who the male vocalist is on the track’s chorus. I sometimes lower my voice and respond with pride “IT WAS MEEEE.”

MAMMALIAN LOCOMOTION

I had somehow managed to convince my record label at the time to fly me to New York to shoot this video. I had seen footage of an all female roller dance troupe from NYC called “Sisters In Motion” and I wanted to work with them. I teamed up with some Sisters in Motion, a few girls from a local roller derby club and a very talented director and camera crew. We shot the video on the streets of Williamsburg, sans permit. At one point, toward the end of the day, some of the shots were becoming a bit too dangerous with traffic becoming hectic and my girls roller dancing in danger’s path. One of the derby girls stopped the scene, flipped the bird at the director and said “Fuck this. I am not being paid enough to risk my life.” I thought that was a fair call on her part but I swear I overheard the roller dancers tutting quietly “Derby Girls haven’t got shit on us.” We continued to shoot them dancing for several more hours. 

DESIGN DESIRE

I wrote this chorus riff as a challenge to one of the musicians I was working with at the time. There’s often a struggle for creative control when working with others, particularly young men who are keen to assert their creative dominance. I wanted to write my own album in my own way and was too frequently fielding song offerings from one musician in particular. His songs were completely unrelated to the album I was making and so it was becoming frustrating. This battle of wills was really hindering the recording process. At the time I didn’t really know what I know now, that I’m the boss when my name is on the record, so, a lot of unnecessary macho stomping around went down in the studio that would never, ever happen for a second under my watch today. Anyway, I didn’t want to use his songs – they had so little to do with what I was about at the time. I wanted to twist heavy rock into something weird and slick and he wanted to fashion me into a lo-fi blues ingénue. At one point he said I needed more skill on the guitar to do anything worthwhile with heavy rock. I rolled my eyes and wrote the design desire scale riff. I whipped it out on the guitar in front of him and said “Try playing that, boofhead.”  

TROUBLE

I’m considering offering the use of this song to a WA Women’s Football League team called the Piranhas. I was invited to one of their games recently and was completely blown away by their stellar athleticism and community spirit.  Perhaps “Piranha” could replace the word “Trouble”. I will find a way to make it work if they want it, though it is entirely possible that the song is a bit, er, slow paced for the purposes of revving up the battle cry. I guess I am just a fan of the team. I’ve been casually asked to join the team but I had to decline – I’m not a team player and I don’t like broken bones.

TAURUS CHORUS

I have always loved Astrology. When you really get into it, it is so much more complex than just a sun sign. I find it fascinating and very helpful. I know some absolutely mind-blowingly accurate astrologers. I’m not talking about the blindly written trash that is so general it could be applied to anyone’s day, regardless of sun sign. I’m talking about serious, pin point stuff. I don’t even care if you are cynical when you read this. I think Cynicism is arrogant and lazy. I reference astrology in many songs. I find the language and symbolism of Astrology fascinating and ultimately very inspiring.

As for the music, I was obsessed with writing scaling riffs at the time. This song is my favourite from my 2012 album Design Desire.

DISNEY ON ACID

I still remember the day we filmed this video, on top of a beautiful and very large house in North Fremantle belonging to a really great man called Dave. I was 25 and unsure of myself. It was late summer, hot and sticky in a glamorous way – well, in as glamorous a way as can be when one is wearing flannel.

I have barely ever played this song live. Some songs are meant to live in recorded land only.