From 13 to 17: Ixaras On Her DIY Debut EP, ‘Full Lover Fake Friend’

If you’ve been around Brisbane lately, you’ve probably heard of Ixaras - or her event management company and label Anti-Dismal. But what you may not have heard is that her debut EP, Full Lover Fake Friend, dropped last week; and it’s completely DIY.

Writing the tracks for the EP when she was just 13, the now 17-year-old is “so excited for it to finally be out.”

“It's like a literal showcase of my journey, and it's an intimate journey about, like, the highs and lows of what I had to go through in high school, but it's unfiltered. So it's basically a coming of age EP,” Ixaras told The Music.

“The concept of ‘full lover fake friend’ is this kind of arrangement with self reflection and talking about the facade, but then the genuine care. It’s exploring the idea of how relationships can be, like, you can have a disconnect while still being in it. And some friends can stick around but never be emotionally invested.

“My grandma immigrated here from the Philippines, and I grew up here in Brisbane, like, not really knowing much about my culture at home. I think navigating and growing up here was a little bit difficult for someone like me, because I don't really know what was normal, what was the right thing. So having this, being able to use music as an outlet to kind of navigate that, it's really cool.

“I really think it's super raw. And even though I wrote them when I was 13, and obviously my songwriting has evolved from when I was writing like that, it's cool that people can listen to my journey, kind of navigating love at that age, and then be able to relate to that, I guess.”

Full Lover Fake Friend was created completely by Ixaras and her friends - with no help from older professionals… and no budget.

“Literally everything about this EP was DIY, which is kind of why I'm really excited. I always wanted to see if I could completely make something through DIY, with releasing it through my own labels, making everything in a bedroom, and seeing how we can create something just from a zero budget - like bare minimum. 

“That's why I wanted the artwork, especially, to be all hand drawn. My friend Bowie from high school, he drew everything. And I kind of wanted that to kind of align with the brand imagery, with how Full Lover is this kind of first era type thing, being this completely zero budget DIY project, that's been our aesthetic this entire time. I'm just really proud of the fact that everything was just made with all my friends in a bedroom, literally just passing it to each other over Google Drive.”

As much as Full Lover Fake Friend is close to Ixaras’ heart, she is ready to get it out into the world.

“Even though this project means so much to me, I'm really happy that it's finally going to be out, and I'm finally going to be able to move on to my sound. I'm 17 now, but like, you can imagine having a song since you were 13, and like, being like, ‘Holy moly, get that one out of the bank.’”

‘Full Lover Fake Friend’ is out now on all streaming services.