The journey to releasing this EP has felt like an eternity. I’ve been writing songs since high school, and always wanted to release them, but it felt like things just never quite clicked when I went into the studio to record. The problem was, I didn’t truly know what my produced music should sound like – how do I make it sound like me?

Before this EP, I approached production by showing collaborators my song on acoustic guitar, and trying to explain my folk/indie/pop vision without any real technical understanding of how it could be achieved. See, music has been in my life since primary school, but being primarily immersed in acoustic genres (folk, jazz and classical) meant I learnt very little about record production, a vital aspect of the modern musician’s career.

So, when I entered production sessions, I was overwhelmed by all the creative choices to be made, and the limitlessness of what could be achieved in the studio. Should there be drums? What should the groove be? Laid back, or energetic? What type of kick? Do you like that snare? How do you want the bass to sound? Gritty, pumping, or mellow? Do you want to double track the guitars? Should the song be faster, slower? How do you want your voice in the mix? I felt totally unqualified to answer these questions, so instead, I deferred decisions to my predominantly male producers or collaborators and placed myself in the backseat.

I started to realise that this conceding to others’ opinions was letting me down, so when it came to making this EP, I knew something needed to change. I began unpacking this bias toward my own capability; this belief that as a female singer-songwriter, I needed to rely on someone else to make or break my music.

It’s easy to see how this idea could be formed, in an industry where gendered perceptions of music technology have accompanied the history of recorded music, contributing to the marginalisation of women from technology-related careers. In a professional studio already wrapped in power dynamics, I questioned how a female singer-songwriter with limited technical knowledge can ensure her creative voice is defended.

This led me to my PhD project, investigating how self-production can affect the female singer-songwriter’s creative process, musical output, and musical identity. I downloaded Ableton, and in the privacy of my home studio, my musical world started to transform.

Slowly, I gained the ability to record myself, to follow my intuition, to go down rabbit-holes without fear of judgement or wasting others’ time. I could hear what production changes might sound like within the holistic song context, learnt what I liked and didn’t like, and gained the language to express both.

I self-produced demos of six potential tracks and brought them to the wonderful Sam Cromack (Ball Park Music), who re-recorded them with my band into an EP (even keeping some elements I recorded at home). With that, the aptly named Nothing Comes Free, the debut Jo Davie EP was born.

This journey taught me I didn’t need to become completely self-sufficient to create songs I could be proud of. What I needed was a deeper understanding of, and confidence in, what I was trying to achieve, what I liked and didn’t like, and the language to express it. This empowered me to truly collaborate with Sam, whose creativity, warmth and skill made each song better than it would have been without him. Through self-production, I feel as though I finally found my seat at the table.

Jo Davie’s debut EP, ‘Nothing Comes Free’, is out today on all streaming services. And, to celebrate, Davie is heading on tour. Find details below.

JO DAVIE - NOTHING COMES FREE TOUR

Thursday, May 1 - Canberra @ Smiths Alternative w/ Stella Eve

Friday, May 2  - Sydney @ Butchers Brew w/ Betty 

Saturday, May 3 - Melbourne @ Merri Creek Tavern w/ Kaitlin Keegan 

Sunday, May 4 - Warburton @ Arts Centre w/ Follow The Robin

Saturday, May 10 - Ipswich @ Studio 188 w/ Paulina 

Sunday, May 11 - Sunshine Coast @ Eudlo Hall w/ Those Folk 

Friday, May 16 - Murwillumbah @ The Citadel w/ Cigány Weaver 

Saturday, May 17 - Brisbane @ Black Bear Lodge w/ Lottie McLeod & Serendipiti 

Find tickets and more information here.