Taste Test: Emma Louise

THE FIRST ALBUM I BOUGHT WITH MY OWN MONEY
I think it was an album by… you know Wheatus? The one with Teenage Dirtbag on it? I'm pretty sure it was that one. I think at the time I was like, “I am the coolest 12-year-old,” or however old I was. It was a stage I went through trying to be as cool as my brother.

THE ALBUM I'M LOVING RIGHT NOW
At the moment, I'm really loving the band Baths and I think they have an album called Cerulean. I love all the melodies and production, it's really good.

MY FAVOURITE PARTY ALBUM
You know, I'm actually not much of a partier. I don't really listen to that much dancey kind of party stuff but I know if I have a get-together at home or something, we play a few Radiohead albums. But you can't bring out Radiohead too early at a party, like [you wait until] it's all winding down.

MY FAVOURITE COMEDOWN ALBUM
It would be definitely Radiohead… pretty much my whole party is a comedown! It's kinda like, let's get together, lay down and cuddle. My favourite [album] is King Of Limbs. Also In Rainbows, I love that one. I really like the newest one because it's got one of my favourite songs, Kodex, on it.

THE MOST SURPRISING RECORD IN MY COLLECTION
I don't really collect records or have a massive collection of music but I really like some Katy Perry songs. There's a song by Katy Perry that goes, [sings] “Teenage dream… something about skin tight jeans.” That's an awesome song!

THE FIRST GIG I EVER ATTENDED
That would be Missy Higgins at the Convention Centre in Cairns. That must have been 2004 or 2003, I think 2004. I went home and was like, “That's what I wanna be!” and I remember writing two songs that night and I bought her DVD. That was when my obsession started with Missy Higgins.

THE WEIRDEST GIG EXPERIENCE I'VE HAD
Before I started touring after the EP, I used to play a lot of residencies. I used to make money by playing at really shit cafes and stuff. There would be no one there and I used to get paid $60 for three hours, three 45-minute sets, and I would pretty much just be writing songs while sitting there. Maybe like two people would come and eat something. So that's pretty cool, just writing songs while at a gig, supposedly! [Also] at Cairns, at the Tanks [Arts Centre], apparently in my last song – which was a really slow one, 1000 Sundowns – there was this big fight that broke out in the audience between drunken people, so I was singing this tiny little fairy song and there were these people punching each other.

MY BIGGEST NON-MUSICAL INFLUENCES
I guess it's just like real-life things that happen; situations and feelings. This whole thing that's happened in the past year and a bit, that's pretty overwhelming and a good inspiration for different things. I struggle to write a song that isn't involved with my feelings.

THE COOLEST PERSON I'VE EVER MET
The coolest person I think I've ever met is probably my manager [Rick Chazan]. He's really cool; he's just really wise. You know when you were a kid, those glow-in-the-dark stars you stuck on your roof? He invented that; Glow Zone or whatever it's called. He has all these secret achievements that he doesn't tell anyone that are just amazing. And he started a company; he just invented all these toys and stuff.

THE BIGGEST CELEBRITY CRUSH
I'VE EVER HAD
I've always been really kind of obsessed with Missy Higgins but I haven't actually met her yet. I actually saw her at a festival; me and Hannah, my keyboard player, we saw her outside our tent. We were peeking through the curtains being like, “Oh my God, it's her!” I can't imagine what I would do if I actually did meet her. Apart from that, you know Edward Cullen? What's his name, Patrick something? [Robert Pattinson.] Yeah, I went through a few months where I was definitely obsessed with him. I just watched Twilight and was like, 'Wow, he's a babe'.

IF I COULD HANG OUT IN ANY TIME AND PLACE IN HISTORY
Probably Woodstock. It seems like they were naked a lot, and playing in mud. I just think it would have been so fun; that's totally not acceptable nowadays, whereas back then it was the thing to do.

IF I WASN'T MAKING MUSIC
I'd probably be a vet nurse. That's what I was going to be, but I kind of didn't do very well in school so I'm very glad this is working out! I worked a lot with animals before I became a full-time musician, so I guess I'd do something with that. There's a few places around Brisbane that just deal with lots of cats that need homes, and I reckon I could do something like that.